Vehicle positioning or navigation utilizing associated feature pairs
First Claim
1. A materials handling vehicle comprising a camera, one or more vehicular processors, a drive mechanism configured to move the materials handling vehicle along an inventory transit surface, a materials handling mechanism configured to store and retrieve goods in a storage bay of an industrial facility, and vehicle control architecture in communication with the drive and materials handling mechanisms, wherein:
- the camera is communicatively coupled to the vehicular processor(s) and captures an input image of overhead features;
an industrial facility map comprises a plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points associated with a mapping of the overhead features; and
the vehicular processor(s) of the materials handling vehicle executes vehicle functions to;
(i) create a plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by;
retrieving an initial input image comprising overhead features from the camera comprising two-dimensional UV space information wherein U and V each correspond to a dimension in a two-dimensional space;
forming a plurality of overhead feature pairs by pairing points from the overhead features in the two-dimensional UV space information in the input image; and
associating the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information with overhead global feature point pairs formed from pairing the plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points of the industrial facility map, wherein a first overhead feature pair of the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information is associated with a first overhead global feature point pair formed from pairing a first pair of three-dimensional overhead global feature points such that the first overhead feature pair is associated with the first overhead global feature point pair to form a first overhead associated feature pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs;
(ii) calculate a vehicle pose from the each of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs within a visual range of the camera;
(iii) calculate a best estimate pose of the materials handling vehicle based on a highest match-rated pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by ranking matches between the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information and corresponding overhead global feature point pairs formed from the industrial facility map;
(iv) use an accumulated odometry of the materials handling vehicle to update the best estimate pose to a current localized position of the materials handling vehicle; and
(v) utilize the current localized position to;
track the navigation of the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface, or navigate the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface in at least a partially automated manner, or both.
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Abstract
According to the embodiments described herein, a method for vehicle positioning or navigation utilizing associated feature pairs may include creating a plurality of associated feature pairs by retrieving an initial set of camera data from the camera comprising two-dimensional UV space information, forming pairs from the UV space information, and associating each pair from the UV space information with pairs from each of the plurality of three-dimensional global feature points of the industrial facility map, calculating a best estimate poses from calculated vehicle poses of the associated feature pairs, using an accumulated odometry to update the best estimate pose to a current localized position and setting a seed position as the current localized position. The navigation of the materials handling vehicle is tracked and/or navigated along the inventory transit surface navigate in at least a partially automated manner utilizing the current localized position.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A materials handling vehicle comprising a camera, one or more vehicular processors, a drive mechanism configured to move the materials handling vehicle along an inventory transit surface, a materials handling mechanism configured to store and retrieve goods in a storage bay of an industrial facility, and vehicle control architecture in communication with the drive and materials handling mechanisms, wherein:
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the camera is communicatively coupled to the vehicular processor(s) and captures an input image of overhead features; an industrial facility map comprises a plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points associated with a mapping of the overhead features; and the vehicular processor(s) of the materials handling vehicle executes vehicle functions to; (i) create a plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by; retrieving an initial input image comprising overhead features from the camera comprising two-dimensional UV space information wherein U and V each correspond to a dimension in a two-dimensional space; forming a plurality of overhead feature pairs by pairing points from the overhead features in the two-dimensional UV space information in the input image; and associating the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information with overhead global feature point pairs formed from pairing the plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points of the industrial facility map, wherein a first overhead feature pair of the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information is associated with a first overhead global feature point pair formed from pairing a first pair of three-dimensional overhead global feature points such that the first overhead feature pair is associated with the first overhead global feature point pair to form a first overhead associated feature pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs; (ii) calculate a vehicle pose from the each of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs within a visual range of the camera; (iii) calculate a best estimate pose of the materials handling vehicle based on a highest match-rated pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by ranking matches between the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information and corresponding overhead global feature point pairs formed from the industrial facility map; (iv) use an accumulated odometry of the materials handling vehicle to update the best estimate pose to a current localized position of the materials handling vehicle; and (v) utilize the current localized position to;
track the navigation of the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface, or navigate the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface in at least a partially automated manner, or both. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system comprising a materials handling vehicle and a management server, wherein:
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the materials handling vehicle comprises a camera, one or more vehicular processors, a drive mechanism configured to move the materials handling vehicle along an inventory transit surface, a materials handling mechanism configured to store and retrieve goods in a storage bay of an industrial facility, and vehicle control architecture in communication with the drive and materials handling mechanisms; the camera is communicatively coupled to the vehicular processor(s) and the management server and captures an input image of overhead features; the vehicular processor(s) is communicatively coupled to the management server; an industrial facility map stored on the management server is communicatively coupled to the vehicular processor(s), wherein the industrial facility map comprises a plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points associated with a mapping of the overhead features; and the vehicular processor(s) of the materials handling vehicle executes vehicle functions to; (i) create a plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by; retrieving an initial input image comprising overhead features from the camera comprising two-dimensional UV space information wherein U and V each correspond to a dimension in a two-dimensional space; forming a plurality of overhead feature pairs by pairing points from the overhead features in the two-dimensional UV space information in the input image; and associating the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information with overhead global feature point pairs formed from pairing the plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points of the industrial facility map, wherein a first overhead feature pair of the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information is associated with a first overhead global feature point pair formed from pairing a first pair of three-dimensional overhead global feature points such that the first overhead feature pair is associated with the first overhead global feature point pair to form a first overhead associated feature pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs; (ii) calculate a vehicle pose from each of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs within a visual range of the camera; (iii) calculate a best estimate pose of the materials handling vehicle based on a highest match-rated pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by ranking matches between the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information and corresponding overhead global feature point pairs formed from the industrial facility map; (iv) use an accumulated odometry of the materials handling vehicle to update the best estimate pose to a current localized position of the materials handling vehicle; and (v) utilize the current localized position to;
track the navigation of the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface, or navigate the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface in at least a partially automated manner, or both. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of navigating or tracking the navigation of a materials handling vehicle along an inventory transit surface, the method comprising:
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disposing a materials handling vehicle upon an inventory transit surface of an industrial facility, wherein the materials handling vehicle is in communication with a management server, wherein the materials handling vehicle comprises a camera, one or more vehicular processors, a drive mechanism configured to move the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface, a materials handling mechanism configured to store and retrieve goods in a storage bay of the industrial facility, and vehicle control architecture in communication with the drive and materials handling mechanisms; utilizing the drive mechanism to move the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface; capturing an input image of overhead features of the industrial facility via the camera as the materials handling vehicle moves along the inventory transit surface; providing an industrial facility map comprising a plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points associated with a mapping of the ceiling lights; creating a plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by; retrieving an initial input image comprising overhead features from the camera comprising two-dimensional UV space information, U and V each correspond to a dimension in a two-dimensional space; forming a plurality of overhead feature pairs by pairing points from the overhead features in the two-dimensional UV space information in the input image; and associating the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information with overhead global feature point pairs formed from pairing the plurality of three-dimensional overhead global feature points of the industrial facility map, wherein a first overhead feature pair of the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information is associated with a first overhead global feature point pair formed from pairing a first pair of three-dimensional overhead global feature points such that the first overhead feature pair is associated with the first overhead global feature point pair to form a first overhead associated feature pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs; via the vehicular processor(s), calculating a vehicle pose from each of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs within a visual range of the camera; via the vehicular processor(s), calculating a best estimate pose of the materials handling vehicle based on a highest match-rated pair of the plurality of overhead associated feature pairs by ranking matches between the plurality of overhead feature pairs from the two-dimensional UV space information and corresponding overhead global feature point pairs formed from the industrial facility map; using an accumulated odometry of the materials handling vehicle to update the best estimate pose to a current localized position of the materials handling vehicle; and via the vehicular processor(s) and the management server, utilizing the current localized position to;
track the navigation of the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface, or navigate the materials handling vehicle along the inventory transit surface in at least a partially automated manner, or both. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification