Autonomous ground vehicles congregating in meeting areas

• US 10,222,798 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2016
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brady, Tye Michael, Canavor, Darren Ernest, Evans, Ethan Zane, Mishra, Pragyana K., Siegel, Hilliard Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Tyler J
• Application Number:
  US15/280,492
• Time in Patent Office: 887 Days
• Field of Search: 701 25
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2201/0213 Road vehicle, e.g. car or truck
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods

Abstract

Autonomous ground vehicles (“AGVs”) are utilized to transport ordered items and may congregate in meeting areas (e.g., to receive items from common sources, utilize common resources, communicate, etc.) and the positions of the AGVs in an area may be coordinated. For example, AGVs waiting to receive ordered items from a transportation vehicle (e.g., a delivery truck) may be lined up according to delivery addresses, or according to an order of items in the transportation vehicle, etc. As another example, AGVs that are in a pickup area (e.g., where users may retrieve ordered items from the AGVs), may be arranged in a configuration that is relatively compact but which provides easy access for the users to retrieve the ordered items, etc. The AGVs may be repositioned based on various events (e.g., an AGV leaving the configuration, an improved arrangement being dynamically determined, etc.).

Claims

1. A transportation system, comprising:

a transportation vehicle to transport items from a materials handling facility;

a plurality of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), each AGV comprising;

a propulsion portion; and

a storage compartment having a locking mechanism; and

a computing system, comprising;

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least;

determine a meeting area in which the plurality of AGVs will meet the transportation vehicle;

instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to travel to the meeting area ahead of when the transportation vehicle is to arrive in the meeting area, wherein the positions of the AGVs in the meeting area are coordinated so that the AGVs are arranged in a designated order in the meeting area;

instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to receive at least one respective item from the transportation vehicle in the storage compartment of the AGV after the transportation vehicle arrives in the meeting area; and

instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to transport the at least one respective item from the meeting area to a respective delivery location.

2. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the designated order corresponds to an order of delivery addresses of the respective delivery locations.

3. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the designated order does not correspond to an order of delivery addresses of the respective delivery locations but corresponds to an order of items as arranged in the transportation vehicle.

4. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the positions of the AGVs in the meeting area are adjacent to one another.

5. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to instruct at least one AGV to change position in the meeting area before the transportation vehicle arrives.

6. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the meeting area includes a parking location for the transportation vehicle, and the meeting area is determined based at least in part on a determination that the parking location is available.

7. An autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) comprising:

a propulsion portion;

a storage compartment having a locking mechanism; and

a control system, comprising;

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least;

control the propulsion portion to navigate the AGV along a travel path to a meeting area;

determine that one or more other AGVs are already present in the meeting area when the AGV arrives in the meeting area;

control the propulsion portion to position the AGV relative to the one or more other AGVs in the meeting area according to a determined arrangement of the AGVs; and

receive into the storage compartment at least one item from a transportation vehicle at the meeting area.

8. The AGV of claim 7, further comprising a sensor and wherein the determination that one or more other AGVs are already present in the meeting area is made based at least in part on data received from the sensor.

9. The AGV of claim 7, further comprising a network interface and wherein communication is received through the network interface from a management system that indicates the determined arrangement of the AGVs.

10. The AGV of claim 7, further comprising an access mechanism that is utilized to open an access barrier that the AGV encounters along the travel path to the meeting area.

11. The AGV of claim 7, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to determine that the at least one item has been placed in the storage compartment of the AGV while the AGV is in the meeting area and to control the propulsion portion to navigate the AGV along a travel path from the meeting area to a delivery location to deliver the item to the delivery location.

12. The AGV of claim 7, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to receive an instruction that the AGV is to be repositioned relative to the one or more other AGVs in the meeting area and response thereto to control the propulsion portion to reposition the AGV.

13. A method for transporting items, the method comprising:

determining a meeting area;

determining an arrangement of stopping locations in the meeting area, the arrangement of stopping locations including at least a first stopping location and a second stopping location in the meeting area;

instructing a first autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) to travel to the first stopping location and to stop in the first stopping location;

instructing a second AGV to travel to the second stopping location and to stop in the second stopping location; and

instructing a first transfer of a first item from a transportation vehicle into a first storage compartment of the first AGV while the first AGV is at the first stopping location.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the meeting area includes a parking location for the transportation vehicle and the meeting area is determined based at least in part on receiving an indication from at least one of the first or second AGVs that the parking location is available.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and second stopping locations are adjacent to the parking location.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising instructing the second AGV to utilize a coupling portion to couple to the first AGV in the meeting area.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the meeting area is a pickup area that includes a control station, and the method further comprises instructing at least one of the first or second AGVs to utilize a coupling portion to couple to the control station.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second AGVs are instructed to travel from respective first and second home base locations at respective first and second user'"'"'s residences to the respective first and second stopping locations in the meeting area.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising sending a notification to a first user indicating when the first AGV has received a first item and an identification of the first item.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second stopping locations are arranged in the meeting area in an order that corresponds to an order of first and second addresses, and the method further comprises:

instructing the first AGV to travel from the first stopping location to the first address; and

instructing the second AGV to travel from the second stopping location to the second address.