Method for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle for operation inside an industrial area

Abstract

The disclosure relates to method (100) for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle (10), AMV, for operation inside an industrial area (1), the method (100) comprising: - obtaining AMV position data indicative of a position of the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) within the industrial area (1), - determining that the position of the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) is inside a confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1) based on the AMV position data and location data indicative of a location of the confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1), and - providing a control instruction for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) positioned inside the confined zone (2).

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN AUTONOMOUS MOBILE VEHICLE FOR OPERATION INSIDE AN INDUSTRIAL AREA

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present invention generally relates to the field of autonomous mobile vehicles, in particular autonomous mobile robots, operating in an industrial area. Specifically, the present invention relates to methods for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle, a data processing system, an autonomous mobile vehicle, and a computer program product.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Autonomous mobile vehicles, AMVs, or autonomous mobile robots, AMRs, often operate in industrial areas or environments, where they may encounter people. To prevent collision with a person, they are equipped with personnel detection means which allow the autonomous mobile vehicles to slow down and stop before colliding. Current personnel detection means cannot distinguish between people and other objects, so autonomous mobile vehicles operating near other objects and equipment are forced to travel slowly and / or stop frequently.

[0006] One possibility to allow autonomous mobile vehicles to travel at high-speed even near objects is to define so-called confined zones, where their personnel detection means can be deactivated. The confined zones may instead have other safety mechanisms to prevent people from entering or to detect them. Typically, they use physical markers on or in the confined zone which may be detected by the autonomous mobile vehicles. Further, for example, factories often have cells with fences and a safety-rated door that detects when a person has entered.

[0007] The ISO 3691-4:2023 standard for autonomous mobile vehicles defines a safety function to be used in such confined zones. The autonomous mobile vehicles may be required to able to detect the confined zone with a so-called Performance Level d (ISO 13849-1 :2023) to comply with ISO 3691-4:2023, and it must be able to respond to safety-rated stop requests when it is inside that zone - for example, if the door to a cell is opened, AMRs in that cell must stop. Currently, these zones may be detected with Performance Level d using physical markers in or on the confined zone, and safety-rated or diverse equipment on the autonomous vehicle to detect the markers. This hardware adds costs to each autonomous vehicle, and there may be hundreds of autonomous vehicles operating in a given industrial area. Furthermore, defining confined zones with physical markers is time-consuming and costly to set up and to modify.

[0008] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The above problem or need is at least partially solved or alleviated by the subject matters of the independent claims of the present disclosure, wherein further examples are incorporated in the dependent claims.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle, AMV, in particular for operation inside an industrial area, the method comprising:

[0011] - obtaining AMV position data indicative of a position of the autonomous mobile vehicle within the industrial area,

[0012] - determining that the position of the autonomous mobile vehicle is inside a confined zone within the industrial area based on the AMV position data and location data indicative of a location of the confined zone within the industrial area, and

[0013] - providing a control instruction for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle positioned inside the confined zone.

[0014] The method of the first aspect may in particular be an at least partially or fully computer implemented method. This means that at least one, multiple or all of the steps of the method may be carried out by a data processing system, which may comprise one or more computers or computing units or data processing apparatuses. Different steps may be carried out by the same or by different computers or data processing apparatuses. A computer is herein understood as a data processing apparatus or device, which can carry out some, multiple or all steps as defined by the method. For example, all steps of obtaining the AMV position data, determining the position of the autonomous mobile vehicle inside the confined zone and providing the control instruction may be computer implemented steps. Alternatively, or additionally, for example, the step of providing the control instruction may be carried out by actually providing or transmitting the control instruction to the autonomous mobile vehicle, e.g., by wireless transferring it thereto, which may be not or not only on a computer level of the data processing system.

[0015] The method of the first aspect of this disclosure allows for remotely detecting confined zones based on safe localization of the autonomous mobile vehicles and safe parameterization of the confined zones. This method reduces the hardware costs of the autonomous mobile vehicles, enables faster commissioning, and allows the confined zones to be easily adapted via parameterization without physical changes. Further, by using the safe localization of the autonomous mobile vehicles, the physical markers in or on confined zones may optionally be omitted along with the hardware currently needed to detect those markers by the autonomous mobile vehicles.

[0016] The control instruction may be based on one or more control settings for controlling the at least one autonomous mobile vehicle inside the confined zone. For example, the one or more control settings may be determined by the method and / or pre-defined. For example, the one or more control settings may be pre-defined for when the autonomous mobile vehicle is inside the confined zone and the method may select one or more of the one or more control settings from the pre-defined control settings, e.g., stopping, slowing down and / or similar. The selection of the control settings may be fix or depending on the situation, e.g., on a speed of the autonomous mobile vehicle and / or other parameters. Further, the control instruction may differentiate the confined zone or zones inside the industrial area from the unconfined zone or zones inside the industrial area, when there are no physical markers, as further described herein below, present to differentiate them from one another on a physical level. For example, the method may also provide a control instruction for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle positioned inside the unconfined zone or such control instruction or thereon based one or more control settings may be preset or pre-defined for the autonomous mobile vehicles inside the unconfined zones, for example.

[0017] The autonomous mobile vehicle may be equipped with means or configured for operation inside an industrial area. In particular, the autonomous mobile vehicle may be configured for an industrial operation or, in other words, operation in an industrial setting. This is different from other autonomous mobile vehicles, such as passenger cars or trucks, which are being used in civil operations, e.g., for transport of passengers or cargo. The industrial area may be for example a factory area of one or more factories, in particular industrial factories. For example, the industrial area may be a factory floor or similar.

[0018] Generally, it is to be appreciated that the herein mentioned elements or devices may be one or more, in particular multiple. For example, the autonomous mobile vehicle may be multiple or a fleet of autonomous mobile vehicles. Hence, the control instruction may be for controlling multiple autonomous mobile vehicles positioned within the confined zones, if this is the case. Similarly, it may be determined that the position of multiple autonomous mobile vehicles of their fleet is inside the confined zone based on obtained AMV position data indicative of the positions of multiple or all autonomous mobile vehicles. Similarly, there may be more than one confined zones, e.g., two, three, four or many more confined zones within the industrial area. Also, there may be multiple control instructions provided by the method, etc.

[0019] In an example, the autonomous mobile vehicle may be an autonomous mobile robot, AMR. The autonomous mobile robot may be an autonomous mobile vehicle which may be configured to fully act without recourse to human control. Besides autonomous navigation, as may also be the case in an autonomous mobile vehicle, the autonomous mobile robot may also or alternatively comprise means for sensing the environment, e.g., one or more detectors, self-maintenance, and / or for performing one or more certain tasks. The autonomous mobile robot may be for operation inside an area or, in other words, an area of operation of the autonomous mobile robot, in particular but not necessarily an industrial area as specified herein. Hence, the autonomous mobile robot may be for or configured for operation inside an area and the AMV position data may be AMR position data indicative of a position of the autonomous mobile within the area of operation of the autonomous mobile robot, the confined zone being within the area of operation of the autonomous mobile robot.

[0020] In one alternative of the method, the method may be carried out by a data processing system of the autonomous mobile vehicle itself. This means that the autonomous mobile vehicle may have or obtain both, the AMV position data and the location data and also provide the control instruction. However, this may require each of the autonomous mobile vehicles to have hardware enabling them to carry out the method. In another alternative, the method may be at least partially or fully carried out by a data processing system, which may be remote from the autonomous mobile vehicles, e.g., a separate entity. The data processing system may be a server or remote server, which may herein also be referred to as an orchestrator as it may be configured to control or, in other words, orchestrate multiple or a fleet of autonomous mobile vehicles.

[0021] Accordingly, in an example, the method may be carried out by a data processing system configured to wirelessly communicate with the autonomous mobile vehicle for obtaining the AMV position data from the data processing system and providing the control instruction to the autonomous mobile vehicle. In particular, the data processing system may be configured to wirelessly communicate with multiple, in particular a fleet, of autonomous mobile vehicles. The autonomous mobile vehicles may be accordingly equipped with a wireless communication unit and the data processing system may correspondingly be equipped with such wireless communication unit. The wireless communication may be conducted via any wireless communication technique such as a WLAN connection, a cellular connection, or similar. In this alternative, a safe localization can be achieved with minimal hardware cost on the autonomous mobile vehicles itself. That is, additional or already existing hardware may only be required outside of the autonomous mobile vehicles to perform the localization, in particular in the data processing system, but this hardware can be used to localize an entire fleet of autonomous mobile vehicles, so the solution per autonomous mobile vehicle is cost-effective. The localization is performed by one or more orchestrators, which then determine in which, if any, confined zone the AMV is located, based on a safely parameterized map. The orchestrator(s) have a safe communication link with each AMV. If the AMV is in a confined zone where a person has enter, the orchestrator(s) command the AMV to stop.

[0022] In an example, the control instruction may be configured for moving the autonomous mobile vehicle at a speed inside the confined zone different than a speed inside an unconfined zone within the area of operation. In particular, the autonomous mobile vehicle may be controlled or, in other words, orchestrated, in particular by the data processing system, to move at a different speed in the confined zone than in the unconfined zone. In particular, the speed in the confined zone may be greater than in the unconfined zone. Hence, the confined zone may differentiate from the unconfined zone in that the autonomous mobile vehicles may be or will be typically allowed to move at a different, in particular higher, speed in the confined zone compared to the unconfined zone, making the confined zones typically zones within the industrial area or area of operation of the autonomous mobile vehicles, which are typically not to be accessed by humans, whereas the unconfined zones may be accessed by humans, requiring a different, in particular lower, speed for the autonomous mobile vehicles to move in.

[0023] In an example, the method may be comprising obtaining human position data indicative of a position of a human inside the confined zone, wherein the control instruction may be configured for changing, e.g., stopping and / r slowing down, movement of the autonomous mobile vehicle positioned inside the confined zone based on the human position data. Hence, the method may ensure safe passage of humans inside the confined zone, e.g., in case a human accidentally enters the confined zone.

[0024] In an example, the human position data may be based on at least one of an interaction of the human with a fence surrounding the confined zone, an interaction of the human with a door for entering the confined zone, and a tracking of the position of the human within the area of operation. For example, when the human interacts with the fence or door or is inside the confined zone, a detector, e.g., a camera, actuator sensor or similar may make notice of this interaction or the human’s location and provide or generate the human position data, thereby being obtained by the data processing system carrying out the method. Hence, the access of the human into the confined zone by interaction with the fence or door may be noticed early to give the autonomous mobile vehicles sufficient time to carry out the control instruction, e.g., slow down or stop. Alternatively, if the human is already inside the confined zone, the method may still determine this and act quickly by providing the control instruction.

[0025] In an example, the confined zone may be not physically marked and / or not physically separated from an unconfined zone within the industrial area. As previously discussed, such physical marking may be omitted when using the present method. However, alternatively, in particular for restricting access of humans to the confined zones, these may still be physically marked. However, for example, this physical marking may be less than would be typically required for the autonomous mobile vehicles to detect them as confined zones, e.g., by means of using signs or similar. Still, also fences and doors may be used alternatively.

[0026] In an example, the location data may be based on a map of the industrial area and the confined zone located within it. Of course, generally, the industrial area may comprise several confined zones and / or unconfined zones. The map is particularly useful as it may be easily used by a user for defining the confined and / or unconfined zone(s) therein. The map may have a visual appearance, e.g., visually displayed, and / or comprise a set of coordinates defining the confined and / or unconfined zone(s) therein. In particular, the map may be visually displayed on the data processing system, in particular for a user to define the confined and / or unconfined zone(s) therein as needed, e.g., when the definition of confined and / or unconfined zone(s) requires to be changed, e.g., temporarily or permanently, e.g., in case of changing the layout of a factory floor. Hence, the industrial area with the confined and / or unconfined zone(s) may be provided with a new layout or definition without necessarily requiring changing or adding physical markers.

[0027] In an example, the location data may be configured such that the confined zone within the industrial area can be relocated by a user. As explained exemplary with respect to the map of the industrial area, this may be done on the data processing system, which may for example comprise a display, where the map may be visualized. Alternatively, the relocation may be based purely on coordinates defining the confined and / or unconfined zone(s) in the industrial area, i.e. , without a map. The user may then conveniently and securely relocate the confined and / or unconfined zone(s) inside the industrial area, thereby in effect influencing when the control instructions for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle when positioned inside the confined zones are provided, e.g., generated, selected and / or transmitted to the autonomous mobile vehicle(s).

[0028] According to a second aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a data processing system configured to carry out the method according to the first aspect of this disclosure. As previously mentioned, the data processing system may be separate from the autonomous mobile vehicles and, e.g., configured as a server or remote server, which may herein also be referred to as an orchestrator as it may be configured to control or, in other words, orchestrate multiple or a fleet of autonomous mobile vehicles.

[0029] According to a third aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a method for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle, AMV, for operation inside an industrial area, the method comprising:

[0030] - providing AMV position data indicative of a position of the autonomous mobile vehicle within the industrial area, and

[0031] - obtaining a control instruction for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle positioned inside a confined zone within the industrial area as determined based on the AMV position data and location data indicative of a location of the confined zone within the industrial area.

[0032] Similarly to the method of the first aspect of this disclosure, the method of the third aspect of this disclosure may be a computer implemented method with one, multiple or all of the steps thereof being carried out by a data processing system.

[0033] Different from the method of the first aspect of this disclosure, the method may not be carried out by the server or orchestrator as mentioned herein but rather by the autonomous mobile vehicle itself or the autonomous mobile vehicles themselves, in particular data processing system thereof and not of the server or orchestrator.

[0034] Further, the method of the first aspect of this disclosure and the method of the second aspect of this disclosure may be combined with one another such that there may be a method for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle for operation inside an industrial area comprising any one, multiple arbitrary or all steps from both methods.

[0035] In an example, the autonomous mobile vehicle may be an autonomous mobile robot, AMR.

[0036] In an example, the method of the third aspect of this disclosure may be carried out by the autonomous mobile vehicle, in particular a data processing system thereof, which may be configured to wirelessly communicate with a data processing system (which may be the one also referred to as server or orchestrator herein) for providing the AMV position data to the data processing system and obtaining the control instruction from the data processing system.

[0037] In an example, the control instruction may be configured for moving the autonomous mobile vehicle at a speed inside the confined zone different than a speed inside an unconfined zone within the industrial area.

[0038] In an example, the control instruction may be configured for changing, e.g., stopping and / or slowing down, movement of the at least one autonomous mobile vehicle positioned inside the confined zone based on human position data indicative of a position of a human inside the confined zone. ln an example, the human position data may be based on at least one of an interaction of the human with a fence surrounding the confined zone, an interaction of the human with a door for entering the confined zone, and a tracking of the position of the human within the industrial area.

[0039] In an example, the confined zone may be not physically marked and / or not physically separated from an unconfined zone within the industrial area.

[0040] In an example, the location data may be based on a map of the industrial area and the confined zone located within it.

[0041] In an example, the location data may be configured such that the confined zone within the industrial area can be relocated by a user.

[0042] According to a fourth aspect of this disclosure, there is provided an autonomous mobile vehicle configured to carry out the method according to the third aspect of this disclosure. The configuration may be by means of a data processing system, e.g., a computer, which may execute a computer program (e.g., of the fifth aspect of this disclosure), which may be stored on a storage medium of the data processing system, which has stored thereon instructions that may be configured to have the autonomous mobile vehicle carry out the method of the third aspect of this disclosure. Also, according to the fourth aspect of this disclosure, there may be multiple or a fleet of autonomous mobile vehicle. A fleet of autonomous mobile vehicle may comprise, for example, at least five, at least ten, at least twenty, at least hundred or more autonomous mobile vehicles.

[0043] According to a fifth aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to the first aspect of this disclosure and / or the method according to the third aspect of this disclosure.

[0044] The computer program product may be a computer program as such, meaning a computer program consisting of or comprising a program code to be executed by the computer. Alternatively, the computer program product may be a product such as a data storage, in particular a computer-readable data storage medium, on which the computer program may be temporarily or permanently stored.

[0045] According to a sixth aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a system comprising the data processing system of the second aspect of this disclosure and multiple autonomous mobile vehicles of the fourth aspect of this disclosure, in particular a fleet thereof.

[0046] It is noted that the above aspects, examples and features may be combined with each other irrespective of the aspect involved.

[0047] The above and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from and elucidated with reference to the examples described hereinafter.

[0048] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Exemplary embodiments will be further described with reference to Figures, wherein:

[0050] Figure 1 shows a system for autonomous mobile vehicles; and

[0051] Figures 2a and 2b show methods carried out by one of the autonomous mobile inside a confined zone of the area of operation in Fig. 1 and a data processing system.

[0052] The Figures are schematic only and not true to scale. In principle, identical or like parts, elements and / or steps are provided with identical or like reference numerals in the Figures.

[0053] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0054] Figure 1 schematically shows a system 1000 for autonomous mobile vehicles 10, AMVs, in particular autonomous mobile robots 10, AMRs. The system 1000 comprises a fleet of AMRs 10 within an area or industrial area 1 of operation of the AMRs 10, which may be having confined zones 2 and one unconfined zone 3, in this example. However, the industrial area 1 may have any other number of confined zones 2 and unconfined zones 3 and also any other number of AMRs 10 than exemplary depicted in Fig. 1 .

[0055] The system 1000 further comprises one or more data processing systems 20, which may herein also be referred to as an orchestrator. The data processing system 20 may comprise its own wireless communication interface or unit (not shown) and / or be connected to such, as shown in Fig. 1 with several wireless communication units 30. Also, the data processing system 20 may comprise a computer program product 21 , as shown in Fig. 1 . When the data processing system 20, e.g., by means of a computer or computing unit, in particular processor, thereof executes the computer program stored on the computer program product 21 , e.g., a computer readable storage medium, the method 100 depicted in Fig. 2a may be executed, whereby the AMRs 10 may be controlled, as explained further herein.

[0056] Similarly, as shown for one of the AMRs 10 in Fig. 1 , each one of the AMRs 10 may comprise also a computer program product 11 . When a data processing system (not shown) of the AMRs 10, e.g., by means of a computer or computing unit, in particular processor, thereof executes the computer program stored on the computer program product 11 , e.g., a computer readable storage medium, the method 200 depicted in Fig. 2b may be executed, whereby the AMRs 10 may be controlled, as explained further herein.

[0057] Moreover, each one of the AMRs 10 may comprise their own wireless communication unit (not shown). The wireless communication units, devices or hardware on the AMRs 10 may be limited to a “tag” or any communication device capable of safe communication with the data processing system 20 and / or wireless communication units 30.

[0058] The system 1000 may further comprise one or more, e.g., several as shown in Fig. 1 , wireless communication units 30, e.g., transceivers, receivers and / or transmitters for wirelessly receiving and / or transmitting data. The wireless communication units 30 may for example be antennas, towers, network routers and / or similar. These wireless communication units 30 can be wirelessly and / or via cable connected to the data processing system 20, for example. The wireless communication units 30 may communicate with the AMRs 10, in particular via their own wireless communication units, and the data processing system 20. In particular, the wireless communication units 30 may relay any data between the data processing system 20 and the AMRs 10.

[0059] Figures 2a and 2b schematically show methods 100, 200 for controlling the AMRs 10 for operation inside the area 1 as executed by the data processing system 20 for method 100 and the AMRs 10 for method 200.

[0060] For this purpose, in a first step 202 of method 200, the AMRs 10 provide their individual

[0061] AMR position data indicative of their position within the area 1 , which may include signal strength of a wireless signal, for example, or the direct position of the AMR 10, for example. For example, the AMRs 10 may not provide their own AMR position data or the AMR position data may not directly be indicative of their position, but the system 20 or orchestrator may determine, e.g., calculate, their position, for example based on triangulation from wireless signal strength from the wireless communication units 30. So the AMR itself may not be able to deduce its position, but the orchestrator can deduce its position. The provision may be a determination on the AMRs 10 itself and / or a provisioning, in particular via a wireless transmission of the AMR position data from the AMRs 10 by means of their wireless communication units to the data processing system 20, e.g., via one or more of the wireless communication units 30. Correspondingly, in a first step 102 of method 100, the individual AMV position data indicative of a position of each one of the AMRs 10 within the area 1 may be obtained by the data processing system 20.

[0062] Then, in a second step 104 of method 100, it may be determined, by the data processing system 100, for each one of the AMRs 10, whether the position of the AMRs 10 is inside one of the confined zones 2 within the area 1 based on the AMV position data and location data indicative of the locations of the confined zone 2 within the area 1. The location data may for example be stored on the data processing system 20, in particular on its computer program product 21 . The location data may be based on a map of the area 1 and the confined zones 2 located within it. Also, the location data may be configured such that the confined zones 2 within the area 1 can be remotely relocated by a user. Also, it may be provided that control instructions or one or more control settings therein for the AMRs 10 inside the confined zones 2, which may be the same for every confined zone 2 or different among the confined zones 2, may be configured by the user, for example. The user may relocate the confined zones 2 and / or configured the control setting(s) or control instruction(s), for example, by accessing the data processing system 20, either directly or indirectly, e.g., via a desktop computer or any other computer, e.g., smartphone, tablet computer, notebook computer, or similar.

[0063] Then, depending on whether an AMR 10 of the fleet of AMRs 10 is inside a confined zone 2 or the unconfined zone 3, the data processing system 20 may, in a step 106 of method 100, provides different control instructions for controlling the AMRs 10 depending on whether they are positioned inside the confined zones 2 or the unconfined zone 3, where the control instructions may be for example different for confined zones 2 and unconfined zones 3. In a consequent step 204 of method 200, the AMRs 10 may obtain these control instructions for controlling the AMRs 10 and consequently carry them out.

[0064] For example, for the AMR 10 inside the left confined zone 2 in Fig. 1 , the data processing system 20 may provide and / or wirelessly transmit, e.g., via the one or more wireless communication units 30 a control instruction for controlling the AMR 10 positioned inside the left confined zone 2 to travel or move at a certain speed, which may be greater than the travelling or moving speed of the AMRs 10 inside the unconfined zone 3. The AMRs 10 inside the unconfined zone 3 may, for example, receive a control instruction to travel or move at the comparatively slower speed than the AMR 10 inside the left confined zone 2.

[0065] Other control instructions or additional control instructions are also possible. For this purpose, the data processing system 20 may receive further data. For example, in the case of the right confined zone 2 in Fig. 1 , the data processing system 20 may obtain human position data indicative of a position of a human 40 inside the confined zone 2. The human position data may be obtained from one or more detectors, for example, which may be wirelessly or via cable connected to the data processing system 20 and / or the wireless communication units 30, for example. For example, the human position data may be obtained based on a detected interaction with a structure of the confined zone 2, e.g., a door or fence, or based on tracking the movement or position of the human 40. To ensure safety of the human 40, who may have accidentally stepped into the confined zone 2, for example, the control instruction for this AMR 10 provided at step 106 and obtained at step 204 may be configured for changing, e.g., stopping, movement of the AMR 10 positioned inside the right confined zone 2.

[0066] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. The invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the claims.

[0067] As used herein, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Further, as used herein, the phrase “at least one” or similar, e.g., “one or more of’, in reference to a list of one or more entities should be understood to mean at least one entity selected from any one or more of the entities in the list of entities, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every entity specifically listed within the list of entities and not excluding any combinations of entities in the list of entities. This definition also allows that such entities may optionally be present other than the entities specifically identified within the list of entities to which the phrase “at least one” or similar refers, whether related or unrelated to those entities specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B” or, equivalently “at least one of A and / or B” or, equivalently “one or more of A and B”, “one or more of A or B”, or “one or more of A and / or B”) may refer, in one example, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including entities other than B); in another example, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including entities other than A); in yet another example, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other entities). In other words, the phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” and “and / or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B, and C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” and “A, B, and / or C” may mean A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, A, B, and C together, and optionally any of the above in combination with at least one other entity.

[0068] As used herein, the phrase “being indicative of’ may for example mean “reflecting” and / or “comprising”. Accordingly, an entity, element and / or step referred to herein as “being indicative of [...]” can be synonymously or interchangeably used herein with one, two or all of said entity, element and / or step “comprising [...]” and said entity, element and / or step “reflecting [...]”. Further, as used herein, phrases such as “based on”, “related” or “relating”, “associated” and similar are not to be seen exclusively in terms of the entities, elements and / or steps to which they are referring, unless otherwise stated. Instead, these phrases are to be understood inclusively, unless otherwise stated, in that, for example, an entity, element or step referring by any of these phrases or similar, e.g., being “based on”, an or another entity, element or step, does not exclude that the respective entity, element or step may be further or also “based on” any other entity, element or step than the one to which it refers.

[0069] The designation of methods and steps as first, second, etc. as provided herein is merely intended to make the methods and their steps referenceable and distinguishable from one another. By no means does the designation of methods and steps constitute a limitation of the scope of this disclosure. For example, when this disclosure describes a third step of a method, a first or second step of the method do not need to be present yet alone be performed before the third step unless they are explicitly referred to as being required per se or before the third step. Moreover, the presentation of methods or steps in a certain order is merely intended to facilitate one example of this disclosure and by no means constitutes a limitation of the scope of this disclosure. Generally, unless no explicitly required order is being mentioned, the methods and steps may be carried out in any feasible order. Specifically, the terms first, second, third or (a), (b), (c) and the like in the description and in the claims are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.

[0070] In the context of the present invention any numerical value indicated is typically associated with an interval of accuracy that the person skilled in the art will understand to still ensure the technical effect of the feature in question. As used herein, the deviation from the indicated numerical value is in the range of ± 10%, and preferably of ± 5%. The aforementioned deviation from the indicated numerical interval of ± 10%, and preferably of ± 5% is also indicated by the terms “about” and “approximately” used herein with respect to a numerical value.

[0071] Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

Claims1 . A method (100) for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle (10), AMV, for operation inside an industrial area (1), the method (100) comprising: obtaining AMV position data indicative of a position of the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) within the industrial area (1), determining that the position of the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) is inside a confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1) based on the AMV position data and location data indicative of a location of the confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1), and providing a control instruction for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) positioned inside the confined zone (2).

2. The method (100) of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) is an autonomous mobile robot, AMR.

3. The method (100) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the method (100) is carried out by a data processing system (20) configured to wirelessly communicate with the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) for obtaining the AMV position data from the data processing system (20) and providing the control instruction to the autonomous mobile vehicle (10).

4. The method (100) of any one of the previous claims, wherein the control instruction is configured for moving the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) at a speed inside the confined zone (2) different than a speed inside an unconfined zone (3) within the industrial area (1).

5. The method (100) of any one of the previous claims, the method (100) comprising: obtaining human position data indicative of a position of a human (40) inside the confined zone (2), wherein the control instruction is configured for changing movement of the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) positioned inside the confined zone (2) based on the human position data.

6. The method (100) of claim 5, the human position data being based on at least one of an interaction of the human (40) with a fence surrounding the confined zone (2), an interaction of the human (40) with a door for entering the confined zone (2), and a tracking of the position of the human (40) within the industrial area (1).

7. The method (100) of any one of the previous claims, wherein the confined zone (2) is not physically marked and / or not physically separated from an unconfined zone (3) within the industrial area (1).

8. The method (100) of any one of the previous claims, wherein the location data is based on a map of the industrial area (1) and the confined zone (2) located within it.

9. The method (100) of any one of the previous claims, wherein the location data is configured such that the confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1) can be relocated by a user.

10. A data processing system (20) comprising means for carrying out the method (100) of any one of the previous claims.

11. A method (200) for controlling an autonomous mobile vehicle (10), AMV, for operation inside an industrial area (1), the method (200) comprising: providing AMV position data indicative of a position of the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) within the industrial area (1), and obtaining a control instruction for controlling the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) positioned inside a confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1) as determined based on the AMV position data and location data indicative of a location of the confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1).

12. The method (200) of claim 11 , wherein the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) is an autonomous mobile robot, AMR.

13. The method (200) of claim 11 or 12, wherein the method (200) is carried out by the autonomous mobile vehicle (10), which is configured to wirelessly communicate with a data processing system (20) for providing the AMV position data to the data processing system (20) and obtaining the control instruction from the data processing system (20).

14. The method (200) of any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the control instruction is configured for moving the autonomous mobile vehicle (10) at a speed inside the confined zone (2) different than a speed inside an unconfined zone (3) within the industrial area (1).

15. The method (200) of any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the control instruction is configured for changing movement of the at least one autonomous mobile vehicle (10) positioned inside the confined zone (2) based on human position data indicative of a position of a human (40) inside the confined zone (2).

16. The method (200) of claim 15, the human position data being based on at least one of an interaction of the human (40) with a fence surrounding the confined zone (2), an interaction of the human (40) with a door for entering the confined zone (2), and a tracking of the position of the human (40) within the industrial area (1).

17. The method (200) of any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the confined zone (2) is not physically marked and / or not physically separated from an unconfined zone (3) within the industrial area (1).

18. The method (200) of any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein the location data is based on a map of the industrial area (1) and the confined zone (2) located within it.

19. The method (200) of any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the location data is configured such that the confined zone (2) within the industrial area (1) can be relocated by a user.

20. An autonomous mobile vehicle (10) configured for carrying out the method (100) of any one of claims 11 to 19.21 . A computer program product (21 , 11) comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method (100, 200) of any one of claims 1 to 9 and / or any one of claims 11 to 19.

22. A system (1000) comprising the data processing system (20) of claim 10 and multiple autonomous mobile vehicles (10) of claim 20.

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