Automated Aerial Vehicles for Priority Pick Item Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
In materials handling facilities, exceptions such as missing or damaged items can disrupt shipping schedules, leading to missed ship dates, especially when items need to be quickly retrieved and transported to meet critical pull times.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of automated aerial vehicles (AAVs) for rapid transportation of priority pick items, which can travel quickly and navigate through facilities to alternative locations, avoiding obstacles and optimizing routes, to ensure timely delivery and mitigate scheduling disruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional ground-based transportation methods are used to transport items within the facility, then the transportation system is simple and easy to implement, but the transportation time is excessive and may cause missed ship dates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical ground-based transportation systems with an aerial robotic vehicle system that flies through the facility using rotors and navigates three-dimensional space, substituting conventional mechanical wheeled transport with aerodynamic flight mechanisms to achieve faster transportation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional ground-based transportation to three-dimensional aerial transportation by deploying robotic vehicles that fly through the air space above storage racks and processing areas, utilizing the vertical dimension to create direct flight paths that bypass traditional horizontal routing constraints
2Speed
If automated aerial vehicles are deployed for rapid transportation, then the transportation speed increases significantly, but the system complexity and operational challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
The aerial robotic vehicles are equipped with autonomous navigation capabilities, onboard sensors, and self-contained propulsion systems that enable them to independently navigate the facility, locate items, transport them to destinations, and return without continuous human intervention or complex external control infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The aerial vehicle system is designed to perform multiple functions including transporting various types of items (packages, components, materials), navigating around obstacles dynamically, adapting to different destinations within the facility, and potentially serving multiple processing areas simultaneously, reducing the need for specialized transportation systems for different purposes
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes a system and method for utilizing an automated aerial vehicle for rapidly transporting a priority pick item when an exception occurs (e.g., an item that was to be picked from another location or otherwise processed is found to be missing or damaged). In some implementations, a priority pick instruction may be generated that directs picking of the item from an alternative location after which the item may be transported by the automated aerial vehicle to a processing location (e.g., a problem solve station). A flight path may be determined which may have starting and ending points at designated locations where the automated aerial vehicle can safely land and take off for acquiring and/or delivering the priority pick item.