Area-Based AMR Coordination for Dynamic Warehouse Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technologies are insufficient in integrating robots safely and efficiently into dynamic warehouse and manufacturing environments, as they lack the ability to understand and adapt to changing three-dimensional environments, leading to complications in tasks such as object transportation and unloading.
Innovation Solution
A central communication system that enables real-time understanding of facility environments, allowing for macro-level instructions to be given and robots to autonomously select objects and navigate to destination areas without granular instructions, using modules for source and destination area identification, robot selection, and autonomous navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing autonomous mobile robot technology is used in dynamic warehouse environments, then robots can perform basic transportation tasks, but they cannot safely integrate into the workplace due to inability to understand and adapt to changing three-dimensional environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central communication system as an intermediary that provides a shared three-dimensional map of the facility environment to all robots. This mediator enables robots to understand the dynamic environment without each robot needing independent sensing capabilities, resolving the contradiction between safety (reliability) and adaptability by providing centralized environmental awareness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-building and maintaining a three-dimensional map of the facility environment before robots operate. This advance preparation of environmental data allows robots to safely navigate and adapt to changing conditions without real-time sensing delays, improving both safety and adaptability.
2Productivity
If robots are given macro-level instructions to transport objects from source to destination areas, then operational efficiency improves, but granular control is lost requiring autonomous decision-making by robots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control system into two distinct levels: a central communication system that handles high-level task assignment and macro-level instructions, and individual robots that handle local autonomous decision-making for navigation and object manipulation. This segmentation allows operational efficiency to improve through centralized coordination while distributing the complexity burden to individual robots.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a temporal and hierarchical dimension to robot control by implementing multi-level autonomous capabilities. Robots operate autonomously in the immediate present for navigation and manipulation, while the central system provides strategic direction at a higher hierarchical level, resolving the contradiction between efficiency and complexity through dimensional separation of control functions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If robots autonomously select routes and objects without granular instructions, then operational flexibility increases, but the complexity of autonomous navigation and object selection algorithms increases
Solution Approach 1:
The central communication system acts as an intermediary that provides robots with pre-processed environmental information including three-dimensional maps, object locations, and destination areas. This mediator reduces the complexity of navigation and selection algorithms by filtering and organizing environmental data, allowing robots to maintain operational flexibility without bearing the full computational burden.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-processing environmental data and preparing three-dimensional maps, object inventories, and destination information before robots execute tasks. This advance preparation reduces the real-time computational complexity required for autonomous navigation and object selection, enabling operational flexibility with manageable algorithmic complexity.
4Reliability
If a central communication system provides real-time environmental understanding to multiple robots, then coordination and safety improve, but system complexity and communication requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The central communication system is designed as a universal platform that serves multiple functions: maintaining three-dimensional environmental maps, assigning tasks to robots, receiving status updates from robots, and coordinating movements. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems, improving coordination and safety while managing overall system complexity through functional integration.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method are disclosed that identifies a source area within a facility comprising a plurality of objects, and determines a destination area within the facility to which the plurality of objects are to be transported and unloaded. The system selects robots within the facility based a capability of the robots and/or a location of the robots within the facility. The system provides an instruction to the robots to transport the plurality of objects from the source area to the destination area. The robots are configured to autonomously select an object based on a position and location of the object within the source area, transport the selected object to a destination area along a route selected by the robot, and unload the selected object at a location within the destination area selected based on a number of objects yet to be unloaded within the destination area.