Autonomous Mobile Robot Standby Layout for Priority Route Conflicts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous mobile systems face challenges in creating efficient delivery schedules when prioritization leads to difficulties in temporary evacuation and standby arrangements, particularly when succeeding robots have higher priorities.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous mobile system that stands by in a predetermined standby area until another robot with higher priority completes its delivery or passage, with prioritized standby positions based on distance from the destination or waypoint, allowing for efficient repositioning and improved movement efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot with higher priority is made to travel first at a confluence, then the priority order is maintained, but the preceding robot cannot be temporarily evacuated making it difficult to create an efficient delivery schedule
Solution Approach 1:
The confluence area is segmented into multiple standby positions (first standby position, second standby position, etc.) arranged in the standby direction. This segmentation allows multiple robots to be accommodated simultaneously in an organized manner, enabling the preceding robot to evacuate to a specific standby position while maintaining priority order, thus resolving the conflict between priority maintenance and schedule efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The solution introduces a new dimension (standby direction perpendicular to the traveling direction) to resolve the spatial conflict. Instead of blocking the traveling path to maintain priority, robots can evacuate in the standby direction to designated positions, allowing the higher-priority robot to pass through while the preceding robot waits in the newly introduced dimensional space
2Reliability
If the preceding robot stands by in the traveling path to maintain priority order, then the priority is maintained, but the movement efficiency and delivery schedule are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The standby function is extracted from the traveling path and relocated to dedicated standby positions in the standby direction. This separation allows the traveling path to remain clear for high-priority robots while providing designated waiting areas for lower-priority robots, eliminating the need to block the path and reducing standby time loss
3Device complexity
If multiple robots are accommodated at the confluence without standby positions, then the system is simple, but efficient delivery schedules cannot be created when succeeding robots have higher priorities
Solution Approach 1:
The standby area is segmented into multiple positioned spots (first standby position, second standby position, etc.) arranged in a systematic manner along the standby direction. This structured segmentation provides clear evacuation destinations for robots while maintaining relative simplicity in the overall system design, enabling efficient scheduling without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The standby positions act as intermediary zones between the traveling path and the final destination. These intermediary positions allow robots to temporarily pause in an organized manner, facilitating efficient delivery schedules by providing buffer zones that mediate between priority requirements and movement efficiency
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous mobile system according to the present embodiment includes an autonomous mobile robot that autonomously moves in a facility. Among priorities assigned to a plurality of the autonomous mobile robots for delivery of a transported object at a destination or passage through a waypoint in the facility, when the autonomous mobile robot has a lower priority, the autonomous mobile robot stands by in a predetermined standby area until another autonomous mobile robot having a higher priority completes the delivery or the passage.