Warehouse Mapping Interface for Travel Path Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current warehouse mapping technologies lack efficient tools for accurately mapping indoor and outdoor industrial environments, particularly in facilities with obstacles, to optimize travel paths and minimize errors in navigation.
Innovation Solution
A warehouse mapping tool comprising a mobile mapping interface and a mobile computing device that integrates a waypoint display, error metric indicator, and validation portal, allowing users to access and compare location and heading coordinates to validate travel paths and adjust for errors, enabling precise mapping and navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional mapping methods are used in warehouse environments, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision and manufacturing precision deteriorate due to obstacles and indoor/outdoor variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile computing device as an intermediary that coordinates between multiple sensors (cameras, LIDAR, GPS, IMU) and the mapping process. This mediator integrates data from various sources and manages the complexity of combining different measurement systems to achieve accurate mapping in challenging environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The mapping system is designed to function universally across different environments (indoor warehouses, outdoor facilities) and with different vehicle types. The system combines multiple sensing modalities (visual, ranging, navigation) into a single integrated platform that adapts to various mapping scenarios without requiring environment-specific hardware modifications.
2Measurement precision
If real-time validation and error correction are implemented, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and ease of operation worsen due to additional interface elements
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements real-time feedback by continuously comparing measured travel paths against planned paths and displaying error metrics to the user. The mobile mapping interface provides ongoing validation information, allowing operators to detect and correct deviations during the mapping process rather than discovering errors afterward.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs automatic error detection and validation of travel paths without requiring manual intervention. The mobile computing device autonomously processes sensor data, validates mapping accuracy, and generates error metrics, reducing the operational burden on users while maintaining high precision.
3Measurement precision
If multiple sensors and validation mechanisms are added to improve mapping accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple independent sensing systems (cameras, LIDAR, GPS, IMU) into a single integrated mobile mapping system. By combining these sensors and their processing functions into one unified platform, the system achieves high measurement precision while managing complexity through integration rather than separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex mechanical surveying equipment with electronic and optical sensing systems. Instead of traditional mechanical theodolites and surveying instruments, the patent uses digital cameras, LIDAR, and electronic sensors processed by a mobile computing device, reducing mechanical complexity while improving precision and enabling mobile operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Warehouse mapping tools according to the present disclosure comprise a mobile mapping interface and a mobile computing device in communication with the mobile mapping interface. The mobile computing device can be configured to access waypoint data comprising location coordinates of a set of mapping waypoints, present graphical representations of the set of mapping waypoints at discrete locations in a representation of a warehouse environment, access mobile mapping data representing an elapsed travel path, access error metric data, present a graphical representation of the error metric data, and indicate a validation state of the elapsed travel path segment. In other embodiments, a warehouse mapping tool comprises a remote computer that is configured to communicate with a mapping vehicle and that can be used to facilitate navigation, localization, or odometry correction with respect to an industrial vehicle in the warehouse. In still other embodiments, mapping vehicles comprising warehouse mapping tools are provided.