Dynamically maintaining a map of a fleet of robotic devices in an environment to facilitate robotic action

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10296995-B2
Application number	US-201816008819-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2018
Priority date	Nov 11, 2014
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Methods and systems for dynamically maintaining a map of robotic devices in an environment are provided herein. A map of robotic devices may be determined, where the map includes predicted future locations of at least some of the robotic devices. One or more robotic devices may then be caused to perform a task. During a performance of the task by the one or more robotic devices, task progress data may be received from the robotic devices, indicative of which of the task phases have been performed. Based on the data, the map may be updated to include a modification to the predicted future locations of at least some of the robotic devices. One or more robotic devices may then be caused to perform at least one other task in accordance with the updated map.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining a digital map of a plurality of robotic devices within a physical environment, wherein the digital map includes a predicted future location of at least one of the plurality of robotic devices;
causing one or more robotic devices of the plurality to perform a task comprising one or more task phases;
during a performance of at least one of the one or more task phases by the one or more robotic devices, receiving, from the one or more robotic devices, task progress data indicative of which of the one or more task phases have been performed by the one or more robotic devices;
based on the received task progress data, updating the digital map of the plurality of robotic devices within the physical environment, wherein the updated digital map includes a modification to the predicted future location of at least one of the plurality of robotic devices;
determining a prioritization of the plurality of robotic devices, the prioritization defining relative priority levels among the robotic devices of the plurality, wherein the prioritization is based on a determination of whether each robotic device is involved in the performance of the task; and
transmitting the updated digital map to the plurality of robotic devices in accordance with the determined prioritization.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prioritization defines higher priority levels for robotic devices involved in the performance of the task than for robotic devices not involved in the performance of the task.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the task occurs within an area of interest of the physical environment, and
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective distances from each robotic device to the area of interest.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the task occurs within an area of interest of the physical environment, and
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective anticipated times each robotic device will take to reach the area of interest.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the task occurs within an area of interest of the physical environment, and
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of whether respective anticipated trajectories of each robotic device include at least a portion of the area of interest.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital map is one of at least one version of the digital map, each version of the digital map having a respective map version number,
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective map version numbers of the respective digital map used by each robotic device, and
wherein the prioritization defines higher priority levels for robotic devices with older map version numbers than robotic devices with more recent map version numbers.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication of an obstacle detected within the physical environment,
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective distances from each robotic device to the obstacle, and
wherein the prioritization defines higher priority levels for robotic devices whose trajectories are within a predetermined threshold distance from the obstacle than for robotic devices whose trajectories are not within the predetermined threshold distance.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the task is a first task, the method further comprising:
controlling the plurality of robotic devices to perform, in accordance with the updated digital map, a second task or at least one other task phase of the first task.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the task involves a transfer of an object within the physical environment from one robotic device to another robotic device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the task involves at least one robotic device of the plurality delivering an object within the physical environment to a target location.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, upon execution by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
determining a digital map of a plurality of robotic devices within a physical environment, wherein the digital map includes a predicted future location of at least one of the plurality of robotic devices;
causing one or more robotic devices of the plurality to perform a task comprising one or more task phases;
during a performance of at least one of the one or more task phases by the one or more robotic devices, receiving, from the one or more robotic devices, task progress data indicative of which of the one or more task phases have been performed by the one or more robotic devices;
based on the received task progress data, updating the digital map of the plurality of robotic devices within the physical environment, wherein the updated digital map includes a modification to the predicted future location of at least one of the plurality of robotic devices;
determining a prioritization of the plurality of robotic devices, the prioritization defining relative priority levels among the robotic devices of the plurality, wherein the prioritization is based on a determination of whether each robotic device is involved in the performance of the task; and
transmitting the updated digital map to the plurality of robotic devices in accordance with the determined prioritization.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the prioritization defines higher priority levels for robotic devices involved in the performance of the task than for robotic devices not involved in the performance of the task.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the performance of the task occurs within an area of interest of the physical environment, and
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective distances from each robotic device to the area of interest.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the performance of the task occurs within an area of interest of the physical environment, and
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective anticipated times each robotic device will take to reach the area of interest.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the performance of the task occurs within an area of interest of the physical environment, and
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of whether respective anticipated trajectories of each robotic device include at least a portion of the area of interest.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the digital map is one of at least one version of the digital map, each version of the digital map having a respective map version number,
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective map version numbers of the respective digital map used by each robotic device, and
wherein the prioritization defines higher priority levels for robotic devices with older map version numbers than robotic devices with more recent map version numbers.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving an indication of an obstacle detected within the physical environment,
wherein the prioritization is further based on a determination of respective distances from each robotic device to the

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Saboo Rohit Ramesh
• Kuffner James Joseph
• Mason Julian

Classifications

• B25J9/0084

  comprising a plurality of manipulators · CPC title

• G05B19/41895 Primary

  using automatic guided vehicles [AGV] (control of position or course of AGV's G05D1/00) · CPC title

• Y02P90/60

  Electric or hybrid propulsion means for production processes · CPC title

• B25J19/021

  Optical sensing devices · CPC title

• G05B2219/31007

  Floor plan, map stored in on-board computer of vehicle · CPC title