Generation of a control signal to a conveyor system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11261053-B2
Application number	US-201916506626-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2019
Priority date	Aug 3, 2018
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

A method for generating a control signal to a conveyor system, the conveyor system configured to serve at least a plurality of robots, includes receiving, in a control entity, a service call for a first robot, the service call being associated with a priority of the first robot; determining, by the control entity, the priority of the first robot; and generating, by the control entity, a control signal to the conveyor system to serve the service call for the first robot in accordance with the determined priority of the first robot. A control entity, a robot and a system are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating a control signal to a conveyor system, the conveyor system configured to serve at least a plurality of robots, the method comprising:
obtaining information regarding a status of allocation of service calls to the conveyor system;
determining a time to generate a first service call to the conveyor system based on a service load caused to the conveyor system based on the information and a task a first robot among the plurality of robots is to complete;
generating, by the first robot among the plurality of robots, the first service call based on the determined time;
receiving, in a control entity of the conveyor system, a plurality of service calls, the plurality of service calls including the first service call and at least one passenger having a service call separate from the first service call;
determining, by the control entity of the conveyor system, a priority of the services calls; and
generating, by the control entity of the conveyor system, a control signal serving the received service calls in accordance with the determined priority.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service calls are received from at least one of the following:
a robot, a data center, a control entity, and a user terminal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the priority of the service calls is dependent on a task defined for a respective robot among the plurality of robots.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the service calls are received from at least one of the following:
a robot, a data center, a control entity, and a user terminal.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein each task is defined in response to at least one of the following:
an interaction over a user interface of the respective robot, the interaction generating an operational instruction for the respective robot, and
an internal processing of data by the respective robot.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the service calls are received from at least one of the following:
a robot, a data center, a control entity, and a user terminal.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the interaction is performed with at least one of the following:
the user interface implemented with at least one input/output device in the respective robot, and the user interface establishing a wireless communication interface in the respective robot.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the service calls are received from at least one of the following:
a robot, a data center, a control entity, and user terminal.

9. A robot comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code,
wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor:
obtain information regarding a status of allocation of service calls to a conveyor system,
determine a time to generate a service call to the conveyor system based on a service load caused to the conveyor system based on the information and a task the robot is to complete, and
cause the robot to aggregate the service call to a control entity of a conveyor system, the service call being associated with a priority of the robot and based on the determined time.

10. The robot of claim 9 , wherein the robot is configured to generate the service call in response to at least one of the following: an interaction over a user interface of the robot, a communication interface of the robot, and an internal processing of data by the robot.

11. A system comprising:
a conveyor system comprising a control entity; and
a plurality of robots,
wherein the system is configured to:
obtain information regarding a status of allocation of service calls to the conveyor system,
determine a time to generate a first service call to the conveyor system based on a service load caused to the conveyor system based on the information and a task a first robot among the plurality of robots is to complete, and
cause the first robot to generate the first service call based on the determined time,

wherein a plurality of service calls, including the first service call and at least one passenger having a service call separate from the first service call, is received in the control entity of the conveyor system,
wherein the priority of the plurality of services calls is determined by the control entity, and
wherein a control signal is generated, by the control entity, to serve the received service calls in accordance with the determined priority.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the service call is generated by at least one of the following: the first robot, a data center, the control entity, and a user terminal.

Assignees

• Kone Corp

Inventors

• Vuorenala Jere
• Elomaa Niko

Classifications

• B25J9/1679

  characterised by the tasks executed · CPC title

• B66B1/3446

  Data transmission or communication within the control system · CPC title

• B65G43/10

  Sequence control of conveyors operating in combination · CPC title

• B66B1/468 Primary

  Call registering systems · CPC title

• B66B2201/4661

  for priority users · CPC title