Autonomous vehicle networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11263579-B1
Application number	US-201615369536-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 5, 2016
Priority date	Dec 5, 2016
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a network of autonomous vehicles, such as autonomous ground vehicles (“AGVs”) that deliver items to and/or from a destination location and/or perform a service. For example, a community (e.g., neighborhood, apartment complex) may include a plurality of autonomous vehicles that deliver payloads to different locations (e.g., homes, apartments) within the community for use or consumption. Some of the payloads are community items (e.g., microwave, stove top, cooking utensils) that are shared by members of the community and transferred between locations within the community by autonomous vehicles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving an activity request;
determining, from a plurality of items, an item for performing an activity included in the activity request, the item to be delivered by an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV), and wherein the item is a shared community item usable among a plurality of users within a community and the activity request indicates a destination location for the activity request;
allocating, by at least one server, use of the item to one of the plurality of users for a period of time;
determining, by the at least one server, a source location where the item is located;
determining, based at least in part on the item, the source location, and the destination location, an AGV that is available and capable of transporting the item from the source location to the destination location;
sending an instruction to the AGV to navigate to the source location, retrieve the item, and transport the item to the destination location;
sending a second instruction to the AGV to depart from the destination location;
determining that the period of time has elapsed; and
in response to determining that the period of time has elapsed, sending a third instruction to the AGV to navigate to the destination location to retrieve the item from the destination location and transport the item from the destination location so that the item is available for reuse by another user from the plurality of users.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a first navigation path for the AGV from a current location of the AGV to the source location;
determining a second navigation path for the AGV from the source location to the destination location; and
wherein the instructions include an indication of the first navigation path and the second navigation path.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an item parameter corresponding to the item, wherein the item parameter includes at least one of a weight of the item, a dimension of the item, a storage characteristic of the item, or a type of the item; and
wherein determining an AGV that is available and capable of transporting the item is further based at least in part on the item parameter.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining at least one of an item pickup parameter or an item delivery parameter; and
wherein:
the item pickup parameter indicates at least one of an attachment capability of the item at the source location, a first time at which the item is available for retrieval, or a first duration of time that the item is available; and
the item delivery parameter indicates at least one of a detachment capability of the item at the destination location, a second time at which the item is to arrive at the destination location, or the period of time that the item is to be at the destination location.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the source location is a materials handling facility that stores a plurality of items for a community of users; and
the item is at least one of a personal item maintained at the materials handling facility and owned by a user of the community of users, or a community item maintained at the materials handling facility and usable by each user of the community of users.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the activity request includes a requested time, and the computer-implemented method further comprises determining that the item is available at the requested time.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the activity request includes a requested time, and the computer-implemented method further comprises:
determining that the item is not available at the requested time;
determining one or more alternate times at which the item is available; and
receiving an alternate time from the one or more alternate times.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a personal item associated with the activity request; and
sending an instruction to the AGV to retrieve the personal item and transport the personal item to the destination location.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the AGV is associated with the community.

10. A method, comprising:
determining a task to be performed;
determining, from a plurality of items, an item associated with the task to be performed;
determining that the item is to be retrieved from a source location and transported to a destination location by an autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles as part of the task, wherein the item is a shared community item usable among a plurality of users;
determining a time duration that the item is to remain at the destination location;
allocating use of the item to one of the plurality of users for the time duration;
sending a first instruction to the autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to navigate to the source location, retrieve the item, and navigate to the destination location to make the item available at the destination location;
sending a second instruction to the autonomous vehicle to depart the destination location;
determining that the time duration has elapsed; and
sending a third instruction to the autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to navigate to the destination location to retrieve the item from the destination location and transport the item from the destination location so that the item is available for reuse by another user from the plurality of users.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining a second item to be transported to the destination location by the autonomous vehicle or a second autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles as part of the task; and
sending a fourth instruction to the autonomous vehicle or the second autonomous vehicle to transport the second item to the destination location to make the second item available at the destination location.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the second item is at least one of a personal item owned by a user or an item ordered for purchase by the user.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the source location is a personal residence;
the destination location is a business that provides a service;
the time duration includes a time to perform the service with respect to the item; and
wherein the third instruction includes an instruction to transport the item back to the source location.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the service includes a cleaning service that cleans the item; and
the item is at least one of an item of clothing, a dish, a cooking utensil, or an animal.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the item is at least one of an appliance, a cooking instrument, a tool, or a container into which other items may be placed.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining a time at which the task is to be performed at the destination location; and
planning a navigation of the autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles such that the autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles arrives at the destination location at a scheduled time corresponding to the time.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the first instruction is sent to a first autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomous vehicles; and
the third instruction is sent to a second autonomous vehicle of the plurality of autonomou

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Siegel Hilliard Bruce
• Mishra Pragyana K
• Canavor Darren Ernest
• Evans Ethan Zane
• Brady Tye Michael

Classifications

• G08G1/202

  Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching · CPC title

• G06Q10/0832 Primary

  Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods · CPC title

• G01C21/34

  Route searching; Route guidance · CPC title

• G05D1/021

  specially adapted to land vehicles · CPC title

• G05D2201/02

  Physics · mapped topic