Autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) cart for item distribution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11378968-B2
Application number	US-201916593984-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2019
Priority date	Oct 22, 2018
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

A disclosed system for transporting items to destination locations, for example when receiving inventory at large retail locations, includes an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) having at least one shelf; a shelf elevator operable to raise and lower the at least one shelf; a drive unit operable to move the AGV between a docking location and a destination location; the AGV able to position the at least one shelf at a different heights for loading and offloading items first height and a second height different from the first height, autonomously navigate between the docking location and the first destination location, and bid on delivery tasks. Some examples are further able to use a cartridge unit to expand cargo capacity. An AGV could analyze the currently-loaded weight and the remaining available space, and dynamically adjust the heights of the shelves according to the dimensions of the assigned items.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for transporting items to destination locations, the system comprising:
an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) comprising:
at least one shelf;
a shelf elevator operable to raise the at least one shelf and lower the at least one shelf;
a drive unit operable to move the AGV between a docking location and a first destination location;
a navigation module;
a wireless communication module;
and
a controller in communication with the shelf elevator, the drive unit, the navigation module, and the wireless communication module to:
generate a bid for a delivery task, the bid including a time required to deliver an item of the delivery task and estimated power to be used to deliver the item;
transmit the bid;
position the at least one shelf at a first height and a second height different from the first height;
autonomously navigate the AGV between the docking location and the first destination location; and
receive delivery instructions corresponding to the delivery task from an orchestrator.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one shelf comprises a conveyor surface.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the at least one shelf comprises at least one selected from the list consisting of:
a roller brake and a conveyor gate.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one shelf comprises a sorting portion.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the first height corresponds to aligning the at least one shelf with a height of the docking location and wherein the second height corresponds to aligning the at least one shelf with a height of the destination location.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the first height corresponds to aligning a first level of a cartridge unit disposed on the shelf with a height of the docking location and wherein the second height corresponds to aligning a second level of the cartridge unit with the height of the docking location.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
a collision avoidance module on the AGV operable to sense pending collisions and instruct an avoidance maneuver.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a monitoring module operable to monitor a parameter of the AVG, wherein the monitored AVG parameter comprises at least one selected from the list consisting of:
load status, remaining load capacity, weight, remaining operational capacity, and position.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is further operable to:
receive a notification of the delivery task; and
in response to receiving the notification, generate the bid for the delivery task.

10. A method of transporting items to destination locations, the method comprising:
docking, by an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV), with a conveyor assembly;
adjusting, on the AGV, a first shelf to a first height for receiving a first item from the conveyor assembly;
receiving, onto the AGV, the first item from the conveyor assembly;
receiving, by the AGV, delivery instructions for the first item;
autonomously navigating, by the AGV, to a first destination location;
adjusting, on the AGV, the first shelf to a second height for unloading the first item at the first destination location;
receiving, by the AGV, a notification of a delivery task for a second item;
generating a bid for the delivery task, the bid including a time required to deliver the second item and estimated power to be used to deliver the second item;
transmitting the bid; and
receiving instructions for the delivery task.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein adjusting the first shelf to the first height comprises aligning a conveyor surface of the AGV with a conveyor surface of the conveyor assembly to form a contiguous conveyor surface.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
adjusting, on the AGV, a second shelf to the first height for receiving a third item from the conveyor assembly.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
adjusting, on the AGV, the first shelf to a third height for receiving a third item from the conveyor assembly;
wherein adjusting the first shelf to the first height comprises aligning a first level, of a cartridge unit disposed on the first shelf, with a conveyor surface of the conveyor assembly; and
wherein adjusting the first shelf to the third height comprises aligning a second level of the cartridge unit with the conveyor surface of the conveyor assembly.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein:
receiving the notification of the delivery task comprises wirelessly receiving the notification of the delivery task; and
transmitting the bid comprises wirelessly transmitting the bid.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
after receiving the first item from the conveyor assembly, actuating, on the AGV, at least one selected from the list consisting of:
a roller brake and a conveyor gate.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
sensing, by the AGV, a pending collision; and
performing, by the AGV, a collision avoidance maneuver.

17. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
monitoring at least one parameter of the AGV;
wherein generating the bid for the delivery task comprises, based at least on the at least one parameter of the AGV, generating the bid for the delivery task; and
wherein the at least one parameter of the AGV comprises at least one selected from the list consisting of:
load status, remaining load capacity, weight, remaining operational capacity, and position.

18. One or more computer storage devices having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for transporting items to destination locations, which, on execution by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
docking, by an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV), with a conveyor assembly;
adjusting, on the AGV, a first shelf to a first height for receiving a first item from the conveyor assembly;
receiving, onto the AGV, the first item from the conveyor assembly;
after receiving the first item from the conveyor assembly, actuating, on the AGV, at least one selected from the list consisting of:
a roller brake and a conveyor gate;

receiving, by the AGV, delivery instructions for the first item;
autonomously navigating, by the AGV, to a first destination location;
sensing, by the AGV, a pending collision;
performing, by the AGV, a collision avoidance maneuver;
adjusting, on the AGV, the first shelf to a second height for unloading the first item at the first destination location;
wirelessly receiving, by the AGV, a notification of a delivery task for a second item;
monitoring at least one parameter of the AGV selected from the list consisting of:
load status, remaining load capacity, weight, remaining operational capacity, and position;

based at least on the at least one parameter of the AGV, generating a bid for the delivery task, the bid including a time required to deliver the second item and estimated power to be used to deliver the second item;
wirelessly transmitting the bid; and
receiving instructions for the delivery task.

19. The one or more computer storage devices of claim 18 wherein the operations further comprise:
adjusting, on the AGV, a second shelf to the first height for receiving a third item from the conveyor assembly.

20. The one or more computer storage devices of claim 18 wherein the operations further comprise:
adjusting, on the AGV, the first shelf to a third height for receiving a third item from the conveyor assembly;
wherein adjusting the first shelf to the fi

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Velten Jeremy L
• Bellar Jason
• High Donald Ray
• Cantrell Robert

Classifications

• B65G69/24

  having platform level adjusting means · CPC title

• B65G65/00 Primary

  Loading or unloading (of vehicles B65G67/00) · CPC title

• B65G67/24

  Unloading land vehicles · CPC title

• B65G67/02

  Loading or unloading land vehicles · CPC title

• G05D1/0238

  using obstacle or wall sensors (G05D1/0246 and G05D1/0289 take precedence; lidar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S17/93) · CPC title