Conveyance control system, conveyance control program, and conveyance control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11607812-B2
Application number	US-202016952740-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 19, 2020
Priority date	Nov 25, 2019
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

Abstract

A conveyance control system according to the present disclosure is a conveyance control system configured to control a conveyance robot to autonomously move and convey a conveyance object to a destination, including: a reception unit configured to receive, from a scheduled recipient of the conveyance object, an instruction that the conveyance object is to be collected halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object; and an execution unit configured to execute a predetermined process for enabling collection of the conveyance object halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object when the reception unit receives the instruction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conveyance control system configured to control a conveyance robot to autonomously move and convey a conveyance object to a destination, the conveyance control system comprising:
a reception unit configured to receive, from a scheduled recipient of the conveyance object, an instruction that the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination; and
an execution unit configured to execute a predetermined process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination when the reception unit receives the instruction,
wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of transmitting information about a scheduled route of the conveyance robot to the destination, which is independent of a scheduled recipient destination, to a terminal of the scheduled recipient.

2. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of transmitting current location information of the conveyance robot to a terminal of the scheduled recipient.

3. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein when the information about the scheduled route of the conveyance robot to the destination has already been transmitted to the terminal of the scheduled recipient, the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of prohibiting the conveyance robot from moving along a route other than the scheduled route indicated by the information about the scheduled route.

4. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of prohibiting the conveyance robot from moving by using an elevator.

5. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of causing the conveyance robot to wait at a place where the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination.

6. The conveyance control system according to claim 5 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of transmitting information about the place where the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination to a terminal of the scheduled recipient.

7. The conveyance control system according to claim 5 , wherein the place where the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination is determined based on a specification made by the scheduled recipient.

8. The conveyance control system according to claim 5 , wherein the place where the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination is determined based on a place where a monitoring camera is installed.

9. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of notifying a terminal of a predetermined third party other than the scheduled recipient about reception of the instruction that the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination.

10. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of allowing the scheduled recipient to approach the conveyance robot.

11. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of issuing, to a terminal of the scheduled recipient, a temporary electronic key for enabling the conveyance object to be taken out from the conveyance robot.

12. The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of recording an action history of the conveyance robot at least until the conveyance object is collected.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a conveyance control program for controlling a conveyance robot to autonomously move and convey a conveyance object to a destination, the conveyance control program causing a computer to execute:
a movement step of causing the conveyance robot to move toward the destination;
a check step of checking whether an instruction that the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination is received from a scheduled recipient while the movement step is being executed; and
an execution step of executing a predetermined process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination when it is confirmed that the instruction has been received in the check step,
wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of transmitting information about a scheduled route of the conveyance robot to the destination, which is independent of a scheduled recipient destination, to a terminal of the scheduled recipient.

14. A conveyance control method for controlling a conveyance robot to autonomously move and convey a conveyance object to a destination, the conveyance control method comprising:
a movement step of causing the conveyance robot to move toward the destination;
a check step of checking whether an instruction that the conveyance object is to be collected before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination is received from a scheduled recipient while the movement step is being executed; and
an execution step of executing a predetermined process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination when it is confirmed that the instruction has been received in the check step,
wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object before the conveyance robot arrives at the destination includes a process of transmitting information about a scheduled route of the conveyance robot to the destination, which is independent of a scheduled recipient destination, to a terminal of the scheduled recipient.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Takai Tomohisa
• Yamaguchi Yuhei
• Toyoshima Satoshi
• Watanabe Yuta
• Honda Mikio
• Oda Shiro
• Taira Tetsuya
• Otsuki Nobuhisa

Classifications

• G06Q10/0832 Primary

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

• G06Q10/0833

  Tracking · CPC title

• G06Q10/0836

  Recipient pick-ups · CPC title

• B25J11/008

  Manipulators for service tasks · CPC title

• B25J9/1697

  Vision controlled systems · CPC title