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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021154848-A1
Application number	US-202016952740-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 19, 2020
Priority date	Nov 25, 2019
Publication date	May 27, 2021
Grant date	—

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 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.

2 . The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object 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 the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object includes a process of transmitting information about a scheduled route of the conveyance robot to the destination to the terminal of the scheduled recipient.

4 . 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 halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object 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.

5 . The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object includes a process of prohibiting the conveyance robot from moving by using an elevator.

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

7 . The conveyance control system according to claim 6 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object includes a process of transmitting information about the place where the conveyance object is to be collected halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object to the terminal of the scheduled recipient

8 . The conveyance control system according to claim 6 , wherein the place where the conveyance object is to be collected halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object is determined based on a specification made by the scheduled recipient.

9 . The conveyance control system according to claim 6 , wherein the place where the conveyance object is to be collected halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object is determined based on a place where a monitoring camera is installed.

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

11 . The conveyance control system according to claim 1 , wherein the process for enabling collection of the conveyance object halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object includes a process of allowing the scheduled recipient to approach the conveyance robot.

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

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

14 . 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 halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object 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 halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object when it is confirmed that the instruction has been received in the check step.

15 . 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 halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object 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 halfway through conveyance of the conveyance object when it is confirmed that the instruction has been received in the check step.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

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

Classifications

• G06Q10/0836

  Recipient pick-ups · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title

• B25J13/08

  by means of sensing devices, e.g. viewing or touching devices · CPC title

• B25J9/1679 Primary

  characterised by the tasks executed · CPC title

• B25J9/1664

  characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning · CPC title