公开(公告)号：US10755227B1

公开(公告)日：2020-08-25

申请号：US15691316

申请日：2017-08-30

Applicant: Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Aayush Aggarwal ,  Vishnu Ayyagari ,  Matthew Paul Bell ,  Sarfraz Banglawala ,  James Plumley

IPC: G06Q10/08 ,  G05D1/02

Abstract: Systems and methods described herein pertain to maintaining a virtual representation of a workspace in a material handling system and updating the virtual representation. Methods described include maintaining the virtual representation of a material handling grid, maintaining one or more clients operable to direct movement of the plurality of drive units in the workspace; receiving an instruction to update the virtual representation of the drive-unit navigable grid including an updated virtual representation of the workspace; and querying a subset of the one or more clients to determine whether the update to the virtual representation would cause one conflicts within the workspace. Potential conflicts include, but are not limited to, “stranded” resources which are no longer positioned on the material handling grid, and/or workstations that have not yet been suspended prior to the update. Methods further include, upon determining that the updated virtual representation would not cause a conflict, deploying the updated virtual representation to replace an existing virtual representation of the workspace.

公开(公告)号：US11126944B1

公开(公告)日：2021-09-21

申请号：US16271334

申请日：2019-02-08

Applicant: Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Aayush Aggarwal ,  Vishnu Ayyagari ,  James Plumley

IPC: G06Q10/06 ,  G06F9/50 ,  G06Q10/08 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G01C21/20 ,  G01C21/34

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided herein for obstacle detection and avoidance. An obstacle (e.g., a fallen object, an area of congestion, etc.) may be detected utilizing sensor data and/or navigational information provided by various components of a workspace (e.g., mobile drive units, standalone sensors, etc.). Obstacle information corresponding to the obstacle may be utilized to identify tasks within the workspace that may be affected by the obstacle. Paths for these affected tasks may be altered and any subsequent path generated by the system may be generated based at least in part on the obstacle, so long as the obstacle exists. Utilizing the techniques provided herein, the workflows/tasks/paths of the components of the system may be managed so as to avoid interactions between the components of the system and any known obstacle.

公开(公告)号：US11113777B1

公开(公告)日：2021-09-07

申请号：US16271200

申请日：2019-02-08

Applicant: Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Aayush Aggarwal ,  Vishnu Ayyagari ,  James Plumley

IPC: G06Q50/28 ,  G06Q10/06 ,  G01C21/20 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G01C21/34 ,  G05D1/00

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided herein for detecting congestion within a workspace. Historical navigational data may be obtained that indicates a number of locations for mobile drive units of the workspace over various historical time periods. Planned path data for each MDU may be obtained, the planned path data may indicate planned paths of travel for each MDU. A grid of overlapping volumes may be generated for the workspace and each instance of historical navigational data and/or planned path data may be utilized to map historical and/or future locations of the MDUs to corresponding volumes of the grid. A protocol set may be implemented to detect congested volumes based at least in part on the historical navigational data and/or the planned path data for each volume of the grid over one or more time periods. In response to detecting a congested volume, one or more remedial actions may be performed.