Autonomous ground vehicles congregating in meeting areas
US10222798B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 29, 2016 |
| Grant date | Mar 5, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 29, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q10/0832
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Autonomous ground vehicles (“AGVs”) are utilized to transport ordered items and may congregate in meeting areas (e.g., to receive items from common sources, utilize common resources, communicate, etc.) and the positions of the AGVs in an area may be coordinated. For example, AGVs waiting to receive ordered items from a transportation vehicle (e.g., a delivery truck) may be lined up according to delivery addresses, or according to an order of items in the transportation vehicle, etc. As another example, AGVs that are in a pickup area (e.g., where users may retrieve ordered items from the AGVs), may be arranged in a configuration that is relatively compact but which provides easy access for the users to retrieve the ordered items, etc. The AGVs may be repositioned based on various events (e.g., an AGV leaving the configuration, an improved arrangement being dynamically determined, etc.).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.