# US 10,120,390 B2 · System, computing device, and method for unmanned vehicle fleet control > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,120,390 B2 - Document ID: US10120390B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/429,974 - Filed: 2017-02-10 - Published: 2017-07-20 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2014-10-31 - Applicants: Clearpath Robotics, Inc. - Inventors: Ryan Christopher Gariepy; Alex Bencz - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10120390B2 ## CPC - G05D 1/0297: {by controlling means in a control room} - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES ## Abstract A system for controlling a fleet of unmanned vehicles includes a plurality of unmanned vehicles connected to a computing device. The computing device stores a dynamic attribute and a static attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles. The computing device is configured to: receive a task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action; responsive to receiving the request, retrieve the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes; based on a comparison of the task request with the dynamic attributes and the static attributes, select one of the plurality of unmanned vehicles; and transmit, via the network, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system, comprising: a plurality of unmanned vehicles; a computing device for connection to the plurality of unmanned vehicles via a network, the computing device storing, in a memory, (i) a dynamic attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is variable during vehicle operation and (ii) a static attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the static attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is invariable during vehicle operation; the computing device configured to: receive a task request, the task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action; responsive to receiving the request, retrieve the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes from the memory; for each unmanned vehicle, evaluate the dynamic attribute and the static attribute against at least one criterion; when the at least one criterion is satisfied, add the unmanned vehicle to a selection set; optimize the selection set to identify one of the unmanned vehicles as a selected unmanned vehicle that best matches the task request; and transmit, via the network, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, each of the unmanned vehicles having a motor coupled to an energy storage device; wherein the dynamic attribute respective to each unmanned vehicle includes at least one of a location of the unmanned vehicle, an availability indicator for the unmanned vehicle, and a remaining capacity of the energy storage device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the static attribute respective to each of the unmanned vehicles includes at least a maximum payload of the unmanned vehicle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the computing device further configured to: prior to selecting one of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, retrieve, from the memory, an item attribute corresponding to the item and a location attribute corresponding to the location. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4, wherein the item attribute includes at least one of a mass of the item and a dimension of the item; and wherein the location attribute includes a set of coordinates of the location. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the computing device further configured to: responsive to transmitting the command to the selected unmanned vehicle, update the dynamic attribute respective to the selected unmanned vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the action type is a pick up action; wherein the command is a command to pick up the item at the location; and wherein the update includes adding the item identifier to the dynamic attribute. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the action type is an in-process action; wherein the command is a command to machine the item at the location. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the update includes replacing the item identifier in the dynamic attribute with another item identifier. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the action type is a drop off action; wherein the command is a command to drop off the item at the location; and wherein the update includes removing the item identifier from the dynamic attribute. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the computing device further configured to receive the task request from a second computing device via the network. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the dynamic attribute defining at least one of: a current location of the unmanned vehicle, a remaining energy supply of the unmanned vehicle, an indication of availability for the unmanned vehicle, and a current payload identifier for the unmanned vehicle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the static attribute defining at least one of: a maximum speed of the unmanned vehicle, a curb weight of the unmanned vehicle, a maximum payload of the unmanned vehicle, and an identifier of a tool mounted to the unmanned vehicle. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the static attributes for the plurality of unmanned vehicles being heterogeneous. ### Claim 15 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, the computing device further configured to: subsequent to transmitting the command, receive a status message from the selected unmanned vehicle via the network; determine whether the status message indicates completion of the action respective to the item at the location; and when the status message indicates completion, send a confirmation message to the second computing device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, the computing device further configured to: determine whether the status message indicates a failure to complete the action respective to the item at the location; when the status message indicates a failure, send an alert to the second computing device. ### Claim 17 A computing device, comprising: a communications interface for connection to a plurality of unmanned vehicles via a network; memory storing (i) a dynamic attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is variable during vehicle operation and (ii) a static attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the static attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is invariable during vehicle operation; and a processor connected to the communications interface and the memory, the processor configured to: receive a task request, the task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action; responsive to receiving the request, retrieve the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes from the memory; for each unmanned vehicle, evaluate the dynamic attribute and the static attribute against at least one criterion; when the at least one criterion is satisfied, add the unmanned vehicle to a selection set; optimize the selection set to identify one of the unmanned vehicles in the selection set as a selected unmanned vehicle that best matches the task request; and transmit, via the communications interface, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location. ### Claim 18 A method, comprising: storing, in a memory, (i) a dynamic attribute respective of each of a plurality of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is variable during vehicle operation and (ii) a static attribute respective of each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the static attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is invariable during vehicle operation; receiving, at a processor connected to the memory, a task request, the task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action; responsive to receiving the request, retrieving the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes from the memory; for each unmanned vehicle, evaluating the dynamic attribute and the static attribute against at least one criterion; when the at least one criterion is satisfied, add the unmanned vehicle to a selection set; optimizing the selection set to identify one of the unmanned vehicles as a selected unmanned vehicle that best matches the task request; and transmitting, via a communications interface connected to the processor, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location.