US 10,303,171 B1Granted

Autonomous ground vehicles providing ordered items in pickup areas

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsTye Michael Brady, Darren Ernest Canavor, Ethan Zane Evans, Pragyana K. Mishra, Hilliard Bruce Siegel

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Abstract

Autonomous ground vehicles (“AGVs”) containing ordered items travel (e.g., from materials handling facilities, etc.) to pickup areas (e.g., on a street, in a parking lot, inside a store, etc.) where users may retrieve the ordered items from the AGVs. In various configurations, an AGV may have a single storage compartment or may have multiple storage compartments, and multiple AGVs may congregate at a pickup area which may include various facilities/services for the AGVs (e.g., a charging station, a common control station for the AGVs, etc.). Multiple AGVs at a pickup area may be arranged in a particular configuration (e.g., according to a particular order, stacked, etc.), and the configuration may be changed (e.g., when a new AGV arrives and/or when an AGV departs, such as after an ordered item is retrieved from an AGV which then leaves the pickup area to return to a materials handling facility, etc.).

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system to transport ordered items for retrieval by users, the system comprising:

a first autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) comprising:
a first storage compartment having a first locking mechanism;
a first control system configured to control the first locking mechanism;
and a first propulsion portion;
a second AGV comprising:
a second storage compartment having a second locking mechanism;
a second control system configured to control the second locking mechanism;
and a second propulsion portion;
a control station comprising a user interface configured to receive inputs from users, wherein the control station is configured to control the first locking mechanism of the first AGV and to control the second locking mechanism of the second AGV in response to respective inputs from respective users;
and
a computing system, comprising:
one or more processors;
and
a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
receive orders from first and second users for first and second items that are to be retrieved from the first and second storage compartments of the first and second AGVs, respectively;
determine a pickup area where the control station is located and to which the first and second AGVs will travel and where the first and second users may retrieve the first and second items from the first and second AGVs;
provide travel instructions for the first and second AGVs to utilize the first and second propulsion portions to travel to the pickup area where the control station is located;
provide instructions for the control station at the pickup area to control the first locking mechanism of the first AGV to unlock the first storage compartment in response to a first input that is received from the first user at the pickup area;
and
provide instructions for the control station at the pickup area to control the second locking mechanism of the second AGV to unlock the second storage compartment in response to a second input that is received from the second user at the pickup area.

17 more elements

A system comprising:

a control station;
a plurality of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), wherein each AGV comprises a storage compartment having a locking mechanism and the control station is configured to control each locking mechanism in response to a respective input from a respective user;
wherein a first AGV of the plurality of AGVs comprises:
a propulsion portion;
a first storage compartment having a first locking mechanism;
and
a control system, comprising:
one or more processors;
and
a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
control the first locking mechanism to lock the first storage compartment after a first item that was ordered by a first user has been placed in the first storage compartment;
receive instructions to travel to a pickup area where the control station is located and where the first user may retrieve the first item from the first storage compartment;
control the propulsion portion to navigate the first AGV along a travel path to the pickup area;
while the first AGV is at the pickup area where the control station is located, receive instructions from the control station to unlock the first storage compartment, wherein the instructions are sent from the control station in response to a first input from the first user at the pickup area;
and
in response to the instructions from the control station, control the locking mechanism to unlock the first storage compartment to enable the first item to be retrieved from the first storage compartment by the first user.

13 more elements

A system to transport ordered items for retrieval by users, the system comprising:

a first autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) comprising a first storage compartment having a first locking mechanism;
a second AGV comprising a second storage compartment having a second locking mechanism;
a control station comprising a user interface configured to receive inputs from users, wherein the control station is configured to control the first locking mechanism of the first AGV and to control the second locking mechanism of the second AGV in response to respective inputs from respective users;
and
a computing system, comprising:
one or more processors;
and
a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
provide instructions for first and second ordered items that have been ordered by first and second users, respectively, to be placed in the first and second storage compartments of the first and second AGVs while the first and second AGVs are at a materials handling facility;
provide instructions for the first and second AGVs to travel from the materials handling facility to a pickup area where the control station is located and to remain in the pickup area for first and second designated timeframes respectively, during which the first and second items may be retrieved by the first and second users;
provide instructions for the first AGV to depart from the pickup area in response to the control station controlling the first locking mechanism of the first AGV to unlock the first storage compartment and the first item having been retrieved from the first storage compartment by the first user;
and
provide instructions for the second AGV to depart from the pickup area in response to the control station controlling the second locking mechanism of the second AGV to unlock the second storage compartment and the second item having been retrieved from the second storage compartment by the second user.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.