Autonomous mobile vehicle

An autonomous mobile vehicle comprising:

• an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) having a base, a motor coupled to the base, a wheel driven by the motor for moving the AGV, a battery coupled to the motor to power the motor, and an AGV controller for controlling movement of the AGV;
• a platform assembly coupled to the base of the AGV and moved with the AGV, the platform assembly including a frame having sides extending between a top and a bottom defining a footprint of the platform assembly, the platform assembly including a collaborative manipulator controller;
• a collaborative manipulator mounted to a support plate of the frame, the collaborative manipulator having an arm and a gripper at a distal end of the arm being operated to manipulate parts, the collaborative manipulator being operably coupled to the collaborative manipulator controller for controlling operation of the collaborative manipulator, the collaborative manipulator movable from a home position to an extended position, the arm being located within the footprint of the frame of the platform assembly in the home position, the gripper being located adjacent the support plate in the home position, the gripper being located remote from the support plate in the extended position;
• and
• a safety sensor determining when the gripper is located at the home position relative to the frame and determining when the gripper is located in the extended position, wherein the safety sensor includes a first proximity sensor fixed relative to the support plate remote from the collaborative manipulator at a home position at the top of the frame within the footprint and a second proximity sensor coupled to the collaborative manipulator proximate to the distal end and movable with the collaborative manipulator, the second proximity sensor being movable relative to the first proximity sensor, the safety sensor determining when the gripper is located at the home position relative to the frame within the footprint proximate to the support plate by detecting the second proximity sensor in proximity to the frame by determining that the second proximity sensor is in proximity to the first proximity sensor, which is fixed to the frame at the home position.

A method of operating an autonomous mobile vehicle including an automatic guided vehicle (AGV), a platform assembly having sides extending between a top and a bottom defining a footprint coupled to the AGV, a collaborative manipulator coupled to the platform assembly, and a safety sensor sensing a proximity of the collaborative manipulator relative to the platform assembly, wherein the safety sensor includes a first proximity sensor fixed relative to a support plate of the platform assembly remote from the collaborative manipulator at a home position at the top of the frame within the footprint and a second proximity sensor coupled to the collaborative manipulator proximate to the distal end and movable with the collaborative manipulator, the method comprising:

• determining if the AGV is moving or stationary;
• determining if the collaborative manipulator is in a safe position or an unsafe position using the safety sensor by determining if the gripper at the distal end of the movable arm is at the home position relative to the frame proximate to the support plate within the footprint and thus in a safe position or if the gripper at the distal end of the movable arm is away from the home position relative to the frame remote from the support plate outside of the footprint and thus in an unsafe position by detecting if the second proximity sensor on the collaborative manipulator is in proximity to the frame by determining whether or not the second proximity sensor is in proximity to the first proximity sensor fixed relative to the support plate and the frame of the platform assembly at the home position;
• operating the autonomous mobile vehicle in a safe mode if the AGV is stationary and the collaborative manipulator is in the safe position;
• operating the autonomous mobile vehicle in the safe mode if the AGV is stationary and the collaborative manipulator is in the unsafe position;
• and
• operating the autonomous mobile vehicle in a safe mode if the AGV is moving and the collaborative manipulator is in the safe position;
• operating the autonomous mobile vehicle in an unsafe mode if the AGV is moving and the collaborative manipulator is in the unsafe position, wherein the AGV is inoperable in the unsafe mode and wherein the collaborative manipulator is inoperable in the unsafe mode.