US 12,459,739 B2 · Automated transporter fleet control in order fulfillment facilities

Abstract

A method includes: obtaining a batch of item group definitions, each item group definition having one or more item identifiers and corresponding quantities; for each item identifier, retrieving (i) a location of a corresponding item in a facility, and (ii) a dimensional attribute of the corresponding item; based on the locations and dimensional attributes, assigning sets of the item group definitions to respective receptacle configurations, each receptacle configuration including, for each item group definition in the set, a receptacle type with a predefined capacity; monitoring availability of a plurality of transporters in the facility, each transporter having a chassis configured to support a selectable set of receptacles; and responsive to detecting that a transporter is available, selecting one of the receptacle configurations, and presenting the selected receptacle configuration via an output device, to initiate placement of receptacles onto the chassis of the transporter according to the selected receptacle configuration.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A method, comprising:

obtaining a batch of item group definitions, each item group definition having one or more item identifiers and corresponding quantities;
for each item identifier, retrieving (i) a location of a corresponding item in a facility, and (ii) a dimensional attribute of the corresponding item;
based on the locations and dimensional attributes, assigning sets of the item group definitions to respective receptacle configurations, each receptacle configuration including, for each item group definition in the set, a receptacle type with a predefined capacity;
monitoring availability of a plurality of transporters in the facility, each transporter having a chassis configured to support a selectable set of receptacles;
and
responsive to detecting that a transporter is available, selecting one of the receptacle configurations, and presenting the selected receptacle configuration via an output device, to initiate placement of receptacles onto the chassis of the transporter according to the selected receptacle configuration.

3 more elements

A computing device, comprising:

a communications interface;
a memory;
and
a processor configured to:
obtain a batch of item group definitions, each item group definition having one or more item identifiers and corresponding quantities;
for each item identifier, retrieve (i) a location of a corresponding item in a facility, and (ii) a dimensional attribute of the corresponding item;
based on the locations and dimensional attributes, assign sets of the item group definitions to respective receptacle configurations, each receptacle configuration including, for each item group definition in the set, a receptacle type with a predefined capacity;
monitor availability of a plurality of transporters in the facility, each transporter having a chassis configured to support a selectable set of receptacles;
and
responsive to detecting that a transporter is available, select one of the receptacle configurations, and present the selected receptacle configuration via an output device, to initiate placement of receptacles onto the chassis of the transporter according to the selected receptacle configuration.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Automated transporter fleet control in order fulfillment facilities

Life of this patent

Automated transporter fleet control in order fulfillment facilities

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims26