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US 12,591,839 B2Granted
Robotic handling system for high priority items
AssigneeZebra Technologies Corporation
InventorsAnders Gustafsson, Edward Barkan, Darran Michael Handshaw, Joseph Cabana
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques for controlling a mobile robot to escort high priority items are disclosed herein. An example mobile robot includes an electronically securable storage compartment electronically controllable between a stored state and an accessible state. The example mobile robot further includes a user access controller configured to receive a user authorization indicating a desired user access to the electronically securable storage compartment. The user access controller may also trigger a mitigation protocol when the electronically securable storage compartment is accessed without receiving the user authorization.
Claims13
A mobile robot comprising:
- an electronically securable storage compartment accessible to a user and electronically controllable between a stored state in which contents within the electronically securable storage compartment are inaccessible to the user and an accessible state in which the contents within the electronically securable storage compartment are accessible to the user;
- and
- a navigation controller configured to:
- receive positional data from a navigation system spanning a facility navigatable by the mobile robot;
- determine, in response to the received positional data, an initial location within the facility and a destination location within the facility;
- establish a recharge threshold, such that, in a default battery usage profile, the navigation controller instructs the mobile robot to travel to a charger location to recharge a battery of the mobile robot when a battery level is below the recharge threshold;
- determine that the recharge threshold is reached while the electronically securable storage compartment includes the contents and is in the stored state;
- and
- when the electronically securable storage compartment includes the contents and is in the stored state, prioritize delivery of the contents by foregoing recharging and entering an alternate battery usage profile by instructing the mobile robot to travel to the destination location in response to determining that:
- (i) the battery level is at or below the recharge threshold and (ii) sufficient charge is present in the battery to reach the destination location;
- wherein a user access controller of the mobile robot is configured to enter the electronically securable storage compartment into the stored state in response to receiving user authorization and a confirmation that the mobile robot is at an initial location and configured to enter the electronically securable storage compartment into the accessible state in response to receiving the user authorization and a confirmation that the mobile robot is at the destination location.
8 more elements
A method for controlling a mobile robot to deliver high priority items, the method comprising:
- receiving an authorization to access an electronically securable storage compartment of the mobile robot, the electronically securable storage compartment electronically controllable between a stored state in which contents within the electronically securable storage compartment are inaccessible to a user and an accessible state in which the contents within the electronically securable storage compartment are accessible to the user;
- receiving positional data from a navigation system spanning a facility navigatable by the mobile robot;
- determining, in response to the received positional data, an initial location within the facility and a destination location within the facility;
- establishing a recharge threshold, such that, in a default battery usage profile, the mobile robot is instructed to travel to a charger location to recharge a battery of the mobile robot when a battery level is below the recharge threshold;
- determining that the recharge threshold is reached while the electronically securable storage compartment includes the contents and is in the stored state;
- and
- when the electronically securable storage compartment includes the contents and is in the stored state, prioritizing delivery of the contents, by a navigation controller of the mobile robot, by foregoing recharging and entering an alternate battery usage profile by instructing the mobile robot to travel to the destination location in response to determining that:
- (i) the battery level is at or below the recharge threshold and (ii) sufficient charge is present in the battery to reach the destination location;
- wherein a user access controller of the mobile robot is configured to enter the electronically securable storage compartment into the stored state in response to receiving user authorization and a confirmation that the mobile robot is at an initial location and configured to enter the electronically securable storage compartment into the accessible state in response to receiving the user authorization and a confirmation that the mobile robot is at the destination location.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.