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US 12,747,142 B2Granted
Systems and methods for flush placement of pallets by an autonomous forklift
AssigneeSymbotic LLC
InventorsPeter Anderson-Sprecher, Krishnan Balasubramanian, Arun Joseph
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates, in general, to systems and methods for controlling autonomous forklifts, and specifically, for placing pallets in a flush manner with adjacent objects and obstacles, such as other pallets, walls, and structures. The present invention allows autonomous forklifts to optimize the footprint required to store pallets, thereby increasing the storage efficiency within warehouses and trailers where square footage is typically at a premium, and where space utilization and load stability are paramount.
Claims20
A system for flush placement of pallets by an autonomous forklift, comprising:
- a controller;
- a sensor module containing at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the controller;
- a perception module communicatively coupled the controller, the perception module identifying an obstacle in data received from the sensor module;
- a planning module communicatively coupled to the controller, the planning module determining an exclusion area adjacent to the obstacle, a target placement location that overlaps at least partially with the exclusion area, and a target placement height;
- a drive wheel communicatively coupled to the controller;
- and
- a load-handling assembly communicatively coupled to the controller, the load-handling assembly comprising a pair of forks capable of supporting a pallet,
- wherein the controller is configured to:
- manipulate the drive wheel to navigate the autonomous forklift to a location in proximity to the target placement location,
- manipulate the load-handling assembly to place the pair of forks at the target placement height,
- manipulate at least one of the drive wheel and the load-handling assembly to position the pair of forks within the target placement location to effect flush placement of a pallet seated on the pair of pallet forks within the exclusion area,
- determine a presence of resistance against the pallet, where the controller registers and is informed by the resistance present against the pallet of contact within the exclusion area between the pallet seated on the pair of forks and the obstacle, and
- manipulate at least one of the drive wheel and the load-handling assembly to retract the forks from the pallet if with the presence of the resistance determined.
10 more elements
A system for flush placement of pallets by an autonomous forklift, comprising:
- a controller;
- a sensor module containing at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the controller;
- a perception module communicatively coupled the controller, the perception module identifying an obstacle in data received from the sensor module;
- a planning module communicatively coupled to the controller, the planning module determining an exclusion area adjacent to the obstacle and a target placement location that overlaps at least partially with the exclusion area;
- a drive wheel communicatively coupled to the controller;
- and
- a load-handling assembly communicatively coupled to the controller, the load-handling assembly comprising a pair of forks capable of supporting a pallet,
- where the controller is configured to:
- manipulate the drive wheel to navigate the autonomous forklift to a location in proximity to the target placement location,
- manipulate at least one of the drive wheel and the load-handling assembly to position the pair of forks is within the target placement location to effect flush placement of a pallet seated on the pair of pallet forks within the exclusion area,
- determine a presence of resistance against the pallet, where the controller registers and is informed by the resistance present against the pallet of contact within the exclusion area of the obstacle between the pallet seated on the pair of forks and the obstacle, and
- manipulate at least one of the drive wheel and the load-handling assembly to retract the forks from the pallet with the presence of the if resistance determined.
9 more elements
A method of placing pallets flush against adjacent obstacles by an autonomous forklift having a drive wheel and a load-handling assembly with a pair of forks capable of supporting a pallet, comprising:
- collecting visual data on an environment traversed by the autonomous forklift by a sensor module;
- identifying an obstacle in the visual data by a perception module;
- generating a costmap of the environment based on the identified obstacle by a planning module, wherein the costmap includes an exclusion area adjacent to the identified obstacle;
- determining a target placement location of the pallet based on the costmap by the planning module, wherein the target placement location overlaps at least partially with the exclusion area;
- actuating at least one of the drive wheel and the load-handling assembly, by a controller, to locate the pair of forks within the target placement location to effect flush placement of a pallet seated on the pair of pallet forks within the exclusion area;
- determining, by the controller, a presence of resistance against the pallet, where the controller registers and is informed by the resistance present against the pallet of contact within the exclusion area of the obstacle between the pallet seated on the pair of forks and the obstacle;
- and
- manipulating at least of the drive wheel and the load-handling assembly to retract the forks from the pallet with the presence of the if resistance determined.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.