System and Method for Inventory Management Using Mobile Drive Units

A method for coordinating mobile drive units, comprising:

• storing, by a memory unit of a management module, information indicative of a first three-dimensional volume reserved by a first mobile drive unit;
• receiving, by a wireless interface of the management module, a request from a second mobile drive unit to reserve a second three-dimensional volume corresponding to a dimension of the second mobile drive unit;
• and
• determining, by a central processing unit of the management module, whether the second three-dimensional volume requested by the second mobile drive unit intersects with the first three-dimensional volume reserved by the first mobile drive unit;
• and
• based at least in part on a determination that the requested second three-dimensional volume does not intersect with the first three-dimensional volume reserved by the first mobile drive unit, granting the request from the second mobile drive unit to reserve the second three-dimensional volume.

An inventory management system, comprising:

• a remote management module operable to communicate with a plurality of mobile drive units;
• and
• a mobile drive unit comprising one of the plurality of mobile drive units, the mobile drive unit operable to:
• receive at least a portion of a path between a first location and a second location within a workspace;
• access information indicating a three-dimensional volume of space associated with the mobile drive unit;
• request, via a first wireless message to the remote management module, reservation of at least the portion of the path, the request comprising the information indicating the three-dimensional volume of space associated with the mobile drive unit;
• and
• based at least in part upon receiving a second wireless message from the remote management module indicating a grant of the reservation requested by the first message, proceeding along at least the portion of the path towards the second location.

A system comprising:

• a management module;
• a mobile drive unit operable to request to reserve a volume of space by transmitting a wireless message to a management module;
• and
• wherein the management module is operable to grant the reservation request from the mobile drive unit by determining whether the volume intersects with any reserved volume segments.