# US 2017/0286916 A1 · Communication systems for multi-source robot control

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- Number: US 2017/0286916 A1
- Document ID: US20170286916A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/086,541
- Filed: 2016-03-31
- Published: 2017-10-05
- Earliest claimed: 2016-03-31
- Assignees: Avaya Inc.
- Applicants: Avaya Inc.
- Inventors: David Skiba; Valentine C. Matula; George Erhart
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170286916A1

## CPC

- G06Q 10/1097: {using calendar-based scheduling for task assignment}
- B25J 9/1689: {Teleoperation}
- B25J 11/0005: {Manipulators having means for high-level communication with users, e.g. speech generator, face recognition means}
- H04L 67/025: for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
- B25J 9/003: {having parallel kinematics}
- B25J 9/1679: {characterised by the tasks executed}
- B25J 9/1697: {Vision controlled systems}
- G06F 9/5038: {considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration (scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups)}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50})
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A service robot may be autonomous, with respect to a portion of a customer service task, and coordinated, with respect to another portion of a customer service task. A resource, such as another robot or an agent (human or automated), may monitor or interact with the robot and, in such a combination, perform a customer service task. The robot may be instructed to pause or delay initiation of a robot portion to allow for a resource to become available at a common time that the interaction portion is to be performed to minimize delay and promote better customer service. Should the delay be beyond an acceptable threshold, the robot may engage in a delay task (e.g., slow down, pause, etc.). The delay task may include a social interaction with a human at a service location.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system, comprising:
a network interface connecting a server to a network; and
the server programmed to:
receive a work item comprising a robot execution portion for execution by a first robot at a service location, the robot execution portion comprising a physical interaction, and a coordinated task, the coordinated task comprising an interaction between a resource and the first robot;
determine that the work item will require the execution of the coordinated task at a requested resource time;
selecting the resource from a resource pool, the selected resource having an estimated resource availability time to perform the coordinated task coinciding with the requested resource time;
routing the work item to the selected resource; and
signaling a resource communication device associated with the selected resource to establish a communication channel with the first robot, via the network interface, accommodating the interaction between the resource and the first robot.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the resource comprises an agent of a contact center.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the resource comprises a second robot.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising:
the server, further programmed to, determine that the requested resource time is earlier than the estimated resource availability time and a previously determined threshold, and, in response to the determination, signals the resource communication device associated with the selected resource to establish the communication channel with the first robot, via the network interface, accommodating an observation by the resource utilizing the resource communication device.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising:
the server, further programmed to, determine that the requested resource time is later than the estimated resource availability time and a previously determined threshold, and, in response to the determination, signals the first robot to implement a delay task.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein the delay task comprises performance of an interaction task selected to engage a human at the service location with the first robot in a social interaction.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein:
the robot execution portion comprises a plurality of robot execution portions; and
a processor is further programmed to implement the delay task comprising reordering the plurality of the robot execution portions from a first order to a second order, wherein the second order comprises the coordinated task having the requested resource time more closely occurring to the estimated resource availability time as compared to the difference between the requested resource time and the estimated resource availability time associated with the first order.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the interaction comprises receiving inputs captured by the first robot during execution of the robot execution portion and, upon receiving a halt instruction via the resource communication device, signaling the first robot to halt execution of the robot execution portion.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1:
wherein the selecting the resource from the resource pool comprises selecting a team of resources comprising two resources each having the estimated resource availability time to perform an agent interaction portion coinciding with the requested resource time;
routing the work item further comprises routing the work item to the team of resources; and
signaling the resource communication device associated with the team of resources to establish the communication channel with the first robot, via the network interface, accommodating the interaction comprising a team interaction.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein ones of the resources of the team of resources perform a portion of the team interaction.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein a processor is programmed to select the resource from the resource pool having the estimated resource availability time to perform an interaction most closely coinciding with the requested resource time as compared to a non-selected resource of the resource pool.

### Claim 12

A first robot, comprising:
a processor;
a network interface connecting the processor to a network;
a provisioning for performance of a customer service task at a service location, the customer service task comprising a robot portion, the robot portion further comprising a physical interaction, and a coordinated task, the coordinated task comprising an interaction between the first robot and a resource;
the processor obtaining a resource availability time of the resource; and
the processor initiating the customer service task such that the coordinated task coincides with an availability of the resource.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The first robot of claim 12, wherein the resource comprises an agent of a contact center interacting, via an agent communication device, with the first robot, the interaction comprising signals conveyed via the network interface.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The first robot of claim 12, wherein the resource comprises a second robot.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The first robot of claim 14, wherein the coordinated task comprises a pause in an execution of the first robot and the pause terminating upon receiving at the first robot, via the network interface, a completion signal.

### Claim 16 (depends on 12)

The first robot of claim 12, further comprising, the processor inserting a delay to cause the coordinated task to better coincide with the availability of the resource when compared to the performance absence of a delay.

### Claim 17 (depends on 12)

The first robot of claim 12, wherein the resource comprises a plurality of resources and the interaction comprises an associated plurality of interactions.

### Claim 18

A system, comprising:
means to communicate over a network;
means to receive, via the network, a work item comprising a robot execution portion for execution by a first robot at a service location, the robot execution portion comprising a physical interaction, and a coordinated task, the coordinated task comprising an interaction between a resource and the first robot;
means to determine, by a processor, that the work item will require the execution of the coordinated task at a requested resource time;
means to select, by the processor, a resource from a resource pool, the selected resource and having an estimated resource availability time to perform the coordinated task coinciding with the requested resource time;
means to route, by the processor, the work item to the selected resource; and
means to signal, by the processor and the network, a resource communication device associated with the selected resource to establish a communication channel with the first robot, via the network interface, accommodating the interaction between the resource and the first robot.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, further comprising, means to determine, by the processor, that the requested resource time is later than the estimated resource availability time and a previously determined threshold, and, in response to the determination, signals the first robot, via the network, to implement a delay task.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the coordinated task comprises a second robot performing a second robot task.