Materials handling vehicle and goods storage and retrieval system comprising mobile storage carts, transporters, and materials handling vehicles

A goods storage and retrieval system, comprising a multilevel warehouse racking system, a materials handling vehicle, a mobile storage cart, a transporter comprising transporter-based engagement hardware and a lifting surface, a warehouse management computing hub, and a goods receiving station, wherein:

• the materials handling vehicle comprises vehicle-based cart engagement hardware, one or more vehicular controllers, a mast assembly, a picking attachment configured to access multiple levels of the multilevel warehouse racking system, a navigation subsystem comprising a vision system, and a picking attachment subsystem comprising the picking attachment and a time-of-flight (TOF) system;
• the transporter-based engagement hardware enables the transporter to engage, transport, and disengage the mobile storage cart at a variety of locations along an inventory transit surface of the goods storage and retrieval system independent of movement of the materials handling vehicle within the goods storage and retrieval system;
• the lifting surface is structurally configured to lift the mobile storage cart off of the inventory transit surface upon which the multilevel warehouse racking system is supported by elevating the transporter lifting surface from a traveling height to a transporting height;
• the mobile storage cart is structurally configured to permit the transporter to enter and exit a lifting zone beneath the mobile storage cart in at least two orthogonal directions, with the lifting surface of the transporter at the traveling height;
• the vehicle-based cart engagement hardware is coupled to the mast assembly for movement along a lifting dimension of the mast assembly to (i) engage and disengage the mobile storage cart at a variety of locations along the inventory transit surface independent of movement of the transporter within the goods storage and retrieval system, and (ii) transport the mobile storage cart to multiple levels of the multilevel warehouse racking system independent of movement of the transporter within the goods storage and retrieval system;
• the multilevel warehouse racking system comprises a target fiducial associated with the target tote to guide engagement of the target tote with the picking attachment;
• the navigation subsystem is configured to position the materials handling vehicle such that the target fiducial is within a field of view of the vision system;
• the picking attachment of the materials handling vehicle comprises an X-Y-Z-Ψ positioner and is configured to transfer totes between the multilevel warehouse racking system and the mobile storage cart at multiple levels of the multilevel warehouse racking system when the mobile storage cart is engaged by the materials handling vehicle;
• the picking attachment subsystem is configured to generate a target TOF depth map of a target tote;
• the one or more vehicular controllers of the materials handling vehicle execute vehicle functions to use the X-Y-Z-Ψ positioner of the picking attachment subsystem to engage the target tote with the picking attachment based on the field of view of the vision system and the target TOF depth map;
• the warehouse management computing hub is in communication with the transporter and the materials handling vehicle and is programmed to instruct the transporter and the materials handling vehicle to coordinate engagement, transport, and disengagement of the mobile storage cart in the goods storage and retrieval system;
• and
• the goods receiving station comprises a goods selection terminal outfitted for removal of totes from the mobile storage cart.

A materials handling vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle body;
• a plurality of wheels supporting the vehicle body and defining a direction of travel for the vehicle body;
• a braking system, a traction control unit, and a steering assembly, each operatively coupled to one or more of the plurality of wheels;
• a mast assembly;
• a monofork carriage assembly coupled to the mast assembly for movement along a lifting dimension of the mast assembly;
• and
• a transport, engagement, or disengagement accessory configured to facilitate transport, engagement, or disengagement of materials by the materials handling vehicle, wherein the monofork carriage assembly comprises a hollow body portion accommodating at least a portion of the transport, engagement, or disengagement accessory therein.