A service vehicle with center drive, method, and system thereof

Abstract

A service vehicle for operating on a grid of an automated storage and retrieval system, wherein the automated storage retrieval system comprises a rail system comprising a first set of parallel rails arranged to guide movement of a container handling vehicle in a first direction (X) across the top of a frame structure, and a second set of parallel rails arranged perpendicular to the first set of rails to guide movement of the container handling vehicle in a second direction (Y) which is perpendicular to the first direction (X), the first and second sets of parallel rails dividing the rail system into a plurality of grid cells, wherein the service vehicle comprises a base with a set of wheels for traveling in first direction (X) and a set of wheels for traveling in the second (Y) direction, the base providing a platform for an operator, and a mechanism for changing the direction of travel, wherein the service vehicle comprises: a drive unit mounted to a rotatable platform part, the drive unit comprising a foot plate for the operator to stand on and an electric motor provided below the foot plate which drives a driven wheel that is arranged for engagement with a rail running under the service vehicle, the drive unit being arranged to require weight from the operator on the foot plate to allow the driven wheel to engage with the rail running under the service vehicle.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.