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US 7,912,574 B2Granted
System and method for transporting inventory items
AssigneeKiva Systems, Inc.
InventorsPeter R. Wurman, Raffaello D'Andrea, Michael T. Barbehenn, Andrew E. Hoffman, Michael C. Mountz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for transporting inventory items includes moving a mobile drive unit to a first point within a workspace. The first point is a location of an inventory holder. The method further includes docking the mobile drive unit with the inventory holder and moving the mobile drive unit and the inventory holder to a second point within the workspace. The second point is associated with conveyance equipment. The method further includes moving the inventory holder to a third point within the workspace using the conveyance equipment.
Claims18
A method for transporting inventory items, comprising:
- calculating, for each of a plurality of cells in a workspace, a cost associated with a mobile drive unit moving through that cell;
- calculating a cost associated with transporting a mobile drive unit between a first point and a second point using particular conveyance equipment;
- calculating a first path cost associated with a first path between an initial location and a destination location based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the first path traverses;
- calculating a second path cost associated with a second path between the initial location and the destination location, the second path traversing the first point and the second point, based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the second path traverses and the cost associated with transporting the mobile drive unit using the conveyance equipment;
- selecting one of the first path and the second path based on the first path cost and the second path cost;
- and
- transmitting information identifying the selected path to a mobile drive unit.
4 more elements
A system for transporting inventory items, comprising:
- a mobile drive unit;
- a plurality of inventory holders;
- a workspace comprising a plurality of workspace cells;
- conveyance equipment operable to transport the mobile drive unit between a first point and a second point;
- and
- a management module operable to:
- calculate, for each of a plurality of cells in a workspace, a cost associated with a mobile drive unit moving through that cell;
- calculate a cost associated with transporting a mobile drive unit between a first point and a second point using the conveyance equipment;
- calculate a first path cost associated with a first path between an initial location and a destination location based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the first path traverses;
- calculate a second path cost associated with a second path between the initial location and the destination location, the second path traversing the first point and the second point, based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the second path traverses and the cost associated with transporting the mobile drive unit using the conveyance equipment;
- select one of the first path and the second path based on the first path cost and the second path cost;
- and
- transmit information identifying the selected path to a mobile drive unit.
10 more elements
A management module for managing mobile drive units, the management module operable to:
- calculate, for each of a plurality of cells in a workspace, a cost associated with a mobile drive unit moving through that cell;
- calculate a cost associated with transporting a mobile drive unit between a first point and a second point using particular conveyance equipment;
- calculate a first path cost associated with a first path between an initial location and a destination location based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the first path traverses;
- calculate a second path cost associated with a second path between the initial location and the destination location, the second path traversing the first point and the second point, based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the second path traverses and the cost associated with transporting the mobile drive unit using the conveyance equipment;
- select one of the first path and the second path based on the first path cost and the second path cost;
- and
- transmit information identifying the selected path to a mobile drive unit.
4 more elements
A system for managing mobile drive units, comprising:
- means for calculating, for each of a plurality of cells in a workspace, a cost associated with a mobile drive unit moving through that cell;
- means for calculating a cost associated with transporting a mobile drive unit between a first point and a second point using particular conveyance equipment;
- means for calculating a first path cost associated with a first path between an initial location and a destination location based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the first path traverses;
- means for calculating a second path cost associated with a second path between the initial location and the destination location, the second path traversing the first point and the second point, based, at least in part, on a sum of the cost associated with each of the cells the second path traverses and the cost associated with transporting the mobile drive unit using the conveyance equipment;
- means for selecting one of the first path and the second path based on the first path cost and the second path cost;
- and
- means for transmitting information identifying the selected path to a mobile drive unit.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.