US 9,280,157 B2Granted

System and method for transporting personnel within an active workspace

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsPeter R. Wurman, Michael T. Barbehenn, Matthew David Verminski, Michael Cordell Mountz, Dennis Polic, Andrew Edward Hoffman, James Raymond Allard, Eryk Brian Nice

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Abstract

Disclosed herein is a human transport device and associated system to transport a user within an active workspace. The human transport device may include a platform to support a user, an enclosure coupled to the platform to surround the user, a drive subsystem to power the human transport device, and a control unit to control the movement of the human transport device in coordination with active mobile drive units moving within the workspace. A system implementing one or more human transport devices may include a management module to direct the movement of the one or more human transport devices and designate one or more areas within the workspace as protected areas. Unauthorized objects may be prohibited from entering the protected areas while the human transport device may be allowed within the protected areas.

Claims17

Dependent claims

An inventory-handling system to transport a user within a workspace of the inventory-handling system, the inventory-handling system comprising:

a first device to transport users within the workspace;
a second device to transport the users within the workspace;
and
a management module to:
receive a first request relating to a first task to be completed by a user;
receive a second request relating to a second task to be completed by a qualified user;
prioritize the first request and the second request based at least in part on an availability of qualified users capable of handling the second task;
generate a first task assignment corresponding to the first request;
generate a second task assignment corresponding to the second request, wherein the first task assignment and the second task assignment are to be completed according to a prioritization of the first request and the second request;
transmit the first task assignment to the first device;
transmit the second task assignment to the second device;
direct movement of the first device with the user therein to a first destination location within the workspace along a first route;
and
direct movement of the second device with the qualified user therein to a second destination location within the workspace along a second route, wherein the first route and the second route are planned in relation to known routes of one or more active drive units within the workspace to avoid collisions between the first device, the second device, and the one or more active drive units within the workspace.

11 more elements

A method comprising:

receiving a first request relating to a first task to be completed by a user;
receiving a second request relating to a second task to be completed by a qualified user;
based at least in part on an availability of qualified users capable of handling the second task, prioritizing the first request and the second request to obtain a prioritized order of requests;
generating a first task assignment corresponding to the first request;
generating a second task assignment corresponding to the second request, wherein the first task assignment and the second task assignment are to be completed according to the prioritized order of requests;
transmitting, via a communication interface of one or more computing devices, the first task assignment to a first device configured to transport users within a workspace of an inventory-handling system;
transmitting, via the communication interface, the second task assignment to a second device configured to transport the users within the workspace;
planning a first route associated with the first device in relation to known routes of one or more active drive units within the workspace to avoid collisions between the first device and the one or more active drive units within the workspace;
planning a second route associated with the second device in relation to the known routes of the one or more active drive units within the workspace to avoid collisions between the second device and the one or more active drive units within the workspace;
directing movement of the first device with the user therein to a first destination location within the workspace along the first route;
and
directing movement of the second device with the qualified user therein to a second destination location within the workspace along the second route.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/018,317Filed 4 Sep 2013
Published: US 2015/0066283 A15 Mar 2015
Granted: 8 Mar 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

G05D 1/665
Interaction with payloads or external entities: releasing payloads, e.g. parachutes
G05D 1/0225
With means for defining a desired trajectory: involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay
B65G 1/00
Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
B65G 2207/40
Indexing codes relating to constructional details, configuration and additional features of a handling device, e.g. Conveyors: safety features of…