Autonomous robot vehicle for checking and counting stock in a warehouse

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle chassis (6) for checking and/or counting stock (4) in a warehouse (3) and configured for attaching to an autonomous indoor vehicle (9), with an extendable mast (11) comprising a first end (12) mounted onto the chassis (6) and an opposite second end (13) arrangeable at different distances above the chassis (6), and at least one scanner (2) arranged at the second end (13) and configured for checking and/or counting stock (4) in a shelve (5) of the warehouse (3) lateral to the vehicle (1). The invention further relates to an autonomous robot vehicle (1) comprising the vehicle chassis (6) and the autonomous indoor vehicle (9), whereby the chassis (6) is mounted onto the autonomous indoor vehicle (9) such that the autonomous indoor vehicle (9) and the chassis (6) are configured for autonomously moving the vehicle (1) in the warehouse (3).

Claims

1. An autonomous robot vehicle system, comprising: an autonomous indoor vehicle; a vehicle chassis for checking and/or counting stock in a warehouse, the vehicle chassis comprising an extendable mast with a first end mounted onto the chassis and an opposite second end arrangeable at different distances above the chassis, at least one scanner arranged at the second end of the extendable mast and configured for checking and/or counting stock in a shelf of the warehouse lateral to the autonomous robot vehicle system, and a second extendable mast arranged perpendicular to the extendable mast, a first end of the second mast mounted to the second end of the extendable mast, the second mast comprising at least one additional scanner configured for checking and/or counting stock underneath the second mast and arrangeable at different distances from the second end of the extendable mast, wherein the chassis is mounted onto and/or is integrally formed with the autonomous indoor vehicle such that the autonomous indoor vehicle and the chassis are configured for autonomously moving the autonomous robot vehicle system in the warehouse.

2. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the mast is extendable between the first end and the second end by a distance of no less than one meter and no greater than fifteen meters, and the mast: is a telescopic arm and/or a fork lift device; and/or comprises at least two scanners arrangeable at the mast at different distances above the chassis.

3. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising: a moving gimbal arranged at the first end between the chassis and the mast; and a battery for providing electrical energy to the autonomous robot vehicle system, the battery arranged at the first end of the mast as a counterweight such that the mast is balanced in a vertical direction relative to ground.

4. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the scanner comprises one or more of a LIDAR sensor, a barcode reader, an RF scanner, an RFID scanner, a sonar, and a camera.

5. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising a control device configured for: determining if the shelf scanned by the scanner includes the stock; comparing the scanned shelf with a shelf database; and/or remembering a position of a scannable label of an item stored on the shelf.

6. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising a battery for providing electrical energy to the autonomous robot vehicle system for moving along a predefined and/or self-derived route in the warehouse, the autonomous robot vehicle system configured for autonomously returning to a base station at low battery and/or for continuing a commenced route once the battery has been recharged.

7. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising a LIDAR debris detection sensor configured for detecting debris in a moving direction of the autonomous robot vehicle system.

8. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising brushes configured for cleaning wheels of the autonomous robot vehicle system.

9. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising an airblaster configured for blasting away debris in a moving direction of the autonomous robot vehicle system.

10. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising a vibration isolating device arranged at the first end and/or at the second end, the vibration isolating device configured for eliminating movements of the extendable mast.

11. The autonomous robot vehicle system of claim 10, wherein the vibration isolating device comprises a motor working counter-wise to detect distracting movement from wheels of the autonomous robot vehicle system and/or comprises water-balancing.

12. A method for checking and/or counting stock in a warehouse with a vehicle chassis configured for attaching to an autonomous indoor vehicle, an extendable mast is mounted onto the chassis at a first end of the extendable mast, a scanner is arranged at a second, opposite end of the mast, and a second extendable mast is arranged perpendicular to the extendable mast, a first end of the second mast is mounted to the second end of the extendable mast, the second mast comprising at least one additional scanner configured for checking and/or counting stock underneath the second mast and arrangeable at different distances from the second end of the extendable mast, the method comprising: autonomously moving the vehicle chassis with the autonomous indoor vehicle in the warehouse; and checking and/or counting stock on a shelf of the warehouse lateral to an autonomous robot vehicle system at different distances above the chassis with the scanner.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: comparing a checked and/or counted result provided by the scanner with data stored in a shelf database to determine a difference; and when a difference is determined, scanning a label of an item stored on the shelf and/or capturing a photo of the item and updating the shelf database with the scanned label and/or the captured photo; and/or when no difference is determined, scanning the label of the item stored in the shelf and/or capturing the photo of the item and comparing the scanned label and/or the captured photo with data stored in the shelf database.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: determining a volume of the stock on the shelf; based on the determined volume, calculating a number of items, pallets, and/or cartons stored on the shelf; and/or determining a type of an item stored on the shelf by scanning a label of the item and comparing the scanned label with a shelf database.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising: moving the autonomous robot vehicle system for checking and/or counting the stock on the shelf at a speed no less than one meter per second; and/or determining an actual location of the autonomous robot vehicle system within the warehouse while checking and/or counting the stock on the shelf.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising: checking and/or counting the stock underneath the second mast at different distances from the second end of the extendable mast with the additional scanner.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising: scanning a label of an item stored on the shelf; determining a label position on the item and/or determining a location of the item on the shelf and/or in the warehouse; and storing scanned label information, the label position, and/or the location on a shelf database.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising rescanning the label, redetermining the label position, and/or redetermining the location of the item by considering the previously scanned label position and/or the location of the item.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) In the figures

(2) FIG. 1 shows an exemplary implementation of an autonomous robot vehicle according to the invention in a schematic perspective view,

(3) FIG. 2 shows an exemplary implementation of a scanner of the autonomous robot vehicle according to FIG. 1 in a schematic perspective view, and

(4) FIG. 3 shows a further exemplary implementation of the autonomous robot vehicle according to the invention in a schematic side view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(5) The invention will be described in the following with reference to exemplary implementations showing an autonomous robot vehicle 1 according to a first implementation in a schematic perspective view in FIG. 1, an exemplary implementation of a scanner 2 of the autonomous robot vehicle 1 according to FIG. 1 in a schematic perspective view and a further exemplary implementation of the autonomous robot vehicle 1 according to the invention in a schematic side view.

(6) The autonomous robot vehicle 1, also referred to as vehicle 1 in the following, is configured for autonomously moving the vehicle 1 in a warehouse 3 for autonomously and automatically for checking and/or counting stock 4 arranged in shelves 5 of the warehouse 3. The autonomous robot vehicle 1 comprises a chassis 6 with wheels 7 attached thereto for moving the vehicle 1 on a floor 8 of the warehouse 3. The chassis 6 can be provided as a single piece or, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, as a two-piece chassis 6 comprising an autonomous indoor vehicle 9, on which the chassis 6 is solidly put on as a base for forming the vehicle 1.

(7) Each the chassis 6 and the autonomous indoor vehicle 9 comprise four wheels 7 arranged at corners of the chassis 6 and the autonomous indoor vehicle 9. The autonomous indoor vehicle 9 can be provided as commercially available product from suppliers Omron Lync Adept, Fetch Robotics, Swisslog Carry Pick, MIR etc. for moving the vehicle 1 with a typical travel speed of 1.8 meters per second. The chassis 6 comprises a length of 1100 mm and width of 900 mm. The autonomous indoor vehicle 9 is arranged underneath the base in a tunnel 10 formed by the chassis 6 and may be configured for driving in and out of the tunnel 10 for connecting and disconnecting with the different bases respectively chassis 6.

(8) The chassis 6 is provided as a rigid frame and comprises an enclosure for a battery 20, a compressor and a control device 17 configured for operating the vehicle 1. The battery 20 allows a run time of the vehicle 1 of at least 45 hours. Being controlled by the control device 17, the vehicle 1 moves along a predefined and/or self-derived route in the warehouse 3. If the control device 17 determines a low battery 20 respectively a status of the battery 20 indicating that charging of the battery 20 is required, the control device 17 controls the vehicle 1 to autonomously return to a base station 21 comprising a charger for the battery 20. Once the battery 20 is recharged, the control device 17 controls the vehicle 1 to continue the commenced route.

(9) The vehicle 1 further comprises an extendable mast 11 with a first end 12 mounted onto the chassis 6 and a second, opposite end 13, which is arrangeable at different distances in vertical direction above the chassis 6. The mast 11 is extendable between its first end 12 and the second end 13 by a distance between 1 to 15 meters. Both at the first end 12 and at the second end 13 gimbals 12 are provided such that, when moving the vehicle 1, the mast 11 always maintains a vertical position relative to ground. For the gimbal 12 arranged at the first end 12 at the chassis 6 the battery 20 acts as a counterweight for the mast 11. Therefore, the battery 20 is attached to the first end 12 while being installed respectively hidden in the enclosure of the chassis 6. The mast 11 is provided as telescopic arm actuated by pressurized air provided by the compressor installed in the enclosure of the chassis 6.

(10) A vibration isolating device 22 that is configured for eliminating movements of the extendable mast 11 is arranged each at the first end 12 and at the second end 13. The vibration isolating device 22 comprises a motor working counter-wise to detect distracting movement from wheels 7 of the autonomous robot vehicle 1 and/or comprising water-balancing. The autonomous robot vehicle 1 further comprises a LIDAR debris detection sensor 23, which is configured for detecting debris in moving direction of the autonomous robot vehicle 1. If debris is detected, brushes 24 arranged at the wheels are activated for cleaning the wheels 7 of the autonomous robot vehicle 1. Debris of greater diameter can be based away by an airblast device 25 arranged in moving direction at the autonomous robot vehicle 1.

(11) At least one scanner 2 is arranged at the second end 13 of the mast 11 via the second gimbal. As can be seen in more Detail in FIG. 2, the at least one scanner 2 is arranged at the second end 13 such stock 4 stored in the shelve 5 lateral to the vehicle 1 can be scanned and respectively counted by said scanner 2, as can also be seen in FIG. 3. Turning back to FIG. 2, in the shown implementation four scanners 2 are arranged in firm distances to each other at the second end 13. At the top at the second end 13 an image scanner 2, 14 is mounted, which is configured for searching barcodes provided on the stock 4. Beneath thereof a sonar and a camera 15 is mounted as second scanner 2. In the following and distant from the first image scanner 2, 14, a second image scanner 2, 14 is mounted for searching barcodes provided on the stock 4 arranged in the same or a beneath row of the shelf 5. At the bottom, a linear stripe reader 16 for scanning beam location labels is arranged as fourth scanner 2. Said scanners 2 can be provided as a LIDAR sensor, as said barcode reader, as an RF scanner, as an RFID scanner, as a sonar and/or as said camera.

(12) The scanners 2 are connected to the computerized control device 17, which determines, based on scanning data received from the scanners 2 while the vehicle 1 moves along the warehouse 3, if the scanned shelf 5 comprises stock 4. If stock 4 is detected, the scanning data is compared by the control device 17 with a shelf database available to the control device 17. Alternatively, the control device 17 transmits the scanning data to a server, which then compares the scanning data with the shelf database. The scanning data may comprise a scannable label of an item, a pallet and/or carton stored as stock 4 in the shelf 5. The control device 17 and/or the server extract a position of the label of the item, the pallet and/or the carton in the shelf 5 from the scanning data. Location barcodes can be identified, for example, for a font and/or length of its content.

(13) FIG. 3 shows an implementation of the vehicle 1, which comprises at least two scanners 2 arrangeable at the mast 11 at different distances in vertical direction above the chassis 6. Said two scanners 2 are arranged and configured for scanning stock 4 lateral i.e. besides to the vehicle 1. Thus, with LIDAR sensors as scanners 2, pulsed laser lights are emitted by said LIDAR sensors in a direction essentially lateral to the vehicle 1. In addition thereto, the vehicle 1 comprises a second extendable mast 18 provided as telescopic arm. The second extendable mast 18 is arranged rectangular to the extendable mast 11, whereby a first end 19 of the second mast 18 is firmly mounted to the second end 13 of the extendable mast 11. A counterweight provided at the first end 19 of the second mast 18 ensures that the second extendable mast 18 extends in horizontal direction.

(14) Two additional scanners 2 are attached to the second mast 18 such that stock 4 underneath the second mast 18 can be checked and/or counted by the two additional scanners 2. Thereby, as can be seen in FIG. 3, the second mast 18 is extendable from its first end 19 into the shelf 5 such that at least one of the two additional scanners 2 rests within the shelf 5. The two additional scanners 2 are provided as LIDAR sensors and are arranged such that pulsed laser lights are emitted by the two additional LIDAR sensors in a direction essentially underneath from the second mast 18.

(15) In sum, the described vehicle 1 allows for an autonomously moving in the warehouse for checking and/or counting stock 4 in shelves 5 lateral to the vehicle 1 in the warehouse 3 at different distances above the chassis 6 with the scanner 2. Thereby, the vehicle 1 may follow a pre-configured route along corridors of the warehouse 3, which are confined by the shelves 5. As the mast 11 is extendable, different compartments of the shelves 5 arranged above each other can be scanned in parallel or consecutively.

(16) The control device 17 thereby compares a checked and/or counted result respectively scanning data provided by the scanner 2 with data stored in a shelf database for determining a difference. If a difference is determined, a label, for example a barcode, of an item stored in the shelf 5 as stock 4 is scanned and a photo of the item is captured. For scanning barcodes, technologies such as sweeping camera/moving spot may be advantageously used. Such way, the scanner 2 may perform circular movement for more accurately determining barcodes. The shelf database is then updated with the scanned label and the captured photo. In case no difference is determined, the label of the item stored in the shelf 5 and the captured photo of the item is compared with the scanned label and the captured photo with data stored in the shelf database for verifying said information.

(17) The control device 17 is further configured to determine a volume of the stock 4 stored in the shelf 5 by using the scanner 2 and, based on the determining volume, to calculate a number of items, pallets and/or cartons stored in the shelf 5. Furthermore, the control device 17 determines a type of an item stored in the shelf 5 by scanning the label of the item and compares the scanned label with the shelf database. During checking and/or counting stock in the shelf 5, the vehicle 1 moves with a speed of at least 1.5 meters per second. Thereby, the vehicle 1 may move with a higher speed in areas of the warehouse 3 in which no workers are active, whereby the vehicle 1 may reduce its speed in other areas for avoiding collisions. The speed of the vehicle 1 is generally dependent on an actual task being performed by the vehicle 1 and a distance to be completed. While moving, the vehicle 1 determines its actual location within the warehouse 3 by means of an indoor navigation system.

(18) While scanning and/or counting the stock 4, the control device 17 determines a label position on the item respectively on the scanned stock 4 and determines a location of the item in the shelf 4. The scanned label information, the label position and the location of the stock 4 is then stored in the shelf database. If the vehicle 1 scans and/or counts again the stock 4, for example some days after the previous scanning and/or counting, the label position and the location of the item can be easier determined by considering the previously scanned label position and the previously determined location of the item.

(19) Depicted or described connections between components are generally to be understood to be functional connections. They can be implemented as direct links or as indirect links via several other components. The order of presented actions is not mandatory; alternative orders are possible. Actions can be implemented in different ways. They could be implemented in software using program instructions; or they could be implemented in hardware; or they could be implemented making use of a combination of hardware and software. It is to be understood that the described implementations are examples only, which may be modified and/or supplemented in many ways within the scope of the claims. In particular, any feature described for a particular implementation can be used by itself or in combination with other features in any other implementation. Each feature that has been described for an implementation of a particular category can also be used in an equivalent manner in an implementation of any other category.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

(20) Autonomous robot vehicle 1 Scanner 2 Warehouse 3 Stock 4 Shelve 5 Chassis 6 Wheels 7 Floor 8 Autonomous indoor vehicle 9 Tunnel 10 Extendable mast 11 First end, gimbal 12 Second end 13 Image scanner 14 Camera 15 Stripe reader 16 Control device 17 Second extendable mast 18 First end 19 Battery 20 Base station 21 Vibration isolating device 22 LIDAR debris detection sensor 23 Brushes 24 Airblast device 25