Patent Description:
Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Technological advancements have made an ever-increasing amount of automation possible in inventory-handling and other types of material-handling systems. Namely, inventory-handling systems (e.g., warehouses) may be implemented using automated mobile drive units that are assigned to inventory-related tasks. The level of human involvement with such automated systems has been greatly reduced, leading to increased speed, throughput, and productivity.

However, there may be circumstances where it is necessary for human operators to traverse, or otherwise go onto, an active workspace of the warehouse where the mobile drive units are carrying out their assigned inventory-related tasks. For example, mobile drive units or other equipment may fail or break down, or inventory items may fall out of their respective inventory holders onto the active workspace floor, requiring human operators to traverse the workspace to the location where the maintenance or cleanup is needed. However, traversing an active workspace of automated mobile drive units poses safety concerns for the human operators who traverse the active workspace. Moreover, traditional warehouses usually include a single open workspace floorplan, in which different functions of the warehouses are implemented. In such a warehouse, human operators and/or mobile drive units operate in unison. Accordingly, the occurrences of mishaps in the workspace could result in shutting down the warehouse.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides for a customizable enhanced warehouse architecture, and a method of monitoring the activities in such a warehouse, such that the throughput of the warehouse is not degraded. In other words, the customizable enhanced warehouse minimizes the amount of unplanned downtime (i.e., maintains a continuity of operation) that may be incurred by the warehouse.

Document <CIT> discloses using short range transmission to identify potential interactions between warehouse workers and warehouse robots in automated warehouses.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides for an apparatus comprising: circuitry configured to partition a workspace into a plurality of zones based on an area of the workspace, and a number of inventory holders that are to be deployed in the workspace, a location of each zone within the workspace being determined based on a first reference location, determine for each zone of the plurality of zones, an area of the zone within the workspace, receive a signal indicating occurrence of an event in one of the plurality of zones of the workspace, determine a degree of criticality of the occurred event, the degree of criticality indicating whether workspace operation in the zone can be continued, and initiate an operation at a timing that is based on the determined degree of criticality, wherein initiation of the operation in the one of the plurality of zones does not affect workspace operation in at least one other zone of the workspace.

By one embodiment of the present disclosure is provided a method comprising: partitioning by circuitry, a workspace into a plurality of zones based on an area of the workspace, and a number of inventory holders that are to be deployed in the workspace, a location of each zone within the workspace being determined based on a first reference location; determining for each zone of the plurality of zones, an area of the zone within the workspace; receiving a signal indicating occurrence of an event in one of the plurality of zones of the workspace; determining a degree of criticality of the occurred event, the degree of criticality indicating whether workspace operation in the zone can be continued; and initiating an operation at a timing that is based on the determined degree of criticality, wherein initiation of the operation in the one of the plurality of zones does not affect workspace operation in at least one other zone of the workspace.

By one aspect of the present disclosure is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a program that when executed by a computer causes the computer to execute a method comprising: partitioning a workspace into a plurality of zones based on an area of the workspace, and a number of inventory holders that are to be deployed in the workspace, a location of each zone within the workspace being determined based on a first reference location; determining for each zone of the plurality of zones, an area of the zone within the workspace; receiving a signal indicating occurrence of an event in one of the plurality of zones of the workspace; determining a degree of criticality of the occurred event, the degree of criticality indicating whether workspace operation in the zone can be continued; and initiating an operation at a timing that is based on the determined degree of criticality, wherein initiation of the operation in the one of the plurality of zones does not affect workspace operation in at least one other zone of the workspace.

The described embodiments together, with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure that are provided as examples will be described in detail with reference to the following figures, wherein like numerals reference like elements, and wherein:.

Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the referenced figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. No limitation on the scope of the technology and of the claims that follow is to be imputed to the examples shown in the drawings and discussed herein.

The embodiments are mainly described in terms of particular processes and systems provided in particular implementations. However, the processes and systems will operate effectively in other implementations. Phrases such as "an embodiment", "one embodiment" and "another embodiment" may refer to the same or different embodiments. The embodiments will be described with respect to methods and compositions having certain components. However, the methods and compositions may include more or less components than those shown, and variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

The exemplary embodiments are described in the context of methods having certain steps. However, the methods and compositions operate effectively with additional steps and steps in different orders that are not inconsistent with the exemplary embodiments. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein and as limited only by the appended claims.

Furthermore, where a range of values is provided, it is to be understood that each intervening value between an upper and lower limit of the range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the disclosure. Where the stated range includes upper and lower limits, ranges excluding either of those limits are also included. Unless expressly stated, the terms used herein are intended to have the plain and ordinary meaning as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. The following definitions are intended to aid the reader in understanding the present disclosure, but are not intended to vary or otherwise limit the meaning of such terms unless specifically indicated.

Additionally, the terms 'transportation vehicle' or simply 'vehicle' can correspond to a automated transportation robot, and/or a human-operator controlled vehicle, that is used in warehouses, and the term 'warehouse server' corresponds to a server(s) that controls the operation of the vehicles, and controls and monitors the operations performed in the warehouse. These terms are used interchangeably in the remainder of the disclosure.

Turning to <FIG>, there is illustrated an exemplary warehouse system <NUM> according to an embodiment. The warehouse system <NUM> may represent any type of inventory system or material-handling system for storing and processing inventory items. For instance, the warehouse system <NUM> may include, but is not limited to, a mail-order warehouse facility, a merchandise return facility, a manufacturing facility, or any other similar type of system.

The warehouse system <NUM> may include a workspace <NUM> that represents an area associated with the warehouse <NUM>, where components typically operate and/or move about. For example, the workspace <NUM> may represent all or part of a floor of the warehouse. The warehouse may be surrounded by a fence <NUM>, and include different types of transportation vehicles <NUM> and <NUM> that are configured to move within the workspace <NUM>. Furthermore, the workspace <NUM> may include one or more inventory (e.g., goods or items) holders (referred to herein as racks) <NUM> that may be disposed in an allocated storage area within the workspace <NUM>.

The workspace <NUM> may be of variable dimensions and/or arbitrary geometry, and in particular may represent a two-dimensional (2D) workspace (e.g., a floor) or a three-dimensional (3D) workspace. Furthermore, the workspace <NUM> may be entirely enclosed in a building, or alternatively, some or all of the workspace <NUM> may be located outdoors, or otherwise unconstrained by any fixed structure. In some embodiments, stairs, ramps, and/or conveyance equipment such as vertical or horizontal conveyors, escalators, elevators, and the like, may be included in the workspace <NUM> to allow components and/or users of the warehouse system <NUM> to access the various separate portions of the workspace <NUM>.

The racks <NUM> may store one or more types of inventory items. The warehouse system <NUM> may be capable of moving these inventory items between locations within the workspace <NUM> to facilitate entry, processing, and/or removal of inventory items from the warehouse <NUM>, and the completion of other tasks involving inventory items. The items from the racks may be transported from one location to another by means of transportation vehicles <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively.

According to one embodiment, the warehouse <NUM> includes a warehouse server <NUM>. The server <NUM> monitors the overall processing and operations of the warehouse system <NUM>. For instance, the server <NUM> may be a server that controls the navigational functionality of the transportation devices <NUM> and <NUM>, the monitoring of activities in the warehouse <NUM>, and other tasks described herein. Furthermore, as described in PCT Application No. <CIT>, the warehouse system <NUM> may include a plurality of markers that are affixed on the warehouse floor, which enable the navigation of each transportation vehicle. Specifically, the server <NUM> communicates movement information to the transportation vehicles <NUM> and <NUM>, to indicate the direction and a magnitude of distance the transportation vehicle is expected to take from a current marker (over which the vehicle is disposed) to another marker, which lies on the navigational path of the vehicle.

The warehouse system <NUM> further includes one or more inventory stations <NUM> where particular tasks involving inventory items can be completed by an operator <NUM>. Additionally, the warehouse <NUM> may include dedicated stations <NUM>, at which only certain types of vehicles are authorized to process items. Moreover, the warehouse system <NUM> may also include a charging station <NUM>, where the transportation vehicles can be scheduled for charging batteries included in the vehicles.

In some instances, as shown in <FIG>, having a single open workspace floor plan (i.e., workspace floor layout) may impose severe monitoring and maintenance responsibilities on the server <NUM>. For instance, the server <NUM> may have to ensure collision avoidance between two transportation vehicles operating on the warehouse floor, the server may have to shut down the workspace floor on the occurrence of a critical emergency, and the like. In other words, the single workspace plan may lead to a chaotic system, which degrades the throughput of the warehouse, or in other words, increases the amount of non-operational time of the warehouse. Accordingly, with an aim to improve the monitoring and management of the warehouse system <NUM>, there is a described a modified workspace architecture by one embodiment of the present disclosure. Moreover, it must be appreciated that the server <NUM> is not restricted in being disposed in the warehouse <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Rather, the server may be implemented in a cloud-like manner, and/or may be a remote server that installed in a different facility.

<FIG> depicts according to one embodiment, the modified architecture <NUM> of the warehouse workspace. The modified architecture <NUM> of the workspace is referred to herein as a zoned (i.e., partitioned) workspace architecture. Specifically, <FIG> depicts an area of the warehouse surrounded by a fence <NUM>. The area of the workspace is divided into a plurality of partitions (also referred to herein as zones) <NUM>. For instance, as shown in <FIG>, the area of the workspace is divided into eight zones labelled z1-z8. The size and shape of each zone may be unique, and be determined by several criteria as described below. Furthermore, it must be appreciated that the number of zones in a particular workspace is in no way limited to eight zones as depicted in <FIG>. Rather, by one embodiment, the number of zones in the workspace can be determined, for instance, based on the area of the workspace, number of racks (i.e., storage locations for items) in the warehouse, the different types of items processed by the warehouse, number of transportation vehicles in the warehouse, and the like.

As shown in <FIG>, each zone <NUM> may be separated from its adjacent zones by means of physical markers <NUM> that are deployed on the floor of the workspace. For example, the physical markers <NUM> may be industrial type heavy-duty tape that provides a visual indication to human operators in the workspace as to the boundaries of a particular zone <NUM>.

According to one embodiment, the size and location of each zone <NUM> within the warehouse may be determined based on the type of racks that are stored in the zone. For instance, a zone housing popular racks (i.e., racks that store popular items) may be assigned a larger area. Popular items correspond to the items that are frequently serviced (e.g., included in several orders) by the warehouse. Accordingly, assigning such a zone a larger area would allow for multiple transportation vehicles to operate in the zone simultaneously. Moreover, the location of such a zone may be assigned close to a processing station <NUM>. The processing station <NUM> is a designated location in the warehouse where orders are processed. For instance, as shown in <FIG>, popular racks may be assigned to zones z1 and z3, which are located close to the processing stations <NUM> where the orders are processed. Furthermore, based on the number of racks that are to be deployed in such zones, the zones may be assigned a larger floor area as compared to other zones. It must be appreciated that the locations of the processing stations <NUM> are not restricted to be located at one edge of warehouse floor as shown in <FIG>. Rather, the processing stations <NUM> may be disposed at any location around the periphery of the warehouse.

By one embodiment, the location of a zone may be determined by the type of equipment housed in the zone. For instance, the charging station <NUM> (of <FIG>), may be assigned to a zone which is located away from the busy areas (e.g., processing stations <NUM>) of the warehouse. Accordingly, the transportation vehicles <NUM> can be scheduled for charging batteries included in the vehicles, without disrupting the operations of the busy areas of the warehouse.

Further, by one embodiment, certain racks may be required to be stored in areas of the warehouse that are maintained at some predetermined temperature. Accordingly, such racks may be allocated to a zone of the warehouse which is away, for instance, from the zone which houses the charging station, as the charging station may dissipate large amounts of heat. Such a temperature maintained zone may be allocated at a corner of the warehouse.

According to one embodiment, the location of zones within the partitioned workspace may be determined by external factors. For instance, region <NUM> as depicted in <FIG> may be a portion of a larger area of the warehouse. In such a setting, there may be a requirement to transport certain equipment (e.g., a forklift <NUM>) through the workspace <NUM>. For example, the forklift <NUM> may be required to deliver certain items from one area of the workspace to another, obtain the processed orders from the processing stations <NUM>, and deliver the orders to a dispatch area of the warehouse, and the like. For example, the forklift <NUM> may transfer the processed items from the processing station <NUM> (located outside zone <NUM>), and transfer the processed items to the dispatch area, which may be located in a direction substantially north of the workspace <NUM>. In such a situation, it may be desired to transfer the forklift <NUM> by traversing multiple zones of the workspace <NUM>.

By one embodiment, while the forklift <NUM> traverses the zones of the workspace <NUM>, other operations in the zones may have to be temporarily ceased. Accordingly, it may be desired to assign the forklift to traverse through zones which are less frequently used. For example, referring to <FIG>, the forklift can traverse either through zones z3 and z2 (and eventually exit through the gate <NUM> of zone z2) to reach the dispatch area, or the forklift can traverse through zones z5, z6, z7 and z4 or z8, to reach the dispatch area. The server determines a route for the forklift <NUM> by computing an average amount of traffic (e.g., transportation vehicles <NUM>), that is operational in each of the zones at the time instant the forklift <NUM> requires to be transported, and selects an option which results in a minimum cumulative amount of zone downtime that would be incurred. In other words, at time instances when the zones are idle, the zones may be assigned to provision for the passage of the forklift. Accordingly, the throughput of the warehouse is affected minimally. Accordingly, by one embodiment, the location and assignment of zones in the workspace may be determined by an average amount of expected traffic (i.e., of transportation vehicles) that is to be operational in the zones.

By one embodiment, at least one zone <NUM> of the workspace <NUM> includes a plurality of navigational markers <NUM>. As stated previously, such markers enable the navigation of each transportation vehicle <NUM>. Specifically, the server <NUM> communicates movement information to the transportation vehicle <NUM> to indicate the direction and distance of movement to take from a current marker <NUM> over which the vehicle <NUM> is disposed to a next marker, which lies on the navigational path of the vehicle. The markers <NUM> may be a machine readable pattern, such as a barcode or a quick response (QR) code.

Additionally, each zone <NUM> of the workspace <NUM> may include a gate <NUM>. In one embodiment, the gate <NUM> serves as the only entry/exit point for transportation vehicles, operators etc. through the zone <NUM>. Further, the gate <NUM> may be equipped with a safety device such as a door-latch sensor that is configured to detect at least the closing/opening operation of the door, movement of traffic through the door and the like, and report the same to the server <NUM>.

By one embodiment, each zone <NUM> is also equipped with a light indicator device <NUM>. The light indicator device <NUM> is configured to display a plurality of colors, wherein each color corresponds to an operational state of the zone. For instance, a green color may indicate a normal operational state of the zone, a yellow color may indicate a certain function being executed in the zone, whereas a flashing red light may indicate an emergency operational state of the zone. The colors displayed by the light indicator device <NUM> are controlled by the server <NUM>, and serve as an indication, for instance, to personnel <NUM> working on the warehouse floor. For example, a red-flashing light may indicate to an operator, that he/she is not to enter the particular zone until the emergency is resolved. Furthermore, each zone <NUM> may be equipped with a camera (e.g., a CCTV camera or the like) which provides a real-time video of the zone environment to be displayed on a display panel of the server <NUM> (described later with reference to <FIG>).

Additionally, each zone <NUM> of the workspace <NUM> may also include a light-curtain device <NUM>. By one embodiment, the light-curtain device <NUM> is a sensing device which includes a transmitter-receiver pair that is configured to detect movement of objects. By one embodiment, the light-sensing device may be an opto-electronic presence sensing safety device that detects the presence of an object in the light curtain's sensing field. A detected movement of objects through the sensing field may be reported by the respective light-sensing device <NUM> to the server <NUM>. Additionally, the light-curtain device <NUM> may also be used in conjunction with the physical markers <NUM> (zone-division markers) to detect the crossing of operators from one zone to another. Such crossing over of an operator may be reported to the server <NUM>.

By one embodiment, a plurality of light curtain devices may be installed along the length of the physical markers <NUM> that are deployed on the floor of the workspace. Accordingly, the plurality of light curtain devices may detect the crossing of a personnel (i.e., operator) <NUM> and/or transportation vehicles <NUM> from one zone to another zone, and report the crossing to the server.

The plurality of light curtain devices may also detect the crossing of transportation vehicles from one zone to another. However, in some instances, a transportation vehicle may be allowed to cross over from one zone to another zone based on a number of active transportation vehicles in the another zone being less than a predetermined threshold number of vehicles. In a similar manner, there may be an instance of a human operator working in a first zone, and a transportation vehicle operating in an adjacent zone (i.e., a second zone). In the event that there is a mechanical failure (i.e., breakdown) in the transportation vehicle, warehouse personnel is scheduled to perform maintenance type operations on the transportation vehicle. In such a case, the human operator in the first zone may be allowed to crossover into the second zone, provided that there are no other active transportation vehicles in the second zone.

Accordingly, by one embodiment of the present disclosure, the warehouse <NUM> may operate in one of two modes: a first mode of operation, and a second mode of operation. In the first mode of operation, transportation vehicles as well as personnel are prohibited from crossing over the physical markers to enter adjacent zones. Thus, in this mode of operation, the transportation vehicles and operators are constrained on entering/exiting a particular zone only through the corresponding gate of the zone. In contrast, in a second mode of operation, transportation vehicles, forklifts, and/or personnel may be granted permission to cross over the physical markers to enter adjacent zones. Additionally, it must be appreciated that a first subset of zones may be configured by the server <NUM> to operate in the first mode of operation, and a second subset of zones may be configured to operate in the second mode of operation. In such a scenario, the operational mode of a subset of zones may be determined based on an average amount of traffic present in the zones, and/or traffic thresholds as described previously.

It must be appreciated that the server <NUM> as depicted in <FIG> may also be configured to perform the partitions (and further monitor the partitions) of the warehouse as described above. Moreover, the server may include one or more servers working in conjunction with one or more databases. Furthermore, it must be appreciated that the servers described herein are not limited to any specific combination or hardware circuitry and/or software. The server <NUM>, in one embodiment, includes circuitry (described later with reference to <FIG>) that is configured to perform the functions described herein. Moreover, the zones of the warehouse may be discontinuous and/or located on different levels (i.e., different floors) of the warehouse.

By one embodiment of the present disclosure, the server <NUM> is configured to create a zoned architecture of the warehouse based on customer demands as well as external factors as stated previously. Upon creating the zoned architecture, the server monitors each zone and detects the occurrence of several events as described below. The server performs functions (e.g., control functions, maintenance functions, and the like) on each zone with an aim to minimize the degradation in the throughput of the warehouse.

In what follows, there is provided a detailed description of the various functions (and the corresponding events that trigger the functions) performed by the server on each zone of the warehouse. It must be appreciated that the server is in no manner restricted to perform only the functions described below. Rather, the server can be configured to perform functions analogous to the ones described below.

As stated previously, each zone in the warehouse may include a plurality of navigational markers <NUM> (<FIG>) affixed on the floor of the warehouse. The server provides navigational instructions to the transportation vehicles. Upon receiving information corresponding to a marker over which the transportation vehicle is currently disposed over, the server provides navigational information to direct the transportation vehicle to the next marker. By one embodiment, the transportation vehicles of the warehouse are equipped with sensors, and circuitry that is configured to maneuver the transportation vehicle in the warehouse. For instance, the sensors on the transportation vehicle can be configured to detect the markers on the floor, and the circuitry may be configured to transmit an acknowledgement signal to the server, to notify the receipt of navigational instructions.

In some cases, there may be a possibility of an erroneous detection of the marker by the transportation vehicle. For instance, if there is debris (e.g., dust accumulation) on the markers, the transportation vehicle may not correctly detect the marker. Such an erroneous detection may result in either the server transmitting inaccurate navigational instructions to the vehicle and/or the transportation vehicle coming to a standstill, as it does not receive any navigational instructions from the server. Moreover, there may be a possibility that the transportation vehicle may not transmit the acknowledgement signals to the server due to malfunction in the circuitry of the vehicle.

Further, by one embodiment, the transportation vehicle may detect the presence of an obstacle in its path. The detection of such an obstacle is notified to the server, whereafter the server may be configured to initiate an emergency function in order to resolve the occurrence of the event. For example, the server may schedule a human operator to the zone to remove the obstacle (e.g., a displaced item) from the warehouse floor. In a similar manner, the transportation vehicle may detect for instance, a water spillage on the floor of the warehouse. Such an event may be detected by the transportation vehicle via accelerometer sensors. It must be appreciated that the occurrence of the water spillage may result in deviation (due to wheel slip) of the transportation vehicle. Accordingly, the transportation vehicle may detect the navigational-markers in an inaccurate fashion. As such, the vehicle may be offset from its predetermined path.

By one embodiment, the server may be configured to determine a criticality of such events. For instance, the server may compare a detected offset in the transportation vehicle to a predetermined threshold. Upon the detected offset being greater the predetermined threshold (signifying that the vehicle is substantially deviated from its intended path), a first type of function may be initiated to resolve the event. The first function may be a 'zone-stop' function, wherein all the transportation vehicles in the zone (i.e., the zone where the event has occurred) are instructed to come to an immediate stop.

In contrast, if the detected offset of transportation vehicle is lesser than the predetermined threshold, a second type of function may be initiated by the server. For instance, the second function may be a 'zone-pause' function, wherein the server may instruct the transportation vehicles to come to a halt at the next marker in its transportation path. By one embodiment, if the detected offset is lower than a fixed percentage of the threshold (e.g., less than <NUM>% of the threshold), the server may instruct the transportation vehicles to continue normal operation.

It must be appreciated that the initiation of the first type of function and the second type of function results in deactivation of the transportation vehicles in the zone, and thereby degrade the throughput of the system. Upon deactivating the transportation vehicles, the server may instruct a human operator to perform maintenance functions. The human operator may perform, for instance, a cleaning of the navigational markers in the zone.

By one embodiment, the server may be configured to detect the occurrence of the above described events in all zones of the warehouse. Based on the simultaneous occurrence of such events in a number of zones being above a predetermined threshold number of zones (e.g., more than <NUM>% of the zones), the server may be configured to initiate a warehouse stop function, wherein all the transportation vehicles in the warehouse are deactivated, and a cleaning operation (e.g., marker clean up) may be initiated.

Additionally, the server may be configured to detect the presence of an unauthorized personnel in a given zone. For instance, by one embodiment, certain zones in the warehouse may be deemed as a 'personnel-free' zone. Accordingly, the server may be configured to detect via the light-curtain devices, the door-latch sensors, or camera the presence of personnel in such zones. Upon detection, the server may be configured to either perform a zone-pause or a zone-stop operation of the corresponding zone in which the personnel was detected.

By one embodiment, the server may receive an interrupt signal, for instance, from an operator of a forklift device. As stated previously, the forklift may be used to transport certain items from one location in the warehouse to another location in the warehouse. Such a transportation of the forklift may require the server to cease operations in multiple zones through which the forklift is expected to traverse.

Accordingly, by one embodiment, the server may be configured to determine an amount of down-time of the zones (defined herein as the amount of time where no operations are performed in the respective zones) that would be incurred in order to accommodate the transportation of the forklift. Further, the server may also be configured to determine whether, at the current time-instant, the transportation vehicles in the requested zones are performing a time-critical task such as high demand order processing. Further, based on the amount of down-time exceeding the time-criticality of the tasks, the server may be configured to defer the allocation of zones for the passage of the forklift at a later time instant.

As an example, consider the case where the server receives a request at <NUM>:<NUM> a. to cease the operations of zones <NUM> and <NUM> for ten minutes, in order to transport the forklift. If the server determines (at time instant <NUM>:<NUM> a. ) that the transportation vehicles in at least one of zones <NUM> and <NUM> are performing tasks, for instance, which need to be completed by <NUM>:<NUM> a. , the server may deny the request of allocating zones <NUM> and <NUM> for the passage of the forklift, and subsequently defer the allocation at a later time instant. Accordingly, the server prevents the degradation of throughput of the warehouse system.

By one embodiment, the server may compute a number of active transportation vehicles in the requested zone(s), upon receiving the external interrupt signal. Further, if the number of active transportation vehicles is less than a predetermined threshold, the server may grant permission to the forklift to traverse the requested zone(s). However, if the number of active transportation vehicles is greater than the threshold, the server may defer the allocation of the requested zone(s) to the forklift for its traversal, and/or alternatively compute a route for the forklift through other zone(s) in a manner such that the throughput of the warehouse is not degraded (e.g., allocate zone(s) to the forklift where no transportation vehicles are in operation).

With regard to the event of detecting an obstacle on the warehouse floor, the server may be configured to determine a criticality of the event, by determining whether the obstacle (e.g., displaced item) lies in a navigational path of an active vehicle, or is displaced in a portion of the zone which is not being used by the active vehicles. Accordingly, in the first case, the server may perform a zone-stop or zone-pause function, and schedule a personnel to remove the displaced item from the floor. However, in the second case (where the obstacle does not lie in the navigational path of the vehicles), the server may provision for the transportation vehicles to complete their assigned tasks, and further schedule the personnel to remove the obstacle at a later point of time.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the server is configured to display the zoned architecture of the warehouse on a display panel. <FIG> illustrates exemplary information displayed on the panel. As shown in <FIG>, the display includes a map portion <NUM> and a control portion <NUM>.

The display can be a touch panel that can detect a touch operation on the surface of the display. For example the touch panel can detect a touch operation performed by an instruction object such as a finger or stylus. Touch operations may correspond to user inputs such as a selection of an icon or a character string displayed on the display. The touch panel may be an electrostatic capacitance type device, a resistive type touch panel device, or other such type devices for detecting a touch on a display panel. Moreover, the display can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, an organic electroluminescent (OLED) display panel, a plasma display panel, or the like. The display panel may display text, an image, a web page, a video, or the like. By one embodiment, the display can be remotely connected to the server.

As shown in <FIG>, by one embodiment, the map portion <NUM> includes a pictorial representation illustrating the partitions <NUM> (i.e., zones) of the warehouse. For example, the map portion <NUM> depicted in <FIG> includes a total of seven zones, wherein of which is demarcated by physical markers <NUM> and/or the boundary (fence of the warehouse). The control portion <NUM> includes a plurality of buttons <NUM>-<NUM> that can be used to perform control operations in different zones of the warehouse. Accordingly, the display provides a visual indication as well as a control mechanism for an operator to control the above described functions being operated in the zones of the warehouse. A selection performed by the server operator can be detected and processed by the touch panel and further transmitted to processing circuitry (described later with reference to <FIG>) of the server.

By one embodiment, in situations such as when the server receives a signal from a transportation vehicle from a zone, notifying for instance, detection of an obstacle, detection of water spillage and the like, the server may be configured to highlight and/or perform a blinking operation on the corresponding zone <NUM> on the display panel. Thus, the operator is made aware of the location of disruption in the warehouse, and can further perform a touch operation to select the particular zone.

Upon selection of the particular zone, the operator may be presented with an additional display <NUM>, listing the current transportation vehicles that are assigned to the selected zone. In a manner, similar to the highlighting of the zone, upon displaying the list of active transportation vehicles, the icon corresponding to the transportation vehicle which transmitted the signal to the server may be configured to blink. As such, the operator can select the particular transportation vehicle, whereafter the server may receive (from a camera installed on the transportation vehicle) and display a live stream of the neighborhood of the transportation vehicle. Thus, the server provides a visual depiction of any mishaps occurring on the warehouse floor to the server operator.

The control portion <NUM> includes a plurality of buttons <NUM>-<NUM> that can be used to perform control operations in different zones of the warehouse. For instance, by one embodiment, the server operator can select a particular zone by performing a touch operation on the map portion <NUM> of the display. Further, control operations in the selected zone can be performed by performing a subsequent touch operation on the buttons <NUM>-<NUM> of the control portion <NUM> of the display. Moreover, it must be appreciated that the server may be configured to indicate to an operator, the occurrence of an obstacle being detected, and the like events, via an auditory message. Additionally, the server may also be configured to communicate with a printer device, to perform a printing operation, for instance, printing of images of affected region of the zone and the like.

By one embodiment, a gate button <NUM> may be operable to open/close a gate of the selected zone. Moreover, upon unauthorized entry of a personnel in a particular zone, the gate button may be configured to blink after performing the blinking operation on the zone in the display portion <NUM>.

A light indicator button <NUM> may be configured to display a specific color on the light indicator device <NUM> (<FIG>) corresponding to a particular zone. Moreover, the control portion <NUM> also includes icons for performing (by an operator of the server) the zone-pause <NUM>, zone-stop <NUM>, warehouse-pause <NUM>, and warehouse-stop <NUM> functionalities (as described previously) by performing a corresponding touch operation on the icons.

Turning to <FIG>, there is illustrated according to an embodiment, a flowchart <NUM> depicting the steps performed in creating a zoned architecture of the warehouse. By one embodiment, the server <NUM> of the warehouse system may be configured to compute a location, size, number of zones to install and the like.

The process commences in step S410, where customer requirements for the workspace layout are input to the server. For instance, the location and size of the zone may depend on the number of storage racks that are to deployed, the type of items stored in the storage (i.e., popular items, non-popular items etc), the location of processing stations, and other criteria as described previously.

In step S420, the server creates a zoned architecture based on the input requirements. By one embodiment, the serve may first determine the number of zones to be created, and further determine the location and area of each zone by considering in a sequential manner, the input criteria. For example, the criteria of having popular racks in a zone which is located close to the processing stations may be assigned a highest priority, and thereby the locations of such zone may be determined first. Note that the area of such zones is determined for instance, based on the number of storage racks that are housed in the zones, an average number of transportation vehicles that are expected to traverse the zones, and the like criteria.

Further, the process proceeds to step S430 wherein the created zoned architecture of the warehouse is implemented on the warehouse floor. In this step, for instance, the physical markers that divide the zones, the navigational markers that enable vehicle navigation and the like are installed on the warehouse floor.

The process in step S450 includes the deployment of other devices such as a gate, light-curtain devices, cameras, sensors, and the like. Upon installing the other devices the server may also perform a test to ensure that all devices are operating in an acceptable manner.

Upon creating the zones and installing the above stated devices in the zones of the warehouse, the process of zone creation is completed, whereafter the server is ready for performing zone monitoring functions.

Turning to <FIG>, there is illustrated according to an embodiment, a flowchart <NUM> depicting the steps performed in executing zone functions.

The process begins in step S510, wherein the server of the warehouse receives a signal indicating that a certain function is to be implemented in a particular zone. As stated previously, the signal may originate for instance, from a transportation vehicle in a zone that has detected a displaced object on the floor of the warehouse, a vehicle that has detected water spillage on the floor, or similar mishaps that may be detected by a transportation vehicle. Additionally, the server may receive a zone function initiation trigger signal from an external source, such as an operator of a forklift, who desires to traverse through certain zones of the warehouse to deliver goods.

In step S520, the server determines a criticality of initiating the zone function. As stated previously, in the case of a vehicle being offset from the navigational markers, the server may compare a detected offset in the transportation vehicle to a predetermined threshold, and determine whether one of a zone-stop and zone-pause function is to be initiated immediately or whether the function can be scheduled at a later time instant. As another example, in the case of detecting a water spillage on the floor of the warehouse, or a misplaced item lying on the floor of the warehouse, the server may determine whether one of a zone-stop and zone-pause function is to be initiated, while taking into account a safety factor based on the function being deferred. For example, if the function of zone-pause or zone-stop is to be initiated upon detecting a misplaced item, the server may determine that the item does not lie in the navigational path of any current active transportation vehicle(s) that is/are operating in the zone. Thus, by one embodiment, the server may defer the clearing of the misplaced item (to prevent a degradation in throughput of the warehouse) to be scheduled at a later time instant by scheduling, for instance, a personnel to clear the item. However, while determining the time instant as to when the personnel is to be scheduled to clear the misplaced item, the server by one embodiment, may also determine a safety factor (e.g., determine whether the misplaced item poses any imminent problems).

In step S530, the server determines based on the above described criteria, whether the zone function is to be implemented immediately or whether the zone function can be deferred to a latter time instant.

In step S540, the server implements the required function by initiating, for instance, a zone-pause or zone-stop function. Upon completing the appropriate zone function at the determined time instant, the process in step S550 reverts state of the zone to its initial operational state (i.e., a zone clear state).

It must be appreciated that the means of demarcating the boundaries of the zones is not limited to using physical markers as stated previously. Rather, the boundaries of the partitioned zones may be demarcated by using laser. By one embodiment of the present disclosure, the usage of lasers to demarcate the boundaries of the zones, allows for adjusting the boundaries of a zone in a dynamic fashion. Specifically, the server may be configured to dynamically change the area of a particular zone by manipulating the boundary of the zone, and/or combine (i.e., morph) two or more zones into one zone as described below. For example, referring to <FIG>, consider the scenario where zones z1 and z3 experience heavy transportation vehicle traffic, (such a situation may occur at peak times of the warehouse operation), and zone z2 experiences substantially less traffic. In such a scenario, the server may be configured to adjust (i.e., reconfigure) the zone boundaries of zones z1 and z2. For example, the server may reconfigure the zone boundary labeled 210A (i.e., the boundary that separates zones z1 and z3 from zone z2) by moving the zone boundary vertically upwards. Doing so would provide more space for additional transportation vehicles to operate in zones z1 and z3, and thereby increase the throughput of the warehouse. Furthermore, by one embodiment of the present disclosure, the server may be configured to determine transportation vehicles in other zones which are idle (i.e., the transportation vehicles that are not performing a task), and assign such transportation vehicles to perform the tasks in zones z1 and z3 (i.e., busy zones). In this manner, the server increases the throughput of the warehouse.

According to one embodiment, the server may be configured to perform failure prediction analysis in the warehouse. Specifically, the server may be configured to predict an occurrence of failure in a particular zone of the warehouse. As stated previously, the server enables navigation of the transportation vehicles in the zones of the warehouse, by providing navigational instructions (from a current marker to a next marker) to the transportation vehicles on a hop-by-hop basis.

In some cases, dust/debris may accumulate over the markers. Furthermore, the markers may incur wear and tear over a period of time. In such cases, the transportation vehicle may inaccurately detect the marker and/or incur an increasing amount of time that is required to decode the marker. The server may maintain a record (in a database) of an amount of time required (by the transportation vehicle) to decode each marker.

Furthermore, the sever may monitor (in real time) the amount of time required by various transportation vehicles to decode a particular marker. The server may be configured to compare, for instance, an average amount of time required by the transportation vehicles to decode the particular marker, and compare the average time to the time required in the past, to decode the marker. Based on such a comparison, the server may be configured to predict an imminent failure in the zone, when the amount of time required to decode the marker is, for instance, a certain predetermined percentage (e.g., <NUM>%) greater than the prior recorded time which is stored in the database. Upon predicting an imminent failure in a particular zone, the server may be configured to initiate a maintenance operation e.g., an operation to clean the marker(s).

By one embodiment, the server may be configured to perform the functions of auditing inventory items of the warehouse in an efficient manner by exploiting the zonal architecture of the warehouse. Typically, in order to implement functions such as auditing inventory items of the warehouse, re-shuffling inventory items from one location in the warehouse to another location in the warehouse, all other operations in the warehouse are stopped. In doing so, the warehouse incurs downtime that degrades throughput.

By one embodiment of the present disclosure, the server is configured to initiate the inventory auditing function in a zone of the warehouse, which is determined to be substantially idle. For example, if the server anticipates a particular zone in the warehouse to be idle for a certain period of time in the future, the server can schedule an inventory auditing function in that period of time. For example, the server may schedule personnel and/or transportation vehicles in the zone to carry out the inventory auditing functions. It must be appreciated that while the inventory auditing function is being performed in a particular zone of the warehouse, operations in other zones of the warehouse can be performed without interruptions (i.e., without stopping the functions in the other zones).

In a similar manner, items from one zone of the warehouse may be scheduled to be transported to another zone in the warehouse (i.e. reshuffling of items from one zone to another) based on, for instance, the server determining a low of traffic (i.e., deployed transportation vehicles) in the zones where the reshuffling of items is to be performed.

Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits. A processing circuit includes a programmed processor (for example, processor <NUM> in <FIG>), as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and circuit components that are arranged to perform the recited functions.

The various features discussed above may be implemented by a computer system (or programmable logic). <FIG> illustrates such a computer system <NUM>. In one embodiment, the computer system <NUM> is a particular, special-purpose machine when the processor <NUM> is programmed to perform navigational processes of the vehicle, computing compensation path, and other functions described above.

The computer system <NUM> includes a disk controller <NUM> coupled to the bus <NUM> to control one or more storage devices for storing information and instructions, such as a magnetic hard disk <NUM>, and a removable media drive <NUM> (e.g., floppy disk drive, read-only compact disc drive, read/write compact disc drive, compact disc jukebox, tape drive, and removable magneto-optical drive). The storage devices may be added to the computer system <NUM> using an appropriate device interface (e.g., small computer system interface (SCSI), integrated device electronics (IDE), enhanced-IDE (E-IDE), direct memory access (DMA), or ultra-DMA).

The computer system <NUM> may also include special purpose logic devices (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)) or configurable logic devices (e.g., simple programmable logic devices (SPLDs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)).

The computer system <NUM> may also include a display controller <NUM> coupled to the bus <NUM> to control a display <NUM>, for displaying information to a computer user. The computer system includes input devices, such as a keyboard <NUM> and a pointing device <NUM>, for interacting with a computer user and providing information to the processor <NUM>. The pointing device <NUM>, for example, may be a mouse, a trackball, a finger for a touch screen sensor, or a pointing stick for communicating direction information and command selections to the processor <NUM> and for controlling cursor movement on the display <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> executes one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in a memory, such as the main memory <NUM>. Such instructions may be read into the main memory <NUM> from another computer readable medium, such as a hard disk <NUM> or a removable media drive <NUM>. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in main memory <NUM>. Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

As stated above, the computer system <NUM> includes at least one computer readable medium or memory for holding instructions programmed according to any of the teachings of the present disclosure and for containing data structures, tables, records, or other data described herein. Examples of computer readable media are compact discs, hard disks, floppy disks, tape, magneto-optical disks, PROMs (EPROM, EEPROM, flash EPROM), DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, or any other magnetic medium, compact discs (e.g., CD-ROM), or any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, or other physical medium with patterns of holes.

Stored on any one or on a combination of computer readable media, the present disclosure includes software for controlling the computer system <NUM>, for driving a device or devices for implementing the features of the present disclosure, and for enabling the computer system <NUM> to interact with a human user. Such software may include, but is not limited to, device drivers, operating systems, and applications software. Such computer readable media further includes the computer program product of the present disclosure for performing all or a portion (if processing is distributed) of the processing performed in implementing any portion of the present dislcosure.

The computer code devices of the present embodiments may be any interpretable or executable code mechanism, including but not limited to scripts, interpretable programs, dynamic link libraries (DLLs), Java classes, and complete executable programs. Moreover, parts of the processing of the present embodiments may be distributed for better performance, reliability, and/or cost.

The term "computer readable medium" as used herein refers to any non-transitory medium that participates in providing instructions to the processor <NUM> for execution. A computer readable medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical, magnetic disks, and magneto-optical disks, such as the hard disk <NUM> or the removable media drive <NUM>. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as the main memory <NUM>. Transmission media, on the contrary, includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that make up the bus <NUM>. Transmission media also may also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying out one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor <NUM> for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer can load the instructions for implementing all or a portion of the present disclosure remotely into a dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to the computer system <NUM> may receive the data on the telephone line and place the data on the bus <NUM>. The bus <NUM> carries the data to the main memory <NUM>, from which the processor <NUM> retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by the main memory <NUM> may optionally be stored on storage device <NUM> or <NUM> either before or after execution by processor <NUM>.

The computer system <NUM> also includes a communication interface <NUM> coupled to the bus <NUM>. The communication interface <NUM> provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link <NUM> that is connected to, for example, a local area network (LAN) <NUM>, or to another communications network <NUM> such as the Internet. For example, the communication interface <NUM> may be a network interface card to attach to any packet switched LAN. As another example, the communication interface <NUM> may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card. In any such implementation, the communication interface <NUM> sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

The network link <NUM> typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link <NUM> may provide a connection to another computer through a local network <NUM> (e.g., a LAN) or through equipment operated by a service provider, which provides communication services through a communications network <NUM>. The local network <NUM> and the communications network <NUM> use, for example, electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams, and the associated physical layer (e.g., CAT <NUM> cable, coaxial cable, optical fiber, etc.). The signals through the various networks and the signals on the network link <NUM> and through the communication interface <NUM>, which carry the digital data to and from the computer system <NUM> may be implemented in baseband signals, or carrier wave based signals.

The baseband signals convey the digital data as unmodulated electrical pulses that are descriptive of a stream of digital data bits, where the term "bits" is to be construed broadly to mean symbol, where each symbol conveys at least one or more information bits. The digital data may also be used to modulate a carrier wave, such as with amplitude, phase and/or frequency shift keyed signals that are propagated over a conductive media, or transmitted as electromagnetic waves through a propagation medium. Thus, the digital data may be sent as unmodulated baseband data through a "wired" communication channel and/or sent within a predetermined frequency band, different than baseband, by modulating a carrier wave. The computer system <NUM> can transmit and receive data, including program code, through the network(s) <NUM> and <NUM>, the network link <NUM> and the communication interface <NUM>. Moreover, the network link <NUM> may provide a connection through a LAN <NUM> to a mobile device <NUM> such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) laptop computer, or cellular telephone.

While aspects of the present disclosure have been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments thereof that are proposed as examples, alternatives, modifications, and variations to the examples may be made. It should be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Claim 1:
An apparatus comprising:
circuitry configured to
partition a workspace into a plurality of zones based on an area of the workspace, and a number of inventory holders that are to be deployed in the workspace, wherein the workspace includes a plurality of navigational markers, enabling the navigation of transportation robots,
determine a location of each zone of the plurality of zones based on a first reference location and/or a second reference location,
determine for each zone of the plurality of zones, an area of the zone within the workspace,
receive, from sensors of a transportation robot and/or of the workspace, a signal indicating occurrence of an event in one of the plurality of zones of the workspace resulting in an offset of a transportation robot, determine a degree of criticality of the occurred event, the degree of criticality indicating whether workspace operation in the zone can be continued, the degree of criticality of the occurred event being determined by comparing a detected offset of the transportation robot from the navigational markers to a predetermined threshold, and
initiate an operation from a plurality of operations at a timing that is based on the determined degree of criticality, the operations being a 'zone-stop' function, wherein all the transportation robots in the zone where the event has occurred are instructed to come to an immediate stop if the offset is greater than the predetermined threshold, a 'zone-pause' function, wherein the transportation robots are instructed to come to a halt at the next marker in its transportation path if the offset is lesser than the predetermined threshold, and normal operation is continued if the detected offset is lower than a fixed percentage of the threshold, wherein initiation of the operation in the one of the plurality of zones does not affect workspace operation in at least one other zone of the workspace.