ROBOTIC COMMUNICATION WITH FIBER-OPTICS

摘要

A system for managing inventory items includes a portable inventory holder and an unmanned drive unit configured to move the inventory holder between locations in an inventory facility. The inventory facility includes a plurality of light emitting elements. The drive unit captures an image of a subset of the light emitting elements. The captured image is processed to determine the location of the drive unit within the facility. A path is determined along which the drive unit moves to an inventory holder and moves the inventory holder to another location. The light emitting elements can be provided by optical fibers embedded in the floor of the inventory facility.

主权项

1. A system for managing inventory items, comprising:
a portable inventory holder configured to store at least one inventory item at a first location in an inventory facility, the inventory facility having a floor including a plurality of light emitting optical fibers; an unmanned drive unit including an image capture device oriented substantially towards the floor surface; and a management module having computer-executable instructions configured to cause the system to perform actions including:
instructing the drive unit to move about the inventory facility;causing capture of at least one image of one or more of the light emitting optical fibers using the image capture device;processing the at least one captured image to locate the drive unit within the inventory facility, the processing including referencing a map of locations of the light emitting optical fibers;determining a path to move the drive unit to the first location and then to a second location;instructing the drive unit to move along the path to the first location based at least in part on the at least one captured image; andusing the drive unit to move the portable inventory holder along the path from the first location to the second location based at least in part on the at least one captured image.