System, computing device, and method for unmanned vehicle fleet control

1. A system, comprising:

a plurality of unmanned vehicles;

a computing device for connection to the plurality of unmanned vehicles via a network, the computing device storing, in a memory, (i) a dynamic attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is variable during vehicle operation and (ii) a static attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the static attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is invariable during vehicle operation;

the computing device configured to:

receive a task request, the task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action;

responsive to receiving the request, retrieve the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes from the memory;

for each unmanned vehicle, evaluate the dynamic attribute and the static attribute against at least one criterion;

when the at least one criterion is satisfied, add the unmanned vehicle to a selection set;

optimize the selection set to identify one of the unmanned vehicles as a selected unmanned vehicle that best matches the task request; and

transmit, via the network, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location.

2. The system of claim 1 , each of the unmanned vehicles having a motor coupled to an energy storage device; wherein the dynamic attribute respective to each unmanned vehicle includes at least one of a location of the unmanned vehicle, an availability indicator for the unmanned vehicle, and a remaining capacity of the energy storage device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the static attribute respective to each of the unmanned vehicles includes at least a maximum payload of the unmanned vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1 , the computing device further configured to:

prior to selecting one of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, retrieve, from the memory, an item attribute corresponding to the item and a location attribute corresponding to the location.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the item attribute includes at least one of a mass of the item and a dimension of the item; and wherein the location attribute includes a set of coordinates of the location.

6. The system of claim 1 , the computing device further configured to:

responsive to transmitting the command to the selected unmanned vehicle, update the dynamic attribute respective to the selected unmanned vehicle.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the action type is a pick up action; wherein the command is a command to pick up the item at the location; and wherein the update includes adding the item identifier to the dynamic attribute.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the action type is an in-process action; wherein the command is a command to machine the item at the location.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the update includes replacing the item identifier in the dynamic attribute with another item identifier.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the action type is a drop off action; wherein the command is a command to drop off the item at the location; and wherein the update includes removing the item identifier from the dynamic attribute.

11. The system of claim 1 , the computing device further configured to receive the task request from a second computing device via the network.

12. The system of claim 1 , the dynamic attribute defining at least one of: a current location of the unmanned vehicle, a remaining energy supply of the unmanned vehicle, an indication of availability for the unmanned vehicle, and a current payload identifier for the unmanned vehicle.

13. The system of claim 1 , the static attribute defining at least one of: a maximum speed of the unmanned vehicle, a curb weight of the unmanned vehicle, a maximum payload of the unmanned vehicle, and an identifier of a tool mounted to the unmanned vehicle.

14. The system of claim 1 , the static attributes for the plurality of unmanned vehicles being heterogeneous.

15. The system of claim 6 , the computing device further configured to:

subsequent to transmitting the command, receive a status message from the selected unmanned vehicle via the network;

determine whether the status message indicates completion of the action respective to the item at the location; and

when the status message indicates completion, send a confirmation message to the second computing device.

16. The system of claim 6 , the computing device further configured to:

determine whether the status message indicates a failure to complete the action respective to the item at the location;

when the status message indicates a failure, send an alert to the second computing device.

17. A computing device, comprising:

a communications interface for connection to a plurality of unmanned vehicles via a network;

memory storing (i) a dynamic attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is variable during vehicle operation and (ii) a static attribute respective to each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the static attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is invariable during vehicle operation; and

a processor connected to the communications interface and the memory, the processor configured to:

receive a task request, the task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action;

responsive to receiving the request, retrieve the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes from the memory;

for each unmanned vehicle, evaluate the dynamic attribute and the static attribute against at least one criterion;

when the at least one criterion is satisfied, add the unmanned vehicle to a selection set;

optimize the selection set to identify one of the unmanned vehicles in the selection set as a selected unmanned vehicle that best matches the task request; and

transmit, via the communications interface, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location.

18. A method, comprising:

storing, in a memory, (i) a dynamic attribute respective of each of a plurality of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is variable during vehicle operation and (ii) a static attribute respective of each of the plurality of unmanned vehicles, the static attribute defining an operational capability of the respective vehicle that is invariable during vehicle operation;

receiving, at a processor connected to the memory, a task request, the task request including (i) an item identifier of an item, (ii) an action type defining an action to be performed respective to the item, and (iii) a location identifier of a location at which to perform the action;

responsive to receiving the request, retrieving the stored dynamic attributes and static attributes from the memory;

for each unmanned vehicle, evaluating the dynamic attribute and the static attribute against at least one criterion;

when the at least one criterion is satisfied, add the unmanned vehicle to a selection set;

optimizing the selection set to identify one of the unmanned vehicles as a selected unmanned vehicle that best matches the task request; and

transmitting, via a communications interface connected to the processor, a command to the selected unmanned vehicle to perform the action respective to the item at the location.