System and Method Using Robots to Assist Humans in Order Fulfillment

1 . A system using one or more robots to assist a human in order fulfillment, comprising:

a server configured to receive an order comprising an order item;

inventory storage operably connected to the server, the inventory storage comprising inventory items;

an order robot operably connected to the server, the order robot configured to assist a human to pick an order item from the inventory items; and

a human-operated device operably connected to one or more of the server, the inventory storage, and the order robot, the human-operated device configured to assist the human to pick the order item.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the human-operated device is configured to assist the human to perform one or more of locating the order item, grasping the order item, and placing the order item so as to be accessible to the order robot.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the order robot is mobile.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein assisting comprises leading the human.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein assisting comprises following the human.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the order robot comprises an information capture device configured to make an information capture.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the information capture is usable to perform one or more of detecting a human location and tracking motion of the human.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the information capture comprises a pick list comprising one or more order items to be picked.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the information capture device comprises one or more of a depth camera, a Red Green Blue (RGB) camera, another photographic camera, a videocamera, a laser, a wireless receiver, a fiducial, a scanner, and another information capture device.

10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the information capture device comprises a laser scanner.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the order robot is configured, using the information capture, to position itself at an approximate robot position.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the robot position comprises an approximate robot position relative to the human.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the robot position comprises a point approximately located on the circumference of a circle centered at a human location of the human.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the robot position comprises a point that is approximately nearest to the human of points located on the circumference of a circle centered at the human location of the human.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the circle has a radius that is predetermined by a user.

16 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the order robot moves so as to maintain one or more of a substantially constant distance from the human and a substantially constant orientation to the human.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the robot position comprises an approximate distance from the human.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the distance is predetermined by a user.

19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the distance is calculated by the server.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the robot position is predetermined by a user.

21 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the robot position is calculated by the server.

22 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the robot position comprises a desired orientation of the order robot.

23 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the orientation is predetermined by a user.

24 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the orientation is calculated by the server.

25 . The system of claim 1 , wherein picking comprises one or more of locating the order item, selecting the order item, and placing the order item so as to be accessible to the order robot.

26 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the order robot is configured to provide data to the server.

27 . The system of claim 26 , wherein the data comprises one or more of an order item pick time, an order item pick location, an image, a point cloud, two-dimensional data, three-dimensional data, a metric, and other data.

28 . The system of claim 27 , wherein the metric comprises one or more of a human moving speed, a human picking speed, and human health data.

29 . The system of claim 28 , wherein the human health data comprises one or more of human exhaustion, elevated human body temperature, and another human health datum.

30 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the order robot comprises a hit detection device configured to detect when the order robot is contacted.

31 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the hit detection device comprises one or more of a designated panel, a gyro, an accelerometer, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and another hit detection device.

32 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a cuing device configured to cue the human regarding one or more of an order item to pick, a pick location, and another pick characteristic.

33 . The system of claim 32 , wherein the cuing device comprises one or more of an audio cuing device, a visual cuing device, and another cuing device.

34 . The system of claim 32 , wherein the cuing device comprises lights comprised in the order robot, the lights configured to show in which direction the order robot will be heading.

35 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the human-operated device is controlled by the human.

36 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the human-operated device comprises one or more of a heads-up display, a smart watch, a tablet, a scanner, a mobile computer, a wireless human-operated device, a headset, and another human-operated device.

37 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the human-operated device comprises one or more of a radio frequency (RF) scanner and a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader. Preferably, although not necessarily, the human-operated device 127 is controlled by the human 120 .

38 . A method using one or more robots to assist a human in order fulfillment, comprising:

receiving, by an order robot, a selection of the order robot by the human;

receiving, by the order robot, from a server, an order comprising an order item;

receiving, by the order robot, from the server, a direction to assist the human to pick the order;

receiving, by the order robot, an assist trigger configured to trigger the order robot to assist the human to pick the order item;

assisting the human, by the order robot, in response to the assist trigger, to pick the order item;

receiving, by the order robot, from the server, an instruction to carry the order item to a final destination; and

carrying the order item to the final destination.

39 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the step of receiving the direction comprises receiving a direction to assist the human to pick the order item from inventory items comprised in inventory storage.

40 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of receiving the selection and before the step of receiving the order, of transmitting the selection, by the order robot, to a server.

41 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of receiving the order, and before the step of receiving the assist trigger, of:

capturing, by the order robot using an information capture device, a pick list comprising one or more items to be picked.

42 . The method of claim 41 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of capturing the pick list, and before the step of receiving the assist trigger, of:

sending, by the order robot, to the server, the pick list comprising the one or more order items to be picked.

43 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection through an information capture device comprised in the order robot.

44 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection via a button comprised in the order robot that is pressed by the human.

45 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection via a transmission from a human-operated device available to the human.

46 . The method of claim 45 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection using a user interface comprised in the human-operated device.

47 . The method of claim 46 , wherein the step of receiving comprises receiving the selection via a map location designated by the human using the user interface.

48 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection from the server.

49 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the step of transmitting comprises transmitting through an information capture device comprised in the order robot.

50 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of receiving the order, and before the step of receiving the assist trigger, of:

receiving, by the order robot, from the human, a pick list comprising one or more order items to be picked.

51 . The method of claim 50 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of receiving the pick list, and before the step of receiving the assist trigger, of:

decoding, by the order robot, an item comprised in the pick list.

52 . The method of claim 38 , wherein assisting comprises leading the human.

53 . The method of claim 38 , wherein assisting comprises following the human.

54 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the assist trigger comprises one or more of a hit, a command, a microphone, a speech recognition system, a command from the server, a command from a human-operated device, and another assist trigger.

55 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of receiving the order, and before the step of receiving the assist trigger, of:

capturing, by the order robot, information usable to perform one or more of detecting a human location and tracking motion of the human.

56 . The method of claim 55 , wherein the step of capturing comprises monitoring health of the human.

57 . The method of claim 56 , wherein the step of capturing comprises monitoring one or more of a human moving speed, a human picking speed, and human health data.

58 . The method of claim 57 , wherein the human health data comprises one or more of human exhaustion, elevated human body temperature, and another human health datum.

59 . The method of claim 38 , wherein picking comprises one or more of locating the order item, selecting the order item, and placing the order item so as to be accessible to the order robot.

60 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of assisting, and before the step of receiving the instruction, of:

providing, by the order robot, to the server, data.

61 . The method of claim 60 , wherein the data comprises one or more of an order item pick time, an order item pick location, an image, a point cloud, two-dimensional data, three-dimensional data, a metric, and other data.

62 . The method of claim 61 , wherein the metric comprises one or more of a human moving speed, a human picking speed, and human health data.

63 . The method of claim 62 , wherein the human health data comprises one or more of human exhaustion, elevated human body temperature, and another human health datum.

64 . The method of claim 56 , further comprising a step performed after the step of receiving the order, and before the step of receiving the assist trigger, of:

alerting a supervisor, by the order robot, if a human is having a medical issue.

65 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the assisting begins when the order robot receives an assist trigger from a human.

66 . The method of claim 65 , wherein the assist trigger comprises a light kick of a hit detection device comprised in the order robot.

67 . The method of claim 65 , wherein the assist trigger comprises one or more of a hit, a heads-up display, a smart watch display, a tablet display, a command, a wireless device display, a headset instruction, a microphone instruction, a speech recognition system instruction, and another assist trigger.

68 . The method of claim 38 , wherein assisting comprises cuing the human regarding the order item to be picked.

69 . The method of claim 68 , wherein cuing comprises one or more of cuing using an audio cuing device, cuing using a visual cuing device, and another form of cuing.

70 . The method of claim 68 , wherein cuing comprises cuing the human regarding one or more of an order item to pick, a pick location, and another pick characteristic.

71 . The method of claim 68 , wherein the visual cuing device comprises a projector configured to project a cue onto one or more of a floor and another surface.

72 . The method of claim 71 , wherein the projector comprises a pick-to-light illumination device.

73 . The method of claim 68 , wherein cuing comprises using lights comprised in the order robot to show in which direction the order robot will be heading.

74 . The method of claim 38 , wherein assisting comprises maintaining, by the order robot, one or more of a substantially constant distance from the human and a substantially constant orientation to the human.

75 . The method of claim 38 , where assisting comprises adjusting, by the order robot, its pace to approximately match the pace of the human.

76 . The method of claim 75 , wherein the adjusting is performed automatically.

77 . The method of claim 38 , wherein assisting comprises navigating, by the order robot, to a desired pick location.

78 . The method of claim 77 , wherein the navigating is performed automatically.

79 . The method of claim 38 , wherein assisting comprises providing, by the order robot, one or more shelves located on top of the order robot and comprising a pick-to-light illumination device.

80 . The method of claim 38 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of assisting, and before the step of receiving the instruction, of sending, by the order robot, to the server, an order fulfillment confirmation.

81 . A method using one or more robots to assist a human in order fulfillment, comprising:

receiving, by a server, an order comprising an order item;

receiving, by the server, a selection by the human of the order robot;

sending the order, by the server, to one or more of an order robot and a human-operated device available to the human;

sending, by the server, to the order robot, a direction to assist the human to pick the order item;

determining, by the server, that the order is nearly complete;

determining, by the server, that an order robot replacement suitable for fulfilling a next order has not yet been sent;

sending a dispatch instruction, by the server, to the order robot replacement instructing its dispatch;

determining, by the server, that the order is complete; and

instructing the order robot, by the server, to carry the order item to a final destination.

82 . The method of claim 81 , wherein the step of sending the direction comprises sending a direction to assist the human to pick the order item from inventory items comprised in inventory storage.

83 . The method of claim 81 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection from the order robot.

84 . The method of claim 81 , wherein the step of receiving the selection comprises receiving the selection from the human-operated device.

85 . The method of claim 84 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of receiving the selection and before the step of sending the order, of sending the selection, by the server, to the order robot.

86 . The method of claim 81 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of sending the order and before the step of determining that the order is nearly complete, of:

receiving, by the server, from the order robot, a pick list comprising one or more order items to be picked.

87 . The method of claim 81 , wherein the step of instructing comprises a sub-step of:

determining one or more of the order item and a location of the order item.

88 . The method of claim 81 , further comprising a step, performed after the step of sending the order and before the step of determining that the order is complete, of:

sending, by the server, to the order robot, an assist trigger configured to trigger the order robot to assist the human to pick the order item.