Apparatus and method for navigation control

1. An information processing apparatus for controlling movement of a plurality of vehicles along transportation paths, the information processing apparatus comprising:

a communication interface configured to communicate with the plurality of vehicles; and

circuitry configured to:

(i) receive, from one of the plurality of vehicles via the communication interface, first marker information that is generated based on a first marker being detected by the one of the plurality of vehicles, the first marker being one of a plurality of markers located at predetermined positions,

(ii) determine a second marker of the plurality of markers to which the one of the plurality of vehicles is to be moved from the first marker,

(iii) generate first control information to control movement of the one of the plurality of vehicles from the first marker to the second marker based on the first marker information and predetermined navigation information associated with the first marker, the predetermined navigation information indicating the location of the second marker relative to the first marker, and

(iv) transmit, via the communication interface, the first control information to the one of the plurality of vehicles,

wherein a transportation path between the first marker and the second marker is divided into a plurality of path segments,

wherein upon the one of the plurality of vehicles reaching an end of a path segment of the plurality of path segments, the circuitry is further configured to receive, from the one of the plurality of vehicles, vehicle position feedback information recorded by the one of the plurality of vehicles as the one of the plurality of vehicles travels between segments of the plurality of segments, the vehicle position feedback information corresponding to a wheel counter of the one of the plurality of vehicles that keeps track of a number of rotations of the wheels of the one of the plurality of vehicles as the one of the plurality of vehicles travels between segments of the plurality of segments, and

wherein, based on the received vehicle position feedback information, the circuitry is further configured to (i) calculate control information to control the movement of the one of the plurality of vehicles at a start of a next path segment of the plurality of path segments and (ii) transmit the calculated control information to the one of the plurality of vehicles at a start of the next path segment of the plurality of path segments.

2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

receive, from the one of the plurality of vehicles via the communication interface, second marker information that is generated based on the second marker being detected by the one of the plurality of vehicles;

determine a third marker of the plurality of markers to which the one of the plurality of vehicles is to be moved from the second marker; and

generate second control information to control movement of the one of the plurality of vehicles from the second marker to the third marker based on the second marker information and the predetermined navigation information, the predetermined navigation information indicating the location of the third marker relative to the second marker.

3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

the second marker neighbors the first marker, and

the predetermined navigation information indicates the relative location of each marker of the plurality of markers that neighbors the first marker.

4. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first marker information includes a unique identifier extracted by the one of the plurality of vehicles from a machine readable pattern.

5. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first marker information includes orientation information of the one of the plurality of vehicles with respect to the first marker and identification information associated with the first marker.

6. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first marker information includes an image of the first marker that is captured by the one of the plurality of vehicles.

7. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

compute one of the transportation paths, the one of the transportation paths including a sequence of markers of the plurality of markers to be traversed by the one of the plurality of vehicles starting at a source marker and terminating at a destination marker.

8. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

retrieve the predetermined navigation information from a marker map stored in a memory, the marker map including, for each of the plurality of markers, navigation information indicative of the location of at least one defined other marker of the plurality of markers relative to the respective one of the plurality of markers, the navigation information being usable to control movement of the one of the plurality of vehicles between the respective one of the plurality of markers and the at least one defined other marker.

9. The information processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the navigation information includes a displacement value corresponding to a distance between the respective one of the plurality of markers and the at least one defined other marker of the plurality of markers, and a bearing angle value.

10. The information processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the marker map includes a plurality of keys, each key of the plurality of keys corresponding to one of the plurality of markers and including:

a first data field that stores identification information when a vehicle is disposed on the corresponding marker,

a second data field that stores reservation information of the corresponding marker,

a third data field that stores information corresponding to neighboring markers of the corresponding marker, the neighboring markers including at least one of a marker that is deployed in a north direction, a south direction, an east direction, and a west direction from the marker,

a fourth data field that stores a distance of the corresponding marker to each of the neighboring markers, the distance being used to determine a cost incurred by the vehicle in travelling from the corresponding marker to the corresponding neighboring marker, and

a fifth data field that indicates whether the vehicle can deploy a goods rack at the marker.

11. A vehicle comprising:

circuitry configured to:

(i) detect a first marker of a plurality of markers located at predetermined positions,

(ii) generate first marker information based on the detected first marker,

(iii) transmit the generated first marker information to an information processing apparatus that is configured to control movement of a plurality of vehicles,

(iv) receive first control information from the information processing apparatus, the first control information being generated by the information processing apparatus based on the first marker information and predetermined navigation information in response to the first marker information, and

(v) cause the vehicle to move to a second marker of the plurality of markers based on the first control information, wherein the predetermined navigation information indicates the location of the second marker relative to the first marker,

wherein a transportation path between the first marker and the second marker is divided into a plurality of path segments,

wherein upon the vehicle reaching an end of a path segment of the plurality of path segments, the circuitry is further configured to transmit, to the information processing apparatus, vehicle position feedback information recorded by the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, the vehicle position feedback information corresponding to a wheel counter of the vehicle that keeps track of a number of rotations of the wheels of the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, and

wherein, based on the transmitted vehicle position feedback information, the circuitry is further configured to receive, from the information processing apparatus at a start of a next path segment of the plurality of path segments, control information calculated from the transmitted vehicle position feedback information to control the movement of the vehicle.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

detect the second marker;

generate second marker information based on the detected second marker;

transmit the generated second marker information to the information processing apparatus;

receive second control information from the information processing apparatus, the second control information being generated by the information processing apparatus based on the second marker information and the predetermined navigation information in response to the first marker information; and

cause the vehicle to move to a third marker of the plurality of markers, wherein the predetermined navigation information indicates the location of the third marker relative to the second marker.

13. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein

the second marker neighbors the first marker, and

the predetermined navigation information indicates the relative location of each marker of the plurality of markers that neighbors the first marker.

14. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein

the first marker is a machine readable pattern, and

the circuitry is further configured to extract a unique identifier from the machine readable pattern.

15. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the first marker information includes orientation information of the vehicle with respect to the first marker and identification information associated with the first marker.

16. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the first marker information includes an image of the first marker that is captured by the vehicle.

17. A system, comprising:

an information processing apparatus for controlling movement of a plurality of vehicles, the information processing apparatus including

a communication interface configured to communicate with the plurality of vehicles; and

first circuitry configured to:

(i) receive, from a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles via the communication interface, first marker information that is generated based on a first marker being detected by the one of the plurality of vehicles, the first marker being one of a plurality of markers located at predetermined positions,

(ii) determine a second marker of the plurality of markers to which the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is to be moved from the first marker,

(iii) generate first control information to control movement of the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles from the first marker to the second marker based on the first marker information and predetermined navigation information associated with the first marker, the predetermined navigation information indicating the location of the second marker relative to the first marker, and

(iv) transmit, via the communication interface, the first control information to the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles; and

the vehicle including second circuitry that is configured to:

(i) detect the first marker of the plurality of markers located at the predetermined positions,

(ii) generate the first marker information based on the detected first marker,

(iii) transmit the generated first marker information to the information processing apparatus,

(iv) receive the first control information from the information processing apparatus, and

(v) cause the vehicle to move to the second marker of the plurality of markers based on the first control information, wherein the predetermined navigation information indicates the location of the second marker relative to the first marker,

wherein a transportation path between the first marker and the second marker is divided into a plurality of path segments,

wherein upon the vehicle reaching an end of a path segment of the plurality of path segments, the first circuitry is further configured to receive, from the second circuitry, vehicle position feedback information recorded by the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, the vehicle position feedback information corresponding to a wheel counter of the vehicle that keeps track of a number of rotations of the wheels of the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, and

wherein, based on the received vehicle position feedback information, the first circuitry is further configured to (i) calculate control information to control the movement of the vehicle at a start of a next path segment of the plurality of path segments and (ii) transmit the calculated control information to the vehicle at a start of the next path segment of the plurality of path segments.

18. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to reserve the second marker of the plurality of markers such that another vehicle cannot enter a reserved region including the second marker of the plurality of markers.