System and method of moving carts using a robot
A method includes receiving, at a robot being in communication with a control center communication module of a control center, an instruction to relocate a cart to a location where a set of items are stored. The method further includes moving, by the robot, to a second location where the cart is positioned; (2) activating, by the robot, a motor of a latch fastening system to cause movement of a latch arm resulting in a latch being exposed; (3) removably engaging, by the robot and using the latch, the cart via a latching feature of the cart; (4) moving, by the robot, the cart from the second location to the location where the set of items are stored; and (5) transitioning, by the robot, a subset of the set of items to the cart in accordance with the instruction.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a robot being in communication with a control center communication module of a control center, an instruction to relocate a cart to a location where a set of items are stored;
moving the robot to a second location where the cart is positioned;
activating, by the robot, a motor of a latch fastening system to cause horizontal movement of a latch arm, wherein the horizontal movement of the latch arm results in exposure of a fork-shaped latch of the latch fastening system;
removably engaging, by the robot and using the fork-shaped latch of the latch fastening system, the cart via a latching feature of the cart, wherein the latching feature has a complementary shape to the fork-shaped latch;
moving, by the robot, the cart from the second location to the location where the set of items are stored; and
transitioning, by the robot, a subset of the set of items to the cart in accordance with the instruction.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motor of the latch fastening system is activated as a result of detection, by the robot, that the robot is positioned underneath the cart.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motor of the latch fastening system is activated as a result of a determination, by the robot, that the fork-shaped latch of the latch fastening system is in alignment with the latching feature of the cart to allow removable engagement with the cart.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
moving, by the robot, the cart from the location where the set of items are stored to a third location where a human is present to retrieve the subset of the set of items from the cart; and
disengaging, at the third location, the latch fastening system from the latching feature of the cart to release the cart.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the latch fastening system is disengaged by the robot at the third location.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the latch fastening system is disengaged by the human present at the third location.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, based on one or more requirements for movement of the set of items in a warehouse, a first set of operations to be performed by the robot and a second set of operations to be performed by one or more humans; and
generating, via the control center communication module of a control center, the instruction based on the first set of operations to be performed by the robot.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instruction is generated based on an analysis of robot performance in relocating carts within a warehouse and of human performance in relocating the carts within the warehouse.
9. A robot comprising:
a computer processer; and
a computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer processor and the robot to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a control center communication module of a control center, an instruction to relocate a cart to a location where a set of items are stored;
moving to a second location where the cart is positioned;
activating a motor of a latch fastening system to cause horizontal movement of a latch arm, wherein the horizontal movement of the latch arm results in exposure of a fork-shaped latch of the latch fastening system;
removably engaging, using the fork-shaped latch of the latch fastening system, the cart via a latching feature of the cart, wherein the latching feature has a complementary shape to the fork-shaped latch;
moving the cart from the second location to the location where the set of items are stored; and
transitioning a subset of the set of items to the cart in accordance with the instruction.