Granted Patent B2

US 12,654,320 · App. 18/614,355 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Naman P. Shah (Tempe, AZ); Georgios Fainekos (Novi, MI); Bardh Hoxha (Canton, MI); Hideki Okamoto (Ann Arbor, MI); Danil V. Prokhorov (Canton, MI)

Assignees: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.; TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

B25J9/1664B25J9/161

Abstract

Claims (52)

1 . A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory having a set of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the computing system to:

determine paths in abstract states for a first robot to progress from an origin to a destination;

determine a cost for each respective path of the paths by normalizing a congestion measurement of a respective abstract state of the abstract states forming the respective path based on a size of the respective abstract state;

select a selected path from the paths that is associated with a lowest cost from the costs; and

compute a motion plan for the first robot to traverse the selected path.

2 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein each of the congestion measurements includes a human congestion measurement of the respective path.

3 . The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions of the memory, when executed, cause the computing system to:

receive a transmission from a second robot that indicates positions of humans; and

compute at least one of the human congestion measurements based on the positions of the humans.

4 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein each of the congestion measurements includes a robot congestion measurement of the respective path.

5 . The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the instructions of the memory, when executed, cause the computing system to:

receive a transmission from a second robot that indicates positions of the second robot; and

compute at least one of the robot congestion measurements based on the positions of the second robot.

6 . The computing system of claim 1 ,

wherein to determine the cost for each respective path of the paths, the instructions of the memory, when executed, cause the computing system to determine the cost based on a length of the respective path in the abstract state.

7 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions of the memory, when executed, cause the computing system to:

move the first robot along the selected path based on the motion plan.

8 . At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

determine paths in abstract states for a first robot to traverse between an origin and a destination;

determine a cost for each respective path of the paths by normalizing a congestion measurement of a respective abstract state of the abstract states forming the respective path based on a size of the respective abstract state;

select a selected path from the paths that is associated with a lowest cost from the costs; and

compute a motion plan for the first robot to traverse the selected path.

9 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein each of the congestion measurements includes a human congestion measurement of the respective path.

10 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to:

receive a transmission from a second robot that indicate positions of humans; and

compute at least one of the human congestion measurements based on the positions of the humans.

11 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein each of the congestion measurements includes a robot congestion measurement of the respective path.

12 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to:

receive a transmission from a second robot that indicates positions of the second robot; and

compute at least one of the robot congestion measurements based on the positions of the second robot.

13 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8 ,

wherein to determine the cost for each respective path of the paths, the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to determine the cost based on a length of the respective path in the abstract state.

14 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to:

move the first robot along the selected path based on the motion plan.

15 . A method comprising:

determining paths in abstract states for a first robot to traverse between an origin and a destination;

determining a cost for each respective path of the paths by normalizing a congestion measurement of a respective abstract state of the abstract states forming the respective path based on a size of the respective abstract state;

selecting a selected path from the paths that is associated with a lowest cost from the costs; and

computing a motion plan for the first robot to traverse the selected path.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the congestion measurements includes a human congestion measurement of the respective path.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving a transmission from a second robot that indicates positions of humans; and

computing at least one of the human congestion measurements based on the positions of the humans.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the congestion measurements includes a robot congestion measurement of the respective path.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a transmission from a second robot that indicates positions of the second robot; and

computing at least one of the robot congestion measurements based on the positions of the second robot.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the determining the cost for each respective path of the paths includes determining the cost based on a length of the respective path in the abstract state; and

the method further comprises moving the first robot along the selected path based on the motion plan.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (47)