Area-based operation by autonomous robots in a facility context

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising memory with instructions encoded thereon that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations, the instructions comprising instructions to:

identify, by a central communication system, a source area within a facility comprising a plurality of objects, the source area defined by a source boundary;

determine, by the central communication system, a destination area within the facility to which the plurality of objects are to be transported and unloaded, the destination area defined by a destination boundary;

select, by the central communication system, one or more robots of a fleet of robots within the facility based on one or more of a capability of the robots and a location of the robots within the facility;

provide, by the central communication system, an instruction to each selected robot to transport the plurality of objects from the source area to the destination area, each robot configured to autonomously:

select an object of the plurality of objects based on a position and location of the object within the source area;

transport the selected object through the facility from the source area to the destination area along a route selected by the robot; and

unload the selected object at a location within the destination area selected based on a first number of objects of the plurality of objects already unloaded within the destination area and based on a second number of objects of the plurality of objects yet to be unloaded within the destination area, wherein the destination area comprises a plurality of points, and wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

receive sensory input from one or more of the selected robots of the destination area, wherein the sensory input comprises one or more of one or more images;

identify, based on the one or more images, a plurality of candidate drop-off points for the selected object;

determine, from the candidate drop-off points, an optimal drop-off point for the selected object.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

generate for display a map to a human operator; and

receive input from the human operator that defines the source boundary and the destination boundary.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

receive information from the selected robot indicating a volume of the plurality of objects;

identify, from a plurality of candidate areas, a candidate area whose boundary is large enough to accommodate the volume; and

select the candidate area to be the destination area.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to identify the optimal drop-off point comprise instructions to:

identify, of the plurality of candidate drop-off points, a subset of points that are not presently taken up by an object;

identify a point of the subset of points that is closest to the robot relative to other points of the subset of points; and

assign the point as the optimal drop-off point.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

determine whether using the point to drop off the selected object would block one or more other ones of the plurality of candidate drop-off points; and

assign the point as the optimal drop-off point responsive to determining that using the point to drop off the selected object would not block one or more other ones of the plurality of drop-off points.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more robots are further configured to:

after transporting the selected object to the destination area, capture an image of the source area;

identify an object that was previously occluded by the selected object; and

adjust the second number of objects based on identifying the previously occluded object.

7. A method comprising:

identifying, by a central communication system, a source area within a facility comprising a plurality of objects, the source area defined by a source boundary;

determining, by the central communication system, a destination area within the facility to which the plurality of objects are to be transported and unloaded, the destination area defined by a destination boundary;

selecting, by the central communication system, one or more robots of a fleet of robots within the facility based on one or more of a capability of the robots and a location of the robots within the facility;

providing, by the central communication system, an instruction to each selected robot to transport the plurality of objects from the source area to the destination area, each robot configured to autonomously:

select an object of the plurality of objects based on a position and location of the object within the source area;

transport the selected object through the facility from the source area to the destination area along a route selected by the robot; and

unload the selected object at a location within the destination area selected based on a first number of objects of the plurality of objects already unloaded within the destination area and based on a second number of objects of the plurality of objects yet to be unloaded within the destination area, wherein the one or more robots are further configured to:

after transporting the selected object to the destination area, capture an image of the source area;

identify an object that was previously occluded by the selected object; and

adjust the second number of objects based on identifying the previously occluded object.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

generating for display a map to a human operator; and

receiving input from the human operator that defines the source boundary and the destination boundary.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving information from the selected robot indicating a volume of the plurality of objects;

identifying, from a plurality of candidate areas, a candidate area whose boundary is large enough to accommodate the volume; and

selecting the candidate area to be the destination area.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the destination area comprises a plurality of points, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving sensory input from one or more of the selected robots of the destination area, wherein the sensory input comprises one or more of one or more images;

identifying, based on the one or more images, a plurality of candidate drop-off points for the selected object;

determining, from the candidate drop-off points, an optimal drop-off point for the selected object.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein identifying the optimal drop-off point comprises:

identifying, of the plurality of candidate drop-off points, a subset of points that are not presently taken up by an object;

identifying a point of the subset of points that is closest to the robot relative to other points of the subset of points; and

assigning the point as the optimal drop-off point.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining whether using the point to drop off the selected object would block one or more other ones of the plurality of candidate drop-off points; and

assigning the point as the optimal drop-off point responsive to determining that using the point to drop off the selected object would not block one or more other ones of the plurality of drop-off points.

13. A system comprising:

memory with instructions encoded thereon; and

one or more processors, that, when executing the instructions, are caused to perform operations comprising:

identifying, by a central communication system, a source area within a facility comprising a plurality of objects, the source area defined by a source boundary;

determining, by the central communication system, a destination area within the facility to which the plurality of objects are to be transported and unloaded, the destination area defined by a destination boundary;

selecting, by the central communication system, one or more robots of a fleet of robots within the facility based on one or more of a capability of the robots and a location of the robots within the facility;

providing, by the central communication system, an instruction to each selected robot to transport the plurality of objects from the source area to the destination area, each robot configured to autonomously:

select an object of the plurality of objects based on a position and location of the object within the source area;

transport the selected object through the facility from the source area to the destination area along a route selected by the robot; and

unload the selected object at a location within the destination area selected based on a first number of objects of the plurality of objects already unloaded within the destination area and based on a second number of objects of the plurality of objects yet to be unloaded within the destination area, wherein the one or more robots are further configured to:

after transporting the selected object to the destination area, capture an image of the source area;

identify an object that was previously occluded by the selected object; and

adjust the second number of objects based on identifying the previously occluded object.

14. The system of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:

generating for display a map to a human operator; and

receiving input from the human operator that defines the source boundary and the destination boundary.

15. The system of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:

receiving information from the selected robot indicating a volume of the plurality of objects;

identifying, from a plurality of candidate areas, a candidate area whose boundary is large enough to accommodate the volume; and

selecting the candidate area to be the destination area.