Robot movement controls based on identifier encoding signals
Techniques for controlling robot movement based on identifier encoding signals are described herein. For example, a device can determine a safety state of a physical location indicating a permission to transmit signals. The safety state can be associated with an operation that can be performed at the physical location. The device can be associated with the physical location. The device can transmit, at a first time based at least in part on the trigger, a first signal that indicates a first identifier. The first identifier can match a second identifier available to an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) from a location marker associated with the physical location. The device can transmit, at a second time, a second signal that indicates the first identifier, the first signal and the second signal enabling the AMR to perform the operation.
1 . A system comprising:
a location marker configured to be installed at a physical location that is stationary and to encode a first location identifier of the physical location;
a device that is separate from the location marker and that is configured to be co-located with the location marker at the physical location and to transmit a signal encoding a permission to operate in the physical location based at least in part on occupancy of the physical location, the signal encoding the first location identifier; and
an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) configured to:
receive the signal;
determine the first location identifier based at least in part on an optical read of the location marker;
determine a second location identifier based at least in part on the signal;
determine a match between the first location identifier and the second location identifier;
determine, based at least in part on the match, the permission indicated in the signal;
determine that an operation is permitted in the physical location based at least in part on the permission; and
perform the operation based at least in part on the operation being permitted.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the location marker and the device are co-located at an entrance of the physical location, and wherein the operation comprises entry into the physical location via the entrance.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the location marker comprises a fiducial marker that encodes the first location identifier and that is attached to the device, wherein the fiducial marker further encodes data integrity information associated with the first location identifier.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the fiducial marker further encodes dimension data, and wherein the AMR is further configured to:
generate an image of the fiducial marker;
determine the dimension data and the first location identifier based at least in part on the image;
determine proximity to the fiducial marker based at least in part on the fiducial marker; and
determine that the first location identifier is usable for matching with the second location identifier based at least in part on the proximity being within a proximity threshold.
5 . A method implemented by an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), the method comprising:
determining a first identifier based at least in part on a first signal associated with a location marker, the location marker associated with a physical location that is stationary;
receiving a second signal transmitted by a device that is separate from the location marker, the device associated with the physical location, the second signal indicating a second identifier and encoding a permission to perform an operation at the physical location;
determining a match between the first identifier and the second identifier;
determining, based at least in part on the match, that the operation is to be performed at the physical location; and
performing the operation at the physical location.
6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining the second identifier based at least in part on the second signal, wherein the first identifier is determined at a first time, wherein the second identifier is determined at a second time;
determining a time difference between the first time and the second time; and
determining that at least one of the first identifier or the second identifier is usable to determine the match based at least in part on the time difference.
7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving a third signal transmitted by a different device, the different device associated with a different physical location, the third signal indicating a third identifier;
determining a mismatch between the first identifier and the third identifier; and
forgoing using the third signal to determine whether a different operation is to be performed.
8 . The method of claim 5 , further comprises:
switching, based at least in part on the match, from operating in a first safety mode to operating in a second safety mode, wherein the operation is performed while the AMR is operating in the second safety mode;
receiving a third signal transmitted by the device, the third signal indicating a third identifier;
determining another match between the first identifier and the third identifier; and
continuing to operate in the second safety mode, wherein the operation continues to be performed or another operation is performed by the AMR at the physical location while operating in the second safety mode.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining a time period since a last signal was received from the device and indicated an identified matched with the first identifier;
determining that the time period exceeds a threshold value; and
switching to operate in the first safety mode or a third safety mode.
10 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining, based at least in part on the match, a command indicated in the second signal; and
performing the command by at least switching to a safety mode or starting the operation.
11 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the operation is performed based at least in part on the permission and includes at least one of: entry into the physical location or movement within the physical location.
12 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the operation, the match, the device, and the physical location are a first operation, a first match, a first device, and a first physical location, respectively, and wherein the method further comprises:
determining, based at least in part on the match, that the second signal indicates the permission to perform the first operation while the AMR is operating in a first safety mode;
receiving, while being outside of the first physical location, a third signal transmitted by a second device that is associated with a second physical location;
determining a second match between a third identifier indicated by the third signal and a fourth identifier associated with the second physical location; and
performing, based at least in part on the second match, a second operation at the second physical location while the AMR is operating in a second safety mode.
13 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining, based at least in part on the first signal, proximity to at least one of the location marker, the device, or the physical location; and
determining that at least one of the first identifier or the second identifier is usable to determine the match based at least in part on the proximity.
14 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the match is a first match, and wherein the method further comprises:
determining that the physical location is associated with an expected identifier;
determining a second match between the first identifier and the expected identifier; and
determining, based at least in part on the second match, that at least one of the first identifier or the second identifier is usable to determine the first match.
15 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, upon execution by one or more processors of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), configure the AMR to perform operations comprising:
determining a first identifier based at least in part on a first signal associated with a location marker, the location marker associated with a physical location that is stationary;
receiving a second signal that indicates a second identifier and that is transmitted by a device that is separate from the location marker, the device associated with the physical location, the second signal encoding a permission to perform an operation at the physical location;
determining a match between the first identifier and the second identifier;
determining, based at least in part on the match, that the operation is to be performed at the physical location; and
performing the operation at the physical location.
16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the second signal is received based at least in part on a safety state associated with the operations.
17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the second signal includes a first set of bits that represents the second identifier and a second set of bits that represents a command indicating the operation to be performed.
18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the second signal is received based at least in part on a safety state that is based at least in part on an occupancy of the physical location and is associated with a safety mode of the AMR.
19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the second identifier changes over time.
20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting, to the device, a request to transmit the second signal based at least in part on determining the first identifier from the location marker.