	US 11,875,299 B2
	Apparatus for and method of operating a means of transport
Hans-Christian Haag, Stuttgart (DE); Markus Kromer, Renningen (DE); Peter Sanders, Karlsruhe (DE); and Valentin Buchhold, Hamburg (DE)
Assigned to ROBERT BOSCH GMBH, Stuttgart (DE)
Filed by Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart (DE)
Filed on Mar. 31, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/219,087.
Claims priority of application No. 20190372 (EP), filed on Aug. 11, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0051172 A1, Feb. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/083 (2023.01)

CPC G06Q 10/083 (2013.01)

19 Claims

1. A method of operating a plurality of autonomous transport vehicles, the method comprising:

providing, via a processor, a set of routes for moving entities of the plurality of transport vehicles, wherein the set of routes is provided from a memory coupled to the processor;

providing a request for at least two stops of an entity of the plurality of autonomous transport vehicles, the at least two stops including at least one pick up location and at least one drop off location;

selecting, via the processor, a route from the set of routes so that a measure for a distance of one or more stops of the at least two stops included in the request to the route meets a condition;

inserting, via the processor, the at least one pick up location and the at least one drop off location as stops into the route;

determining, via the processor, instructions to operate the entity of the plurality of autonomous transport vehicles according to the route; and

operating, via the processor, the entity of the plurality of autonomous transport vehicles according to the route;

wherein the processor is couplable via a first data link with a first communication device,

wherein the first communication device is couplable via a second data link with a second communication device of the entity of the plurality of autonomous transport vehicles,

wherein a user of the entity of the at least one transport vehicle makes the request with a third communication device, wherein the first communication device is couplable via a third data link with the second communication device of the entity of the plurality of autonomous transport vehicles, and

wherein the entity includes a user interface for an operator of the entity and/or a controller for controlling the entity, and

wherein the first data link connects at least temporarily the processor with the memory and the first communication device, and wherein the second data link connects at least temporarily the first communication device and the second communication device of the entity, and

wherein a shortest path distance from the pick-up location to the drop off location is computed with a contraction hierarchy search, wherein from the computed shortest path distance a latest time when the request is to be dropped off is calculated, and wherein a latest time when the request is to be picked up is computed.