US 12,441,003 B2
Pathfinding using centerline heuristics for an autonomous mobile robot
Šime Batović, Zadar (HR); and Matija Žigić, Zagreb (HR)
Assigned to Gideon Brothers d.o.o., Osijek (HR)
Filed by Gideon Brothers d.o.o., Osijek (HR)
Filed on Dec. 27, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/146,586.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/295,023, filed on Dec. 30, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0211987 A1, Jul. 6, 2023
Int. Cl. B25J 13/08 (2006.01); B25J 9/16 (2006.01); B65G 67/02 (2006.01); B66F 9/06 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC B25J 13/089 (2013.01) [B25J 9/1664 (2013.01); B25J 9/1687 (2013.01); B65G 67/02 (2013.01); B66F 9/063 (2013.01); G05D 1/0212 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at an autonomous mobile robot, instructions to traverse to an initial pose at a docking point for a trailer, wherein the instructions to traverse comprise a path in a reference frame of a warehouse in which the autonomous mobile robot is located;
traversing, by the autonomous mobile robot, to the initial pose based on the received instructions in the reference frame of the warehouse;
capturing, by the autonomous mobile robot, sensor data describing an environment around the autonomous mobile robot at the initial pose;
determining the initial pose of the autonomous mobile robot relative to a reference frame of the trailer based on the sensor data, wherein determining the initial pose of the autonomous mobile robot relative to the reference frame of the trailer comprises:
identifying a part of the trailer based on the sensor data; and
determining the initial pose of the autonomous mobile robot relative to the identified part of the trailer;
determining an end pose for the autonomous mobile robot in the trailer, wherein the end pose is computed relative to the reference frame of the trailer based on the sensor data, wherein determining the end pose comprises:
determining the end pose relative to the identified part of the trailer;
computing a centerline of the trailer in the reference frame of the trailer based on the sensor data;
computing a path in the reference frame of the trailer from the initial pose to the end pose by applying a path finding algorithm based on the sensor data and a centerline heuristic, wherein the centerline heuristic is a heuristic representing a distance of the path from the centerline, and wherein applying the pathfinding algorithm comprises:
computing a cost of a plurality of location nodes within the trailer in the reference frame of the trainer using the centerline heuristic, wherein the cost of each location node is based on a distance of the location node from the computed centerline; and
computing a path through a subset of the plurality of location nodes with a minimum total cost; and
causing the autonomous mobile robot to traverse the computed path to the end pose.