Abstract: A traffic control system that controls mobile drive unit traffic within a facility by segmenting the map into smaller traffic control policy areas and controlling access to those traffic control policy areas in response to travel requests from mobile drive units.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided herein for obstacle detection and avoidance. An obstacle (e.g., a fallen object, an area of congestion, etc.) may be detected utilizing sensor data and/or navigational information provided by various components of a workspace (e.g., mobile drive units, standalone sensors, etc.). Obstacle information corresponding to the obstacle may be utilized to identify tasks within the workspace that may be affected by the obstacle. Paths for these affected tasks may be altered and any subsequent path generated by the system may be generated based at least in part on the obstacle, so long as the obstacle exists. Utilizing the techniques provided herein, the workflows/tasks/paths of the components of the system may be managed so as to avoid interactions between the components of the system and any known obstacle.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided herein for detecting congestion within a workspace. Historical navigational data may be obtained that indicates a number of locations for mobile drive units of the workspace over various historical time periods. Planned path data for each MDU may be obtained, the planned path data may indicate planned paths of travel for each MDU. A grid of overlapping volumes may be generated for the workspace and each instance of historical navigational data and/or planned path data may be utilized to map historical and/or future locations of the MDUs to corresponding volumes of the grid. A protocol set may be implemented to detect congested volumes based at least in part on the historical navigational data and/or the planned path data for each volume of the grid over one or more time periods. In response to detecting a congested volume, one or more remedial actions may be performed.

Abstract: A traffic control system that controls mobile drive unit traffic within a facility by handling requests to traverse intersections based on a priority based in part on an order in which requests are received. For intersections with a directional bias, higher priority is given to requests having a direction of travel that aligns with the directional bias.

Abstract: Systems and methods described herein pertain to maintaining a virtual representation of a workspace in a material handling system and updating the virtual representation without downtime. Methods described include maintaining an initial virtual representation of a material handling grid, receiving an updated virtual representation, and generating and implementing an intermediate virtual representation that does not conflict with the initial virtual representation. Methods further include, upon determining that the intermediate virtual representation is performing without conflicts, deploying the updated virtual representation to replace the intermediate virtual representation without halting operations in the workspace. Multiple intermediate virtual representations can be generated to allow for complex changes, and the deployments performed in series.

Abstract: A system for configuring generic maintenance activity scheduling is provided. For example, user input may help define a maintenance process for a plurality of mobile drive units of the physical workspace. The maintenance process may be defined through a configuration of activity templates and input templates. Input may be received to configure maintenance activities and the system may automatically correlate failure rules with the activity template. The system may generate the configurable electronic instructions for the mobile drive units and transmit them with the failure rules, if generated, to one or more mobile drive units of the physical workspace. When the one or more mobile device units receive the configurable electronic instruction, the mobile drive units may operate in accordance with the configurable electronic instruction.

Abstract: Systems and methods described herein pertain to maintaining a virtual representation of a workspace in a material handling system and updating the virtual representation. Methods described include maintaining the virtual representation of a material handling grid, maintaining one or more clients operable to direct movement of the plurality of drive units in the workspace; receiving an instruction to update the virtual representation of the drive-unit navigable grid including an updated virtual representation of the workspace; and querying a subset of the one or more clients to determine whether the update to the virtual representation would cause one conflicts within the workspace. Potential conflicts include, but are not limited to, “stranded” resources which are no longer positioned on the material handling grid, and/or workstations that have not yet been suspended prior to the update.

Abstract: Techniques for controlling movement of a mobile drive unit within a workspace are described. In an example, a system may access a map of the workspace. The map defines a policy for the movement of the mobile drive unit within the workspace based on a volume of the workspace associated with a fire shutter. The fire shutter is located within the workspace and is operable to manage a spread of a fire within the workspace. The system may generate at least a portion of a movement path for the mobile drive unit within the workspace based on the map and on an event for transporting material from a location in the workspace. The portion of the movement path is in compliance with the policy defined in the map. The system provides at least the portion of the movement path to the mobile drive unit over a data network.