Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Meghna Menon

Mario Anthony Santillo

Gregory P Linkowski

Shankar Narayan Mohan

Raj Sohmshetty

Krishna Bandi

Ling Zhu

Matthew Cui

Yifan Chen

Anthony Mario D'Amato

Justin Miller

Geoffrey Horowitz

Kenneth Yesh

Jianbo Lu

Bryan Michael Bolger

Somak Datta Gupta

Justin Miller, Jr

Kurt Michael Lundeen

Brennan Hamilton

Sarah Garrow

Songan Zhang

A method of wirelessly communicating status information of one or more vehicles with one or more infrastructures including the receipt of an onboarding process trigger based on a current status associated with a pre-onboarding process of the one or more vehicles, the determination of a current status associated with an onboarding process of the one or more vehicles based on the onboarding process trigger and an autonomous vehicle marshaling algorithm, and the output of an indication corresponding to the current status associated with the onboarding process of the one or more vehicles via exterior lights of the one or more vehicles to the one or more infrastructures or one or more human operators.

System and method of providing marshaling status via vehicle exterior lights

A method includes estimating, by a vehicle communication system, a vehicle-localized time based on a previous vehicle system time and at least one internal factor in response to a primary synchronization data not being received and in response to an auxiliary synchronization data not being received. The previous vehicle system time is based on at least one of a previous primary synchronization data or a previous auxiliary synchronization data. The method further includes synchronizing, by the vehicle communication system, a vehicle system time employed by one or more vehicle modules disposed in the vehicle based on one of the primary synchronization data received, the auxiliary synchronization data received, or the vehicle-localized time estimated.

Method and system for a tiered time synchronization protocol for a set of vehicles

A method for controlling vehicle movement includes: obtaining, by a vehicle, at least one radio frequency (RF) signal metric for a plurality of RF signals broadcasted in a manufacturing environment; broadcasting, by the vehicle, a vehicle message when the at least one RF signal metric satisfies at least one RF communication issue condition; generating, by an infrastructure system, an RF map based on the vehicle message and at least one additional vehicle message from at least one additional vehicle; and dynamically adjusting an infrastructure message, by the infrastructure system, based on the RF map when the vehicle autonomously navigates within the manufacturing environment.

System and method of adjusting the automated plant marshaling based on dynamic RF signals

A method includes instructing a vehicle to autonomously navigate to a given parking space from among the plurality of parking spaces, setting the given parking space to an occupied state in response to the vehicle being positioned within the given parking space, and obtaining infrastructure sensor data from an infrastructure sensor. The method includes determining whether the given parking space has transitioned from the occupied state to the unoccupied state based on the infrastructure sensor data, and in response to determining the given parking space has transitioned to the unoccupied state: obtaining location data from the vehicle, determining whether the vehicle is located at a predefined location based on the location data, and instructing the vehicle to perform a vehicle intrusion routine in response to the vehicle not being located at the predefined location.

System and method for detecting vehicle intrusions

A method for calibrating a map of an autonomous robot, a trajectory of the autonomous robot, or a combination thereof includes obtaining localization data from a localization sensor of the autonomous robot and determining whether a calibration condition of the autonomous robot is satisfied based on the localization data. The method includes, in response to the calibration condition being satisfied: determining a master position coordinate of the autonomous robot based on a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals broadcasted by a plurality of RF tags, converting the master position coordinate to a local position coordinate of the autonomous robot, and selectively updating the map, the trajectory, or a combination thereof based on the local position coordinate of the autonomous robot.

Systems and methods for calibrating a map of an autonomous robot

A method for controlling a plurality of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in a manufacturing environment having an intersection includes obtaining a plurality of routes associated with the plurality of AMRs, velocity information associated with the plurality of AMRs, and priority information associated with the plurality of AMRs, and determining a plurality of arrival times associated with the plurality of AMRs based on the velocity information and the plurality of routes. The method includes generating a plurality of intersection reservations based on the plurality of arrival times and the priority information, where each intersection reservation from among the plurality of intersection reservations corresponds to an AMR from among the plurality of AMRs, and controlling a movement of the plurality of AMRs through the intersection based on the plurality of intersection reservations.

Systems and methods for controlling autonomous mobile robots in a manufacturing environment

A method includes generating a workspace model having one or more digital robots, one or more digital sensors, and a digital transport system. The method includes simulating, for a task of the one or more digital robots, a sensor operation of the one or more digital sensors within the workspace model based on sensor characteristics of the one or more digital sensors. The method includes identifying, for the task of the one or more digital robots, an undetectable area within the workspace model based on the simulated sensor operation. The method includes selectively positioning, by a transport system, a set of sensors from among the one or more sensors based on the undetectable areas associated with the task.

Method and system for positioning sensors within a workspace

A method includes generating a workspace model having one or more robots and a plurality of image sensors, defining a plurality of pose scenarios of the one or more robots, and defining sensor characteristics of the plurality of image sensors. The method includes, for each of the plurality of pose scenarios, simulating a sensor operation of the plurality of image sensors within the workspace model based on the sensor characteristics and identifying an undetectable area within the workspace model based on the simulated sensor operation. The method includes performing a sensor placement control based on the undetectable areas associated with each of the plurality of pose scenarios.

Method and system for determining sensor placement for a workspace based on robot pose scenarios

A system for reconfiguring a factory having equipment at different workstations throughout the factory and a plurality of sensors disposed throughout the factory includes a factory configuration module configured to store a plurality of predetermined factory configurations and a plurality of mobile transporters configured to engage and transport the equipment to the different workstations throughout the factory based on the predetermined factory configurations and dynamic inputs, where the dynamic inputs include a status of the equipment, a status of the plurality of mobile transporters, sensor data output by the plurality of sensors, or a combination thereof.

Deployable mobile transporters for easy plant reconfiguration

A method for navigating a robot within an environment based on a planned route includes providing the planned route to the robot, where the planned route is based on a destination of the robot and an origin of the robot. The method includes determining whether an object obstructs the robot as the robot travels along the planned route, where the environment includes the object. The method includes moving the object from the planned route in response to the robot obstructing the object.

Method and system for rearranging assets for mobile robots

A system includes a robotic system including a robot disposable at a mobile workstation, where the robot is configured to perform an automated operation on a workpiece. The system includes one or more transfer robots configured to transfer the robotic system to or from the mobile workstation. The system includes a control system configured to command the transfer robot to perform a transfer operation of the robotic system, where the transfer operation includes at least one of disposing the robotic system at the mobile workstation or retrieving the robotic system from the mobile workstation. The control system is configured to control the mobile workstation and the robotic system based on image data from the one or more infrastructure sensors, position data from the one or more on-board position sensors, the automated operation to be performed by the robot, or a combination thereof.

Method and system for operating a transfer robot in a manufacturing environment

A method includes defining a manufacturing transformation for a mobile workpiece based on mobile workpiece state information of the mobile workpiece, where the manufacturing transformation is an automated operation to be performed on the mobile workpiece. The method includes selecting a set of one or more manufacturing systems from among the one or more manufacturing systems for the mobile workpiece based on the manufacturing transformation and manufacturing system state information associated with the one or more manufacturing systems, where the manufacturing system state information provides data related to at least one of availability, capability, and constraints of the of the one or more manufacturing systems. The method includes defining manufacturing process steps of the manufacturing transformation based on the set of one or more manufacturing systems. The method includes defining a location for performing the manufacturing process steps on the mobile workpiece.

System and method for generating dynamic manufacturing process sequences

Systems and methods that allow a smartphone to be used as an imaging device for undercarriage inspection of a moving vehicle are provided. The method may include locating the smartphone on the ground via one or more sensors of the vehicle. The vehicle may generate a path for the vehicle to drive over the smartphone based on the location of the smartphone, and optionally display the path to facilitate manual driving of the vehicle by the driver over the smartphone. Alternatively, the vehicle may self-drive to follow the path. The smartphone may capture image data indicative of the undercarriage of the vehicle, inspect and analyze the image data to identify one or more issues of the undercarriage of the vehicle, and transmit the analyzed image data to the vehicle for display. The driver may confirm the one or more issues and transmit the data to an inspection professional for additional assistance if needed.

Systems and methods for underbody inspection of a moving vehicle with a smartphone

A system and method for reconfiguring a factory having equipment at different workstations throughout the factory includes a plurality of mobile transporters configured to engage and transport the equipment to the different workstations throughout the factory. Each mobile transporter includes a transmitter, a receiver, at least one proximity sensor, and an engagement mechanism for engaging the equipment. A factory configuration module includes a 3D model of the factory and a plurality of predetermined factory configurations. A supervisory control module is in communication with the plurality of mobile transporters, the equipment, and the factory configuration module. The plurality of mobile transporters are configured to receive instructions from the supervisory control module to engage and reposition the equipment throughout the factory based on the predetermined factory configurations and dynamic inputs.

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Rochester Hills, MI, United States of America

Meghna Menon