KR-20260065773-A - Robotic relay delivery system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a robot relay delivery system (100) using a plurality of autonomous robots (120) and a plurality of infrastructure stations (110), comprising a database (130) for managing delivery metadata, a relay scheduler (140), a communication module (150) between stations, and an edge computing control unit (210) of each infrastructure station (110). The edge computing control unit (210) calculates the difference value Δt between the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the receiving robot and the estimated time of completion of charging (ETC) of the outgoing robot in real time, and autonomously controls the handoff sequence using a triadic control logic of buffer waiting, normal handoff, and emergency reassignment. By integrating charging speed model-based ETC prediction, SOC_min-based early handoff, cost function optimization-based relay scheduling, distributed ledger-based offline tolerance, digital signature-based handoff authentication, priority sequencing, and merge packing, delivery delays are minimized, station processing efficiency is improved, single point of failure is eliminated, and security is enhanced.

Inventors

• 안범주

Assignees

• 안범주

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20260421

Claims (1)

1. In a relay delivery system using a plurality of networked infrastructure stations and a plurality of autonomous robots moving between the stations, A database managing shipping metadata including identification information of goods to be shipped and the final destination; A relay scheduler determining a first station among the above-mentioned multiple infrastructure stations to receive an item from a first robot, a second robot to receive the item and transport it via a next-priority path, and a second station; and It includes a station-to-station communication module that shares the delivery metadata and robot readiness status information among the plurality of infrastructure stations, and A robot relay delivery system characterized by the edge computing control unit of the first station controlling the handoff sequence of goods by comparing the estimated arrival time of the first robot with the energy replenishment status of the second robot.

Description

Robotic relay delivery system The present invention relates to a relay delivery system that transports goods in stages using a plurality of autonomous robots and a plurality of infrastructure stations. More specifically, it relates to a distributed intelligent robot relay delivery system that simultaneously secures delivery continuity and energy efficiency by controlling the goods handoff sequence through real-time comparison of the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) of the receiving robot and the energy replenishment status of the outgoing robot by an edge computing control unit mounted on each station. In the urban logistics sector, last-mile delivery systems utilizing autonomous robots are being actively researched and developed from the perspectives of reducing labor costs, realizing contactless delivery, and alleviating traffic congestion. As a representative conventional technology, the single-robot direct delivery method, in which a single robot directly transports goods from the origin to the final destination, is widely utilized. However, the single-robot direct delivery method has a fundamental limitation in that its usable operating distance is restricted by the robot's battery capacity, making it suitable only for relatively short-distance deliveries. To overcome these limitations, a relay delivery method has been proposed in which multiple robots relay goods in sections. In the relay delivery method, a first robot transports goods from a starting point to an intermediate station, then hands over the goods to a second robot waiting at the station and returns or enters charging, after which the second robot takes charge of the next section. Theoretically, the relay delivery method enables long-distance delivery by limiting the travel distance of each robot to within the charging cycle, and can increase the utilization efficiency of the entire fleet by having multiple robots take charge of different sections in parallel. However, conventional relay delivery systems have significant problems regarding the timing coordination of item handoffs. Specifically, when a time discrepancy (hereinafter "ETA-ETC mismatch") occurs between the time when the first robot arrives at the station (ETA) and the time when the battery of the second robot responsible for the next section is completed (ETC; Estimated Time of Charge Completion), two problems arise. First, if ETC > ETA, that is, if the charging of the second robot is completed later than the arrival of the first robot, items will be unnecessarily delayed at the station, which causes delays that violate the Service Level Agreement (SLA). Second, if ETC < ETA, that is, if the second robot must wait a long time for the arrival of the first robot even after completing charging, the station processing efficiency is reduced by blocking the charging opportunity of other robots through the occupancy of the docking port in a fully charged state. Furthermore, most relay schedulers in conventional systems are concentrated in a central server, making them vulnerable to the Single Point of Failure problem, where the entire delivery network is paralyzed simultaneously in the event of a network failure or server overload. Additionally, since robot readiness information between stations is shared only through the central server, the readjustment of the handoff sequence to respond to real-time ETA updates is inevitably delayed. In particular, in outdoor delivery environments where the actual arrival time of the first robot fluctuates frequently due to traffic congestion or obstacle avoidance, statically established handoff schedules are frequently invalidated, leading to a significant decrease in delivery reliability. In addition, conventional systems lack a security authentication mechanism to verify whether an item is passing through a legitimate relay path during the item handover process, which makes them vulnerable to item theft or path falsification by unauthorized robots. Furthermore, when multiple items arrive at the same station simultaneously, they lack the means to dynamically determine the handoff priority or to merge multiple items heading to the same destination onto a single robot to improve fleet efficiency. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a robot relay delivery system (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of an infrastructure station (110) according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a handoff sequence control flowchart according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the Δt triad control logic. FIG. 4 is a block diagram and SOC-time graph showing an ETC (Electronic Time to Charge) prediction module and an early handoff mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of a relay scheduler (140) according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a network configuration diagram showing an inter-station com