Maintenance Prediction and Health Monitoring for Robotic Fleet Management

Abstract

A robotic fleet management platform includes a resources data store that maintains a fleet resource inventory indicating fleet resources that can be assigned to a robotic fleet and, for each fleet resource, maintenance history, predicted maintenance need, and a preventive maintenance schedule. The platform includes a maintenance management library of fleet resource maintenance requirements for determining maintenance workflows, service actions, and service parts for at least one fleet resource in the fleet resource inventory. The platform calculates predicted maintenance need of a fleet resource based on anticipated component wear and anticipated component failure of the at least one fleet resource according to machine learning-based analysis of the maintenance status data. The platform monitors a health state of the fleet resource based on sensor data. The platform initiates a service action of the at least one item of maintenance for the fleet resource based on the fleet resource maintenance requirements.

1 . A robotic fleet management platform, comprising:
 a computer-readable storage system that stores:
 a resources data store that maintains a fleet resource inventory that indicates a plurality of fleet resources that can be assigned to a robotic fleet, and for each respective fleet resource, maintenance status data including a maintenance history, a predicted maintenance need, and a preventive maintenance schedule; and 
 a maintenance management library of fleet resource maintenance requirements that facilitates determining maintenance workflows, service actions, and service parts for at least one fleet resource of the plurality of fleet resources indicated in the fleet resource inventory; and 
   a set of one or more processors that execute a set of computer-readable instructions, wherein the set of one or more processors collectively:
 calculate the predicted maintenance need of a fleet resource based on anticipated component wear and anticipated component failure of one or more components of the at least one fleet resource, wherein the anticipated component wear and anticipated component failure of the one or more components is derived from machine learning-based analysis of the maintenance status data in the fleet resource inventory; 
 monitor a health state of the fleet resource, wherein the health state is determined from sensor data received from the fleet resource; 
 adapt the preventive maintenance schedule for the fleet resource by indicating a new preventive maintenance schedule for at least one item of maintenance for the fleet resource based on the predicted maintenance need, the health state, and the fleet resource maintenance requirements of the fleet resource; and 
 initiate a service action of the at least one item of maintenance for the fleet resource based on the fleet resource maintenance requirements and the new preventive maintenance schedule. 
   
     
     
         2 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more processors further predict fleet resource maintenance needs based on digital twin-based simulation of a digital twin of the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         3 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one fleet resource is a robotic operating unit. 
     
     
         4 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein a predictive maintenance intelligence service layer predicts at least one of the anticipated component wear or the anticipated component failure by applying a clustering algorithm to identify at least one failure pattern in a set of failure data. 
     
     
         5 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 4 , wherein the predictive maintenance intelligence service layer correlates patterns of failure to wear-down behavior present in current operational data thereby producing a pre-failure maintenance plan. 
     
     
         6 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 5 , wherein the predictive maintenance intelligence service layer adjusts a preventive maintenance plan for a robotic fleet resource based on the correlated patterns of failure for similar types of robotic fleet resources. 
     
     
         7 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 4 , wherein the predictive maintenance intelligence service layer predicts fleet resource maintenance needs based on digital twin-based simulation of a digital twin of at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         8 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes interacting with a fleet configuration system by sharing job-impacting fleet resource maintenance knowledge. 
     
     
         9 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action includes configuring a set of 3D printing requirements for facilitating field maintenance of a fleet resource. 
     
     
         10 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 9 , wherein the 3D printing requirements are configured based on a predicted maintenance activity for the fleet resource. 
     
     
         11 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the new preventive maintenance schedule includes scheduled field maintenance of at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         12 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the new preventive maintenance schedule includes scheduled repair depot-based maintenance of at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         13 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one fleet resource is a smart container operating unit. 
     
     
         14 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one fleet resource is a robotic operating unit. 
     
     
         15 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , further comprising a mobile maintenance vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , further comprising a repair depot. 
     
     
         17 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , further comprising a third-party maintenance service provider. 
     
     
         18 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes adapting a maintenance schedule for at least one inactive fleet resource based on an evaluation of a maintenance need for the at least one inactive fleet resource. 
     
     
         19 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more processors further monitor a state of at least one fleet resource by monitoring communications of the at least one fleet resource for an indication of a maintenance need. 
     
     
         20 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one fleet resource is a robotic operating unit. 
     
     
         21 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 19 , wherein the indication of a maintenance need includes a lack of a heartbeat signal to a fleet resource health monitor resource. 
     
     
         22 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 19 , wherein the maintenance need of the at least one fleet resource includes a potential service condition. 
     
     
         23 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 22 , wherein the potential service condition includes one or more of reduced power output, exposure to excess ambient conditions, or a leak. 
     
     
         24 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more processors further deploys software-based maintenance monitoring probes to operating or supervisory software of the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         25 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 24 , wherein the probes monitor information in a data store of the at least one fleet resource that stores operating state information. 
     
     
         26 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 24 , wherein the probes activate self-test operating modes of the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         27 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 24 , wherein the probes collect data that provides indications of maintenance needs of the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         28 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more processors further deploys one or more maintenance fleet resources within one or more smart containers. 
     
     
         29 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes adapting a maintenance schedule for at least one fleet resource based on operator input regarding a state of the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         30 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action includes automation of maintenance activities for the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         31 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes adapting a maintenance schedule for the at least one fleet resource based on artificial intelligence-based prediction of maintenance instances. 
     
     
         32 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes adapting a maintenance schedule for the at least one fleet resource based on a machine learning system that identifies new opportunities for scheduling and performing maintenance. 
     
     
         33 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 32 , wherein the machine learning system analyzes performance data for the at least one other robot that has been maintained for operation in certain conditions. 
     
     
         34 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 33 , wherein a cooling system of the other robot has been maintained prior to operating in a high temperature environment and the performance data reflects operation of the at least one other robot in the certain conditions. 
     
     
         35 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes adapting a maintenance schedule for the at least one fleet resource based on one or more of: maintenance rules established for a team, maintenance rules established for a fleet, maintenance rules established by a shipper, maintenance rules determined by a regulatory agency. 
     
     
         36 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein adapting the preventive maintenance schedule includes determining one or more of maintenance workflows, service actions, or needed parts for maintaining the at least one fleet resource based on one or more of association tables, data sets, databases, or maintenance management libraries. 
     
     
         37 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action includes assigning a maintenance activity to a fleet resource selected from a list of fleet resources including a maintenance smart container, a human technician, and a third-party service provider. 
     
     
         38 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action includes deploying a maintenance service that performs maintenance of the at least one fleet resource via a set of self-maintenance protocols for at least one of self-cleaning and calibrating end effector operations. 
     
     
         39 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action includes interacting with a fleet configuration system responsive to an indication of a compromised capability of the at last one robot, the interaction resulting in a change in assignment of the at least one fleet resource based on the compromised capability. 
     
     
         40 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action is based on an interaction with a digital twin of the at least one fleet resource being operated by a fleet intelligence service that predicts a maintenance need of the at least one fleet resource. 
     
     
         41 . The robotic fleet management platform of  claim 1 , wherein causing a service action includes coordinating maintenance activities with job scheduling to ensure that preventable interruptions due to lack of maintenance are prevented.