Station control system for a driverless vehicle

Abstract

A station control system for and method of controlling the operation of a driverless vehicle. The system includes a vehicle travel path, a plurality of station tags in readable proximity to the travel path, and a vehicle movable along the travel path. Each of the tags are pre-programmed with a unique and arbitrary tag identifier. The vehicle has a tag reader and a controller communicating with the reader with the tag reader is configured to read tag identifiers from the tags. The controller is configured to receive the tag identifiers from the tag reader and access a correlation table having a function command associated with the tag identifier. The method includes the steps of reading the tag identifier associated with one of the plurality of tags, accessing the correlation table to identify a command in the function field associated with the tag identifier, and executing any identified command.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001]This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 370,528, filed Apr. 5, 2002 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.<?insert-end id="INS-S-00001" ?>BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a station control system for a driverless vehicle and, more particularly, to a system for controlling functional operations to be performed at one or more stations along the path of a driverless vehicle.[0003]There are many known systems for guiding a driverless vehicle, including inertial guidance systems, active or passive wire guidance systems, optical guidance systems, and magnetic guidance systems. Absolute position indicators are commonly disposed along the vehicle guide path to provide periodic absolute position updates to the vehicle guidance system thereby increasing guidance accuracy and ensuring proper positioning of the vehicle. A variety of position indicat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a station control system for driverless vehicles or carts. It includes a reader mounted on the vehicle, tags placed near the vehicle's guide path, and a correlation table that links each tag with a specific function. When the vehicle reaches a unique tag or station, the system provides a functional operation instruction, which is controlled by the vehicle's on-board controller. The system is affordable, flexible, and can easily be added to lower-cost vehicles. It allows for the creation of a correlation table and the replacement of tags and functional operations with low cost and minimal effort. Overall, the invention provides a cost-effective and flexible solution for controlling the operations of driverless vehicles or carts."

Problems solved by technology

Such position indicators and the corresponding readers are expensive, require labor-intensive installation, and detailed surveying of their positions once installed.

For example, the number of polarity combinations available from such magnets do not provide the statistical variation in unique and arbitrary identifiers that is desirable in complex driverless vehicle applications.

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