Expandable crawler-type electric carrier
By adopting weightless design, assisted driving function and active hydraulic shock absorbers on the tracked electric transport truck, the problems of large weight, complex operation and poor environmental adaptability are solved, and a light, portable, safe and efficient transport truck operation is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411331223.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-09-24
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-31
AI Technical Summary
The existing tracked electric transport trucks have large weight, unreasonable internal design, complex operation, poor environmental adaptability, insufficient safety, and high transportation and maintenance costs, high labor costs and high accident risks.
A scooter-type electric vehicle with a track walking system, a gantry system and an assisted driving system was designed, using a weightless design, assisted driving function, active hydraulic shock absorber and angle sensor, using a binocular 3D camera and The radar carries out automatic driving, monitors the tilt angle of the vehicle body, and automatically adjusts the hydraulic pressure to absorb shock and prevent overturning.
It realizes a light and portable truck, improves environmental and scenario adaptability, simplifies operation, improves safety and driving efficiency, reduces transportation and maintenance costs, and reduces accident risks.
Smart Images
Figure CN119218911A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of article transport, and in particular to an expandable tracked electric transport vehicle. Background Art
[0002] A forklift is also called a forklift. It is an important tool for cargo handling and belongs to an industrial handling vehicle. It can load and unload, stack and transport palletized cargo over short distances. It is divided into wheeled trucks and crawler trucks according to the contact with the ground and the form of movement. According to the power mode, it is usually driven by a fuel engine or a battery. The advantage of crawler trucks is that they can adapt to complex road conditions such as muddy roads.
[0003] However, the crawler electric transporter in the prior art has at least the following problems: 1. It is usually heavy and the internal design of the transporter is unreasonable, which will increase the transportation cost and the use and maintenance cost; 2. The crawler transporter requires multiple operating handles for manual operation, which is complicated to operate and highly dependent on the proficiency of the operator, increasing the labor cost and training cost, and is prone to misoperation; 3. Poor environmental adaptability: The transporter in the prior art is not adaptable enough in harsh environments, such as at night, high temperature, high humidity, rainy and snowy weather or on uneven roads, which makes manual operation difficult and the vehicle performance may be affected. 4. Insufficient safety: The safety performance of the transporter in the prior art needs to be improved, and there is a risk of accidents, such as insufficient anti-bumping performance of the crawler and easy overturning.
[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an expandable crawler electric transporter to meet the demand. Summary of the invention
[0005] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an expandable tracked electric transport vehicle is provided to at least partially solve the problems existing in the prior art.
[0006] Provided is an expandable crawler electric transporter, comprising: a crawler travel system, a gantry system, a frame and a control system, wherein the control system comprises an auxiliary driving system; the crawler travel system comprises a crawler chassis, crawlers, a driving gear, a motor and a reducer, wherein the motor and the reducer are arranged on the crawler chassis, and the motor is connected to the driving gear driving the crawler movement through the reducer; the gantry system comprises a gantry, a fork, a first oil cylinder and a second oil cylinder, wherein the first oil cylinder provides power for the tilting of the gantry, and the second oil cylinder provides power for the up and down movement of the fork; the frame comprises a driving base, a driving seat, a carport and an operating table, wherein the driving base is arranged near the driving gear and directly above the inclined section of the crawler, and a removable battery is arranged in the driving base; the auxiliary driving system comprises a binocular 3D camera and an industrial control all-in-one computer, wherein the binocular 3D camera is arranged at the lower part of the gantry system; and further comprises a DC hydraulic power unit, which is arranged on the crawler travel system and provides power for the first oil cylinder and the second oil cylinder.
[0007] In some embodiments, the assisted driving system further includes radars arranged at the four corners and / or four sides of the carport. The radar is selected from a laser radar and a millimeter wave radar, and the radar is used as a sensor for assisted driving. When the transporter does not fork the goods, a binocular 3D camera is used for assisted driving. When the transporter forks the goods, the industrial control integrated machine detects that the goods block the binocular 3D camera and automatically switches to radar for assisted driving.
[0008] In some embodiments, the second oil cylinder is specifically an active hydraulic shock absorber, which provides shock absorption for the fork when passing through bumpy roads. A pressure sensor is provided in the oil cylinder. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the pressure fluctuation of the pressure sensor exceeds a first threshold, the DC electric hydraulic power unit is controlled to increase or decrease the hydraulic pressure of the active hydraulic shock absorber.
[0009] In some embodiments, the crawler travel system is provided with an angle sensor for monitoring the front and rear and left and right inclination of the vehicle body. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the angle of the angle sensor exceeds a second threshold, the transport vehicle is controlled to brake and switch from assisted driving to manual control.
[0010] In some embodiments, the transport vehicle control system also includes an emergency stop switch, a lighting switch, an auxiliary driving host switch, a controller, and an operating lever.
[0011] In some embodiments, the control system also includes an emergency stop switch, a lighting switch, an auxiliary driving host switch, and a joystick.
[0012] In some embodiments, the first threshold is a pressure fluctuation exceeding 3%, 5%, 8% or 10%.
[0013] In some embodiments, the second threshold is that the front-to-rear tilt angle of the vehicle body in the direction of travel exceeds 40 degrees, and the left-to-right tilt angle of the vehicle body in the direction of travel exceeds 15 degrees.
[0014] In some embodiments, the assisted driving system also includes a touch screen and a controller; the touch screen can display real-time images of the binocular 3D camera and / or radar, and display the identified position of the target box; the binocular 3D camera is used to collect images and depth images of the target; the controller is used to process the image of the binocular 3D camera, in addition to target detection, it also determines the target's posture, and performs path planning after detecting the target's posture.
[0015] In some embodiments, a monocular camera and a depth measurement sensor are used instead of a binocular 3D camera.
[0016] In some embodiments, the industrial control all-in-one machine is an all-in-one machine consisting of an industrial control computer and a touch screen.
[0017] The technical effects brought by this disclosure are as follows:
[0018] 1. The whole truck adopts a design without counterweight. In terms of structural design, the use of counterweight is reduced, making the whole machine lighter and more portable. The layout of internal components is optimized to evenly distribute the components, lower the center of gravity of the whole machine, and ensure the stability of the truck. The battery is installed under the driver's seat to lower the center of gravity height, and at the same time, it is balanced with the front fork lifting device to ensure that the truck does not tilt backward when unloaded and does not tilt forward when loaded, and the posture is stable. At the same time, key components such as the drive motor and reducer are evenly distributed on the chassis to achieve balance.
[0019] 2. The crawler transporter has an assisted driving function, which improves the environment and scene adaptability of the transporter, and is easy to operate and improves operation safety.
[0020] 3. Aiming at the special vehicle type and special application conditions of crawler trucks, an assisted driving function is designed based on binocular 3D cameras and radars, and the layout of cameras and radars is specially designed, combining the advantages of both to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. When the truck does not pick up the goods, the binocular 3D camera is used for assisted driving. When the truck picks up the goods, it automatically switches to radar for assisted driving, thereby improving driving efficiency and safety.
[0021] 4. An active hydraulic shock absorber is set up with active hydraulic shock absorption function. It can actively increase or decrease the hydraulic pressure when the pressure change in the hydraulic cylinder exceeds the first threshold value to achieve shock absorption, thereby improving the safety of transporting flammable and explosive special items after bumps.
[0022] 5. The crawler travel system is equipped with an angle sensor that monitors the front and rear and left and right inclination of the vehicle body. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the angle of the angle sensor exceeds the second threshold, the transport truck is controlled to stop and the assisted driving is switched to manual control; to prevent the transport truck from overturning during automatic driving on bumpy roads, the driving route is slightly adjusted by manual control, which improves the safety of passing through bumpy roads.
[0023] It should be understood that the contents described in the summary of the invention are not intended to limit the key or important features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] The above and other features, advantages and aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements. The accompanying drawings are used to better understand the present solution and do not constitute a limitation of the present disclosure, wherein:
[0025] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an expandable crawler-type electric transport vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;
[0026] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a crawler walking system of an expandable crawler electric transporter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;
[0027] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing a gantry system of an expandable crawler electric transporter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure
[0028] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of an expandable tracked electric transporter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.
[0029] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of electrical connections of an expandable tracked electric transporter and an auxiliary driving part according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0030] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein, which are instead provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are only for exemplary purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
[0031] In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, that is, "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.
[0032] The following will be combined Figures 1 to 5 Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail.
[0033] In some embodiments, reference Figure 1-4 , provides an expandable crawler electric transporter, including: a crawler walking system, a gantry system, a frame and a control system, the control system includes an auxiliary driving system; the crawler walking system includes a crawler chassis 9, a crawler 10, a driving gear 7, a motor 4, and a reducer 5, the motor 4 and the reducer 5 are arranged on the crawler chassis 9, and the motor 4 is connected to the driving gear 7 that drives the crawler 10 to move through the reducer 5; the gantry system includes a gantry 12, a fork 11, a first cylinder 8, and a second cylinder 17, wherein the first cylinder 8 provides power for the tilting of the gantry 12, The second cylinder 17 provides power for the fork 11 to move up and down; the frame includes a driving base 2, a driver's seat 1, a carport, and an operating table 15. The driving base 2 is arranged near the drive gear 7 and directly above the inclined section of the crawler track 10. A removable battery 3 is provided in the driving base 2; the auxiliary driving system includes a binocular 3D camera 14 and an industrial control all-in-one computer 13. The binocular 3D camera 14 is arranged at the lower part of the gantry system; it also includes a DC hydraulic power unit 6, which is arranged on the crawler walking system and provides power for the first cylinder 8 and the second cylinder 17.
[0034] In some embodiments, the assisted driving system further includes radars 16 located at the four corners and / or four sides of the carport. One or more radars can be selected according to the needs; the radar is selected from a laser radar and a millimeter wave radar, and the radar is used as a sensor for assisted driving; the laser radar is located in the middle of the side of the carport, and the millimeter wave radar is located at the four corners of the carport. When the transport truck does not fork the goods, a binocular 3D camera is used for assisted driving. When the transport truck forks the goods, the industrial control integrated machine detects that the goods block the binocular 3D camera, and switches to radar for assisted driving.
[0035] In some embodiments, the second oil cylinder is specifically an active hydraulic shock absorber, which provides shock absorption for the fork when passing through bumpy roads. A pressure sensor is provided in the oil cylinder. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the pressure fluctuation of the pressure sensor exceeds the first threshold, the DC electric hydraulic power unit is controlled to increase or decrease the hydraulic pressure of the active hydraulic shock absorber; that is, when the pressure rises or falls by more than a certain value, the hydraulic supply is actively reduced or increased. The first threshold range is 3%-15%, and the first threshold is preferably when the pressure fluctuation exceeds 3%, 5%, 8%, 10%, and can be adjusted and set according to the special needs of the transported items and the road conditions.
[0036] In some embodiments, the crawler walking system is provided with an angle sensor for monitoring the front and rear and left and right tilt of the vehicle body. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the angle of the angle sensor exceeds the second threshold, the transport vehicle is controlled to stop and the auxiliary driving is switched to manual control. The second threshold is preferably selected from the interval of the front and rear tilt angle exceeding 10 degrees to 40 degrees in the direction of travel, and the interval of the left and right tilt angle exceeding 5 degrees to 30 degrees in the direction of travel. It can be adjusted and set according to the special needs of the transported items and the road conditions; the second threshold is a group of values consisting of two specific values. The preferred second threshold is that the front and rear tilt angle of the vehicle body in the direction of travel exceeds 40 degrees, and the left and right tilt angle of the vehicle body in the direction of travel exceeds 15 degrees.
[0037] In some embodiments, the transporter control system also includes an emergency stop switch, a lighting switch, an auxiliary driving host switch, a controller, an operating lever, etc. Through the operating lever and the controller, the driver can realize the vehicle's travel, turning, stopping and other operations. Manual operation cooperates with the auxiliary driving system to improve the convenience and safety of the transporter's operation.
[0038] The components of the assisted driving system mainly include the driver interface (touch screen module), controller, and binocular camera. The driver interface is a touch screen installed on the forklift, which can display the real-time image of the binocular camera and the position of the identified target box; the binocular camera is used to collect the image and depth image of the target; the controller is used to process the image of the binocular camera. In addition to target detection, it also determines the position and posture of the target, and performs path planning after detecting the position and posture of the target.
[0039] See also Figure 5 , the transporter (forklift) and the auxiliary driving system are partially electrically connected. The lithium battery powers the forklift motor. The left and right motor controllers of the forklift are connected to the industrial computer through the 485 interface; the auxiliary driving system needs to obtain power from the forklift control system. At the same time, the battery power information is read through the 485 bus and displayed on the touch screen. The auxiliary driving system also reads the motor speed information from the motor controller to estimate the left and right track speeds of the forklift, thereby determining the overall movement speed of the forklift, turning information, etc. The information is read through the 485 bus to achieve electrical connection and data interaction with the forklift.
[0040] The binocular 3D camera can be a 3D intelligent industrial camera based on the iTOF (indirect time-of-flight) principle, with a built-in Horizon X3M chip, which realizes real-time image processing and machine learning functions. It has a long range and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. It can be efficiently and conveniently integrated into long-distance non-contact measurement, target flow counting in dynamic scenes, industrial automation, logistics technology and robotics applications. The camera is used to measure the spatial position of the pallet, thus providing a prerequisite for trajectory planning.
[0041] The industrial control all-in-one machine is an all-in-one machine composed of an industrial control computer and a touch screen. Since the all-in-one machine needs to run a target detection model based on deep learning, the CPU needs to be selected according to the computing power requirements of the target detection model, and the screen size is based on the convenience of the operator and the space size of the operating table. A 10.1-inch industrial control computer and touch screen can be selected. The controller in the industrial control all-in-one machine can use a commonly used vehicle-mounted control chip.
[0042] The assisted driving system software consists of two parts. One is the setting part: used to set the port number that the system monitors. The other is the auxiliary system part: divided into two areas. The top area is used to display real-time vehicle information. The bottom black area is used to display the image captured by the camera, the target object intelligently identified by the driving assistance system, and the simulated path from the device to the target object.
[0043] The touch screen can use a combination of physical buttons and LCD display to achieve basic operations and information display.
[0044] In some embodiments, as an alternative to a binocular 3D camera, a monocular camera may be selected and combined with other depth measurement sensors to compensate for the lack of depth information.
[0045] The path planning algorithm of the industrial control integrated machine can use A* algorithm, Dijkstra algorithm or other path planning methods according to specific needs to optimize the efficiency and accuracy of path calculation. The visual recognition algorithm includes target detection and posture calculation, especially for the recognition and positioning of fixed boxes, and the trained model can realize the accurate recognition of the target pallet. The real-time image and path planning information are displayed through the touch screen, providing operators with functions such as selecting the target pallet and viewing the path planning results. Based on the position and posture information of the forklift and the target pallet, the guide line is drawn in the real-time video image through trajectory planning and coordinate conversion technology to provide real-time travel trajectory guidance for the operator. A touch screen type industrial control integrated machine is used to run the target detection model based on deep learning to realize image data processing, target detection, posture calculation and path planning.
[0046] The main hydraulic power unit of the truck includes a 2.2kw DC motor, a hydraulic pump, a hydraulic oil tank, a solenoid valve, a hydraulic oil pipe, and a gantry system including a gantry, a fork, two lifting U-shaped steel bars, and two forward and backward tilting cylinders. The lithium battery provides power to the hydraulic power unit of the truck. The DC hydraulic power unit directly drives the liquid pump to work, giving power to the hydraulic cylinder of the gantry system to achieve the rise and fall, forward and backward tilting of the gantry system.
[0047] The above specific implementations do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Claims
1. An expandable crawler electric transporter; comprising: Crawler travel system, gantry system, frame and control system, the control system includes an assisted driving system; The crawler walking system includes a crawler chassis, crawlers, driving gears, a motor, and a reducer. The motor and the reducer are arranged on the crawler chassis, and the motor is connected to the driving gear that drives the crawler to move through the reducer. The gantry system includes a gantry, a fork, a first oil cylinder and a second oil cylinder, wherein the first oil cylinder provides power for the gantry to tilt, and the second oil cylinder provides power for the fork to move up and down; The frame includes a driving base, a driving seat, a carport, and an operating table. The driving base is arranged near the driving gear and directly above the inclined section of the crawler track. A detachable battery is arranged in the driving base. The auxiliary driving system includes a binocular 3D camera and an industrial control integrated computer, and the binocular 3D camera is arranged at the lower part of the gantry system; It also includes a direct current electric hydraulic power unit, which is arranged on the crawler walking system and provides power for the first oil cylinder and the second oil cylinder.
2. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to claim 1, characterized in that: The assisted driving system also includes radars arranged at the four corners and / or four sides of the carport, and the radar is used as a sensor for assisted driving; when the transport truck does not fork the goods, the binocular 3D camera is used for assisted driving. After the transport truck forks the goods, the industrial control all-in-one computer detects that the goods block the binocular 3D camera and automatically switches to using radar for assisted driving.
3. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second oil cylinder is specifically an active hydraulic shock absorber, which provides shock absorption for the fork when passing through bumpy roads. A pressure sensor is provided in the oil cylinder. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the pressure fluctuation of the pressure sensor exceeds the first threshold, it controls the DC hydraulic power unit to increase or decrease the hydraulic pressure of the active hydraulic shock absorber.
4. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to claim 3, characterized in that: The crawler travel system is equipped with an angle sensor that monitors the front and rear and left and right inclination of the vehicle body. When the industrial control integrated computer detects that the angle of the angle sensor exceeds the second threshold, the transport truck is controlled to stop and the assisted driving is switched to manual control.
5. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to claim 4, characterized in that: The control system also includes an emergency stop switch, a lighting switch, an auxiliary driving host switch, and an operating lever.
6. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first threshold is a pressure fluctuation exceeding 3%, 5%, 8% or 10%.
7. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to any one of claim 6, characterized in that: The second threshold is that the front and rear tilt angle of the vehicle body in the direction of travel exceeds 40 degrees, and the left and right tilt angle of the vehicle body in the direction of travel exceeds 15 degrees.
8. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The assisted driving system also includes a touch screen and a controller; the touch screen can display real-time images of the binocular 3D camera and / or radar, and display the identified position of the target box; the binocular 3D camera is used to collect images and depth images of the target; the controller is used to process the images of the binocular 3D camera. In addition to target detection, it also determines the target's posture and performs path planning after detecting the target's posture.
9. The expandable crawler electric transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: A monocular camera and a depth measurement sensor are used instead of a stereo 3D camera.
10. The expandable tracked electric transport vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The industrial control all-in-one machine is an all-in-one machine composed of an industrial control computer and a touch screen.