Intelligent straddle type automatic transport vehicle for heavy materials and material transfer method

Abstract

The invention discloses an intelligent straddle type automatic transport vehicle for heavy materials and a material transfer method, and belongs to the technical field of hoisting transportation. The transport vehicle comprises a door frame type structure composed of a vehicle frame and two chassis, the vehicle frame is provided with four lifting stand columns and a lifting tool with a three-degree-of-freedom fine adjustment mechanism, and a visual system and a radar system are arranged in a matched mode. In the working process, a transport vehicle strides over materials through the two-dimensional laser radar on the side face, then the lifting appliance is guided through the visual system to lift the materials, and finally wheels of the materials are in butt joint with a target rail through the aerial dynamic fine adjustment lifting appliance, so that transfer is completed. According to the invention, by introducing the primary and secondary precision compensation links of coarse positioning of the transport vehicle and dynamic fine adjustment of the lifting appliance in the air, the butt joint precision is improved from depending on the whole vehicle positioning to depending on a high-bandwidth fine adjustment mechanism, and the material butt joint reaches the submillimeter level through the innovation on the whole system architecture.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of hoisting and transportation technology, specifically to an intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle for heavy materials and a material transfer method. Background Technology

[0002] In heavy manufacturing, chemical, aerospace, and port logistics sectors, the in-plant transfer of large and heavy materials is a critical and challenging operation. Currently, the mainstream methods include: traditional cranes / gantry cranes with fixed operating ranges, low automation, requiring skilled drivers, and difficulty in seamless integration with other automated production lines; heavy-duty forklifts / flatbed trucks rely entirely on driver experience and skills, with positioning accuracy typically at the centimeter level, failing to meet precision assembly requirements, and exhibiting poor maneuverability in confined spaces, posing safety risks; standard automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have limited load capacity and fixed navigation paths, primarily used for standardized pallet handling, unable to adapt to the "straddle" operation and high-precision three-dimensional docking of non-standard heavy materials; while automated straddle carriers, although possessing a straddle form, are only used for standard containers, have low positioning accuracy requirements (centimeter level), lack high-precision fine-tuning capabilities, and are limited in special industrial scenarios, such as the transfer of HH pots, making it difficult to achieve docking between the HH pot and the track. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the aforementioned technical shortcomings, this invention provides an intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle for heavy materials and a material transfer method. By introducing a fully rotating transport vehicle and a two-stage precision compensation system for dynamic aerial adjustment of the lifting device, the transfer accuracy of materials is improved.

[0004] This invention adopts the following technical solution: a heavy material intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle, comprising:

[0005] Frame, Two chassis are located at the front and rear ends of the frame; each chassis is equipped with four independently controlled omnidirectional steering wheels arranged in a rectangular pattern. Four lifting columns are symmetrically fixed on the two chassis; the four lifting columns are supported at the ends of the vehicle frame; The spreader is located between the two chassis and fixed to the vehicle frame; the spreader has a three-degree-of-freedom fine-adjustment mechanism in the longitudinal, lateral, and rotational directions. A vision system, mounted on the chassis, is used to detect materials beneath the chassis; Two two-dimensional lidar sensors are placed on one side of each of the two chassis to detect materials on the side of the frame.

[0006] A material transfer method includes the following steps; 1) The transport vehicle travels along the planned route to the vicinity of the target material; 2) When the transport vehicle switches to straddle mode, the two-dimensional lidar on the side of the transport vehicle scans the material and ground features and calculates the lateral and longitudinal deviations of the transport vehicle; the central controller drives the omnidirectional steering wheel according to the lateral and longitudinal deviations of the transport vehicle, so that the frame straddles the material directly. 3) Lower the lifting device to the working height of the lifting column; 4) The vision system identifies cooperative targets or features on the material and calculates the positional deviation of the lifting device; the central controller drives the fine-tuning mechanism and lifting column according to the positional deviation of the lifting device until the lifting device and the material lifting point are precisely aligned. 5) The lifting device closes and grips the material, and the lifting column raises the lifting device to the transfer height; 6) The transport vehicle travels along the planned route to the target track; 7) The vision system identifies the material's wheel and the target track's posture deviation. The central controller drives the fine-tuning mechanism based on the material's posture deviation to align the material's wheel vertically with the target track. The lifting column is then lowered to allow the material's wheel to fall onto the target track, completing the transfer.

[0007] Preferably, the eight omnidirectional steering wheels are arranged in a matrix. The eight omnidirectional steering wheels of the transport vehicle are controlled as follows: the central controller calculates the target steering angle and linear velocity of each omnidirectional steering wheel in real time based on the target motion mode and the extended Ackerman steering geometry model; when turning at a fixed radius, the central controller controls the axes of all omnidirectional steering wheels to intersect at the same instantaneous steering center.

[0008] Preferably, the two chassis structures are symmetrical and are equipped with interlocked front and rear cabs respectively.

[0009] Preferably, in step 7, the material is adjusted using an aerial dynamic fine-tuning method, which includes the following steps; The vision system detects the material attitude deviation ΔP between the material's wheels and the target track at a predetermined frequency. ΔP includes longitudinal X, lateral Y, and rotation angle θ deviations. The central controller generates compensation motion commands ΔC for the fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column based on ΔP using a control algorithm. The fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column execute ΔC to change the spatial orientation of the material; The vision system then detects the material's posture deviation ΔP between the material's wheels and the target track again, repeating this process until ΔP converges to a predetermined threshold range.

[0010] Preferably, the lifting column comprises multiple layers of square box-shaped sleeves that slide and fit together sequentially, with a guide mechanism installed between the upper and lower sleeve sections; The guiding mechanism includes four base plates fixed around the upper end of the lower sleeve. The base plates and the upper end of the lower sleeve have corresponding through grooves. Copper sliders that slide in contact with the upper sleeve are installed in the through grooves. A baffle for pressing against the outer side of the copper slider is fixed to the outside of the base plates by screws and washers.

[0011] Preferably, the lifting column is driven by a lifting electric cylinder, and an absolute encoder is installed inside the lifting electric cylinder; The control method for the four lifting columns is as follows: the central controller gives synchronous position commands to the four lifting cylinders; the absolute encoder of each lifting cylinder provides real-time feedback on the position of the corresponding lifting cylinder; the central controller performs cross-coupling compensation calculations based on the position of each lifting cylinder and dynamically adjusts the speed of each lifting cylinder to make the lifting of the four lifting columns synchronized.

[0012] Preferably, the transport vehicle further includes a power battery pack and a diesel range extender; The transport vehicle controller (VCU) is used to continuously monitor the SOC of the power battery pack and the real-time power requirements of the transport vehicle. When the SOC of the power battery pack is not lower than the set threshold and the power demand of the transport vehicle is lower than the predetermined threshold, the power battery pack supplies power to the high-voltage DC bus only. When the SOC of the power battery pack is lower than the set threshold or the power demand of the transport vehicle is not lower than the predetermined threshold, the transport vehicle controller VCU starts the diesel range extender. The diesel range extender operates within a set power range. The electrical energy generated by the diesel range extender is distributed as follows: it is first used to meet the real-time power demand of the transport vehicle, and the excess is used to power the power battery pack. If the power generated by the diesel range extender cannot meet the real-time power demand of the transport vehicle, the power battery pack will supplement the discharge.

[0013] Preferably, the transport vehicle further includes millimeter-wave radar fixed to the ends and sides of the two chassis, and three-dimensional lidar fixed to the ends of the two chassis and the upper side of the frame. In steps 1) and 6), the transport vehicle uses 3D lidar for positioning and BeiDou navigation for autonomous path planning. While the transport vehicle is in motion, it uses 3D lidar for long-distance perception, millimeter-wave radar for all-weather ranging and speed measurement, and a vision system to assist in real-time environmental perception and achieve dynamic obstacle avoidance.

[0014] Preferably, the central controller includes a vehicle controller (VCU) and an intelligent driving computing unit; The transport vehicle controller (VCU) and intelligent driving computing unit interact with the energy layer, execution layer, and perception layer via Ethernet and multiple CAN buses. The energy layer includes the power battery pack and the diesel range extender; The execution layer includes an omnidirectional steering wheel, a lifting column, and a lifting device; The perception layer includes a vision system, two-dimensional lidar, three-dimensional lidar, and millimeter-wave radar.

[0015] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: By introducing a secondary precision compensation stage—coarse positioning of the transport vehicle and dynamic fine adjustment of the spreader in mid-air—the docking accuracy is improved from relying on whole-vehicle positioning (usually at the centimeter level) to relying on a high-bandwidth fine-tuning mechanism (which can reach the sub-millimeter level). Through innovation in the overall system architecture, a leap in accuracy is achieved. Based on the independent control of eight omnidirectional steering wheels, the transport vehicle has complete freedom of movement. Compared with traditional single-axis steering or differential steering, the independent control scheme of eight omnidirectional steering wheels gives the transport vehicle the ability to move and rotate arbitrarily in the plane, thereby adapting to extremely complex paths and spatial constraints, and efficiently realizing the driving obstacle avoidance and coarse positioning of the transport vehicle. The hybrid architecture of the power battery pack buffer and the diesel range extender with high-efficiency fixed-point power generation has been optimized in terms of energy management strategy. The power battery pack is responsible for fluctuating loads and recovering energy, while the diesel range extender focuses on high-efficiency power generation. Compared with the pure diesel solution, it saves energy and reduces emissions significantly. Compared with the pure electric solution, the diesel range extender solves the range bottleneck by acting as a mobile power station. It is a practical and optimized solution for industrial continuous operation scenarios. Attached Figure Description

[0016] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of an intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle for heavy materials according to the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Exploded view of the omnidirectional steering wheel.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the motion mode of an intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle for heavy materials according to the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of a material transfer method according to the present invention.

[0021] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of the aerial dynamic fine-tuning method for the lifting device in this invention.

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the lifting column in this invention.

[0023] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the energy management method in this invention.

[0024] Figure 8 This is a network architecture diagram of the vehicle electrical and control system in this invention.

[0025] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures: 101. Front cab; 102. Rear cab; 2. Central controller 3. Three-dimensional LiDAR; 4. Power battery pack; 5. Lifting column; 51. Upper sleeve; 52. Copper slider; 53. Baffle; 54. Screw; 55. Washer; 56. Lower sleeve; 57. Base plate; 6. Omnidirectional steering wheel; 61. Bracket; 611. Slewing bearing; 62. Walking drive assembly; 621. Walking motor; 622. Walking reducer; 623. Wheel-side reducer; 63. Steering drive assembly; 631. Steering motor; 632. Steering reducer; 633. Gear; 64. Wheel hub; 7. Two-dimensional lidar; 8. Diesel range extender; 9. Lifting device; 10. Vision system; 11. Millimeter-wave radar; 12. Frame; 13. Chassis. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments.

[0027] Example 1: like Figure 1 As shown, this invention provides an intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle for heavy materials. The frame 12 has a rectangular structure, and two chassis 13 are symmetrically arranged below the front and rear ends of the frame 12. The four corners of the frame 12 are fixedly connected to the chassis 13 via lifting columns 5. The frame 12 and chassis 13 form a gantry structure that can straddle and surround the target material. Spare interlocked front cab 101 and rear cab 102 are respectively installed on the two chassis 13. Each chassis 13 is equipped with four rectangularly arranged, independently controlled omnidirectional steering wheels 6, and the eight omnidirectional steering wheels 6 are arranged in a matrix. The omnidirectional steering wheels 6 can drive and steer, enabling the transport vehicle to move in all directions, including straight, sideways, diagonal, and turning in place.

[0028] A lifting device 9 is installed on the underside of the frame 12. The lifting device 9 can be initially coarsely positioned by moving the transport vehicle. The lifting device 9 is fixed to the frame 12 by a fine-tuning mechanism with three degrees of freedom in the longitudinal, lateral, and rotation directions. With the lifting control of the lifting column 5, the lifting device 9 has the ability to rotate and move in three dimensions, forming a two-level precision assurance mechanism for fine adjustment.

[0029] A vision system 10 for detecting materials below the chassis 12 is installed on the chassis 12; two symmetrical two-dimensional lidars 7 are placed on one side of the two chassis 13 for detecting materials on the side of the chassis 12; symmetrical millimeter-wave radars 11 are fixed at the ends and sides of the two chassis 13, and symmetrical three-dimensional lidars 3 are fixed at the ends of the two chassis 13 and the upper side of the chassis 12.

[0030] In this embodiment, the transport vehicle is equipped with an intelligent driving computing unit. The vision system 10, two-dimensional lidar, three-dimensional lidar 3, and millimeter-wave radar 11 together form a "far-mid-near" three-layer perception fusion architecture. Combined with BeiDou / IMU / SLAM integrated navigation, it realizes high-precision position and pose perception of the transport vehicle throughout the entire process, supporting the intelligent operation of the transport vehicle from autonomous driving to precise operation. Remote sensing is used for global positioning and environmental modeling. The 3D LiDAR 3 on the transport vehicle scans the surrounding environment in real time, generates a high-precision 3D point cloud, and is tightly coupled with BeiDou to achieve all-day centimeter-level SLAM positioning, and provides 3D obstacle contour information for dynamic obstacle avoidance and path planning. Mid-level sensing is used for coarse positioning by straddling. The two-dimensional LiDAR 7 on the transport vehicle scans the ground and the leg features of the material to guide the transport vehicle to accurately straddle the material. Near-layer perception is used for high-precision docking. The vision system 10 identifies the cooperative target and completes the sub-millimeter alignment of the lifting device 9 or the material through a three-degree-of-freedom fine-tuning mechanism.

[0031] Example 2: Based on the above embodiment one, combined with Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment provides an omnidirectional steering wheel 6, which includes a "U"-shaped bracket 61, with a support welded and fixed to one side of the upper end of the bracket 61. The outer ring of the slewing bearing 611 is fixedly mounted on the support, and the outer ring has a toothed ring on its outer side; the inner ring of the slewing bearing 611 is fixedly connected to the upper beam body 51 at the end of the balance beam 5.

[0032] The bracket 61 can rotate relative to the balance beam 5 with the slewing bearing 611 as the center, driven by the steering drive assembly 63. In this embodiment, the steering drive assembly 63 includes a steering motor 631 and a steering reducer 632 fixed as one unit. The output end of the steering motor 631 is connected to the input end of the steering reducer 632. The steering reducer 632 is fixed to one side of the balance beam 5 by a support plate. A gear 633 is fixed to the output end of the steering reducer 632, and the gear 633 meshes with the outer ring of the slewing bearing 611. During operation, the steering motor 631 provides power, which is reduced and increased in torque by the steering reducer 632 to drive the gear 633, and then drive the outer ring of the slewing bearing 611. When the gear 633 rotates, the entire bracket 61 and the wheel hub 66 rotate precisely around the central axis of the slewing bearing 611 to achieve steering. In this embodiment, the steering motor 631 integrates an absolute encoder, which can measure the steering angle of the wheel hub 46 in real time.

[0033] In another embodiment, the slewing bearing 611 has a second installation method: the outer ring of the slewing bearing 611 is fixedly installed on the balance beam 5; the inner ring of the slewing bearing 611 is fixedly connected to the support, and a gear ring that meshes with the gear 633 is fixed on the inner ring.

[0034] A wheel hub 46 and a drive assembly 62 for driving the wheel hub 46 to rotate are mounted on the lower end of the bracket 61. In this embodiment, the drive assembly 62 includes a drive motor 621, a drive reducer 622, and a wheel-side reducer 623, all fixed together. The output end of the drive motor 621 is connected to the input end of the drive reducer 622, and the output end of the drive reducer 622 is connected to the input end of the wheel-side reducer 623. The wheel-side reducer 623 is fixed to the lower end of the bracket 61, and the wheel hub 46 is fixed to the output end of the wheel-side reducer 623. The wheel hub 46 is located directly below the slewing bearing 611 and is fitted with a solid tire, suitable for heavy loads and harsh road surfaces. During operation, the drive motor 621 provides power, which, after being amplified by the drive reducer 622 and the wheel-side reducer 623, directly drives the wheel hub 46.

[0035] Each omnidirectional steering wheel 6 is also equipped with a local controller, which includes a travel driver for controlling the travel motor 621 and a steering driver for controlling the steering motor 631; the local controller is electrically connected to the central controller 2. The control method for the eight omnidirectional steering wheels of the transport vehicle: When the transport vehicle needs to move in a certain mode, the central controller calculates the target steering angle and target wheel speed required for each steering wheel module according to the target motion command; Steering is achieved by sending commands to the local controller of each steering wheel module via the CAN bus. The steering motor then activates, and through the meshing transmission of the gear and slewing bearing, it drives the wheel hub to rotate precisely to the target steering angle. Drive implementation: Simultaneously, the walking motor drives the wheel hub to roll at a specified target speed; Motion synthesis: Since each wheel hub can independently point in any direction and drive independently, from the principle of mechanical kinematics, the velocity vectors of the eight wheel hubs are synthesized in the plane, which can generate the resultant force and resultant torque that can make the entire chassis translate in any direction or rotate around any point.

[0036] For example, attached Figure 3 The transport vehicle movement mode shown is All wheel hubs have the same steering angle and drive in the same direction, enabling straight, lateral, and diagonal driving; All wheel hubs have a steering angle perpendicular to the line connecting them to the center of the chassis, and the speed is proportional to the angle, enabling them to turn in place. By properly distributing the steering angle and speed, fixed-radius steering can be achieved. When turning at a fixed radius, the central controller controls the axes of all omnidirectional steering wheels to converge at the same instantaneous steering center, and the speeds of the inner and outer wheels are coordinated proportionally.

[0037] Example 3: Based on the above embodiments one or two, combined with Figure 4 As shown, a material transfer method using a transport vehicle includes the following steps; 1) The transport vehicle accesses the integrated dispatch and management platform FMS via wireless communication; The transport vehicle receives the task from the integrated dispatch and management platform FMS, navigates through a three-layer perception fusion architecture, autonomously plans the global path, and travels to the vicinity of the target material; 2) The transport vehicle switches to straddle mode. The two-dimensional laser radar on the side of the transport vehicle scans the material and ground features and calculates the lateral and longitudinal deviations of the transport vehicle. The central controller 2 drives the omnidirectional steering wheel according to the lateral and longitudinal deviations of the transport vehicle, so that the frame 13 straddles the material directly above it to achieve coarse positioning. 3) Guided by the vision system 10, the lifting column 5 lowers the hoisting device 9 to the working height; 4) The vision system 10 identifies cooperative targets or features on the material and calculates the positional deviation of the lifting device 9; the central controller 2 drives the fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column 5 according to the positional deviation of the lifting device 9 until the lifting device 9 is precisely aligned with the lifting point of the material. 5) The lifting device 9 closes and grips the material, and the lifting column 5 raises the lifting device to the transfer height; 6) The transport vehicle travels along the planned path to the target track; while the transport vehicle is in motion, it uses a three-dimensional lidar 3 for long-distance perception, a millimeter-wave radar 11 for all-weather ranging and speed measurement, and a vision system 10 to assist in real-time environmental perception and achieve dynamic avoidance. 7) The vision system 10 identifies the material's wheel and the target track's posture deviation. The central controller 2 drives the fine-tuning mechanism according to the material's posture deviation to align the material's wheel vertically with the target track. The lifting column 10 is then lowered to ensure that the material's wheel accurately lands on the target track, completing the transfer.

[0038] Example 4: Based on the above embodiment three, combined with Figure 5 As shown, when the material is below in step 7, an aerial dynamic fine-tuning method is adopted. This method uses a high-precision vision sensor in the vision system as a feedback unit, and the three-degree-of-freedom fine-tuning mechanism of the lifting device and the lifting column as execution units to form a closed loop and achieve the core closed-loop control of ±1mm rail drop accuracy. Includes the following steps: The vision system detects the material attitude deviation ΔP between the material's wheels and the target track at a predetermined frequency. ΔP includes longitudinal X, lateral Y, and rotation angle θ deviations. The central controller generates compensation motion commands ΔC for the fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column based on ΔP using PID or feedforward compensation control algorithms. The fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column execute ΔC to change the spatial orientation of the material; The vision system then detects the material's posture deviation ΔP between the wheel and the target track again, and repeats this process until ΔP converges to within a predetermined threshold range of ±0.5mm. This aerial dynamic fine-tuning method ensures that the final docking accuracy of the materials does not depend on the absolute positioning accuracy of the transport vehicle itself, greatly improving operational deformation and bottom docking accuracy.

[0039] Example 5: Based on the above embodiment three, combined with Figure 6 As shown in this embodiment, the lifting column includes multiple layers of square box-shaped sleeves that slide and fit together sequentially. A guide mechanism is installed between adjacent upper and lower sleeve sections. The uppermost sleeve section is driven by a lifting electric cylinder, thereby realizing the overall lifting and lowering of the lifting column.

[0040] The sleeve employs a large-section box-type structure to resist eccentric bending moments. The guiding mechanism includes four base plates fixed around the upper end of the lower sleeve. Corresponding through slots are formed on the base plates and the upper circumference of the lower sleeve, within which copper sliders that slide in contact with the upper sleeve are installed. Baffles are fixed to the outer sides of the base plates using screws and washers to press against the outer surfaces of the copper sliders. The guiding mechanism uses self-lubricating copper sliders, effectively preventing high-energy mechanical sparks from friction, meeting explosion-proof requirements, and exhibiting stable lubrication performance.

[0041] Each lifting column has an absolute encoder installed in its lifting cylinder; The four lifting columns are controlled synchronously. The four lifting cylinders are given synchronous position commands by the central controller; the absolute encoder of each lifting cylinder provides real-time feedback on the position of the corresponding lifting cylinder; the central controller performs cross-coupling compensation calculations based on the position of each lifting cylinder and dynamically adjusts the speed of each lifting cylinder to make the four lifting columns lift synchronously and eliminate the structural internal stress caused by asynchrony. In addition, the central controller monitors the drive current of each lifting cylinder in real time. If the current of a certain lifting cylinder is abnormally constant, it may indicate that mechanical jamming has occurred. The central controller will issue an early warning or implement a safety strategy.

[0042] Example 6: Based on the above embodiment three, combined with Figure 7 As shown, in this embodiment, the transport vehicle also includes a power battery pack 4 and a diesel range extender 8; the power battery pack 4 serves as the main energy storage and buffer unit, providing power for daily operations; the diesel range extender 8 serves as an auxiliary power generation unit, which includes an engine-generator set.

[0043] The energy management method for transport vehicles is: The transport vehicle controller (VCU) is used to continuously monitor the SOC of the power battery pack and the real-time power requirements of the transport vehicle. When the SOC of the power battery pack is not lower than the set threshold and the power demand of the transport vehicle is lower than the predetermined threshold, the power battery pack supplies power to the high-voltage DC bus, and the transport vehicle operates in pure electric mode. When the SOC of the power battery pack is lower than the set threshold or the power demand of the transport vehicle is not lower than the predetermined threshold, such as during rapid acceleration or hill climbing, a high power demand will be generated. At this time, the transport vehicle controller VCU will start the diesel range extender. After the diesel range extender is started, it operates within a set power range. The electrical energy generated by the diesel range extender is distributed as follows: it is first used to meet the real-time power demand of the transport vehicle, and the excess is used to power the power battery pack. If the power generated by the diesel range extender cannot meet the real-time power demand of the transport vehicle, the power battery pack will supplement the discharge. When the transport vehicle brakes, the energy recovery system is used to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy to feed back to the power battery pack.

[0044] The energy management method for transport vehicles in this embodiment ensures that the engine in the diesel range extender always operates in its optimal efficiency range, resulting in fuel consumption and emissions that are far lower than those of direct drive, while also resolving range anxiety for pure electric vehicles.

[0045] Example 7: Based on the above embodiment three, combined with Figure 8 Central controller Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Central controller Figure 1 As shown, the central controller includes a vehicle control unit (VCU) and an intelligent driving computing unit. The transport vehicle controller (VCU) and intelligent driving computing unit interact with the energy layer, execution layer, and perception layer via Ethernet and multiple CAN buses. The energy layer includes a power battery pack and a diesel range extender; The execution layer includes an omnidirectional steering wheel, a lifting column, and a lifting device; The perception layer includes a vision system, two-dimensional lidar, three-dimensional lidar, and millimeter-wave radar.

[0046] This embodiment takes the vehicle control unit (VCU) and intelligent driving computing unit as the core, and connects the perception system, execution system, energy system and human-machine interaction system into a high-speed and reliable data interaction network through vehicle Ethernet and multiple CAN buses, so as to realize the intelligent driving and automatic transfer functions of the transport vehicle and improve work efficiency.

[0047] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this invention without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, if these modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this invention and their equivalents, this invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A heavy-duty intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle, characterized in that, include: Frame, Two chassis are located at the front and rear ends of the frame; each chassis is equipped with four independently controlled omnidirectional steering wheels arranged in a rectangular pattern. Four lifting columns are symmetrically fixed on the two chassis; the four lifting columns are supported at the ends of the vehicle frame; The spreader is located between the two chassis and fixed to the vehicle frame; the spreader has a three-degree-of-freedom fine-adjustment mechanism in the longitudinal, lateral, and rotational directions. A vision system, mounted on the chassis, is used to detect materials beneath the chassis; Two two-dimensional lidar sensors are placed on one side of each of the two chassis to detect materials on the side of the frame.

2. A material transfer method, employing the intelligent straddle-type automated transport vehicle for heavy materials as described in claim 1, characterized in that: Includes the following steps; 1) The transport vehicle travels along the planned route to the vicinity of the target material; 2) When the transport vehicle switches to straddle mode, the two-dimensional lidar on the side of the transport vehicle scans the material and ground features and calculates the lateral and longitudinal deviations of the transport vehicle; the central controller drives the omnidirectional steering wheel according to the lateral and longitudinal deviations of the transport vehicle, so that the frame straddles the material directly. 3) Lower the lifting device to the working height of the lifting column; 4) The vision system identifies cooperative targets or features on the material and calculates the positional deviation of the lifting device; the central controller drives the fine-tuning mechanism and lifting column according to the positional deviation of the lifting device until the lifting device and the material lifting point are precisely aligned. 5) The lifting device closes and grips the material, and the lifting column raises the lifting device to the transfer height; 6) The transport vehicle travels along the planned route to the target track; 7) The vision system identifies the material's wheel and the target track's posture deviation. The central controller drives the fine-tuning mechanism based on the material's posture deviation to align the material's wheel vertically with the target track. The lifting column is then lowered to allow the material's wheel to fall onto the target track, completing the transfer.

3. The material transfer method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The eight omnidirectional steering wheels are arranged in a matrix; The eight omnidirectional steering wheels of the transport vehicle are controlled as follows: the central controller calculates the target steering angle and linear velocity of each omnidirectional steering wheel in real time based on the target motion mode and the extended Ackerman steering geometry model; when turning at a fixed radius, the central controller controls the axes of all omnidirectional steering wheels to intersect at the same instantaneous steering center.

4. The material transfer method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The two chassis structures are symmetrical and are equipped with interlocked front and rear cabs, respectively.

5. A material transfer method according to claim 2, characterized in that: In step 7, the material is adjusted using an aerial dynamic fine-tuning method, which includes the following steps; The vision system detects the material attitude deviation ΔP between the material's wheels and the target track at a predetermined frequency. ΔP includes longitudinal X, lateral Y, and rotation angle θ deviations. The central controller generates compensation motion commands ΔC for the fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column based on ΔP using control algorithms (such as PID and feedforward compensation). The fine-tuning mechanism and the lifting column execute ΔC to change the spatial orientation of the material; The vision system then detects the material's posture deviation ΔP between the material's wheels and the target track again, repeating this process until ΔP converges to a predetermined threshold range.

6. A material transfer method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lifting column includes multiple layers of square box-shaped sleeves that slide and fit together sequentially, with a guide mechanism installed between the upper and lower sleeve sections. The guiding mechanism includes four base plates fixed around the upper end of the lower sleeve. The base plates and the upper end of the lower sleeve have corresponding through grooves. Copper sliders that slide in contact with the upper sleeve are installed in the through grooves. A baffle for pressing against the outer side of the copper slider is fixed to the outside of the base plates by screws and washers.

7. A material transfer method according to claim 2 or 6, characterized in that: The lifting column is driven by a lifting electric cylinder, and an absolute encoder is installed inside the lifting electric cylinder; The control method for the four lifting columns is as follows: the central controller gives synchronous position commands to the four lifting cylinders; the absolute encoder of each lifting cylinder provides real-time feedback on the position of the corresponding lifting cylinder; the central controller performs cross-coupling compensation calculations based on the position of each lifting cylinder and dynamically adjusts the speed of each lifting cylinder to make the lifting of the four lifting columns synchronized.

8. A material transfer method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transport vehicle also includes a power battery pack and a diesel range extender; The transport vehicle controller (VCU) is used to continuously monitor the SOC of the power battery pack and the real-time power requirements of the transport vehicle. When the SOC of the power battery pack is not lower than the set threshold and the power demand of the transport vehicle is lower than the predetermined threshold, the power battery pack supplies power to the high-voltage DC bus only. When the SOC of the power battery pack is lower than the set threshold or the power demand of the transport vehicle is not lower than the predetermined threshold, the transport vehicle controller VCU starts the diesel range extender. The diesel range extender operates within a set power range. The electrical energy generated by the diesel range extender is distributed as follows: it is first used to meet the real-time power demand of the transport vehicle, and the excess is used to power the power battery pack. If the power generated by the diesel range extender cannot meet the real-time power demand of the transport vehicle, the power battery pack will supplement the discharge.

9. A material transfer method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transport vehicle also includes millimeter-wave radar fixed to the ends and sides of the two chassis, and three-dimensional lidar fixed to the ends of the two chassis and the upper side of the frame. In steps 1) and 6), the transport vehicle uses 3D lidar for positioning and BeiDou navigation for autonomous path planning. While the transport vehicle is in motion, it uses 3D lidar for long-distance perception, millimeter-wave radar for all-weather ranging and speed measurement, and a vision system to assist in real-time environmental perception and achieve dynamic obstacle avoidance.

10. A material transfer method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The central controller includes a vehicle controller (VCU) and an intelligent driving computing unit. The transport vehicle controller (VCU) and intelligent driving computing unit interact with the energy layer, execution layer, and perception layer via Ethernet and multiple CAN buses. The energy layer includes the power battery pack and the diesel range extender; The execution layer includes an omnidirectional steering wheel, a lifting column, and a lifting device; The perception layer includes a vision system, two-dimensional lidar, three-dimensional lidar, and millimeter-wave radar.

Images