Driverless transport vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a driverless transport vehicle (10) for transporting drive-under objects, such as floor rollers (50), trolleys or the like, the transport vehicle (10) being movable omnidirectionally in a X,Y plane with respect to an orthogonal coordinate system (X, Y, Z) and having a lifting table (16) which is movable in the Z direction, characterised in that: a base unit (12) is present; a drive-under / fork unit (14) connected to the base unit (12) is present, on which unit the lifting table (16) is arranged, wherein either two drive and guide roller units (18.1, 18.2) spaced apart in the X direction are arranged below the base unit (12) and a non-drivable guide roller unit (20) spaced apart in the Y direction is arranged in the free end region below the drive-under / fork unit or, spaced apart in the X direction, a drive and guide roller unit (18.1) and a non-driven guide roller unit (20) are arranged below the base unit (12) and, spaced apart in the Y direction, a drive and guide roller unit (18.2) is arranged in the free end region below the drive-under / fork unit (14); sensor means (22) are present, which acquire raw data with respect to a video image, a point cloud or distance data of the object (50); object identification means (24) are present, which are communicatively connected to the sensor means (22) and convert the transmitted raw data of the sensor means (22) into current object position data; control means (26) are present, which are communicatively connected to the object identification means (24) and the drive and guide sets of the drive and guide roller units and convert the current object position data into control commands for the drive and guide sets of the drive and guide roller units (18.1, 18.2).

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION

[0002] Automated guided vehicle

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] The present invention relates to a driverless transport vehicle for transporting objects that can be driven under, such as floor rollers, trolleys or the like, wherein the transport vehicle is movable omnidirectionally in an X, Y plane with respect to an orthogonal coordinate system and has a lifting table that can be moved in the Z direction.

[0005] STATE OF THE ART

[0006] In internal logistics, many goods or stacked pallets and crates of goods are transported on manually movable floor rollers. Trailer systems, tugger trains, or similar systems are used to transport these floor rollers, dollies, or trolleys automatically.

[0007] Driverless transport systems are also known that can drive under the floor rollers and drag them along or even lift them out completely.

[0008] In order for the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to be able to drive underneath the floor rollers, the wheel diameters of the floor rollers or the frame itself must be selected to be large enough to match the vehicle height.

[0009] However, this results in a loss of storage space. Furthermore, the floor rollers must be specially manufactured. Floor rollers can also be driven under, lifted, and transported using a forklift system that uses forks. These systems are generally not suitable for small floor rollers, such as those with the standard dimensions 400 x 600 mm, because it's not possible to drive under them with two standard forks due to space constraints.

[0010] For small floor rollers, AGVs with a flat lifting device for driving underneath flat floor rollers are known. However, these AGVs are not powered by a flat surface. Therefore, the driving characteristics for approaching and aligning the AGV relative to a floor roller are inflexible and limited.

[0011] One option is to position the floor rollers on the floor using a rail.

[0012] AGVs are known that have a base unit and a tongue unit for driving under an object. To achieve surface mobility, these AGVs use four turntables, each capable of generating a rotary motion with two motors. Two turntables are located below the base unit, and two turntables are located below the tongue unit. The bolsters rotate due to the speed difference between the motors, but this requires a lot of control, requiring a total of eight motors. Since these motors are also built into the tongue unit, they can only be built flat and are therefore not powerful. In addition, the tongue unit is relatively wide and is therefore not suitable for floor rollers measuring 400 x 600 mm.

[0013] PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The present invention is based on the technical problem or task of providing a driverless transport vehicle that ensures automatic material supply within a production facility, with which internal logistics processes can be optimized, that easily ensures the autonomous transport of floor rollers, trolleys, or the like with relatively heavy loads, and that can precisely drive under an object in any position, even an inaccurate one, using the shortest route. The transport vehicle according to the invention is defined by the features of independent claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further developments are specified in the claims directly or indirectly dependent on independent claim 1.

[0015] The transport vehicle according to the invention is accordingly characterized in that there is an undercarriage / fork unit connected to the base unit, on which the lifting table is arranged, the transport vehicle is designed as an omnidirectionally movable vehicle with two drive / steering roller units that can be driven via drive and steering units and one non-driven steering roller unit, wherein either two drive and steering roller units spaced apart in the X direction are arranged below the base unit and the non-driven steering roller unit is spaced apart in the Y direction in the free end area below the undercarriage / fork unit, or a drive and steering roller unit and a non-driven steering roller unit are arranged spaced apart in the X direction below the base unit and a drive and steering roller unit is arranged spaced apart in the Y direction in the free end area below the undercarriage / fork unit, sensor means are provided,determine the raw data relating to a video image, a point cloud or distance data of the object, object recognition means are present which communicate with the sensor means and convert the transmitted raw data from the sensor means into current object position data, control means are present which communicate with the object recognition means and the drive and steering units of the drive and steering roller units and convert the current object position data into control commands for the drive and steering units of the drive and steering roller units, whereby a movement of the vehicle towards the object occurs with regard to speed, direction and steering angle, whereby the change in position of the vehicle in relation to the object to be detected caused by the movement is currently recorded and evaluated again by the sensor means,which creates a control loop for the vehicle's driving permission until the object reaches the underride position.

[0016] The driverless transport vehicle according to the invention is an omnidirectional, surface-moving vehicle with object recognition that recognizes objects such as floor rollers, trolleys or the like and can align and approach them in a surface-moving manner and can thus pick up and transport the object / floor roller in a precisely positioned manner.

[0017] In many known production lines, the object, along with the components stored on it, is fed to the assemblers, who then manually remove the components for assembly. After assembly is complete, with the known object feeding systems, the assembly operator must return the object, for example, the floor roller, to a precisely specified position so that it can be reliably picked up and transported away by an automated guided vehicle. This is no longer necessary with the automated guided vehicle according to the invention. This means that the assembly operator can move the object / floor roller to an undefined and non-disruptive position. The automated guided vehicle according to the invention easily allows the object / floor roller to be picked up and transported away in this "inaccurate" position.

[0018] These object recognition devices have object recognition sensors, for example, a 3D camera, a scanner, or the like, which provide an image or a point cloud with distance data for the individual pixels. This data is transmitted to the object recognition devices, which determine the position of the trolley / floor roller using predefined parameters such as the width of the object, the width under the object, and the height of the object, or, for example, via a previously trained neural network from the transmitted data, e.g., a point cloud. This position data is transmitted to the control unit, which performs path planning and chassis control. The current position of the object determines the new starting point of the AGV. This current starting point is converted by the control unit into control commands for the steering and drive units and output to the controllers of the respective AGV drives.

[0019] Because the AGV is in motion and the position of the object / floor roller relative to the AGV is constantly changing and is constantly updated by the object recognition devices, a closed control loop is obtained.

[0020] A particularly preferred embodiment is characterized in that the sensor means comprise at least one 3D camera or at least one scanning unit.

[0021] A particularly advantageous embodiment is characterized in that the object recognition means have a storage unit in which individual parameters regarding the geometry and appearance of the object are stored and can be evaluated.

[0022] Preferably, the non-driven steering roller unit is designed as a multi-bearing, lateral force-free, non-driven steering roller unit, in particular as a twin roller unit.

[0023] A particularly preferred embodiment, which enables objects of different geometries to be picked up safely, is characterized in that the lifting table has a stop unit which can be driven and moved in the Y direction by means of a drive unit which can be controlled by the control device and which forms the stop for the object to be driven under.

[0024] An advantageous embodiment which ensures a secure positioning of a picked-up object on the lifting table is characterized in that the base unit in the Z direction above the lifting table has two clamping units which are spaced apart in the X direction and which can be driven by means of a drive unit which can be controlled by the control device and which can be moved in the X and Y directions, which form a position securing device with regard to the picked-up object which is driven underneath.

[0025] According to a particularly advantageous further development, the control device is designed such that the drive units for the movement of the stop unit and the clamping units are controlled accordingly depending on the geometric data of the object determined by the object recognition means, whereby overall a secure positioning of the picked-up object on the lifting table is ensured even during transport.

[0026] A particularly preferred embodiment of the transport vehicle according to the invention with regard to flexibility is characterized in that the vehicle has a unit for supplying energy, in particular a battery or capacitor, which provides the energy for operating the units.

[0027] In order to ensure a permanently reliable standby state of the vehicle without major additional measures, an advantageous design is characterized by the fact that the vehicle has a charging station via which the energy supply units can be charged contactlessly.

[0028] A particularly advantageous further development is characterized in that the vehicle has a WLAN unit by means of which communication regarding data input and / or data retrieval with the sensor means, the object recognition means and the control device can be established.

[0029] The adjustable stop unit on the lifting table allows different trolley sizes to be detected or even multiple trolleys to be picked up simultaneously. The optionally attachable height-adjustable clamping device is primarily used to secure unstable goods against tipping.

[0030] The driverless transport vehicle according to the invention enables a simple, automated material supply within a production facility. The vehicle's omnidirectional movement capability, combined with object recognition, allows the driverless transport vehicle to optimize internal logistics processes. Automatic transport of floor rollers with large loads is easily possible. The transport of standard or special load carriers can also be easily implemented, depending on the respective undercarriage geometry of the object.

[0031] Because the vehicle is mounted on a total of three swivel castors - two driven swivel castors and one non-driven swivel castor - a three-point support of the vehicle is always guaranteed in the event of any uneven ground, so that the swivel castors always have contact with the ground, which enables the respective travel path to be implemented with precise positioning.

[0032] Further embodiments and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the features further recited in the claims and from the exemplary embodiments given below. The features of the claims may be combined with one another in any desired manner, provided they are not obviously mutually exclusive.

[0033] SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0034] The invention, as well as advantageous embodiments and further developments thereof, are described and explained in more detail below with reference to the examples shown in the drawings. The features shown in the description and the drawings can be used individually or in any combination according to the invention. They show:

[0035] Fig. 1 schematic perspective view of a

[0036] Embodiment of a driverless transport vehicle with a base unit and a projection unit on which a height-adjustable lifting table is provided, with additional functionally important components shown schematically in an exploded manner,

[0037] Fig. 2 schematic 2nd perspective view of a vehicle according to Fig. 1, without additional components,

[0038] Fig. 3 schematic perspective view of the vehicle according to Fig. 2 with the lifting table raised,

[0039] Fig. 4 schematic plan view of a driverless transport vehicle with a spaced-apart object to be driven under,

[0040] Fig. 5 schematic plan view of a driverless transport vehicle with an object driving underneath,

[0041] Fig. 6 schematic bottom view of an automated guided vehicle with two steering roller units with drive motor and steering drive motor, which are arranged below the base unit and a non-driven steering roller unit, which are arranged below the projection unit,

[0042] Fig. 7 highly schematic diagram of the object detection and path planning of the driverless transport vehicle as a control loop and Fig. 8 schematic perspective view of a non-driven, multi-bearing, lateral force-free twin swivel castor unit.

[0043] WAYS TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION

[0044] Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an automated guided vehicle 10, with additional essential components shown in highly schematic exploded views. The automated guided vehicle 10 has a cuboid base unit 12, to which an undercarriage unit 14 is connected at the bottom. The undercarriage unit 14 is also referred to as a fork unit or tongue unit.

[0045] Furthermore, Fig. 1 shows an orthogonal X, Y, Z coordinate system relating to the automated guided vehicle 10. The X direction is referred to below as the width direction, the Y direction is referred to below as the projection direction, and the Z direction is referred to below as the height direction.

[0046] On the undercarriage unit 14 projecting in the projection direction Y, a lifting table 16 is arranged, which is designed to be displaceable in its position in the height direction Z via a corresponding unit.

[0047] On the lifting table 16 there is a stop unit 28 running in the width direction X, which can be moved in the projection direction Y via an aggregate.

[0048] In the front end area of ​​the undercarriage unit 14, sensor means 22 are arranged, which can be designed, for example, as a 3D camera or as a scanner.

[0049] A clamping unit 30 is connected to the base unit 12 on the left and right, offset upwards in the height direction Z, which has a clamping jaw projecting in the projection direction Y in its respective outer end region and which is designed to be displaceable in the height direction Z and in the width direction X via units.

[0050] The additional components of the transport vehicle 10, additionally shown schematically in exploded view in Fig. 1, consist of a control device 26, object recognition means 24, an energy storage unit 38 for supplying energy to the units present within the vehicle, a WLAN unit 40 for wireless communication with external electronic control, regulation, and storage units, two laser scanners 32, which are arranged diagonally opposite one another on the base unit 12, for scanning the surroundings of the transport vehicle 10, a charging unit 34 for contactless charging of the energy storage unit 38, and a stop button 36 for manually stopping the movement of the transport vehicle by a third party in a dangerous situation. There may also be another laser scanner, which is arranged in the front end area of ​​the underride unit 14.

[0051] According to Fig. 6, the driverless transport vehicle is mounted on roller units underneath. In the structural embodiment, steering / drive roller units 18.1, 18.2 are arranged spaced apart in the width direction X below the base unit 12, and a non-driven steering roller unit 20 is arranged in the end area of ​​the undercarriage unit 14.

[0052] The steering / drive roller units 18 are each in communication connection with a drive unit and a steering drive unit, which can be controlled by the control device 26.

[0053] Fig. 4 shows a highly schematic illustration of the situation in which a driverless transport vehicle 10 is shown at a distance from an object 50 to be driven under, for example a floor roller or trolley, which is to be driven under, picked up, transported and set down again by the transport vehicle 10, wherein the transport vehicle 10 has to travel a path F to drive under the object 50 in order to reach an under-drive state, which is shown highly schematically in Fig. 5. The object 50 is mounted on a total of four rollers 52.

[0054] According to the invention, the driverless transport vehicle 10 is designed as an omnidirectional, surface-moving vehicle with object recognition, which recognizes an object 50 such as a floor roller and, based on the recognition, aligns itself in a surface-moving and omnidirectional manner and moves towards the floor roller in the appropriate position in order to be able to pick it up and transport it.

[0055] The non-driven swivel caster unit 20 is designed as a double-bearing twin caster unit, which generates little or no transverse forces during a turn as a result of a steering movement and is known as such. A schematic embodiment of such a twin swivel caster is shown in Fig. 8.

[0056] Fig. 7 shows a highly schematic diagram of the individual processes within the transport vehicle 10 for detecting an object 50 for moving the vehicle 10 to the object 50 for driving under.

[0057] First, the sensor means 22, which may comprise, for example, at least one 3D camera or at least one scanner, capture the raw data of the object, for example in the form of a video image or a point cloud with the distance data of the individual pixels. This raw data is transmitted to the object recognition means 25, in which parameters relating to the geometry of the object 50 to be encompassed are stored in advance for reference purposes. These parameters can also be the result of an external AI unit (artificial intelligence). The object recognition means 24 evaluate the received raw data and determine the position of the object 50, for example, with respect to the coordinates X, Y and the associated angle A, which represents the current relative position of the vehicle 10 to the object.This current object position is transmitted to the control device 26, which performs chassis planning based on this current data and generates control commands within the framework of chassis control, in particular regarding the speed and steering angle for each steering / drive roller unit 18.1, 18.2, whereby the automated guided vehicle moves in the direction of the travel path F toward the object 50 to be underpassed. This AGV movement, in turn, has a feedback effect on the sensor means 22 and the resulting changed current object position. This results in a control loop that ensures optimal, fast, precise, and reliable determination of the travel path F of the vehicle 10 for underpassing the object 50.

[0058] After passing under (see Fig. 5), the lifting table 28 is activated and raised to detect the object 50. The stop unit 28 has previously been moved into the corresponding position by the control device by controlling the corresponding unit, depending on the geometry of the object to be picked up.

[0059] At the same time, by appropriately shifting the clamping units 30 in the vertical direction Z and in the width direction X, the position of the picked object can be secured to reliably prevent it from tipping during transport. After the picked object 50 is secured, the transport vehicle 10 moves to a position that is determined by a higher-level control system in communication with the control device 26.

[0060] With the driverless transport vehicle 10 shown, automated material supply within a production facility is easily possible. Internal logistics processes can be adapted to specific conditions and optimized without great effort. Automatic transport of objects, such as floor rollers, to and from specified positions is easily possible.

Claims

REQUIREMENTS Driverless transport vehicle (10) for transporting movable objects, such as floor rollers (50), trolleys or the like, wherein the transport vehicle (10) is omnidirectionally movable in an X, Y plane with respect to an orthogonal coordinate system (X, Y, Z) and has a lifting table (16) movable in the Z direction, - characterized by the fact that - a base unit (12) is present, - a fork unit (14) connected to the base unit (12) is present, on which the lifting table (16) is arranged, - the transport vehicle (10) is designed as an omnidirectional vehicle with two drive / steering wheel units (18.1, 18.2) driven via drive and steering units and one non-driven steering wheel unit (20), - where either - - two drive and steering roller units (18.1, 18.2) which are defective in the X direction are located below the base unit (12) and the non-driven steering roller unit (20) which is defective in the Y direction is located in the free end area below the undercarriage / fork unit or - - in the X direction, a drive and steering roller unit (18.1) and a non-driven steering roller unit (20) are located below the base unit (12), and in the Y direction, a drive and steering roller unit (18.2) is located in the free end area below the undercarriage / fork unit (14), - Sensors (22) are available that determine raw data relating to a video image, a point cloud or distance data of the object (50), - Object recognition means (24) are available which are in communication connection with the sensor means (22) and convert the transmitted raw data of the sensor means (22) into current object position data, - Control means (26) are present which are in communication connection with the object recognition means (24) and the drive and steering units of the drive and steering roller units and convert the current object position data into control commands for the drive and steering units of the drive and steering roller units (18.1, 18.2), thereby causing a movement of the vehicle (10) in the direction of the object (50) with respect to speed, direction and steering angle, - wherein the change in position of the vehicle relative to the object to be detected, generated by the movement, is continuously detected and evaluated by the sensor means (22), thereby creating a control loop for authorizing the movement of the vehicle (10) until the underride position for the object (50) is reached. Transport vehicle according to claim 1, - characterized by the fact that - the sensor means (22) comprise at least one 3D camera or at least one scanning unit. Transport vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, - characterized by the fact that - the object recognition means (24) have a storage unit in which individual parameters relating to the geometry and appearance of the object (50) are stored and can be evaluated. Transport vehicle according to one or more of the preceding claims, - characterized by the fact that - the non-driven rotatable steering wheel unit (20) is designed as a multi-bearing, transversely force-free, undriven steering wheel unit. Transport vehicle according to one or more of the preceding claims, - characterized by the fact that - the lifting table (16) has a stop unit (28) that can be driven and moved in the Y direction by means of a drive unit controllable by the control device and that forms the stop for the object (50) to be passed under. Transport vehicle according to one or more of the preceding claims, - characterized by the fact that - the base unit (12) in the Z-direction above the lifting table (16) has two clamping units (30) mounted in the X-direction, driven by a drive unit controllable by the control device and movable in the X and Y directions, which form a position lock with respect to the picked-up, underpassed object. Transport vehicle according to claim 5 or 6, - characterized by the fact that - the control device (26) is designed to control the drive units for the movement of the stop unit (28) and the clamping units (30) accordingly, depending on the geometric data of the object (50) determined by the object recognition means (24). Transport vehicle according to one or more of the preceding claims, - characterized by the fact that - the vehicle (10) has a power supply unit, in particular a battery or capacitor, which provides the energy to operate the components. Transport vehicle according to claim 8, - characterized by the fact that - the vehicle (10) has a charging station via which the battery unit can be charged wirelessly. Transport vehicle according to one or more of the preceding claims, - characterized by the fact that - the vehicle (10) has a WLAN unit by means of which communication regarding data input and / or data query with the sensor means (22), the object recognition means (24) and the control unit (26) can be established.

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