Method for the operation of a location-finding system

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method (100) for the operation of a communication system (10).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the operation of a communication system.

Background Art

[0002] In current manufacturing facilities, automated guided vehicles that transport articles and cooperate with robots are increasingly being used. For efficient progress, accurate positioning within the production facility is necessary. The positioning accuracy in this regard can have an impact on the speed of the vehicle and the minimum distance between the vehicles relative to each other.

[0003] To ensure the reliable operation of autonomous vehicles, it is desirable to consider their respective positioning accuracy at any given time. If the location- and time-resolved positioning accuracy is not known, a worst-case scenario consideration that can be guaranteed at all times over the entire range must be applied. However, this also means that surrounding vehicles with high accuracy will move with lower efficiency than would otherwise be possible.

[0004] From DE102015215699A1, a positioning method for automated vehicles is already known, in which the achieved positioning accuracy is determined.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] One embodiment is a method for the operation of a communication system including at least three communication subscribers, comprising at least the following steps, namely · a step in which a positioning transmitter of a positioning system continuously transmits a positioning signal, · a step in which a positioning signal is received by at least one positioning receiver of at least two positioning transmitters, · a step of determining the exact reception time of the positioning signal relates to a method.

[0006] Advantageously, additional information about at least one positioning accuracy is transmitted to the positioning receiver. It is proposed that, based on the temporal relationship of the received positioning signals, the position of the positioning receiver within the coordinate system of the positioning system is calculated by the positioning receiver itself.

[0007] In the case of inaccurate localization, the localized object will have the following options, namely • Suppression of the movement speed of objects whose location is identified. • Use of additional sensors to recognize the surrounding environment of moving objects. • Periodic sending of warning messages, • Matching the path of objects It may be adjusted and / or controlled by, however this enumeration is not complete.

[0008] For precise localization, the object being localized has the following options, namely • Increased movement speed of objects whose location is identified. • Use of additional sensors to recognize the surrounding environment of moving objects It may be adjusted and / or controlled by, however this enumeration is not complete.

[0009] In parallel, it is advantageous that the local positioning accuracy at any given time is determined by a positioning receiver comparing the position determined by the positioning system with an absolute or relative reference point.

[0010] It is advantageous that this accuracy value is sent to the central computing unit along with the object's current position. The central computing unit evaluates the positioning accuracy information and sends it back to the positioning receiver along with the positioning signal.

[0011] The parameters for synchronizing the positioning receiver in terms of time and phase are as follows: • Phase clock reference • Frame structure • Time reference (start of frame) Frame format It is proposed that the index include one or more of the following: [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows the steps for the operation of the communication system from Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Figure 1 schematically shows the communication system 10. The communication system is, for example, a 5G system. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication system is a location-finding system. As an example, the communication system 10 includes three communication subscribers 12, 14, and 20. Two communication subscribers 12 and 14 are location transmitters in an exemplary embodiment. The third communication subscriber 20 is formed as a location receiver.

[0014] The location transmitters 12 and 14 periodically transmit signals, and these signals are received by the location receiver 20 of the location-determined object 22. However, the signals may also be periodically transmitted by the location receiver 20 of the location-determined object 22 and received by the location transmitters 12 and 14. For simplicity, the following description will always refer to the first example where the location transmitters 12 and 14 periodically transmit signals and these signals are received by the location receiver 20 of the location-determined object 22. However, all of this explanation also applies to the example where the signals are periodically transmitted by the location receiver 20 of the location-determined object 22 and received by the location transmitters 12 and 14.

[0015] The position - specified object 22 is, by way of example, a transport vehicle used, for example, to transport articles within a manufacturing facility and / or to cooperate with robots and automated equipment. However, this may be any other vehicle that would be meaningful to a person skilled in the art.

[0016] In this regard, the transmission between communication subscribers 12, 14, 22 must take place within a certain time window. By means of the corresponding time measurement of the time when the information is received and the time information within the position - specifying signal, the flight time of the signal from the position - specifying transmitters 12, 14 to the position - specifying receiver 20 of the position - specified object 22 can be known. However, the difference in the flight times of the signals of these position - specifying transmitters 12, 14 can also be known.

[0017] A further aspect will be explained while referring to FIG. 2. The order of the shown process steps is an example. These steps can be executed in a different order and / or some can be executed simultaneously. According to one embodiment, a method 100 for the operation of the communication system 10 is · Step 110 in which the position - specifying transmitters 12, 14 of the position - specifying system 10 continuously transmit position - specifying signals, · Step 120 in which the position - specifying signals are received by at least one position - specifying receiver 20 of at least two position - specifying transmitters 12, 14, · Step 130 of determining the exact reception time and includes.

[0018] In a further process step 140, additional information about the position - specifying accuracy is transmitted to the position - specifying receiver 20. The additional information can include, for example, the quality of the position - specifying accuracy.

[0019] This information is sent together with the original position - specifying signal. Instead, this information is queried from the central computing unit 30 via at least one additional communication channel.

[0020] Thus, the accuracy value can be associated with a certain geometric range. It is possible that the quality of a location transmitter at a given time may not be high enough to transmit reliable location information. In this case, for example, information may be transmitted indicating that this qualitatively low-value location signal should be considered with relatively low weight, or not considered at all.

[0021] In process step 150, the position of the position receiver 20 at any given moment within the coordinate system of the position system 10 is calculated by the position receiver 20 based on the temporal relationship of the received position signals.

[0022] In relation to the determined position and the calculated positioning accuracy at that location, a moving object, such as a transport vehicle 22, changes its behavior. If the location is inaccurate, there are several options, namely • Suppression of movement speed to prevent vehicle 22 from colliding with unexpected obstacles even if it is in front of, behind, or to the side of the predicted position. • Use of additional sensors for ambient environment perception, such as image recognition cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and optical sensors. • Periodically sending warning messages to other vehicles in the vicinity to alert them to the temporarily reduced positioning accuracy and help avoid collision risks. • Adapting the vehicle's path so that locations with inaccurate positioning are avoided and bypassed. This can be considered, however this enumeration is not complete.

[0023] If the location is accurate, the moving object 22 will take the following measures, among others: • May increase movement speed • Additional sensors may be used for further awareness of the surrounding environment of the moving object 22. It can react to this.

[0024] In process step 160, the local positioning accuracy at any given time is simultaneously determined by the positioning receiver 20. This determination is made by comparing the position determined by the positioning system 10 with an absolute or relative reference point.

[0025] The quantitative or qualitative precision values ​​thus determined, along with the current position, are sent to the central computing unit in step 170. In the central computing unit 30, in process step 180, this information is evaluated for its localization accuracy and compiled into a kind of digital map. In this case, the range between the locations of the localization receivers providing the information is interpolated.

[0026] In step 190, the positioning accuracy is again provided to the positioning receiver. For this purpose, the positioning accuracy information is transmitted to the positioning receiver along with the positioning signal. The parameters for synchronizing positioning receivers in a mobile radio system with respect to time and phase include, for example, the following characteristics, although there are others: • Phase clock reference, • Frame structure • Time reference (start of frame) Frame format This may include one or more of the following indicators.

[0027] In addition, by integrating mobile wireless networks, such as 5G, into existing industrial connectivity structures, matching with local time domains can be achieved. The distance between the location transmitter and location receiver is determined by the precise reception time, taking into account propagation delay, time-based information, timestamps, or local time information of the embedded industrial connectivity structure.

[0028] The accuracy of positioning can be distinguished between stationary and movable objects. For stationary objects, location determination is not primarily necessary. However, if a stationary object is equipped with a location receiver (which may be a 5G standard module in the case of a 5G system), the location receiver can continuously compare the location determined by location determination with a known target location value. The target location value may be set, for example, by the value initially calibrated. Alternatively, a long-term average of the location determination values ​​may also be used as the target location value.

[0029] By comparing the current positional values ​​with the target values, any inaccuracies in the positional values ​​will reveal a directed error value. Even moving objects can have information about their positional accuracy determined during their operation. Within a defined area, the accuracy of the positional signal may be directly estimated if the movable positional receiver is sufficiently reliable regarding its absolute position at any given moment.

[0030] During movement, there is often no absolute reference point that can be reliably assumed. In many cases, the transport vehicle has a relative reference quantity; that is, based on a known steering angle and wheel rotations, it can be assumed that the vehicle traveled a distance of X meters from a first time point to a second time point.

[0031] Even if the positions determined by the positioning system at the first and second time points are separated by different intervals, an inductive inference of the local positioning accuracy at each given time can be made.

Claims

1. A method (100) for the operation of a location system (10) including at least two location transmitters (12, 14), comprising the following steps: - The step of the at least two location transmitters (12, 14) of the location identification system (10) continuously transmitting location identification signals, - The step of receiving the location signals from at least two location transmitters (12, 14) with at least one location receiver (20), - A step to determine the exact time of reception of the position identification signal. Includes, Based on the temporal relationship of the received position-determining signals, the position of the position-determining receiver (20) at any given moment within the coordinate system of the position-determining system (10) is calculated by the position-determining receiver (20). In the case of inaccurate localization, the localized object (22) may have at least the following options, namely - Suppression of the movement speed of the object (22) whose location is identified, - Use of additional sensors to recognize the surrounding environment of the moving object (22), - Periodic sending of warning messages, - Adaptation of the path of the object (22) Adjusted and / or controlled by, Method (100), wherein, concurrently, the local positioning accuracy at any given time is determined by the positioning receiver (20) by comparing the position determined by the positioning system (10) with an absolute or relative reference point, the absolute reference point being the average value of a plurality of past positioning signals.

2. The method according to claim 1 (100), wherein the object (22) has the relative reference point, which is determined by assuming that the object (22) has advanced from a first time to a second time based on a known steering angle and wheel rotations of the object (22).

3. The method according to claim 1 (100), wherein the quality of the positioning accuracy is transmitted to the positioning receiver (20).

4. In the case of precise localization, the object to be localized (22) is at least one of the following options, namely - Increase in the movement speed of the object (22) whose location is identified, - Use of additional sensors to recognize the surrounding environment of the moving object (22) The method according to claim 1 (100), which is adjusted and / or controlled by...

5. The method according to claim 1 (100), wherein the positioning accuracy value is sent to the central computing unit (30) along with the position of the object (22) at that time.

6. The method according to claim 5 (100), wherein the information regarding the positioning accuracy is evaluated in the central computing unit (30).

7. The method according to claim 6 (100), wherein the information of the positioning accuracy is transmitted to the positioning receiver together with the positioning signal.

8. The parameters for synchronizing the position-determining receiver in terms of time and phase have the following characteristics, namely: Phase clock reference, Frame structure • Time reference (start of frame) Frame format The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 (100), comprising one or more indicators.

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