Adaptive Speed Limit Control for Industrial Trucks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial trucks face a challenge in balancing speed to maximize efficiency while ensuring safety, particularly in environments where high speeds can compromise safety for people and obstacles, necessitating an adaptive speed limit system that maintains operational efficiency and safety.
Innovation Solution
A method and control system that detect speed profiles, calculate travel times, and adjust speed limits based on detected patterns to ensure safety without significantly impacting operational efficiency, allowing for automatic adjustments to maintain efficiency and safety by determining time differences and transmitting control signals to set appropriate speed limits for industrial trucks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the speed limit of the industrial truck is increased to improve productivity, then more loads can be moved in the same amount of time, but the safety risk for people and obstacles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The speed limit is made dynamic rather than static. The system continuously monitors the industrial truck's speed, position, and operational context, automatically adjusting the speed limit in real-time based on detected hazards, terrain conditions, and task requirements. This allows the truck to operate at higher speeds when safe and reduces speed when risks are detected, resolving the contradiction between productivity and safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system implements continuous feedback loops by monitoring sensor data from the industrial truck and environment, comparing actual speed against dynamically determined safe speed limits, and automatically adjusting speed restrictions. This closed-loop control enables the system to maintain optimal productivity while continuously adapting to safety conditions, preventing accidents while maximizing load-moving efficiency.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a lower speed limit is set to improve safety, then the risk of accidents decreases, but the time required to cover the same distance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The speed limit adapts dynamically to the specific operational context. Instead of imposing a uniformly low speed limit, the system determines context-appropriate speed limits based on real-time conditions such as terrain type, presence of pedestrians, load characteristics, and truck operational state. This allows the truck to maintain higher speeds on safe, open terrain while automatically reducing speed in hazardous areas, minimizing time loss while maximizing safety.
Solution Approach 2:
Different speed limits are applied to different spatial zones and operational contexts. The system identifies specific areas or conditions requiring reduced speed (such as pedestrian zones, narrow passages, or unstable terrain) and applies localized speed restrictions only where necessary. This selective approach ensures safety in critical areas while maintaining efficient travel speeds in safe zones, reducing overall travel time compared to a blanket low speed limit.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the speed limit is strictly enforced to ensure safety, then accident prevention improves, but operational efficiency and task completion time deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The speed limit enforcement is dynamic and context-responsive. The control system continuously evaluates operational context, task urgency, and safety conditions, adjusting speed limits in real-time rather than enforcing a fixed restriction. This allows the system to temporarily permit higher speeds during safe, time-critical operations while maintaining strict speed control during hazardous conditions, balancing safety enforcement with operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the speed parameter based on detected conditions and task requirements. Rather than maintaining a constant speed limit, the control system modifies the speed parameter dynamically according to environmental factors, truck load, terrain conditions, and operational priorities. This flexible parameter adjustment ensures safety constraints are met while optimizing task completion efficiency across varying operational scenarios.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 2c
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for adjusting the speed limit of a forklift truck 101. The method comprises: recording a speed profile 200a over a first period by an electronic control system of the forklift truck 101; setting a limit speed for the forklift truck 101 for a second period; determining a first travel time of the forklift truck 101 from the recorded speed profile 200a for covering a total distance of the forklift truck 101 in the first period at speeds exceeding the limit speed by a control system 104; determining a second travel time of the forklift truck 101 for covering the total distance of the forklift truck 101 at the limit speed by the control system 104; determining a time difference between the first travel time and the second travel time by the control system 104;and transmitting a control signal from the control system 104 to the industrial truck 101 when the determined time difference is shorter than a standstill period of the industrial truck 101 in the first period, wherein the control signal is configured to set the limit speed as the speed limit of the industrial truck 101 for the second period. The invention further relates to a control system 104.