Automated Guided Cart Battery Management and Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated guided carts in factories often experience downtime due to discharged batteries, with existing solutions like expensive equipment upgrades or automatic charging pads being costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An automated guided cart system that includes an on-board battery pack, a controller to direct the cart on a production path, and a transceiver to detect and signal low battery state, automatically diverting the cart to a battery station for replacement when the charge falls below a predetermined limit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If automated guided carts use batteries to power electric motors, then the carts can operate autonomously, but the batteries may be discharged during use, causing downtime and lost production
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting low battery state-of-charge conditions before complete discharge occurs. The controller proactively routes the cart to a battery station for replacement, preventing the harmful effect of complete battery discharge and ensuring continuous autonomous operation without interruption to production.
2Reliability
If expensive equipment or automatic charging pads are used to prevent battery discharge, then cart reliability improves, but the cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cart system performs self-service by autonomously monitoring its own battery state-of-charge and independently routing itself to battery stations for replacement. This eliminates the need for expensive external charging infrastructure or manual intervention, maintaining high reliability while minimizing system complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring battery state-of-charge and using this information to control cart routing decisions. The controller receives feedback from the battery sensor and automatically adjusts the cart's path to maintain adequate charge levels, ensuring reliable operation through a simple, cost-effective feedback mechanism.
3Productivity
If the cart continues on the production operation path despite low battery charge, then productivity is maintained, but the cart may be stranded and cause lost production
Solution Approach 1:
The system takes preliminary action by detecting low battery conditions and routing the cart to a battery station before complete discharge occurs. This proactive approach prevents cart stranding and ensures continuous productivity by maintaining cart availability through timely battery replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The feedback mechanism continuously monitors battery state-of-charge and controls routing decisions to balance productivity and reliability. When low charge is detected, the system automatically diverts the cart for battery replacement, ensuring that productivity is maintained by preventing cart failure while managing battery charge levels dynamically.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating an automated guided cart may include directing, using a controller, the cart on a production operation path; automatically detecting a state-of-charge in an on-board battery pack; signaling to a remote station the state-of-charge; and when the state-of-charge is below a predetermined charge limit, the remote station automatically signaling the cart to automatically veer from the production operation path to a low battery charge path and stop at a battery station.