AGV Travel Converter PCB Sensor Integration for Motion Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatically guided vehicles require discrete sensors and additional evaluation units to detect acceleration and spatial location, leading to increased cabling costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
Integrating sensors, such as acceleration and spatial location sensors, directly into the travel converter on a printed circuit board, allowing for detection of acceleration in x, y, and z directions and spatial location, and utilizing a control unit within the travel converter for evaluation, eliminating the need for additional hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If discrete sensors and additional evaluation units are used to detect acceleration and spatial location, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cabling costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the sensor functionality and evaluation unit into the travel converter itself. The acceleration sensor (e.g., MEMS sensor) and spatial location sensor (e.g., gyroscope) are integrated onto the printed circuit board of the travel converter, along with the evaluation unit that processes sensor signals. This merging eliminates the need for separate discrete sensors and external evaluation units, reducing cabling requirements and overall system complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The travel converter is designed to perform multiple functions: it provides travel drive functionality and simultaneously houses the sensor system for acceleration and spatial location detection. The printed circuit board in the travel converter serves as both the control interface for the drive and the platform for sensor integration, making the travel converter a multi-functional component that reduces the need for separate dedicated sensor modules.
2Measurement precision
If discrete sensors are arranged outside the travel converter, then sensor functionality is achieved, but cabling expense increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is merged with the travel converter by mounting it directly on the printed circuit board inside the travel converter housing. This integration eliminates the need for external cabling connections between separate sensor modules and the control unit, as the sensor communicates directly with the evaluation unit through traces on the same circuit board, significantly reducing cabling requirements.
3Measurement precision
If additional evaluation units are used for sensor signal processing, then measurement evaluation is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The evaluation unit is merged with the travel converter's control system. The evaluation unit that processes acceleration and spatial location sensor signals is integrated into the same printed circuit board as the travel converter's drive control, eliminating the need for separate external evaluation hardware. This integration reduces the number of discrete components, simplifies assembly, and lowers manufacturing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit of the travel converter is designed to perform multiple evaluation functions: it controls the travel drive and simultaneously evaluates sensor signals for acceleration and spatial location. This multi-functional control unit eliminates the need for dedicated separate evaluation hardware, reducing overall system complexity and manufacturing cost.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces costs by eliminating cabling and additional evaluation units, while ensuring fail-safe detection of vehicle acceleration and spatial location, enabling reliable navigation and prevention of unintended movements.
Implementation Method 1
The acceleration sensor is preferably designed as a MEMS acceleration sensor. This preferably measures the displacement of a mass, in particular the mass of the vehicle, by way of a position measuring circuit.
Implementation Method 2
By contrast, a gyroscope measures displacement of a resonance mass, preferably of the vehicle, and its suspension following the Coriolis acceleration.
Data Source
AI summary
An automatically guided vehicle designed as a floor-bound conveying means which is automatically controlled and guided in a contact-free manner for use in a hall includes a travel drive having a travel converter and a dynamo-electric machine, with the travel converter including a printed circuit board. The dynamo-electric machine is connected to wheels of the vehicle. A sensor is arranged or formed in the travel converter on the printed circuit board of the travel converter and designed to detect an acceleration of the vehicle in x, y and/or z direction and/or detect a spatial location of the vehicle.