AGV Dual Guidance System for Transport Loading Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) face challenges in efficiently and accurately loading and unloading transports due to variability in transport position, height, and surface conditions, leading to errors in load placement and reduced efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The AGV design incorporates a dual guidance system, where a primary inertial guidance system is used for navigation, and a secondary system with distance measuring devices and sensors scans the transport to adjust for skew and height differences, allowing for precise positioning and regular updates to maintain accuracy without continuous adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single inertial guidance system is used for AGV navigation, then the system is simple and cost-effective, but positioning accuracy deteriorates due to tracking errors that compound over long travel distances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines inertial guidance with optical guidance systems to create a hybrid navigation system. The inertial system provides continuous navigation data while the optical system periodically corrects tracking errors by referencing fixed markers in the environment, thereby maintaining positioning accuracy over long distances without requiring complex continuous correction mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The optical guidance system provides feedback to correct drift accumulated by the inertial system. By periodically detecting fixed markers and calculating position corrections, the system feeds back error compensation data to reset the inertial navigation accumulation, preventing error compounding over long travel distances
2Measurement precision
If laser guidance markers are installed throughout the travel path, then positioning accuracy is improved, but the system cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of installing laser markers throughout the entire travel path, the system uses inertial navigation for most of the journey and only activates optical marker detection at specific critical points such as loading docks and transfer locations. This partial use of the optical system provides necessary positioning accuracy at key locations without the cost and complexity of continuous marker installation
Solution Approach 2:
The guidance system is segmented into different operational modes: inertial navigation for open-path travel and optical marker-based correction for critical positioning zones. This segmentation allows the system to use the simpler inertial system wherever possible while deploying the more accurate optical system only when needed, optimizing the balance between accuracy and complexity
3Manufacturing precision
If skid plates are used to position transports at loading docks, then loading position accuracy is improved, but the system becomes costly and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical skid plate systems with an optical guidance system that uses markers and sensors to detect and correct transport positioning. The optical system provides real-time feedback on transport position and orientation, enabling automatic adjustment without physical contact, thereby eliminating the need for costly mechanical stabilization infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
Optical markers serve as intermediaries between the transport and the guidance system. These markers provide a reference framework that allows the system to measure and correct transport positioning errors without requiring physical contact or mechanical adjustment mechanisms, thereby simplifying the loading system while maintaining accuracy
4Measurement precision
If continuous guidance updates are performed during load placement, then positioning accuracy is maintained, but loading efficiency decreases due to frequent adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The guidance system performs periodic updates at strategically determined intervals rather than continuous updates. The system monitors position error accumulation and triggers corrections only when error thresholds are exceeded or at predetermined checkpoint locations, thereby maintaining accuracy while minimizing interruptions to the loading process
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary positioning using inertial navigation to get close to the target location, then uses optical marker detection for final precision alignment before load placement. This preliminary action allows the majority of the positioning to be done without frequent corrections, improving efficiency while maintaining accuracy at the critical moment of load placement
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 approach enables the AGV to effectively load and unload transports with minimal interference, ensuring accurate placement and efficient operation even in varying conditions, reducing the need for costly stabilization methods and minimizing errors.
Implementation Method 1
inertial guidance is susceptible to tracking errors, where the travel distance and direction measured by the AGV differs from the actual distance and direction of travel
Implementation Method 2
Laser guidance systems use special markers that the AGV senses and uses to control its travel
Implementation Method 3
a secondary system with distance measuring devices and sensors scans the transport to adjust for skew and height differences
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for automatically loading and unloading a transport is disclosed. A guidance system follows a travel path to a position near the transport and then a sensor profiles a transport so that a transport path is determined for an AGV to follow into the transport to place a load and for exiting the transport upon placement of the load.