Three-Level AGV Truck Frame for Internal Scanner Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomously-guided industrial trucks face limitations in flexibility due to scanner units being positioned outside the frame geometry, which restricts vehicle width and vertical positioning, making them unsuitable for applications like logistics facilities with block storage where narrow width and low scanner placement are required.
Innovation Solution
The industrial truck is designed with a three-level vehicle frame structure, where scanner units are positioned within the frame contour on a middle structural level, allowing a horizontally-aligned scanning plane for optimal obstacle detection, and incorporates flat support rollers and wheels that do not obstruct the scanner's view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If scanner units are located outside the frame geometry to ensure panoramic view, then the visual range and navigation capability are improved, but the vehicle width flexibility is reduced and vertical positioning is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from positioning scanners outside the frame in a horizontal plane to placing them on the upper structural level above the frame geometry. This vertical dimensionality change allows scanners to achieve panoramic coverage without constraining vehicle width, as the scanners are positioned above rather than outside the frame contour in the horizontal plane.
2Reliability
If scanner units are positioned at higher locations to avoid obstruction from support wheels, then the scanning function is improved, but the ability to detect low obstacles and navigate in narrow spaces is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle frame is divided into three distinct structural levels: lower level for support wheels, middle level for frame geometry, and upper level for scanner units. This segmentation allows support wheels to be positioned at the lower level while scanners are positioned at the upper level, eliminating obstruction from wheels while maintaining the ability to detect low obstacles through the middle structural level's open design.
Solution Approach 2:
The middle structural level acts as an intermediary zone between the lower support wheel level and the upper scanner level. It provides a transition space that allows scanners to be positioned high for optimal function while maintaining visibility of low obstacles through its open structure, effectively mediating between the conflicting requirements of high scanner positioning and low obstacle detection.
3Stability of the object's composition
If three or four driven wheels are used to improve truck stability, then the mechanical performance is improved, but the overall height increases and scanner positioning flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing vehicle height to accommodate more driven wheels, the patent uses vertical dimensionality by positioning scanner units on the upper structural level. This allows three or four driven wheels to be arranged at the lower level for stability while scanners are positioned above in the upper structural level, maintaining full positioning flexibility and avoiding height constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomously-guided industrial truck comprising a vehicle frame defining, in a plan view, a vehicle contour in sections. The vehicle frame comprises three structural levels, arranged one above the other in a vertical direction, each with its own contour. The three structural levels include a lower structural level in which a base structure is attached, an upper structural level with a covering, and a middle structural level comprising a frame structure for connecting the lower structural level and the upper structural level. The industrial truck includes at least one drive wheel assigned to the vehicle frame to stand below the vehicle frame on a driving surface and at least one scanner unit arranged completely within the vehicle contour such that a scanning plane of the at least one scanner unit lies at least in sections vertically in a region of the middle structural level.