Camera-Guided Unmanned Transport on Virtual Flow Lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional unmanned transport systems require physical flow lines, which are cumbersome and labor-intensive to change, especially when destination locations or pallet sizes change, and they pose safety risks when allowing vehicles to freely navigate through human-inhabited areas.
Innovation Solution
An unmanned transport system that uses a virtual flow line, controlled by cameras imaging the field and an operation control system that generates control signals based on detected positions and orientations of the vehicles, allowing them to travel autonomously without physical flow lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical flow lines (tape) are installed to guide unmanned transport vehicles, then vehicles can travel along designated paths, but the burden of re-installing flow lines becomes extremely large when destination locations or pallet sizes change
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical flow lines with virtual flow lines represented by markers (e.g., QR codes, barcodes, or colored markers) placed at key locations. Instead of installing extensive physical guidance tape throughout the field, the system uses these marker copies to define destination locations and virtual flow lines, which can be easily changed by simply replacing or repositioning the markers rather than re-installing entire flow line systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the mechanical physical flow line system (tape installation and removal) with an optical/image-based system. The unmanned vehicle uses imaging devices (cameras) to detect markers and determine its position and destination, replacing the mechanical guidance tape with an optical recognition system that is much easier to reconfigure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If unmanned transport vehicles are allowed to freely navigate through human-inhabited areas, then autonomous travel capability is improved, but safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces virtual flow lines and markers as intermediaries between the unmanned vehicle and the physical environment. The vehicle is guided along predetermined virtual paths defined by markers rather than freely navigating, which restricts its movement to safe, predetermined routes that avoid or account for human-inhabited areas while still demonstrating autonomous navigation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses imaging devices on the unmanned vehicle to continuously detect markers in the environment, providing feedback about the vehicle's position relative to the virtual flow line. This feedback mechanism enables the vehicle to stay on predetermined safe paths while autonomously navigating through facilities with human workers.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention aims to provide a new unmanned transport system for transporting a weight object to a destination location on the premise that it travels on a designated flow line. An unmanned transport system (100) is configured to transport a weight object (53) by traveling on a designated virtual flow line (210) to a designated destination location and comprises: an unmanned transport vehicle (300) configured to travel unmanned according to a control signal; one or more cameras (10) configured to image a field (50) on which the unmanned transport vehicle (300) is to travel from above the field (50) to generate a still image or video; and an operation control means (20) configured to generate the control signal for controlling such that the unmanned transport vehicle (300) travels on the virtual flow line (210) based on the still image or video. The operation control means (20) comprises: a detecting portion (21) configured to detect the unmanned transport vehicle (300) from the still image or video; a position grasping portion (22) configured to grasp a position of the unmanned transport vehicle (300) in the field (50) without being based on a sensor equipped with the unmanned transport vehicle (300) using a result of a detection by the detecting portion (21); and a control portion (24) configured to generate the control signal based on the position of the unmanned transport vehicle (300) which the position grasping portion (22) grasps.