Camera-Guided Unmanned Transport on Virtual Flow Lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional unmanned transport systems require physical reinstallation of flow lines when destination locations change, leading to a heavy working burden, especially for forklifts transporting palletized objects, and pose safety risks due to autonomous travel in shared spaces with humans.
Innovation Solution
An unmanned transport system using cameras to image a field and generate control signals for vehicles to travel on virtual flow lines, incorporating detection and position grasping to navigate without physical tapes, with integrated obstruction detection and derailment prevention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical tape is used to designate flow lines, then the unmanned transport vehicle can reliably travel on the designated path, but the working burden increases significantly when destination locations need to be changed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical tape with a virtual flow line represented by markers (e.g., QR codes, reflective markers) that can be easily repositioned or reconfigured without physical reinstallation. The markers serve as optical copies or representations of the flow line information, allowing rapid changes in destination locations by simply moving or updating the marker positions rather than reinstalling entire tape sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the mechanical tape-based flow line designation system with an optical/image-processing-based system. Instead of using physical tape that requires mechanical reinstallation, the system uses cameras to capture images of markers and processes these images to determine the flow line and destination locations, enabling flexible reconfiguration through digital means.
2Adaptability or versatility
If autonomous travel without physical flow lines is implemented, then flexibility in changing destination locations is improved, but safety risks increase in shared spaces with humans
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces markers as intermediary objects that mediate between the autonomous vehicle and the environment. These markers (reflective markers, QR codes, or other visual indicators) provide a structured visual reference system that helps the vehicle navigate flexibly while maintaining safety through enhanced environmental awareness and structured path definition in shared human-vehicle spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous feedback through camera-based detection of markers and environmental obstacles. The system constantly captures images, processes marker positions to determine current location and destination, and adjusts the vehicle's path in real-time, providing both flexible navigation and safety monitoring in shared spaces through ongoing environmental feedback.
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.