Delivery Vehicle Unloading Control to Reduce Onboard Power Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
In delivery systems where a transportation vehicle carries a delivery vehicle, the power consumption of the delivery vehicle increases due to the need for it to detect and operate the unloading mechanism, leading to inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an unloading mechanism and a control unit in the transportation vehicle that allows the delivery vehicle to receive a control signal for controlled exit, eliminating the need for the delivery vehicle to perform sensing and move within the transportation vehicle, thus reducing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If the delivery vehicle autonomously detects and operates the unloading mechanism inside the transportation vehicle, then the delivery vehicle can independently unload, but the power consumption of the delivery vehicle increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit acts as an intermediary between the transportation vehicle's unloading mechanism and the delivery vehicle. The control unit receives detection signals from the delivery vehicle and sends control signals to operate the unloading mechanism, eliminating the need for the delivery vehicle to directly sense and control the unloading process, thereby reducing its power consumption while maintaining autonomous unloading capability
Solution Approach 2:
The transportation vehicle's control unit performs the sensing and control functions for the unloading mechanism, making the system self-serve. The delivery vehicle simply needs to send a simple request signal, and the control unit handles the complex detection and operation of the unloading mechanism, reducing the energy burden on the delivery vehicle
2Ease of operation
If the delivery vehicle moves around and performs sensing inside the transportation vehicle to detect the unloading mechanism, then the delivery vehicle can locate and operate the unloading mechanism, but the power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit serves as an intermediary that performs the sensing function. Instead of the delivery vehicle moving around to detect the unloading mechanism, the control unit remains stationary and detects the delivery vehicle's position and the unloading mechanism's state, then controls the unloading operation, thereby eliminating the energy-consuming movement and sensing operations of the delivery vehicle
3Extent of automation
If the delivery vehicle performs autonomous sensing and movement to operate the unloading mechanism, then the delivery vehicle can independently unload, but the operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit acts as an intermediary that centralizes the sensing and control functions. The delivery vehicle only needs to send a simple unloading request signal, and the control unit handles the complex tasks of detecting the unloading mechanism's position, controlling its operation, and coordinating the unloading process, thereby reducing the delivery vehicle's system complexity while maintaining independent unloading capability
Data Source
AI summary
It is possible to suppress increase in power consumption of a delivery vehicle within a transportation vehicle. A delivery system includes: an autonomously-moving-type delivery vehicle configured to deliver an article; and a transportation vehicle configured to carry and transport the delivery vehicle, in which after the transportation vehicle carrying the delivery vehicle travels toward a delivery destination of the article, the delivery vehicle gets out of the transportation vehicle and delivers the article to the delivery destination. The transportation vehicle includes an unloading mechanism for letting the delivery vehicle get out of the transportation vehicle and a control unit configured to control the unloading mechanism. The delivery vehicle receives a control signal for controlling the unloading mechanism output from the control unit and gets out of the transportation vehicle based on the control signal.