Driverless Transport Vehicle Route Optimization

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing driverless transport vehicles lack an efficient method to determine the quickest route to their destination, especially in dynamic environments where route passability and travel times can change, leading to suboptimal travel times.

Innovation Solution

A method that utilizes a graph-based strategy calculation, where nodes represent intermediate points and edges represent route sections with passability and travel time information, allowing the vehicle to automatically determine the fastest route by recalculating the strategy based on current conditions and updating information in real-time.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If the driverless transport vehicle uses traditional route planning methods, then the route can be determined, but the travel time is not optimized and the vehicle cannot adapt to dynamic changes in route passability

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetravel timeVSAvoidadaptability to dynamic environment
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by making the route planning system adaptive to changing conditions. The graph structure and strategy calculation are updated in real-time based on current time and changing passability conditions of route sections, allowing the vehicle to dynamically adjust its path rather than following a static pre-planned route

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors the current time and passability status of route sections, then uses this information to recalculate the optimal strategy. The strategy calculation feeds back into the route selection, creating a closed-loop system that adapts to environmental changes

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Productivity

If the driverless transport vehicle recalculates strategy in real-time based on current conditions, then the travel time is optimized, but the computational complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetravel efficiencyVSAvoidcomputational complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the environment into a graph structure with discrete nodes (intermediate points) and edges (route sections). This segmentation allows the complex continuous navigation problem to be broken down into manageable discrete calculations, where the strategy is determined by evaluating specific graph edges rather than continuous space

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing the graph structure with all possible routes, passability information, and travel times before the vehicle needs to navigate. This pre-processing of route information enables faster real-time decision-making during actual traversal, as the system only needs to evaluate pre-computed options rather than calculating from scratch

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP2818955B1Method for operating a driverless transport vehicle and associated driverless transport vehicle
Publication Date: 2020.08.05 KUKA DEUT GMBH
  • EP2818955B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2818955B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP2818955B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

The invention relates to a driverless transport vehicle (1), a system comprising a computer (10) and a driverless transport vehicle (1), and a method for operating a driverless transport vehicle (1). The driverless transport vehicle (1) is intended to travel automatically along route segments (41-47) from a starting point (SP) to a destination point (ZP).