Target-Following Mobile Vehicle Path Control at Blind Corners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile vehicles following a target detected by a sensor often deviate from the target's path, leading to potential collisions with obstacles or unauthorized entry into restricted areas, especially when the target changes direction or at blind corners, as existing systems may fail to detect obstacles below the sensor's irradiation height or lose sight of the target.
Innovation Solution
A mobile vehicle equipped with omnidirectional wheels and a sensor system that determines a change point in the target's direction and sets a target point based on this data, allowing it to follow the target along its original path by adjusting its trajectory and speed to maintain a safe distance and avoid obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the mobile vehicle takes the shortest path toward the follow target, then the following distance is minimized, but the vehicle may hit obstacles or enter restricted areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of the follow target's travel path using sensor data before the mobile vehicle commits to a following trajectory. By analyzing historical position data and predicting the target's path in advance, the system identifies safe following routes that avoid obstacles and restricted areas while maintaining minimal distance from the target.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the follow target's position, movement direction, and surrounding environment using sensors. Based on this real-time feedback, the control section dynamically adjusts the mobile vehicle's trajectory to follow the target along safe paths, correcting deviations when obstacles or restricted areas are detected ahead.
2Reliability
If the mobile vehicle follows the target's path exactly, then safety is improved by avoiding obstacles, but the following distance increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of exactly replicating the follow target's path, the system performs partial path following by selecting key reference points along the target's trajectory. The mobile vehicle follows a simplified version of the target path that captures the essential safe routing decisions while allowing for optimization of the following distance, avoiding unnecessary deviations that would increase travel time.
3Measurement precision
If the sensor detects obstacles below irradiation height, then detection accuracy is reduced, but the vehicle can still navigate safely
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the sensor for multiple functions: detecting the follow target's position and movement direction, identifying obstacles in the environment, and determining restricted areas. By analyzing sensor data in combination with map information and target behavior patterns, the system compensates for the sensor's limited ability to detect low obstacles, maintaining safety through multi-functional data utilization.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile vehicle includes one or more wheels, a sensor configured to detect the position of a follow target, and a controlling section configured to control the one or more wheels based on a detection result of the sensor such that the mobile vehicle follows the follow target. The controlling section is configured to determine a change point at which the traveling direction of the follow target has changed based on the detection result of the sensor, and to set a target point based on the change point.