Restriction Zone Entry Edge Control for Warehouse Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solutions for vehicles operating in covered environments, such as warehouses, lack the ability to detect and avoid objects effectively while maintaining operational efficiency, particularly in restriction zones where vehicles must comply with specific policies.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a materials handling vehicle equipped with sensors and a computing device that determines the vehicle's location and orientation, communicates with fixed transceiver anchors, and adjusts operations to comply with zone policies by making adjustments before entering or exiting restriction zones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If static zones are used to require vehicles to reduce speed, then safety in restriction zones is improved, but operational efficiency deteriorates due to unnecessary speed reductions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by calculating and communicating the distance to the restriction zone entrance edge and determining required speed adjustments before the vehicle reaches the zone. This allows the vehicle to smoothly adjust speed in advance rather than abruptly reducing speed at the zone boundary, thereby maintaining operational efficiency while ensuring safety compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts speed policies based on the vehicle's current speed, the restriction zone's speed limit, and the distance to the zone. Rather than applying a fixed static zone approach, the system continuously updates guidance to optimize both safety compliance and operational efficiency by adapting to real-time conditions.
2Productivity
If vehicles maintain current speed approaching restriction zones, then operational efficiency is improved, but safety compliance deteriorates due to inability to meet speed limits at zone entrance
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines the required speed adjustment and calculates the distance from the vehicle's current position to where the adjustment should begin. This preliminary calculation ensures the vehicle can smoothly decelerate before reaching the restriction zone entrance, achieving both speed limit compliance and minimal disruption to operational efficiency.
3Reliability
If early speed adjustment is made to comply with restriction zone policies, then safety compliance is improved, but operational efficiency deteriorates due to extended deceleration distance
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically determines the optimal deceleration distance based on the vehicle's current speed, the restriction zone's speed limit, and the distance to the zone entrance. By adapting the deceleration profile to real-time conditions, the system achieves compliance with minimal loss of time and operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters (speed adjustment amount and deceleration distance) based on the vehicle's current state and the restriction zone characteristics. This allows optimization of the compliance process to minimize the loss of time and operational efficiency while ensuring policy compliance.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments provided herein include a materials handling vehicle that includes a vehicle transceiver for detecting a location of the vehicle, a vehicle sensor for detecting an orientation of the vehicle and a vehicle computing device. Some embodiments include logic that causes the system to determine, from the location and the orientation, that the vehicle is approaching a restriction zone with an entrance edge and an exit edge and provide a distance to the restriction zone and a policy of the restriction zone. The vehicle determines a characteristic of the vehicle that affects compliance with the policy, where the vehicle computing device determines a first adjustment to current operation of the vehicle to comply with the policy. The vehicle computing device determines, based on the policy and the first adjustment, a distance to begin the first adjustment to comply with the policy at the entrance edge of the restriction zone.