Sorting Vehicle Trajectory Planning With Speed-Based Collision Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sorting systems with autonomous vehicles face challenges in maintaining high-speed operations due to potential collisions and congestion, as they require complex algorithms for path optimization and collision avoidance, limiting flexibility and overall throughput.
Innovation Solution
A sorting system control method that dynamically adjusts speed specifications for vehicles based on collision information, allowing for flexible trajectory planning and collision avoidance by selecting from multiple trajectory candidates, thereby optimizing vehicle paths and preventing collisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex algorithms are used for path optimization and collision avoidance, then collision-free paths are ensured, but calculation time increases and system throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates multiple candidate trajectories for vehicles before they need to execute them. By having trajectory options ready in advance, the collision avoidance system can quickly select from pre-evaluated paths rather than computing new trajectories in real-time, thus ensuring collision-free operation while maintaining high throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The trajectory planning is divided into discrete candidate trajectories that are evaluated independently. Each candidate represents a segmented path option with pre-determined collision characteristics, allowing the system to efficiently select the best path without analyzing continuous infinite possibilities, reducing computational complexity while maintaining reliability.
2Productivity
If vehicles operate at high speed with large acceleration, then transport performance improves, but collision risk and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Speed specifications are pre-determined as part of the candidate trajectory selection process. By calculating appropriate speed profiles in advance for each candidate trajectory, the system ensures that vehicles can operate at high speeds with optimal acceleration while maintaining safe distances from other vehicles, thus improving transport performance without compromising collision avoidance.
3Device complexity
If fixed routes with block-based reservations are used, then coordination complexity is reduced, but system flexibility and throughput are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamic trajectory selection where vehicles can choose from multiple candidate trajectories based on real-time system state. This dynamic approach allows the coordination algorithm to adapt to changing conditions and optimize throughput, while still maintaining manageable complexity by selecting from a finite set of pre-calculated candidate paths rather than computing continuous optimal trajectories.
Data Source
AI summary
A sorting system includes a plurality of vehicles configured to move along trajectories in the sorting system. The sorting system includes a calculator configured to calculate a third number of trajectories between a first number of start points and a second number of end points, wherein a speed specification for a vehicle along the trajectories is allocated to each trajectory. The sorting system includes a coordinator configured to transmit drive requests to the plurality of vehicles, wherein each drive request includes a drive from one of the start points to one of the end points along one of the trajectories. Further, the sorting system includes a collision avoidance unit to amend the speed specification allocated to the trajectory based on the collision information to obtain an amended speed specification and to prevent the possible collision.