Vehicle Control System Distance-Based Speed Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Materials handling vehicles, such as forklifts and reach stackers, rely heavily on operator skill to avoid damaging loads during the final approach and loading process, leading to potential impacts and operator fatigue.
Innovation Solution
The integration of distance measuring sensors communicating with a vehicle systems manager ECU to modify vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, and attachment control characteristics, reducing the sensitivity of accelerator and brake inputs as the vehicle approaches a load, thereby assisting the operator in preventing impacts and reducing fatigue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If operator skill is relied upon to control vehicle speed during load approach, then operator control flexibility is maintained, but operator fatigue increases and impact risk rises
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously measures the distance between the vehicle and load using sensors, feeds this information back to the controller, and automatically adjusts vehicle speed and brake sensitivity accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism reduces reliance on operator skill and fatigue while maintaining precise control during load approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary between the operator's input and the vehicle's actual movement. It processes accelerator and brake inputs through algorithms that consider real-time distance measurements, modifying the vehicle response to prevent impacts while reducing the operator's physical and mental burden.
2Reliability
If vehicle speed is reduced during load approach, then impact risk is decreased, but productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts vehicle speed based on real-time distance measurements rather than maintaining a fixed slow speed. As the vehicle approaches the load, speed is progressively reduced according to the measured distance, allowing faster traversal of open spaces while ensuring safe deceleration near the load.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system changes multiple parameters simultaneously including vehicle speed, brake sensitivity, and acceleration characteristics based on distance measurements. This coordinated parameter adjustment optimizes both safety and efficiency by applying speed reduction only when necessary based on actual distance to the load.
3Measurement precision
If brake sensitivity is increased near the load, then stopping precision is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses continuous distance measurement feedback to dynamically adjust brake sensitivity. As the vehicle gets closer to the load, the controller increases brake sensitivity automatically based on the measured distance, achieving precise stopping without requiring complex manual control adjustments by the operator.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system performs self-adjustment of brake sensitivity based on distance measurements without requiring additional input from the operator. The system serves itself by automatically modifying control parameters to achieve optimal stopping precision at different distances from the load.
Data Source
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AI summary
Vehicles equipped with certain embodiments may be used to pick up a load and to assist the vehicle operator's control of the vehicle in a manner that inhibits damage to the load. In some embodiments, portions of the system measure a distance between a vehicle and a load. The distance measurement is used by a controller in the vehicle to alter one or more of vehicle and/or vehicle component speed, acceleration characteristics, deceleration characteristics, target speed, or speed limit, singularly or in any combination.