Traveling Vehicle LED State Signaling for Close-Spacing Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional traveling vehicle systems struggle to maintain a minimum inter-vehicle distance, leading to reduced transportation capability as vehicles behind fail to promptly respond to changes in the state of vehicles ahead, such as deceleration or acceleration, resulting in inefficient operation, especially in scenarios like branching and merging sections.
Innovation Solution
The system employs LED arrays on traveling vehicles to display their state, which are captured by imagers and used by controllers to adjust the vehicle's operation based on the state of the vehicle ahead, allowing for immediate responses to changes in speed and location, thereby optimizing inter-vehicle distance and reducing waiting times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the inter-vehicle distance is reduced to increase transportation capability, then the transportation capability is improved, but the following vehicle cannot stop instantaneously when the leading vehicle stops, reducing safety
Solution Approach 1:
The display unit on the leading vehicle performs preliminary action by displaying the traveling state (acceleration, deceleration, stopping) before the following vehicle needs to react. This allows the following vehicle to anticipate and prepare for necessary actions, enabling instantaneous response even at reduced inter-vehicle distances.
Solution Approach 2:
The display unit acts as an intermediary that transmits information about the leading vehicle's state to the following vehicle. This intermediary communication channel enables the following vehicle to understand the leading vehicle's intentions without relying solely on distance measurements, improving both safety and responsiveness.
2Reliability
If the inter-vehicle distance is increased to maintain safety margin, then the safety is improved, but the transportation capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by having the leading vehicle display its traveling state, which the following vehicle uses to adjust its behavior. This feedback loop enables the following vehicle to maintain safety while reducing inter-vehicle distance, as it can react appropriately to the leading vehicle's displayed state.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical safety margin (large inter-vehicle distance) with an information-based system (display unit showing traveling state). This substitution allows the system to maintain safety through information processing rather than physical distance, thereby improving transportation capability.
3Device complexity
If the following vehicle waits until the inter-vehicle distance becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined value to start stopping operation, then the control system is simple, but the response time is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The display unit provides preliminary information about the leading vehicle's deceleration or stopping state before the inter-vehicle distance reaches the predetermined threshold. This allows the following vehicle to start its stopping operation earlier, reducing response time without complicating the control system.
Solution Approach 2:
The following vehicle uses the information from the display unit to make its own timing decision for stopping operation. This self-service approach allows the following vehicle to optimize its response time based on the displayed state without requiring complex centralized control, maintaining system simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A traveling vehicle travels along a traveling path and includes a main body, a traveler to allow a main body to travel along the traveling path, an LED array provided at the main body to switch a display manner according to a state of the traveling vehicle, an imager to capture an image of the LED array at a traveling vehicle located ahead of the traveling vehicle, and a controller configured or programmed to acquire a state of the traveling vehicle ahead based on the display manner captured by the imager, and to control the traveler of the traveling vehicle based on the acquired state.