초록 ▼

Automatic guided vehicle system for guiding a driverless vehicle over a predetermined path of travel without any tracks, wires or the like. The vehicle is provided with an active optical navigation section for determining vehicle position and bearing by scanning plural beacons distributed within the

Automatic guided vehicle system for guiding a driverless vehicle over a predetermined path of travel without any tracks, wires or the like. The vehicle is provided with an active optical navigation section for determining vehicle position and bearing by scanning plural beacons distributed within the zone of travel of the vehicle, a passive ground navigation section including a gyrocompass for measuring changes in bearing of the vehicle and a wheel encoder for measuring distance traveled by the vehicle\s steering wheel. Memory onboard the vehicle contains a series of path vectors which define a predetermined path of travel for the vehicle. The ground navigation section updates vehicle position and bearing as determined by the optical navigation section. A programmed onboard computer includes driver software for generating steering data so as to guide the vehicle over a corrective arc path from its position and bearing as determined by the navigation sections to the desired position and bearing as indicated by a stored path vector.

대표청구항 ▼

Automatic guided vehicle system for guiding a driverless vehicle within a predetermined zone divisible into coordinate positions, comprising: driverless vehicle provided with a steering mechanism and a drive controller for controlling the steering mechanism so as to guide the vehicle over arc path s

Automatic guided vehicle system for guiding a driverless vehicle within a predetermined zone divisible into coordinate positions, comprising: driverless vehicle provided with a steering mechanism and a drive controller for controlling the steering mechanism so as to guide the vehicle over arc path segments within the zone, plural beacons distributed within the zone outboard the vehicle, memory on board the vehicle for storing a series of coordinate positions representing the positions of said beacons and for storing a series of path vectors each comprising position and bearing data, said vectors together representing a predetermined path of travel for the vehicle, navigation means on board the vehicle for generating data signals indicating vehicle position and bearing by electro-optically measuring the ranges of the vehicle with respect to a preselected number of said beacons, said navigation means including a gyrocompass for measuring change in bearing of the vehicle and a wheel encoder for measuring distance traveled by said steering mechanism, and wherein said data signals are generated based in part on the measured bearing change and travel distance, and driver means on board the vehicle for generating steering commands for said drive controller based on said data signals and on said stored path vectors so as to cause said vehicle to follow said predetermined path of travel. *** BRS DOCUMENT BOUNDARY ***