Steer correction for a remotely operated materials handling vehicle
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
G06F-017/00
B60R-021/0132
B62D-006/00
출원번호
US-0649815
(2009-12-30)
등록번호
US-8452464
(2013-05-28)
발명자
/ 주소
Castaneda, Anthony T.
McCroskey, William W.
Schloemer, James F.
Schumacher, Mark E.
Siefring, Vernon W.
Wellman, Timothy A.
출원인 / 주소
Crown Equipment Corporation
대리인 / 주소
Stevens & Showalter LLP
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
6인용 특허 :
50
초록▼
A materials handling vehicle automatically applies a steer correction maneuver if an object is detected in a steer bumper zone in front of the vehicle. A controller detects whether an object is in front of the materials handling vehicle and automatically determines whether a steer correction maneuve
A materials handling vehicle automatically applies a steer correction maneuver if an object is detected in a steer bumper zone in front of the vehicle. A controller detects whether an object is in front of the materials handling vehicle and automatically determines whether a steer correction maneuver should be to the right or left of the traveling direction of the materials handling vehicle. The materials handling vehicle automatically steer corrects the vehicle, e.g., at a determined steer angle that is opposite the direction to the detected position of the object, and accumulates the distance traveled by vehicle while steer correction is being performed. The vehicle then automatically counter steers the vehicle, e.g., by a determined steer amount, in the opposite direction as the steer correction for a percentage of accumulated steer distance traveled. After performing the counter steer maneuver, the vehicle may, for example, resume a substantially straight heading.
대표청구항▼
1. A method of automatically applying a steer correction maneuver to a materials handling vehicle comprising: receiving first sensor data from at least one remote sensing device, by a controller on a materials handling vehicle, where the first received sensor data defines a first steer bumper zone t
1. A method of automatically applying a steer correction maneuver to a materials handling vehicle comprising: receiving first sensor data from at least one remote sensing device, by a controller on a materials handling vehicle, where the first received sensor data defines a first steer bumper zone that is proximate to the materials handling vehicle;receiving second sensor data from at least one remote sensing device, by the controller on the materials handling vehicle, where the second received sensor data defines a second steer bumper zone that is proximate to the materials handling vehicle;detecting by the controller whether an object is in at least one of the first and second steer bumper zones based upon the received sensor data; andperforming a steer correction maneuver if the controller detects an object in one of the first or second steer bumper zones by: determining by the controller, whether a steer correction maneuver should be to the right or to the left of the traveling direction of the materials handling vehicle based upon the received sensor data defining the first and second steer bumper zones;performing a first steer correction maneuver if the controller determines that the object is to the left of the materials handling vehicle by: automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the right by a determined correction amount;accumulating the distance traveled by the materials handling vehicle while automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the right; andautomatically counter steering the materials handling vehicle to the left by a determined counter steer amount for a percentage of the accumulated steer distance traveled;performing a second steer correction maneuver if the controller determines that the object is to the right of the materials handling vehicle by: automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the left by the determined amount;accumulating the distance traveled by the materials handling vehicle while automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the left; andautomatically counter steering the materials handling vehicle to the right by the determined counter steer amount for a percentage of the accumulated steer distance traveled. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising performing the steer correction maneuver while the materials handling vehicle is traveling in response to receiving a corresponding wirelessly transmitted travel request by a corresponding wireless transmitter. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving first sensor data from at least one remote sensing device and receiving second sensor data from at least one remote sensing device comprises: receiving the first and second sensor data from a scanning laser device. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the scanning laser device has at least two outputs configured such that a first output designates whether an object is detected in the first steer bumper zone and a second signal designates whether an object is detected in the second steer bumper zone. 5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the scanning laser outputs laser data that the controller analyzes to determine whether an object is detected in the first steer bumper zone or the second steer bumper zone. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving first sensor data from at least one remote sensing device and receiving second sensor data from at least one remote sensing device comprises: receiving the first sensor data from at least one ultrasonic sensor; andreceiving the second sensor data from at least one additional ultrasonic sensor. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving first sensor data from at least one remote sensing device and receiving second sensor data from at least one remote sensing device comprises: utilizing ultrasonic sensors to detect whether an object is present in the first and second steer bumper zones; andutilizing at least one scanning laser to verify the results from the ultrasonic sensors. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: performing a steer correction maneuver comprises automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a predetermined steered wheel angle so that the truck angle change as a function of accumulated travel distance is fixed. 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising fixing the truck angle at between approximately 5 and 10 degrees. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein accumulating the distance traveled by the materials handling vehicle while automatically steer correcting the vehicle comprises: accumulating the distance traveled by the vehicle until the detected object is no longer in either the first or second steer bumper zone. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically counter steering the materials handling vehicle by a predetermined counter steer amount for a percentage of the accumulated steer distance traveled comprises counter steering the materials handling vehicle by an amount of up to one half of the accumulated distance. 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically counter steering the materials handling vehicle comprises counter steering the materials handling vehicle by a steer angle that is up to one half of the corresponding steer angle utilized for steer correcting the vehicle. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a determined correction amount comprises ramping up the steer angle to a determined fixed value. 14. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a determined correction amount comprises automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a first determined correction amount if at least one predefined condition is met, and automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a second determined correction amount different than the first determined correction amount under all other circumstances in which the vehicle is to be steer corrected. 15. The method according to claim 1, wherein size and range parameters of the first and second steer bumper zones can be edited as desired. 16. A materials handling vehicle comprising: a power unit;a load handling assembly coupled to said power unit;at least one contactless sensor mounted to said power unit to detect an object located along a path of travel of said power unit; anda steer controller coupled to at least one steered wheel of the vehicle to control the steer direction of the vehicle;a traction controller coupled to a traction motor that drives the at least one steered wheel of the vehicle; anda master controller coupled to the at least one contactless sensor, the traction controller and the steered wheel controller, the master controller configured to: receive first sensor data from at least one contactless sensor that defines a first steer bumper zone that is proximate to the materials handling vehicle;receive second sensor data from at least one contactless sensor that defines a second steer bumper zone that is proximate to the materials handling vehicle;detect whether an object is in at least one of the first and second steer bumper zones based upon the received sensor data; andperform a steer correction maneuver if the controller detects an object in at least one of the first and second steer bumper zones by: automatically determining whether a steer correction maneuver should be to the right or to the left of the traveling direction of the materials handling vehicle based upon the received sensor data defining the first and second steer bumper zones;performing a first steer correction maneuver if the master controller determines that the object is to the left of the materials handling vehicle by: automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the right by a determined correction amount;accumulating the distance traveled by the materials handling vehicle while automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the right; andautomatically counter steering the materials handling vehicle to the left by a determined counter steer amount for a percentage of the accumulated steer distance traveled;performing a second steer correction maneuver if the master controller determines that the object is to the right of the materials handling vehicle by: automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the left by the determined amount;accumulating the distance traveled by the materials handling vehicle while automatically steer correcting the vehicle to the left; andautomatically counter steering the materials handling vehicle to the right by the determined counter steer amount for a percentage of the accumulated steer distance traveled. 17. The materials handling vehicle according to claim 16, wherein the at least one contactless sensor comprises at least one ultrasonic sensor. 18. The materials handling vehicle according to claim 16, further comprising at least one additional contactless sensor that defines at least one detection zone, wherein, the at least one additional contactless sensor is also coupled to the master controller such that a detection zone defines a stop zone where the master controller issues a command to stop the vehicle if the steer correction does not remove the detected obstacle from the first or second steer bumper zone. 19. The materials handling vehicle according to claim 16, wherein automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a determined correction amount comprises automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a first determined correction amount if at least one predefined condition is met, and automatically steer correcting the vehicle by a second determined correction amount different than the first determined correction amount under all other circumstances in which the vehicle is to be steer corrected. 20. The materials handling vehicle according to claim 16, wherein size and range parameters of the first and second steer bumper zones can be edited as desired. 21. A method for a materials handling vehicle to automatically implement a steer maneuver comprising: receiving sensor data from at least one sensing device by a controller on a materials handling vehicle;detecting, based on the sensor data, that an object is in an environment proximate the vehicle; andperforming a steer maneuver to hug the detected object such that the detected object is maintained between an outer limit and an inner limit as the vehicle travels, wherein performing a steer maneuver to hug the detected object comprises one of: steering the vehicle toward the detected object if the object is detected outside of the outer limit; andsteering the vehicle away from the detected object if the object is detected inside of the inner limit. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the outer limit and the inner limit are each defined on the right or left side of the vehicle. 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the controller on the materials handling vehicle continues to receive sensor data after a steer maneuver is performed to hug the detected object to ensure that the detected object is maintained between the outer limit and the inner limit as the vehicle travels.
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