Patent Application
20230416063
The invention relates to an autonomously moving transport system, in particular an autonomously moving lift truck, in particular in the form of a fork-lift truck for transporting pallets and/or pallet cage, and to a method of operating such an autonomously moving transport system.
Pallets with goods or pallet cages with goods are arranged next to one another in a row in a space-saving manner in production or logistics. For this purpose, the pallet or the pallet cage is pushed into a free space (free placement area). Recently, this also takes place in an automated manner by means of automated guided vehicles (AGV). To ensure that no person is injured who is in the free space, the pallets or pallet cages are placed next to one another such that there is still an escape route for the person. Often, a full space is left empty next to a placed-down pallet or pallet cage. This storage space can then no longer be used.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to create an autonomously moving transport system for transporting pallets and/or pallet cages, by which transport system the available storage space can be used as efficiently as possible.
The object is satisfied by the autonomously moving transport system of the independent claim 1. Claim 15 describes a method of operating such an autonomously moving transport system. Claims 2 to 14 reproduce further developments in accordance with the invention of the autonomously moving transport system.
The autonomously moving transport system in accordance with the invention in particular serves to transport pallets and/or pallet cages. The transport system comprises a pick-up apparatus for picking up such a pallet and/or pallet cage. The transport system furthermore has a drive unit and a control apparatus. The control apparatus has a data processing unit and an obstacle recognition device having a first sensor unit. The obstacle recognition device is configured via the first sensor unit to generate a monitored field in order to examine, with the monitored field, a free placement area for the pallet and/or the pallet cage between other pallets and/or pallet cages for obstacles. The control apparatus is configured to control the drive unit such that the transport system (in the absence of an obstacle) adopts a placement operating mode and moves the pallet and/or the pallet cage into the free placement area for placement. In a first alternative, the obstacle recognition device is configured in the placement operating mode to limit the monitored field to the free placement area or to deactivate the monitored field or not to output an obstacle recognition signal during the travel over the free placement area, at least until the placement of the pallet and/or the pallet cage on the free placement area. This takes place by controlling the first sensor unit accordingly. In another alternative, the data processing unit is configured in the placement operating mode to ignore an obstacle recognition signal of the obstacle recognition device during the travel over the free placement area, at least until the placement of the pallet and/or the pallet cage on the free placement area.
The autonomously moving transport system is in particular a self-driving and self-navigating vehicle. The transport system is preferably configured to automatically pick up and unload loads (i.e., for example, the pallets and pallet cages mentioned herein). The transport system can e.g. be a ground conveyor or a lift truck, in particular in the form of a fork-lift truck.
It is particularly advantageous that the autonomously moving transport system in accordance with the invention first detects, by means of a monitored field, whether there are obstacles on a free placement area for the pallet and/or the pallet cage. If there are no obstacles (for example, persons or objects) on the free placement area, the transport system switches to the placement operating mode. In this placement operating mode, the monitored field can, for example, be (continuously) limited to the free placement area and can thus be reduced in size. In this case, the monitored field does not detect adjacent pallets and/or pallet cages so that no obstacle recognition signal is output. Alternatively, the monitored field can be deactivated. In this respect, the distance traveled can be monitored so that it is ensured that the transport system does not travel beyond the cleared area. Alternatively, no obstacle recognition signal is output despite the monitored field being activated or such an obstacle recognition signal is ignored and the travel is continued. This is possible without problem since before entering the free placement area, it has already been examined for obstacles. Therefore, there are two measures that allow a more efficient use of the storage space. On the one hand, the free placement area is scanned with a monitored field immediately before the free placement area is traveled over and, on the other hand, care is taken that no safety reaction of the obstacle recognition device is triggered which would interrupt the placement process and the pallets and/or pallet cages can therefore be placed very close to one another. The wording “immediately” in particular means that the free placement area is examined for obstacles less than seconds, 5 seconds or less than 3 seconds before traveling over it in order thereby to ensure that another person does not move in. Other sensor units that are likewise configured to detect obstacles and that do not serve to monitor the free placement area can further preferably remain activated in order thereby to be able to detect persons who approach the autonomously moving transport system and may attempt to laterally pass the autonomously moving transport system and enter the free placement area. During such a detection, the autonomously moving transport system preferably stops or leaves the free placement area again.
In an advantageous embodiment, the control apparatus is configured to control the drive unit such that the transport system only travels on the cleared region of the placement area in the placement operating mode. Collisions are thereby also prevented when the obstacle recognition device is deactivated.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the data processing unit is configured to control the obstacle recognition device such that the latter limits its monitored field to the part of the free placement area that has not yet been traveled over. A continuous adaptation of the monitored field thereby takes place. It is pointed out that it is the first sensor unit that generates the monitored field of the obstacle recognition device that is used to monitor the free placement area.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the transport system comprises an encoder unit. The encoder unit is configured to continuously determine a distance traveled in the placement operating mode, wherein the obstacle recognition device is configured to continuously limit the monitored field based on the distance determined (to the part of the free placement area that has not yet been traveled over). The monitored field is in particular reduced by the amount of the distance traveled.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the encoder unit is arranged at a drive shaft of the drive unit. The distance traveled can thereby be determined particularly accurately.
Alternatively or additionally, the distance traveled can also be determined via another localization system, for example optically by means of a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) or by radio via RTLS (Real Time Locating System) using UWB, WLAN and/or UMTS.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the obstacle recognition device is configured to limit the monitored field by adjusting the radiation angle of the first sensor unit. It is generally conceivable for the entire first sensor unit to be tilted and/or rotated to change the angular position. It would also be possible for a mirror to be adjusted within the first sensor unit so that the monitored field limits a reduced region (the part of the free placement area that has not yet been traveled over).
In a further advantageous embodiment, the obstacle recognition device or the data processing unit is configured to limit the monitored field by masking certain regions. This can, for example, take place in that reflections of a transmitted light pulse are only considered within a certain time period for detecting an obstacle.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the first sensor unit is an optical sensor, an acoustic sensor (e.g. ultrasound), or an electromagnetic sensor (e.g. radar). The optical sensor is preferably a ToF sensor (time-of-flight) and/or a laser scanner. The free placement area can thereby be examined with a high resolution for obstacles.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the pick-up apparatus comprises forks. In the case, the transport system is a fork-lift truck.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the first sensor unit is arranged at one end of at least one fork. The free placement area can thereby be particularly easily examined for obstacles. The fork could be correspondingly hollow to pick up connection cables between the first sensor unit and the data processing unit.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the first sensor unit is arranged at a lower region of the transport system. The first sensor unit is in particular arranged at the side of the transport system at which the pick-up apparatus is also located. The control apparatus is configured to control the pick-up apparatus such that the latter raises the pallet and/or the pallet cage so that the monitored field of the first sensor unit extends below the pallet and/or the pallet cage in the direction of the free placement area in order thereby to examine the latter for obstacles. This raising can preferably only take place before the travel over the free placement area. To travel over the free placement area, the pallet and/or the pallet cage could already be lowered again (e.g. in the alternative with the deactivated monitored field).
In a further advantageous embodiment, the obstacle recognition device comprises a second sensor unit. The first sensor unit is arranged at the rear side of the transport system and the second sensor unit is arranged at the front side of the transport system. An obstacle can thereby be recognized in the respective direction of travel both in forward travel (the second sensor unit is used here) and reverse travel (the first sensor unit is used here).
In a further advantageous embodiment, the drive unit is an electrical drive unit. The control apparatus is configured in the placement operating mode to monitor the power consumption of the drive unit. In the event that the power consumption of the drive unit exceeds a threshold value, the control apparatus is configured to control the drive unit such that the latter stops the transport system or moves the transport system out of the free placement area. The power consumption can be an indication of a possible collision. It would generally be conceivable for the control apparatus to adapt the threshold value in dependence on a weight of the picked-up pallet and/or pallet cage. For heavier pallets and/or pallet cages, the threshold value is higher than for lighter pallets and/or pallet cages. An additional safety factor is thereby introduced.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the control apparatus is configured to reduce the speed at which the autonomously moving transport system travels over the free placement area compared to a speed at which the autonomously moving transport system is otherwise moved. The speed at which the autonomously moving transport system travels over the free placement area is preferably less than 1 m/s, 50 cm/s or less than 30 cm/s.
The method in accordance with the invention serves to operate an autonomously moving transport system for transporting pallets and/or pallet cages. In a first method step, a monitored field is generated. This preferably takes place by a first sensor unit of an obstacle recognition device. With this monitored field, a free placement area for a pallet and/or pallet cage to be placed (which the transport system takes along) between other pallets and/or pallet cages is examined for obstacles (persons and/or objects). In a second method step, the drive unit is controlled such that the transport system, in the absence of an obstacle (the monitored field does not detect an obstacle in the free placement area), adopts a placement operating mode and moves the pallet and/or the pallet cage into the free placement area for placement. This control preferably takes place by the control apparatus. In a third method step, the monitored field is (continuously) limited to the free placement area. Alternatively, the monitored field is deactivated. Alternatively, an obstacle recognition signal is prevented from being output (in particular transmitted to the data processing unit). Alternatively, such an obstacle recognition signal is ignored (by the data processing unit) as long as the transport system is in the placement operating mode.
The invention will be described purely by way of example with reference to the drawings in the following. There are shown:
The lift truck 1 comprises a drive unit (not shown). It is preferably an electrical drive unit that is, for example, supplied with electrical energy inductively (e.g. via at least one conductor path in the ground) or via a rechargeable battery. The lift truck 1 furthermore comprises a control apparatus (not shown) that has a data processing unit (not shown) and an obstacle recognition device 6. The obstacle recognition device 6 comprises a first sensor unit 7a and a second sensor unit 7b (see
The first sensor unit 7a and/or the second sensor unit 7b comprises/comprise at least one optical sensor, at least one acoustic sensor, or at least one electromagnetic sensor. It would be conceivable for the first sensor unit 7a and the second sensor unit 7b to comprise different types of sensors. It would also be conceivable for the first sensor unit 7a and the second sensor unit 7b to comprise a different number of sensors.
The optical sensor is preferably a ToF sensor and/or a laser scanner. Obstacles in the environment of the lift truck 1 can be determined via times of flight between a transmitted light pulse and a received light pulse that was reflected at an obstacle. The first sensor unit 7a is configured to generate a monitored field 8. The second sensor unit 7b is likewise configured to generate a monitored field 8. The monitored fields 8 of the first sensor unit 7a and the second sensor unit 7b can be the same size or different sizes.
In
It would also be conceivable for the monitored field 8 to be incident at an angle on the base of the free placement area 5.
The control apparatus of the lift truck 1 is configured to control the drive unit such that the lift truck 1, in the absence of an obstacle, adopts a placement operating mode. In the placement operating mode, the lift truck 1 moves the pallet 2 and/or the pallet cage into the free placement area 5 for placement. In the placement operating mode, the obstacle recognition device 6 is configured to deactivate the monitored field 8 during the travel over the free placement area 5, at least until the placement of the pallet 2 and/or the pallet cage on the free placement area 5. This can, for example, take place by interrupting the energy supply to the first sensor unit 7a or by applying a corresponding control signal to the first sensor unit 7a. This circumstance is represented in
Alternatively, the obstacle recognition device 6 is configured to limit the monitored field 8 to the free placement area 5 during the travel over the free placement area at least until the placement of the pallet 2 and/or the pallet cage on the free placement area 5. This circumstance is represented in
It would generally also be conceivable for the obstacle recognition device 6 to be configured not to output an obstacle recognition signal during the travel over the free placement area 5, at least until the placement of the picked-up pallet 2 and/or the picked-up pallet cage on the free placement area 5.
It would also be conceivable for the data processing unit to be configured to ignore an obstacle recognition signal of the obstacle recognition device 6 during the travel over the free placement area 5, at least until the placement of the pallet 2 and/or the pallet cage on the free placement area 5.
The obstacle recognition device 6 is preferably connected to the data processing unit. This can take place via an electrical or an optical connection. A wireless connection would also be conceivable. The data processing unit, which is part of the control apparatus, is preferably configured to inform the obstacle recognition device 6 that it should limit or deactivate the monitored field 8 of the first sensor unit 7a accordingly or that it should not output an obstacle recognition signal. The data processing unit could also simply ignore such an obstacle recognition signal in a placement operating mode.
The data processing unit is preferably configured to control the obstacle recognition device 6 such that either the first sensor unit 7a or the second sensor unit 7b is activated (generates a monitored field 8) that is arranged at the front at the lift truck 1 in the direction of travel. If the lift truck 1 moves forwards, the second sensor unit 7b is activated. If the lift truck 1 moves backwards, the first sensor unit 7a is activated. The respective other sensor unit 7a or 7b is then preferably deactivated or corresponding obstacle recognition signals do not lead to a trigger reaction.
In
The monitored field 8 of the second sensor unit 7b, on the other hand, is not covered by a pick-up apparatus and the pallet 2 and/or pallet cage picked up by the pick-up apparatus. It would generally be conceivable for the first sensor unit 7a to be arranged closer in the direction of the ground than the second sensor unit 7b.
In
In the second method step S2, the drive unit is controlled by the control apparatus such that the lift truck 1, in the absence of an obstacle (which is not detected), adopts a placement operating mode and moves the picked-up pallet 2 and/or the picked-up pallet cage into the free placement area 5 for placement.
In the third method step S3, the monitored field 8 of the first sensor unit 7a is (continuously) limited to the free placement area 5 or deactivated. Alternatively thereto, an obstacle recognition signal is prevented from being output by the first sensor unit 7a or the obstacle recognition device 6 or an output obstacle recognition signal is prevented from being ignored (in particular by the data processing unit). The third method step S3 is in particular carried out as long as the lift truck is in the placement operating mode. Once the lift truck 1 has placed down the picked-up pallet 2 and/or the picked-up pallet cage, it moves out of the free placement area 5. In this case, at least the second sensor unit 7b is activated. In addition, the first sensor unit 7a can also be reactivated or corresponding obstacle recognition signals of the first sensor unit 7a lead to a trigger reaction again.
In the second and third method steps S2, S3, the control apparatus monitors, based on a signal of the encoder unit and/or another position signal, that the maximum distance traveled is less than or equal to the depth of the previously cleared area, i.e. the lift truck 1 does not travel beyond the cleared area (i.e. the free placement area 5).
It would generally be conceivable for the data processing unit to be a part of the control apparatus and/or a part of the obstacle recognition device 6.
The invention is not restricted to the embodiments described. Within the scope of the invention, all the described and/or drawn features can be combined with one another as desired.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102022115797.0 | Jun 2022 | DE | national |
