Theory of Automated Operation

The automated truck is based off a stan dard pallet truck or tow tractor with manual electronic controls. Guidance and control equipment is added to allow the truck to perform certain functions in automatic mode.

The user identifies applications to au tomate. The system supplier then plans routes that include material handling behaviors for the truck to perform to accomplish those applications.

The truck must be trained on a route before it can automatically navigate that route. To train a route, place the truck at a start station. Start the training process through the GOI. Manually drive the truck along the planned route following the detailed dimensions on the Facility Route Map and the on-screen instructions until you are at the end of the route. As you move the truck along the planned route, the vision system continuously takes pictures. Those pictures are analyzed and features are identified in three-dimensional space. At the same time, the drive enco der records the travel distance and the steering encoder records any heading changes. These three pieces of information are combined to build a set of navigational data for that route. The navigational data is stored in the truck’s memory.

Once you have trained all of the planne d routes for the facility and installed and programmed Supervisor, you are ready for route following. Place the truck at a start station, select the rout e you would like to follow from the GOI, and press the Start button to send the automated truck on the specified route. As the automated truck travels, it performs the operations that were programmed during route training. The automated truck communicates with Supervisor and receives commands an d permissions from Supervisor. It takes pictures, analyzes the pictures to identify features in the three-dimensional space, records dist ance, and records heading changes. This information is compared to the set of navigational data that was created during route training. If the informat ion for the automated truck’s current location matches the information that was created for the same location during route training, the automated truck continues travel along that route. If it is slightly off-course, it either adjusts to return to the trained route or stops.

While following routes, the Obstruction Sensor and Light Cu rtain Module are active. These laser sensors are designed to detect obstructions in front of and to the sides of the truck. When an obstruction is detected, the truck is designed to stop prior to contacting the obstruction. The truck will remain stationary until the obstruction is remove d, then it will automatically resume following the path.