GB1448623A - Remote control for a car by laser beam - Google Patents

Abstract

1448623 Automatic control of position or course CONSTRUCTIONS MILLS-K 1 Feb 1974 [12 Feb 1973] 04721/74 Headings G3N and G3 R In the remote control of an automotive vehicle, particularly a trolley for picking-up and depositing pallets bearing loads at any desired point in a warehouse storage area, a plurality of laser emitters and receivers are used to remotely guide the vehicle along selected paths and to transmit data to the vehicle, e.g. stop, start, forward, reverse, turn left, turn right &c. As shown Fig. 8 the laser emitters are located along two adjacent sides of the store area and define a grid. The receivers are located on at least two complementary faces of the vehicle. Alternatively the laser emitters may be on the vehicle and the receivers may be stationary. Guiding the vehicle along a desired trajectory requires a receiver having at least three photo-diode detectors, on the vehicle. As shown Fig. 1, when the vehicle is on a desired path the laser beam strikes a detector C. If it deviates to the left such that the beam strikes a detector D the latter sends a signal to a unit Pd whereby an electric motor causes the vehicle wheels to pivot through a predetermined angle # thus steering the vehicle back on to the desired path. The amount of pivotting movement is stored in a memory Md. When the detector C again intercepts the laser beam the output therefrom is applied to an AND gate together with that from the memory Md so that the AND gate will transmit a signal to unit P'd causing the wheels to pivot back through the angle # in the opposite direction, and cancelling the memory. With more than one detector on each side of C, the further from C of a detector which intercept the laser beam the greater the number of angular steps of the wheel pivotting motors to return the vehicle to its proper trajectory. The operating instructions data may be transmitted by pulsing the respective laser beams in a coded manner, e.g. by periodic interruption of the beam by means of a perforated disc (D) driven by a variable speed motor (M) as illustrated in Fig. 4 (not shown). Each laser emitter simultaneously provides for steering and control data transmission and is connected to a computer in whose memory co-ordinates of loads already deposited in a warehouse area are stored and which controls the trolley movement to deliver a load at a proper destination or to pick-up a load. The computer may be connected to peripheral equipment which visualizes the movements and fixed positions.