WO2023194063A1 - Système de transport sans conducteur et procédé de fonctionnement d'un système de transport sans conducteur - Google Patents

Système de transport sans conducteur et procédé de fonctionnement d'un système de transport sans conducteur Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2023194063A1
WO2023194063A1 PCT/EP2023/056706 EP2023056706W WO2023194063A1 WO 2023194063 A1 WO2023194063 A1 WO 2023194063A1 EP 2023056706 W EP2023056706 W EP 2023056706W WO 2023194063 A1 WO2023194063 A1 WO 2023194063A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
driverless transport
reference time
designed
receiving device
transport system
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2023/056706
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Stefan Frank
Arjen Kreis
Mathias Mayer
Frank Fitzek
Peter Sossalla
Original Assignee
Audi Ag
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Audi Ag filed Critical Audi Ag
Publication of WO2023194063A1 publication Critical patent/WO2023194063A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05D—SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
    • G05D1/00—Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots
    • G05D1/02—Control of position or course in two dimensions
    • G05D1/021—Control of position or course in two dimensions specially adapted to land vehicles
    • G05D1/0287—Control of position or course in two dimensions specially adapted to land vehicles involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling
    • G05D1/0289—Control of position or course in two dimensions specially adapted to land vehicles involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling with means for avoiding collisions between vehicles

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a driverless transport system and a method for operating such a driverless transport system.
  • time synchronization is necessary in order to reliably coordinate driving commands and routes. This can, for example, prevent collisions between vehicles and people.
  • coordination is usually achieved through a positioning system, particularly GPS.
  • a method for enabling a remotely controllable driving function by measuring a distance between a remote control with a remote control clock and a vehicle with a vehicle clock by means of a transit time measurement of a signal is known.
  • a system for displaying an optical image using unmanned autonomous vehicles is known.
  • the invention is based on the object of providing an improved driverless transport system which can also be operated without GPS reception.
  • the invention provides a driverless transport system, comprising a plurality of driverless transport vehicles, each of which has a system time clock, a clock unit for clocking the system time clock and a receiving device, the receiving device being designed to receive a reference time and to set the system time clock with the reference time update, wherein the driverless transport vehicles are designed to carry out control commands depending on a system time of the system time clock.
  • the driverless transport system comprises a reference time unit, which is designed to provide the reference time, and a transmitting device, which is designed to transmit the reference time provided by the reference time unit to the respective receiving device, if a predetermined transmission condition is met, through which the reference time is transmitted the respective driverless transport vehicles are guaranteed with a constant specified latency.
  • the driverless transport system can have several driverless transport vehicles that carry out control commands based on the system time.
  • These control commands can, for example, be sent from a higher-level device to the transport vehicles, preferably with a time stamp when the control commands should be carried out. Alternatively or additionally, they can Control commands can also be forwarded between the driverless transport vehicles.
  • the respective transport vehicles have a system clock, which includes a clock unit for clocking or counting up the system time clock. All transport vehicles preferably have the same clock unit so that there are no major differences in timing.
  • each transport vehicle has a receiving device which is at least designed to receive a reference time.
  • the control commands can also be received via the receiving device.
  • the driverless transport system has a transmitting device which is designed to transmit a reference time to the respective transport vehicles.
  • the reference time is preferably provided by a reference time unit of the driverless transport system.
  • the reference time unit can transmit an absolute time as a reference time, in particular a coordinated universal time or Unix time.
  • the transmitting device can further be designed to check whether a predetermined transmission condition exists before transmitting the reference time to the respective receiving device, which can ensure that the reference time is transmitted to all transport vehicles with the same, preferably predetermined, latency. Due to this transmission condition, the reference time can preferably not be synchronized for all driverless transport vehicles at the same time, but only for them respective driverless transport vehicles for which the transmission condition currently exists. For example, all driverless transport vehicles can be updated sequentially with the reference time.
  • the transmission condition that ensures the constant predetermined latency can be achieved, for example, by only transmitting the reference time in predetermined fixed location areas of the transport system, in particular under known environmental conditions.
  • connection data between the transmitting device and the receiving device can also be determined, in particular a latency, with the reference time only being transmitted if it corresponds to the predetermined latency.
  • a driverless transport vehicle means a conveyor with its own drive that is automatically controlled and guided without contact. These are used in particular to transport materials.
  • Driverless transport vehicles can preferably be ground-based and/or airworthy vehicles.
  • the transmitting device and the receiving device are preferably designed to be wireless in order to transmit the reference time, which means that a contactless transmission of the reference time can be carried out from the transmitting device to the receiving device.
  • a plug connection can also be provided, via which the reference time can be provided.
  • the invention has the advantage that efficient management of the transport system can be carried out inside and/or outside a building without requiring a GPS signal.
  • By continuously updating the system time clock and counting by the clock unit drifts to the real clock or the absolute time can be reduced, which means that control commands, in particular driving commands, can be precisely set in time. This can result in higher utilization of existing areas, for example in a factory, can be achieved by carrying out more efficient route planning. This means space can be saved in the factory.
  • the invention also includes embodiments that provide additional advantages.
  • the transmission condition exists if a driverless transport vehicle is at a predetermined position in a route network of the driverless transport system.
  • a distance and/or a connection quality, in particular a latency, to the receiving device can be known at the predetermined position of the route network, in which case the reference time is then transmitted.
  • the predetermined position is preferably located at a position in the route network that is often passed through by every driverless transport vehicle, in particular at intersections in the route network.
  • a further embodiment provides that the transmitting device and the receiving device are designed to determine the latency of a wireless connection to one another, the transmission condition being present if the determined latency corresponds to the predetermined latency.
  • the connection quality in particular the latency, can be determined for the connection to each transport vehicle, with the reference time only being transmitted if the determined latency matches the predetermined latency. In this way, a further preferred embodiment and an improvement of the transport system can be achieved.
  • a further embodiment provides that the transmitting device and the receiving device are designed to carry out the reference time Mobile communications, especially 5G.
  • the reference time can be sent wirelessly to the respective transport vehicles, with 5G technology proving to be particularly suitable due to its low latency times.
  • the transmitting device and the receiving device are designed to transmit the reference time through visible light communications.
  • Visible Light Communications is a data transmission technology in which data is transmitted using optical signals.
  • the transmitting device can be designed to transmit the optical signals to the receiving device, which has an optical detector, wherein the transmitting device is preferably arranged at a predetermined position of the route network and transmits the reference time to the receiving device if the driverless transport vehicle has this predetermined time position happens.
  • a further preferred embodiment of the reference time transmission can be achieved.
  • a further embodiment provides that the transmitting device and the receiving device are designed to transmit the reference time through inductive coupling.
  • the reference time is transmitted via a magnetic field.
  • the magnetic fields can be provided in a route network of the driverless transport system, for example for route guidance and/or to supply energy to the driverless transport vehicles.
  • This embodiment has the advantage that in addition to the guidance and energy supply, the reference time can also be transmitted, in particular at every position of the route network.
  • the clock unit has a quartz crystal, a rubidium oscillator or cesium.
  • the clock unit can have a quartz crystal, in particular a quartz oscillator, which oscillates to generate the clock provides.
  • an atomic clock in particular a rubidium oscillator or a cesium-based clock generator device, can also be provided as a clock generator unit in each transport vehicle.
  • RB-87 or CS-133 are preferred for this.
  • the clock unit can also be provided by a processor, in particular a microchip, which generates a constant clock signal for clocking the system clock. This embodiment has the advantage that preferred clock generator units with a small deviation in the clock frequency can be provided.
  • the driverless transport vehicle is a mobile robot, a self-driving vehicle and/or a flying drone.
  • ground-based and/or flight-capable devices can be provided as driverless transport vehicles.
  • a further embodiment provides that the transmitting device and the receiving device are designed to transmit the reference time via the Precision Time Protocol, PTP.
  • the Precision Time Protocol is a network protocol designed to synchronize the time settings of multiple devices, which has increased precision compared to other network protocols, in particular the Network Time Protocol.
  • Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for operating a driverless transport system according to one of the preceding embodiments.
  • the method includes the steps of providing a reference time through a reference time unit of the driverless transport system, determining by a transmitting device of the driverless transport system whether a predetermined transmission condition is present, which ensures transmission to a receiving device of a driverless transport vehicle with a constant predetermined latency Transmitting the reference time to the receiving device of the driverless transport vehicle if the transmission condition is met, and a Updating a system time clock of the driverless transport vehicle with the transmitted reference time, the reference time being further clocked by a clock unit of the system time clock.
  • one or more control commands can then be executed depending on the updated system time clock for controlling the driverless transport vehicles.
  • the method can be repeated until all driverless transport vehicles have the updated system time clock. This results in the same advantages and possible variations as with the driverless transport system.
  • the invention also includes the control device for the transport system.
  • the control device can have a data processing device or a processor device that is set up to carry out an embodiment of the method according to the invention.
  • the processor device can have at least one microprocessor and/or at least one microcontroller and/or at least one FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and/or at least one DSP (Digital Signal Processor).
  • the processor device can have program code that is designed to carry out the embodiment of the method according to the invention when executed by the processor device.
  • the program code can be stored in a data memory of the processor device.
  • the invention also includes further developments of the method according to the invention, which have features as have already been described in connection with the further developments of the driverless transport system according to the invention. For this reason, the corresponding developments of the method according to the invention are not described again here.
  • the invention also includes a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer or a computer network, cause it to carry out an embodiment of the method according to the invention.
  • the Storage medium can, for example, be designed at least partially as a non-volatile data storage (e.g. as a flash memory and/or as an SSD - solid state drive) and/or at least partially as a volatile data storage (e.g. as a RAM - random access memory).
  • the computer or computer network can provide a processor circuit with at least one microprocessor.
  • the instructions may be provided as binary code or assembler and/or as source code of a programming language (e.g. C).
  • the invention also includes the combinations of the features of the described embodiments.
  • the invention therefore also includes implementations that each have a combination of the features of several of the described embodiments, provided that the embodiments have not been described as mutually exclusive.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a driverless transport system according to an exemplary embodiment
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic process diagram according to an exemplary embodiment.
  • FIG. 1 shows a highly schematic representation of a driverless transport system 10 according to an exemplary embodiment.
  • a route network 12 of the transport system 10 is shown in a top view, with several driverless transport vehicles 14, 16 being able to travel on the route network.
  • the driverless transport vehicles 14, 16 can be navigated using optical sensors and/or induction loops in the ground (not shown), in particular using control commands that the transport vehicles 14, 16 can execute at predetermined times. So that the driverless transport vehicles 14, 16 do not interfere with each other, they are usually coordinated via GPS, although in this exemplary embodiment it is assumed that there is no GPS reception. In order to avoid hindrances between the respective driverless transport vehicles 14, 16 on the route network 12, time coordination of the control commands is therefore necessary.
  • each driverless transport vehicle 14, 16 has a system timer 18, which is clocked by a clock unit 20.
  • the clock generator unit 20, which is preferably designed the same for each transport vehicle 14, 16, can in particular be a high-precision oscillator, for example a quartz oscillator, in order to keep the system timer the same for each transport vehicle 14, 16.
  • An atomic clock, in particular a Rubidium oscillator can be used, which has even smaller deviations in cycle time from the quartz oscillator.
  • the transport system 10 can include a reference time unit 22, which provides a reference time for the entire system, based on which the control commands for the transport vehicles 14, 16 can be coordinated. So that the system time clock 18 of the respective transport vehicles 14, 16 has the same reference time, the transport system 10 can have a transmitting device 24 which is designed to transmit the reference time of the reference time unit 22 to the respective driverless transport vehicles 14, 16. For this purpose, each transport vehicle 14, 16 can have a receiving device 26, which is designed to receive the reference time and to update the system time clock 18 of the respective transport vehicle 14, 16 with this.
  • the reference time is preferably only transmitted if a predetermined transmission condition exists through which the transmission to each Transport vehicle 14, 16 can be ensured with a constant predetermined latency.
  • the transmission condition can specify that the reference time is only transmitted to the respective transport vehicle 14, 16 when a respective driverless transport vehicle 14, 16 is located at a predetermined position 28 of the route network 12.
  • the predetermined position 28 can preferably be a main node of the route network 12, which must be passed through by each driverless transport vehicle 14, 16, in particular an intersection.
  • the transmitting device 24 and the receiving device 26 check a latency of a wireless connection to one another, the transmission condition only being present if if the determined latency of the specified latency that is to be guaranteed is present.
  • the driverless transport vehicle 16 can, for example, pass the predetermined position 28 at which the transmitting device 24 is arranged and receive the reference time for updating the system time clock.
  • the driverless transport vehicle 14, which is located at another location on the route network 12, can continue to be operated with the previous system time of the system time clock 18 until it also passes the predetermined position 28 and is updated with the then prevailing reference time. Due to the specified accuracy of the clock unit 20, both transport vehicles 14, 16 then have the same system time.
  • a wireless technology such as mobile radio, in particular 5G
  • the transmission of the reference time can be transmitted by optical signals, in particular visible light communications, or via an inductive coupling with the respective transport vehicle, which can be provided, for example, via magnetic coils in the route network 12, the magnetic coils preferably also being used for an energy supply and/or or routing can be designed.
  • the Precision Time Protocol can preferably be used to transmit the reference time, which provides increased accuracy.
  • a reference time is provided by a reference time unit 22 of the driverless transport system 10.
  • a transmitting device 24 of the driverless transport system 10 can determine whether a predetermined transmission condition exists, through which a Transmission of the reference time to a receiving device 26 of a driverless transport vehicle 14, 16 is ensured with a constant predetermined latency.
  • the reference time can be transmitted to the receiving device 26 of the driverless transport vehicle 14, 16 if the transmission condition is met.
  • a system time clock 18 of the driverless transport vehicle 14, 16 can be updated with the transmitted reference time, the reference time being further clocked by a clock unit 20 of the system time clock 18.
  • the method can preferably be repeated iteratively until all driverless transport vehicles 14, 16 have the updated system time clock 18.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un système de transport sans conducteur (10) et un procédé de fonctionnement du système de transport sans conducteur (10). Le système de transport sans conducteur comprend une pluralité de véhicules de transport sans conducteur (14, 16) ayant chacun une horloge système (18), une unité d'horloge (20) pour cadencer l'horloge système (18), et un dispositif de réception (26), le dispositif de réception (26) étant conçu pour recevoir un temps de référence et pour mettre à jour l'horloge système (18) avec le temps de référence, les véhicules de transport sans conducteur (14, 16) étant conçus pour exécuter des instructions de commande en fonction d'un temps de système de l'horloge système (18) ; une unité de temps de référence (22) conçue pour fournir le temps de référence ; et un dispositif de transmission (24) conçu pour transmettre le temps de référence fourni par l'unité de temps de référence (22) au dispositif de réception (26) s'il existe une condition de transmission prédéfinie qui garantit la transmission du temps de référence aux véhicules de transport sans conducteur (14, 16) avec une lacune constante prédéfinie.
PCT/EP2023/056706 2022-04-08 2023-03-16 Système de transport sans conducteur et procédé de fonctionnement d'un système de transport sans conducteur WO2023194063A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE102022108632.1A DE102022108632B3 (de) 2022-04-08 2022-04-08 Fahrerloses Transportsystem und Verfahren zum Betreiben eines fahrerlosen Transportsystems
DE102022108632.1 2022-04-08

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2023194063A1 true WO2023194063A1 (fr) 2023-10-12

Family

ID=85772001

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2023/056706 WO2023194063A1 (fr) 2022-04-08 2023-03-16 Système de transport sans conducteur et procédé de fonctionnement d'un système de transport sans conducteur

Country Status (2)

Country Link
DE (1) DE102022108632B3 (fr)
WO (1) WO2023194063A1 (fr)

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102016220620A1 (de) 2016-10-20 2018-04-26 Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Verfahren zur Freigabe einer fernsteuerbaren Fahrzeugfunktion und Fahrzeugverriegelungssystem
WO2019222775A1 (fr) 2018-05-23 2019-11-28 Ars Electronica Linz Gmbh & Co Kg Système d'affichage d'une représentation optique
US20200401132A1 (en) * 2017-02-17 2020-12-24 Verity Studios Ag System having a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles and a method of controlling a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR102208580B1 (ko) 2018-02-09 2021-01-28 한국전자통신연구원 무인 이동체, 무인 이동체들 사이의 시간 동기화 지원 장치 및 그 방법

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102016220620A1 (de) 2016-10-20 2018-04-26 Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Verfahren zur Freigabe einer fernsteuerbaren Fahrzeugfunktion und Fahrzeugverriegelungssystem
US20200401132A1 (en) * 2017-02-17 2020-12-24 Verity Studios Ag System having a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles and a method of controlling a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles
WO2019222775A1 (fr) 2018-05-23 2019-11-28 Ars Electronica Linz Gmbh & Co Kg Système d'affichage d'une représentation optique

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
YARA KHALUF ET AL: "Self-Organized Cooperation in Swarm Robotics", OBJECT/COMPONENT/SERVICE-ORIENTED REAL-TIME DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING WORKSHOPS (ISORCW), 2011 14TH IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON, IEEE, 28 March 2011 (2011-03-28), pages 217 - 226, XP031943791, ISBN: 978-1-4577-0303-4, DOI: 10.1109/ISORCW.2011.30 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE102022108632B3 (de) 2023-05-25

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP3206174A1 (fr) Procédé et système de mise en service d'un système de immotique
EP3318057B1 (fr) Système à capteurs multiples synchronisé décentralisé
US11977396B2 (en) Multi-body formation reconstruction method for unmanned device cluster control
EP1501062A1 (fr) Procédé et système à interface homme-machine pour l'opération et observation d'une installation technique
DE102010022525A1 (de) Verfahren zur Zeitsynchronisation in einem Kommunikationsnetz
EP0053599A1 (fr) Installation pour la transmission de télégrammes de signaux entre une station émetteur-récepteur et des appareils de manutention isolés
DE102022108632B3 (de) Fahrerloses Transportsystem und Verfahren zum Betreiben eines fahrerlosen Transportsystems
EP2223261B1 (fr) Réseau rfid et procédé de fonctionnement du réseau rfid
DE112019006938B4 (de) Kommunikationssystem, Kommunikationsgerät und Programm
DE102008064440A1 (de) Navigation für insbesondere unbemannte Fahrzeuge
EP3125053B1 (fr) Procede et composant peripherique destines a la transmission de variables hart et unite centrale destinee a lire les variables hart
EP2701019A2 (fr) Procédé de paramétrage d'un appareil de terrain, appareil de terrain correspondant et système de paramétrage
WO2021093984A1 (fr) Procédé de transfert de données
DE112016006338T5 (de) Kommunikationsvorrichtung, Kommunikationssystem und Kommunikationsverfahren
DE102005039450B4 (de) Verfahren und Netzwerk zur synchronen Bearbeitung und Bereitstellung von Daten
DE102022134572A1 (de) Verfahren zur Konfiguration einer tragbaren Benutzerausrüstung, tragbare Benutzerausrüstung sowie Arbeitssystem
EP0582257A2 (fr) Procédé et appareil pour transmettre les informations de signalisation cyclique
DE102013215394B4 (de) Verfahren und System zum Generieren von Steuerungskommandos für ein Raumfahrzeug
DE102021204373A1 (de) Zuverlässige Ortung einer UWB-Mobileinheit
AT17322U1 (de) Gebäudetechnikvorrichtung und Leuchte mit Energiespeicher, System für deren Versorgung mittels einer mobilen Ladevorrichtung und mobile Ladevorrichtung
EP3306469A1 (fr) Procédé de génération d'une hiérarchie d'équipements
DE102020130231A1 (de) Verfahren zur Steuerung eines tragbaren Benutzergerätes, tragbares Benutzergerät sowie Steuerungssystem
DE202019004514U1 (de) Versuchsanordnung zum Zeitvergleich in bewegten und ruhenden Uhren
EP4339634A1 (fr) Procédé de détermination d'une position d'une unité mobile et/ou mobile pour la configuration de celle-ci dans un réseau de communication
EP3001737B1 (fr) N ud de reseau, reseau de communication et procede de fonctionnement d'un noeud de reseau et d'un reseau de communication

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 23713059

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1