Materials handling vehicle obstacle scanning tools

• US 10,597,074 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2019
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
• Original Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
• Inventors: Stewart, Alan, Mai, Yuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Frejd, Russell
• Application Number:
  US16/569,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20200001917A1
• Time in Patent Office: 194 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 1/00 Vehicles predominantly for transporting loads and modified to facilitate loading, consolidating the load, or unloading vehicles for carrying harvested crops with means for self-loading or self-unloading A01D90/00; peculiar to refuse collecting-vehicles B65F; loading or unloading vehicles by means not incorporated therein B65G
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 6/10 characterised by means for sensing or determining torque
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/063 Automatically guided
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/0755 Position control; Position detectors
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/07568 Steering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/24 Electrical devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0223 involving speed control of the vehicle vehicle fittings for automatically controlling, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S

Abstract

A materials handling vehicle comprises an obstacle scanning tool and steering mechanism, materials handling hardware, vehicle drive mechanism, and user interface that facilitate movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled along a travel path. The tool establishes a scan field, a filter field, and a performance field, and is configured to indicate the presence of obstacles in the filter field and the performance field. The tool executes logic to establish the performance field in response to an input performance level, scan for obstacles in the filter field and the performance field, execute obstacle avoidance for obstacles detected in the filter field, and execute a performance level reduction inquiry for obstacles detected in the performance field wherein outcomes of the inquiry comprise reduction of the performance level when a performance level reduction is available and execution of obstacle avoidance when a performance level reduction is not available.

Claims

1. A materials handling vehicle comprising

a vehicle drive mechanism, and

an obstacle scanning tool, wherein:

the vehicle drive mechanism facilitates movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled by the materials handling vehicle along a travel path at a vehicle speed S_C towards a destination;

the obstacle scanning tool comprises obstacle scanning hardware establishing a scan field, a path filter establishing a filter field, and a performance filter establishing a performance field P_i, and is configured to indicate the presence of obstacles in the filter field and the performance field P_i; and

the obstacle scanning tool executes obstacle scanning logic to

establish the filter field using the path filter,

establish the performance field P_i in response to an input performance level L_i using the performance filter,

scan for obstacles in the filter field and the performance field P_i,

execute obstacle avoidance for obstacles detected in the filter field, and

execute a performance level reduction inquiry for obstacles detected in the performance field P_i wherein outcomes of the performance level reduction inquiry comprise reduction of the performance level L_i when a performance level reduction is available and execution of obstacle avoidance when a performance level reduction is not available.

2. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the performance level reduction inquiry comprises a current vehicle speed query to confirm that a current speed S_c of the materials handling vehicle along the travel path is not greater than a maximum speed S_iMax associated with the performance level L_i; and

the obstacle scanning tool conditions reduction of the performance level L_i on a determination that the current speed S_c is not greater than a maximum speed S_iMax.

3. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the performance level reduction inquiry comprises a current performance level query to confirm that the performance level L_i is greater than a minimum performance level associated with the materials handling vehicle; and

the obstacle scanning tool conditions reduction of the performance level L_i on a determination that the performance level L_i is greater than the minimum performance level.

4. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the performance level reduction inquiry comprises a current vehicle speed query to confirm that a current speed S_c of the materials handling vehicle along the travel path is not greater than a maximum speed S_iMax associated with the performance level L_i;

the performance level reduction inquiry comprises a current performance level query to confirm that the performance level L_i is greater than a minimum performance level associated with the materials handling vehicle; and

the obstacle scanning tool conditions reduction of the performance level L_i on determinations that the current speed S_c is not greater than a maximum speed S_iMax and the performance level L_i is greater than the minimum performance level.

5. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the obstacle avoidance is executed using the vehicle drive mechanism.

6. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the performance level is input at a user interface or in response to an external stimulus.

7. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the filter field is disposed within the performance field P_i.

8. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the obstacle scanning tool comprises a plurality of performance filters establishing a respective plurality of performance fields.

9. The materials handling vehicle of claim 8, wherein a performance field P_(i−

1) comprises a maximum speed S<sub>(i−

1)</sub> Max associated with the performance level L<sub>(i−

1)</sub> and is disposed within the performance field P_i.

10. The materials handling vehicle of claim 9, wherein:

the performance level reduction inquiry further comprises a current vehicle speed query to confirm that a current speed Sc of the materials handling vehicle along the travel path is not greater than the maximum speed S<sub>(i−

1)</sub> Max associated with the performance level L<sub>(i−

1)</sub>;

the performance level reduction inquiry comprises a current performance level query to confirm that the performance level L_i is greater than a minimum performance level associated with the materials handling vehicle;

the obstacle scanning tool conditions reduction of the performance level L_i to the performance level L<sub>(i−

1)</sub> on determinations that the current speed S_c is not greater than a maximum speed S<sub>(i−

1)</sub> Max and the performance level L_i is greater than the minimum performance level; and

reduction of the performance level L_i to the performance level L<sub>(i−

1)</sub> comprises corresponding reduction in the performance field P_i to the performance field P<sub>(i−

1)</sub>.

11. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the filter field is an area along the travel path and within the scan field in which the obstacle scanning tool processes scan data from the obstacle scanning hardware to identify obstacles along the travel path and in the filter field.

12. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the obstacle scanning tools comprise an anticipated path filter configured to bound to the travel path outside of the scan field at a distance from the travel path.

13. The materials handling vehicle of claim 12, wherein the distance is a fixed distance from the travel path.

14. The materials handling vehicle of claim 12, wherein the distance is configured to vary based on at least one of an anticipated travel direction along the travel path, an anticipated travel speed, and an anticipated steer angle at a destination along the travel path.

15. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the filter field is configured to adapt a field shape based on a determination that the materials handling vehicle is approaching an intersection and a current speed Sc of the materials handling vehicle.

16. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the obstacle scanning tool comprises one or more overlay filters establishing one or more overlay fields configured to overlay one or more zones of an intersection, and the filter field is configured to adapt a field shape to include the one or more overlay filters based on a determination that the materials handling vehicle is approaching the intersection.

17. The materials handling vehicle of claim 1, wherein the obstacle scanning tool executes obstacle scanning logic to execute a performance level increase inquiry comprising an outcome of an increase of the performance level L_i when obstacles are not detected in the performance field P_i.

18. A materials handling vehicle comprising

a vehicle drive mechanism, and

an obstacle scanning tool, wherein:

the vehicle drive mechanism facilitates movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled by the materials handling vehicle along a travel path at a vehicle speed S_C towards a destination;

the obstacle scanning tool comprises obstacle scanning hardware establishing a scan field, and a path filter establishing a filter field F_i, and is configured to indicate the presence of obstacles in the filter field F_i; and

the obstacle scanning tool executes obstacle scanning logic to

establish the filter field F_i in response to an input performance level L_i using the path filter,

scan for obstacles in the filter field F_i,

execute a performance level reduction inquiry for obstacles detected in the filter field F_i wherein outcomes of the performance level reduction inquiry comprise reduction of the performance level L_i when a performance level reduction is available and execution of obstacle avoidance when a performance level reduction is not available.

19. A materials handling vehicle comprising

a towing vehicle and

at least one trailer towed by the towing vehicle, wherein:

the towing vehicle comprises a vehicle drive mechanism and an obstacle scanning tool;

the vehicle drive mechanism facilitates movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled by the materials handling vehicle along a curved travel path towards a destination;

a towing configuration of the materials handling vehicle establishes a trailer turning radius r₁ that is smaller than a towing vehicle turning radius r₂ along curved portions of the curved travel path;

the obstacle scanning tool comprises obstacle scanning hardware establishing a scan field and a path filter establishing a filter field, and is configured to indicate the presence of obstacles in the filter field; and

the obstacle scanning tool executes obstacle scanning logic to use the path filter to establish the filter field such that the area of the filter field is skewed towards the inside edges of turns along the curved travel path to a degree that is sufficient to account for the smaller turning radius r_i of the trailer and avoid collisions with obstacles along the inside edges of the turns along the curved travel path.

20. The materials handling vehicle of claim 19, wherein an obstacle for the trailer along the inside edges of the turns along the curved travel path comprises the towing vehicle, and the filter field is skewed toward the inside edges of turns along the curved travel path to avoid collisions between the towing vehicle and the at least one trailer.

21. The materials handling vehicle of claim 19, wherein the at least one trailer comprises a plurality of trailers, and an obstacle for each trailer along the inside edges of the turns along the curved travel path comprises one of the towing vehicle and another trailer of the plurality of trailers, and the filter field is skewed toward the inside edges of turns along the curved travel path to avoid collisions between the towing vehicle and one of the plurality of trailers and between one of the plurality of trailers with another one of the plurality of trailers.

22. A method of executing scanning logic for a materials handling vehicle, the method comprising:

moving the materials handling vehicle and materials handled by the materials handling vehicle along a travel path at a vehicle speed S_C towards a destination, the materials handling vehicle comprising a vehicle drive mechanism and an obstacle scanning tool, wherein

the vehicle drive mechanism facilitates movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled along the travel path, and

the obstacle scanning tool comprises obstacle scanning hardware, a path filter, and a performance filter;

establishing a scan field through use of the obstacle scanning hardware of the obstacle scanning tool;

establishing a filter field through use of the path filter of the obstacle scanning tool;

establishing a performance field P_i through use of the performance filter of the obstacle scanning tool;

scanning with the obstacle scanning tool for obstacles in the filter field and the performance field P_i;

executing obstacle avoidance through the obstacle scanning tool for obstacles detected in the filter field;

executing a performance level reduction inquiry for obstacles detected in the performance field P_i;

executing an outcome of the performance level reduction inquiry to reduce the performance level L_i when a performance level reduction is available; and

executing an outcome of the performance level reduction inquiry to execute obstacle avoidance when a performance level reduction is not available.

23. A method of executing scanning logic for a materials handling vehicle, the method comprising:

moving the materials handling vehicle and materials handled by the materials handling vehicle along a travel path at a vehicle speed S_C towards a destination, the materials handling vehicle comprising a vehicle drive mechanism and an obstacle scanning tool, wherein

the vehicle drive mechanism facilitates movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled along the travel path, and

the obstacle scanning tool comprises obstacle scanning hardware and a path filter;

establishing a scan field through use of the obstacle scanning hardware of the obstacle scanning tool;

establishing a filter field F_i through use of the path filter of the obstacle scanning tool;

scanning with the obstacle scanning tool for obstacles in the filter field F_i;

executing a performance level reduction inquiry for obstacles detected in the filter field F_i;

executing an outcome of the performance level reduction inquiry to reduce the performance level L_i when a performance level reduction is available; and

executing an outcome of the performance level reduction inquiry to execute obstacle avoidance when a performance level reduction is not available.

24. A method of executing scanning logic for a materials handling vehicle comprising a towing vehicle and at least one trailer towed by the towing vehicle, the method comprising:

moving the materials handling vehicle and materials handled by the materials handling vehicle along a curved travel path towards a destination, the materials handling vehicle comprising a vehicle drive mechanism and an obstacle scanning tool, wherein

the vehicle drive mechanism facilitates movement of the materials handling vehicle and materials handled along the curved travel path, and

the obstacle scanning tool comprises obstacle scanning hardware and a path filter;

establishing through a towing configuration of the materials handling vehicle a trailer turning radius r₁ that is smaller than a towing vehicle turning radius r₂ along curved portions of the curved travel path;

establishing a scan field through use of the obstacle scanning hardware of the obstacle scanning tool;

establishing a filter field through use of the path filter of the obstacle scanning tool, wherein the area of the filter field is skewed towards the inside edges of turns along the curved travel path to a degree that is sufficient to account for the smaller turning radius r_i of the trailer and avoid collisions with obstacles along the inside edges of the turns along the curved travel path; and

scanning with the obstacle scanning tool for obstacles in the filter field.