Apparatus and method for navigation control

A vehicle comprising:

• circuitry configured to:
• (i) detect a first marker of a plurality of markers located at predetermined positions,
• (ii) generate first marker information based on the detected first marker,
• (iii) transmit the generated first marker information to an information processing apparatus that is configured to control movement of a plurality of vehicles,
• (iv) receive first control information from the information processing apparatus, the first control information being generated by the information processing apparatus based on the first marker information and predetermined navigation information in response to the first marker information, and
• (v) cause the vehicle to move to a second marker of the plurality of markers based on the first control information, wherein the predetermined navigation information indicates the location of the second marker relative to the first marker,
• wherein a transportation path between the first marker and the second marker is divided into a plurality of path segments,
• wherein upon the vehicle reaching an end of a path segment of the plurality of path segments, the circuitry is further configured to transmit, to the information processing apparatus, vehicle position feedback information recorded by the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, the vehicle position feedback information corresponding to a wheel counter of the vehicle that keeps track of a number of rotations of the wheels of the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, and
• wherein, based on the transmitted vehicle position feedback information, the circuitry is further configured to receive, from the information processing apparatus at a start of a next path segment of the plurality of path segments, control information calculated from the transmitted vehicle position feedback information to control the movement of the vehicle.

A system, comprising:

• an information processing apparatus for controlling movement of a plurality of vehicles, the information processing apparatus including
• a communication interface configured to communicate with the plurality of vehicles;
• and
• first circuitry configured to:
• (i) receive, from a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles via the communication interface, first marker information that is generated based on a first marker being detected by the one of the plurality of vehicles, the first marker being one of a plurality of markers located at predetermined positions,
• (ii) determine a second marker of the plurality of markers to which the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is to be moved from the first marker,
• (iii) generate first control information to control movement of the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles from the first marker to the second marker based on the first marker information and predetermined navigation information associated with the first marker, the predetermined navigation information indicating the location of the second marker relative to the first marker, and
• (iv) transmit, via the communication interface, the first control information to the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;
• and
• the vehicle including second circuitry that is configured to:
• (i) detect the first marker of the plurality of markers located at the predetermined positions,
• (ii) generate the first marker information based on the detected first marker,
• (iii) transmit the generated first marker information to the information processing apparatus,
• (iv) receive the first control information from the information processing apparatus, and
• (v) cause the vehicle to move to the second marker of the plurality of markers based on the first control information, wherein the predetermined navigation information indicates the location of the second marker relative to the first marker,
• wherein a transportation path between the first marker and the second marker is divided into a plurality of path segments,
• wherein upon the vehicle reaching an end of a path segment of the plurality of path segments, the first circuitry is further configured to receive, from the second circuitry, vehicle position feedback information recorded by the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, the vehicle position feedback information corresponding to a wheel counter of the vehicle that keeps track of a number of rotations of the wheels of the vehicle as the vehicle travels between segments of the plurality of segments, and
• wherein, based on the received vehicle position feedback information, the first circuitry is further configured to (i) calculate control information to control the movement of the vehicle at a start of a next path segment of the plurality of path segments and (ii) transmit the calculated control information to the vehicle at a start of the next path segment of the plurality of path segments.