US 12,612,271 B2Granted

Method for controlling movement of at least one mover over a transport system

AssigneeRobert Bosch GmbH

InventorsAndré Akkerman, Richard Hibbs

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Abstract

A method for controlling movement of at least one mover over a transport system is disclosed. The transport system includes (i) a plurality of tiles, wherein each of the plurality of tiles respectively includes at least one actuator for moving the at least one mover over the corresponding tile, and (ii) a control unit configured to actuate the at least one actuator of the corresponding tile to control movement of the at least one mover when the at least one mover is placed over the corresponding tile. The method includes (i) for each of the at least one mover, respectively determining over which of the plurality of tiles the corresponding mover is currently placed during movement of the corresponding mover, and (ii) for each of the at least one mover, respectively controlling movement of the corresponding mover by the control units of the tiles over which the corresponding mover is currently placed.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A method for controlling movement of at least one mover over a transport system, wherein the transport system comprises a plurality of tiles, each of which respectively includes (i) at least one actuator for moving the at least one mover over the corresponding tile, and (ii) a control unit configured to actuate the at least one actuator of the corresponding tile to control movement of the at least one mover when the at least one mover is placed over the corresponding tile, the method comprising:

for each of the at least one mover, respectively determining at least one tile of the plurality of tiles over which the corresponding mover is currently placed during movement of the corresponding mover;
for each of the at least one mover, respectively controlling movement of the corresponding mover by the control unit of each of the at least one tile over which the corresponding mover is currently placed;
for each of the at least one mover, respectively determining over which of the plurality of tiles the corresponding mover will be placed next during movement of the corresponding mover over the transporting system;
and
for each of the at least one mover, respectively synchronizing information between the control units of the tiles over which the corresponding mover is currently placed and the control units of the tiles over which the corresponding mover will be placed next.

2 more elements

A transport system for moving at least one mover, comprising:

a plurality of tiles, each of which respectively comprises:
at least one actuator for moving the at least one mover over the corresponding tile;
a control unit configured to actuate the at least one actuator of the corresponding tile to control movement of the at least one mover over the corresponding tile;
and
at least one first determining unit configured to, for each of the at least one mover, respectively determine over which of the plurality of tiles the corresponding mover is currently placed during movement of the corresponding mover over the transporting system;
and
at least one second determining unit configured to, for each of the at least one mover, respectively determine over which of the plurality of tiles the corresponding mover will be placed next during movement of the corresponding mover over the transporting system, wherein:
the transport system is configured so that, for each of the at least one mover, movement of the corresponding mover is respectively controlled by the control units of the tiles over which the corresponding mover is currently placed,
the control units of the plurality of tiles respectively include a synchronizing unit, and
the synchronizing units are respectively configured to, for each of the at least one mover, respectively synchronize information between the control units of the tiles over which the corresponding mover is currently placed and the control units of the tiles over which the corresponding mover will be placed next.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.