Automated guided vehicles
AssigneeRobocoaster Limited
InventorGino Daniel De-Gol
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to automated guided vehicles, hereinafter referred to as AGVs, and specifically to AGVs used for entertainment purposes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a safety system for a passenger carrying AGV used for entertainment purposes. The present invention acts to prevent a passenger carrying automated guided vehicle from deviating from its intended path.
Claims22
A method for disabling the operation of a passenger carrying automated guided vehicle in the event that it deviates from an intended travel path comprising the steps of:
- providing a passenger carrying automated guided vehicle having a safety sensor and a safety controller, the safety sensor and safety controller being separate to guidance sensors and movement controllers of the vehicle, the automated guided vehicle further being operable to execute one or more dynamic movement operations while following the intended travel path including, but not limited to lateral translation movements, spins, helical spins, slides in or contrary to the direction of movement of the vehicle, periods of rapid acceleration and deceleration, and combinations of the foregoing, wherein the safety sensor further comprises a ring antenna positioned concentrically within a ring antenna used for guiding the automated guided vehicle along its intended path and/or synchronizing movement of the automated guided vehicle with aspects of the environment through which it is intended to travel;
- providing a radio signal broadcasting guidance wire embedded in a surface over which the passenger carrying automated guided vehicle is intended to travel;
- operating the passenger carrying automated guided vehicle so that it follows a path defined by the radio signal broadcasting wire;
- and
- causing the safety controller to stop the vehicle in the event that the safety sensor is no longer able to detect the radio signal broadcast by the wire.
A safety system for a passenger carrying automated guided vehicle used for entertainment purposes, the automated guided vehicle further being operable to follow a path defined by a radio signal broadcasting guidance wire embedded in a floor over which the automated guided vehicle is intended to travel, the automated guided vehicle further being operable to execute one or more dynamic movement operations while following said path, wherein the safety system includes a sensor operable to detect the radio signal broadcast by the wire and a controller, wherein the controller has a first output which is generated when the sensor is able to detect the radio signal and a second output which is generated instead of the first output when the sensor is unable to detect the radio signal broadcast by the wire, wherein further the second output causes the automated guided vehicle to stop, wherein the sensor of the safety system comprises a ring antenna, and the safety system ring antenna is provided concentrically within a ring antenna used for guiding the automated guided vehicle along its intended path and/or synchronizing movement of the automated guided vehicle with aspects of the environment through which it is intended to travel.
A safety system for a passenger carrying automated guided vehicle used for entertainment purposes, the automated guided vehicle further being operable to follow a path defined by a radio signal broadcasting guidance wire embedded in a floor over which the automated guided vehicle is intended to travel, the automated guided vehicle further being operable to execute one or more dynamic movement operations while following said path, wherein the safety system includes a sensor operable to detect the radio signal broadcast by the wire and a controller, wherein the controller has a first output which is generated when the sensor is able to detect the radio signal and a second output which is generated instead of the first output when the sensor is unable to detect the radio signal broadcast by the wire, wherein further the second output causes the automated guided vehicle to stop, wherein the safety sensor is provided on a rotatable body of the automated guided vehicle, the safety sensor comprising a forward sensor element and a rearward sensor element, wherein the rotatable body further comprises an odometry sensor, and wherein further a rotational position sensor is associated with the rotatable body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.