Keywords
Citation
Hollingum, J. (2000), "Obstacle detection for AGV", Assembly Automation, Vol. 20 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2000.03320cad.021
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited
Obstacle detection for AGV
Obstacle detection for AGV
Keywords: Lasers, AGV
Applicant: Mitsui Shipbuilding Eng. (JP)Patent number: US5970433Publication date: 19 October 1999Title: Laser obstacle detection method and sensor
A sensor detects the presence or the absence of an obstacle by radiating a laser beam to the outside of a casing through a light projecting mirror and by letting the reflected light from an obstacle enter a light receiving element through a light receiving mirror. A light projecting window with a light projecting mirror and a light receiving window with a light receiving mirror are positioned in the casing with a space between them to prevent reflected light from directly entering the light projecting window. The mirrors are attached to a rotation shaft of a motor, or rotation shafts of motors, synchronously rotatable between both mirrors. The optical axis of light radiated to the outside of the casing is set to face in a higher direction than horizontal to radiate in a cone-shaped form. By comparing a received light signal from a light receiving circuit to an output signal from a circuit for a previously set threshold, which has a correlation between detected distance and light intensity, a light receiving trigger is output. The distance is calculated when a signal is greater than the threshold. The presence or the absence of an obstacle is determined by the detection of reflected light intensity. This laser obstacle detection method and sensor, which can be used on an automated guided vehicle (AGV), will even detect rainfall as an obstacle.