Measuring system for testing the position of a vehicle and sensing device therefor

Abstract: Measuring system for testing the position of a vehicle (1), which measuring system comprises a number of optical beacons (6 and 7), a sensing device (10) which is mounted at the vehicle (1) in order to emit a signal when sensing a beacon (6 or 7), and a processing unit (14) in order to calculate, starting from the information from the sensing device (10), the deviation in respect to the desired position and driving direction of the vehicle, characterized in that the sensing device (10) comprises two cameras which are mounted at the vehicle, namely, a first camera which is directed almost into the driving direction, and a second camera which is directed into a direction standing upright on the plane wherein the path performed by the vehicle extends, whereby at least one of the beacons (6) is placed in such a way that, during the motion of the vehicle almost according to the desired path, it can be seen by the sensing device (10) in the driving direction of the vehicle, whereas at least one of the beacons (7) along the desired path, but seen in a direction standing upright on the aforementioned plane of the path, is situated higher or lower than the sensing device (10), depending whether the second camera is directed upwards or downwards in respect to this plane.

Description: This invention relates to a measuring system for testing the actual position of a vehicle, particularly a driverless vehicle which, by means of a control system, is steered through an area according to a well-defined path, in respect to the desired displacement. Such measuring systems comprise,; for example, sensors which are placed at the vehicle and emit internal signals from which a processing unit can determine the actual position of the vehicle. By means of comparison with put-in information concerning the desired path, the control system can steer the vehicle according to this desired path. The aforementioned measuring system, however, can not provide a sufficient precision because each new position is calculated in respect to a previous and, thus, all positions are in fact determined starting from a single known position. After a period of time, large deviations in respect to the desired path may occur. There are measuring systems known which allow to determine a position by means of external information. Such a measuring system is described in EP-A-0.185.816. This measuring system comprises a number of beacons, formed by reflectors, with an optical code, which are installed in the area at the height of the sensing device. A sensing device, mounted at the vehicle, comprises a rotating laser scanner. A processing unit determines, starting with the laser light that is reflected by two reflectors, the actual position of the vehicle by means of triangulation. Starting from this known actual position and a known desired position, a control device can steer the vehicle to the desired position. Due to the use of a rotating laser beam source, the sensing unit is expensive and undergoes wear and tear. The processing unit uses triangulation in order to calculate the actual position, and the beacons must be provided with a code. All this renders the measuring system complicated. Furthermore, the orientation of the vehicle is not measured, but only calculated, starting from position determinations. The invention aims at a measuring system for testing the position of a vehicle which does not have the aforementioned and other disadvantages and enables an accurate determination of the deviation of the vehicle from the desired path, but which, however, is simple and does not comprise rotating parts. This aim is achieved according to the invention by a measuring system for testing the position of a vehicle, which measuring system comprises a number of optical beacons, a sensing device which is mounted at the vehicle in order to emit a signal when sensing a beacon, and a processing unit in order to calculate, starting with the information from the sensing device, the deviation in respect to the desired position and driving direction of the vehicle, whereby the sensing device comprises two cameras which are mounted at the vehicle, namely, a first camera which is directed almost into the driving direction, and a second camera which is directed into a direction standing upright on the plane wherein the path performed by the vehicle extends, whereby at least one of the beacons is placed in such a way that, during the motion of the vehicle almost according to the desired path, it can be seen by the sensing device in the driving direction of the vehicle, whereas at least one other beacon along the desired path, but seen in a direction standing upright on the aforementioned plane of the path, is situated higher or lower than the sensing device, depending whether the second camera is directed upwards or downwards in respect to this plane. With the information from the processing unit, the control system can steer the vehicle according to the desired path. The application of this measuring system can be temporary, for example, every time when a control element, such as with a classical measuring system, for example, with sensors placed upon the vehicle, does not work, or in order to provide an additional control from time to time and to eliminate deviations from the desired path which are caused by the inaccuracy of the classical measuring system. Thus, the control system can also comprise a classical measuring system, mounted on the vehicle, with classical measuring apparatus such as pulse generators and potentiometers. The processing unit of this classical measuring system can simultaneously be a part of the measuring system according to the invention. In this case, the common processing unit, either simultaneously or subsequently, can use information from the sensing device and information from the classical measuring apparatus in order to calculate the deviation from the desired path. Preferably, the cameras are of the so-called "random access" type. The beacons can be reflectors. In this case, in order to exclude disturbances from environmental light, the cameras can comprise an own light source to which they are sensitive. The invention also refers to a sensing device, either coupled to a processing unit or not, which is destined for use in the measuring system according to the invention. With the intention to better show the characteristics of the invention, in the following, as an example without any limitative character, a preferred form of embodiment of a measuring system and of a sensing device according to the invention is described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 schematically shows a path with a vehicle, provided with a measuring system according to the invention; figure 2 shows a block diagram of the measuring system of figure 1; figure 3 schematically shows a top view of the vehicle of figure 1; figures 4 and 5 schematically and in perspective show the sensing by the respective two cameras of the measuring system of figure 1; figure 6 shows a perspective view of the vehicle of figure 3; figure 7 shows a perspective view of the sensing device of the measuring system of figure 1. As shown in figures 1 and 2, a driverless vehicle 1 is steered according to a well-defined path 2 through an environment 3, for example, a warehouse, by means of a known and not further described herein control device 4 which receives signals from a measuring system 5 which, according to the invention, comprises a number of optical beacons 6 and 7, namely, one or more beacons 6 which are attached upon a support standing upon the plane of the path, and one or more beacons 7 which are attached upon a support extending almost parallel to the plane of the path and which are situated at or above the path. The plane of the path is the plane wherein the path, which is followed by the vehicle 1, extends, or in other words, the driving plane wherein the driving directions of the vehicle during the following of this path are situated. Due to the steering, the path which is actually performed by vehicle 1 is almost in compliance with the desired path 2. The desired path 2 and the actual path are situated in the same plane. In case that the area 3 is a warehouse, as in the shown example, the aforementioned plane of the path 2 extends parallel to the floor. The support for a beacon 6 can then be formed by a wall 8 of the warehouse, whereas the support for a beacon 7 can be formed by the aforementioned floor or the ceiling 9. In the example shown in the figures 1 and 2, the measuring system 5 comprises two beacons 6 which respectively are attached at two opposite walls 8, in the elongation of parts of path 2, and two beacons 7 which are attached at the ceiling 9 of the warehouse. These beacons 6 and 7 are flat reflectors which are with their plane parallel to the support upon which they are attached. They are, for example, round and white. The measuring system 5 further comprises a sensing device 10 cooperating with these beacons 6 and 7 which, as shown in detail in figure 7, comprises two cameras 11 and 12. Both cameras 11 and 12 are preferably mounted in a fixed manner in respect to each other and stationary at the vehicle 1. The first camera 11 is directed into the driving direction of the vehicle 1 and, thus, in the example practically horizontally. This driving direction is the direction of the vector of the translation speed. The aforementioned beacons 6 are placed practically at the height of this camera 11. The second camera 12 is directed in a direction standing upright on the plane of the path 2, in the example, thus, directed transverse to the floor and the ceiling 9, or practically vertical and directed upwards. This direction coincides with the vector of the rotation speed of the vehicle 1. The direction of the cameras is indicated by arrows in the figures 6 and 7. Each of the cameras 11 and 12 consists in this example of an image receptor, a lens and an own infrared light source. The image receptor preferably is pixel-addressable or, in other words, a so-called "random access" image receptor with, for example, 512 to 512 pixels, a frequency of 6 Mhz in the X-direction and a frequency of 500 kHz in the Y-direction. The lens of the camera 11 preferably is a zoom lens whereas the lens of the camera 12 has a fixed focal distance. The infrared light source is, for example, a LED corona with a wavelength of 880 nm around the image receptor. The two cameras 11 and 12 are placed in a housing 13 which is attached at the vehicle 1 and of which the front and the top, which are left out in figure 7, are manufactured from infrared-transmittent plexiglass. The plexiglass does not only form a protection for the cameras, but also a filter which holds back the major part of the visible light. By means of this housing, the condensation of the lenses of cameras 11 and 12 is prevented when the vehicle 1 suddenly leaves a cold zone. Finally, the measuring -system 5 comprises a processing unit 14 which is connected to the sensing device 10 and which is formed by a computer, provided with the appropriate software. In a manner which will be described further on, this processing unit 14 is able to calculate, from the image information from cameras 11 and 12, the deviation in position and driving direction of vehicle 1 in respect to the desired path. The processing unit 14 also is part of a classical measuring system with measuring apparatus 15 which is mounted on the vehicle 1 and which also can deliver internal information from which the processing unit can calculate the actual position and driving direction of the vehicle 1 in respect to the desired ones. This measuring apparatus comprises in a well-known manner sensors, not shown in the figures, which are mounted on the vehicle 1, for example, a gyroscope for the direction and a pulse generator or encoder, mounted on the wheels, and a potentiometer, mounted on the steering wheel, for the position. In order to be able to steer with this measuring apparatus 15, the computer comprises a memory wherein information, in figure 2 indicated by arrow 16, about the path 2 to be followed can be stored. The vehicle 1 may be a fork lift truck, such as shown in detail in figure 6. The term "vehicle", however, has to be understood in a broad sense in this patent application. This vehicle may also be a self-driving transport carriage, as well for goods as for persons, a crane or even a manipulator of a robot or the like. This vehicle, of course, has to be steerable and, thus, must be provided with a steering device which can be operated by the aforementioned control device 4 in order to change the driving direction. The function of the measuring system 5 according to the invention is simple and as follows. A vehicle 1 which is on the path 2 is normally guided by the intermediate of the control device 4 by the processing unit 14 which, in a well-known manner, from the information of the classical measuring apparatus 15, although with a limited accuracy, calculates the actual position and the driving direction of the vehicle 1 and compares them with the desired position and driving direction, derived from the information which is stored in the memory of the processing unit 14. When one of the cameras 11 and 12 or both sense a beacon 7 or 8, then the measuring system 5 works with information from sensing device 10. As represented in figure 3, in a Cartesian axis system showing the area 3, the deviation of the vehicle 1 from the desired path can be shown by means of the X,Y coordinates of the position and the angle A of the driving direction, respectively. By means of the camera 11 and a beacon 6, the angle A is determined as follows. The infrared light emitted by camera 11 is reflected by the beacon 6 and falls in point B 1 upon the image field 17 of the camera 11, as shown in figure 4. By reading the image field 17, the number of columns E 1 is measured between point B 1 and the central column of the image field 17 that coincides with the actual driving direction. By means of the processing unit 14, the angle A 1 between the direction of the beacon 6 and the driving direction is calculated according to the equation: arc tangent (E 1 .P/F 1 ), whereby P is the physical dimension of a pixel and F 1 the distance between the image field and the focus of camera 11. Starting from this angle A 1 , the deviation from the driving direction in respect to the desired path 2 is calculated and can the angle A also be determined in the aforementioned X,Y-axis system. By means of the camera 12 and a beacon 7, the deviation in position transverse to the driving direction is determined as follows. This can take place either simultaneously with the determination of the orientation or not. The infrared light emitted by camera 12 is reflected by beacon 7 and falls in point B 2 onto the image field 18 of the camera 12, as represented in figure 5. The axis system U,V represented therein is horizontal and fixed to vehicle 1, with the V-axis in driving direction. By reading a single fixed row 19 which, thus, is directed into the U-direction and transverse to the driving direction, for example, the most central row of the image field, the number of columns E 1 is measured between point B 2 and the most central column of image field 17, coinciding with the actual driving direction. The angle A 2 between the direction of the beacon 7 and the perpendicular in the center of row 19 is calculated by the processing unit 14 according to the equation: arc tangent (E 2 .P/F 2 ), whereby P is the physical dimension of a pixel and F 2 the distance between the image field and the focus of the camera 12. Starting from this angle A 2 and the known height position of the beacon 7 above the path 2, the processing unit 14 calculates the difference in the U-direction of the image field 19 between the actual position U W and the desired position U G . The deviation in respect to the desired position in the driving direction is also calculated by the processing unit 14, but from the speed of the vehicle 1 and the difference in time, measured by the measuring apparatus 15. When the camera 12 during driving arrives at the height of the aforementioned beacon 7 with known position, the calculated position can be tested at the actual one by the processing unit 14. The processing unit 14 transmits the data relating to the deviations to the control device 4 controlling the vehicle 1. The information from the two cameras 11 and 12 do not necessarily have to be available simultaneously. If information from one or both cameras is missing, this information can be replaced by information from measuring apparatus 15. The processing unit 14 can take still other information into consideration and can, for example, bring in an additional fixed correction when the sensing device 10 is not exactly in the center of the vehicle 1 or if the vehicle 1 has to direct itself to a point next to beacon 6. The sensing device 10 and the part of the processing unit 14 processing the information herefrom allow to recalibrate the sensors or such of the measuring apparatus 15 from time to time. The measuring system 5 also allows to steer the vehicle 1 accurately at places where the measuring apparatus 15 can not be used, or with eventual absence of this measuring apparatus. When the cameras 11 and 12 are of the "random access" type, the power of the information-processing computer of the processing unit 14 may be limited. The present invention is in no way limited to the forms of embodiment described aforegoing and represented in the figures, on the contrary can such measuring system and sensing device therefore can be realized in various variants without leaving the scope of the invention. E.g., the directions of the two cameras 11 and 12 must not necessarily be exactly perpendicular to each other. They may form an angle with each other of, for example, 97°.

Claims: Measuring system for testing the position of a vehicle (1), which measuring system comprises a number of optical beacons (6 and 7), a sensing device (10) which is mounted at the vehicle (1) in order to emit a signal when sensing a beacon (6 or 7), and a processing unit (14) in order to calculate, starting from the information from the sensing device (10), the deviation in respect to the desired position and driving direction of the vehicle, characterized in that the sensing device (10) comprises two cameras (11 and 12) which are mounted at the vehicle (1), namely, a first camera (11) which is directed almost into the driving direction, and a second camera (12) which is directed into a direction standing upright on the plane wherein the path performed by the vehicle (1) extends, whereby at least one of the beacons (6) is placed in such a way that, during the motion of the vehicle (1) almost according to the desired path (2), it can be seen by the sensing device (10) in the driving direction of the vehicle (1), whereas at least one of the beacons (7) along the desired path (2), but seen in a direction standing upright on the aforementioned plane of the path, is situated higher or lower than the sensing device (10), depending whether the second camera (12) is directed upwards or downwards in respect to this plane. Measuring system according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing unit (14) simultaneously is a part of a classical measuring system with a measuring apparatus (15), mounted upon the vehicle (1). Measuring system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cameras (11 and 12) are of the so-called "random access" type. Measuring system according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the beacons (6 and 7) are reflectors. Measuring system according to claim 4, characterized in that the cameras (11 and 12) comprise a light source of their own and their sensor is sensitive for the light of this light source. Measuring system according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the cameras (11 and 12) are mounted in a closed housing (13) which allows the transmission of rays, for which these cameras are sensitive, into the sensing device. Sensing device for a measuring system according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises two cameras (11 and 12) which are directed almost perpendicular to each other. Sensing device according to claim 7, characterized in that it is coupled to a processing unit (14) which can determine the position and the movement direction of these cameras from the image information.

Inventors: DE FEYTER WALTER MARIA ALFONS, VERCAMMEN JAN MARIA LUDOVICUS, DE FEYTER, WALTER MARIA ALFONS, VERCAMMEN, JAN MARIA LUDOVICUS
Applicants: EGEMIN NV, EGEMIN, NAAMLOZE VENNOOTSCHAP
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G01S5
IPC codes: G01S11, G01S5, G01B11, G05D1