A METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE POSITIONS OF A PLURALITY OF ANONYMOUS FIXED REFERENCE OBJECTS FOR MOBILE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND A DEVICE FOR DETERMINING SAID POSITIONS

Abstract: A method for determining the positions of a plurality of fixed reference objects (6-16) which are part of a system for navigation for mobile transport units, wherein said system comprises detection means, at least one electronic memory, and control means, wherein said system, from different measuring positions, detects said reference object (6-16) and registers information regarding their bearings in said memory in order to determine the positions of the reference units.

Description: TITLE: A method for determining the positions of a plurality of anonymous fixed reference objects for mobile surface transportation and a d evice for determining said positions. TEC HNICAL FIELD: The present invention relates to a method and a d evice for d etermining the positions of a plurality of anonymous fixed reference o b jects for mobile surface transportation units. The traditiona l technology for automatic control of vehicles AGV b y means of following control loops in t h e sur f ace has increasingly been replaced by more sophisticated control systems, such as searching for fixe d reference points in a room. By knowing the position of the reference points and by measuring a plurality of angles to these o b jects, t h e position of the AGV can be determine d an d used for controlling the AGV to predetermine d positions. From U S -patent 4,811,228 a rotating laser is known which searches an area in which fixed reflecting objects are positioned, and by measuring a plurality of angles between the AGV and the different objects, the position of the AGV can be determined. W hen instal l ing a new AGV system the positions of the fixe d reference objects must be determined. This has until now, to a high degree, been done manually by measuring the positions of the reference objects and entering these in a co-or d inate system which represents an area in which the A G V system is to be installed. Usually the co-ordinate system, to b e more precise, represents a plane which exten d s in parallel with the surface on which the vehicle AGV is intended to move. Determining the positions has so far b een d one by physically measuring the position of the re f erence o b jects relative to the axes of the co-ordinate system, after which their co-ordinates have been entered into a computerized control system. The measurement is CONFIRMATION COPY however time-consuming, and in practice difficult to carry out, since most rooms in which the AGV system has been installed also house large objects, such as for example storage shelves, machinery, etc. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: The object of the present invention is to eliminate manual measuring. Said object is achieved by means of a method and a device according to the present invention, the characteristics of which will become apparent from the appended patent claim 1 and 4 respectively. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES: The invention will in the following be described more closely, by means of an example of embodiment, with reference to the appended drawings where: Fig. 1 shows a schematic plan of the room in which the AGV is to be installed; Fig. 2 shows a diagram of measured time-angle pairs; and Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a method according to the present invention. APPENDIX: Appendix A shows how multi-linear conditions can be achieved both in continuous and discrete time. PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: Fig. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a space in which an AGV system has been installed. In the example shown, the system is based on US-patent 4,811,228 which describes the use of a rotating laser beam, which searches a plane which for example extends horizontally and essentially parallel to the floor on which an automatically controlled vehicle AGV is intended to move, in which the rotation takes place around a mainly vertical axis. In the example shown the room in question has been drawn as a square room 1 with four walls 2, 3, 4, 5 on which a plurality of anonymous fixed reference objects 6-16 have been positioned at such a height that they are within the search area of the laser beam. In practice, the reference objects extend vertically to such an extent that it is always possible for the object and the beam to coincide. In the system in question where the issued signal is an electromagnetic signal, such as light, for example a laser beam, the reference objects are reflector organs which are arranged to reflect an incident beam back to the laser unit where it is detected together with information about bearing, i.e. angle in the plane of rotation relative to a chosen reference-angle, for example the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The reflector organs are preferably such that the incident beam is reflected in the same direction as the incident direction, so-called retro-reflectors. The reflector organs are positioned at fixed positions, which can be chosen arbitrarily. In the simplified case shown the reflexes are, however, arranged along four planes, i.e. the walls, but in practice the reflexes can be positioned irregularly and arbitrarily in the room. Essentially the same above mentioned equipment can be used for determining the positions of reflectors, in the simpliest case, a vehicle with a rotating laser. The reference numeral 17 denotes the measuring point or normal of the plane of the paper, around which for example the search beam rotates in the measuring room 1. According to the invention, the positions of the fixed reference objects 6-16 are determined and possibly also directions in a plane by searching the plane by means of a sweeping search-signal while detecting returned echo-signals together with the detection of information of the bearing of the echo-signal. The detection takes place during movement of the measuring point 17 in the room 1, whereby a plurality of further measuring points 18 is obtained, which in principle are arbitrarily distributed across the room. In practice, the simplest way of achieving this is by moving or driving the equipment or vehicle around in the room during repeated measurement, the application of a technique called "multilinear constraints in continuous time" makes it possible to make the measurements while the vehicle with the rotation laser detector is moving. During continuous movement a number of angles or bearings fixed in time can thus be obtained. These time-angle pairs can be illustrated in a diagram, as shown in Fig. 2, where each point of co-ordinates (t,α) corresponds to a measured angle α with a time t. The gaps show times when for example an obstacle has been line of sight when it was to make a measurement. False reflections are shown by small dots which do not form a regular pattern. The present invention further describes an analysis of the angle material measured, which results in determining the co-ordinates of all the reflector organs. In order to obtain this, the following steps are carried out: A. Automatic association of bearings to anonymous objects: First those angles are identified which have been measured to the same, anonymous reflector organ. This is solved by extrapolating earlier angle measurements and checking which of the following angle measurements well matches this extrapolation. It also allows correct identification even if the reflector is temporarily hidden for the laser beam. The result is that part of the angle measurements can be grouped into subsets of the same identity and where other, spurious measurements can be sorted out. B. Calculation of reflector positions and position uncertainties: Starting from a crude estimation of reflector positions and a corresponding high degree of uncertainties, as the vehicle moves along and the bearings to the reflectors become available from a larger area of the floor, the position estimations are refined and the position uncertainties correspondingly reduced by application of the "Continuous trilinear constraint" technique (as described in "INVARIANCY METHODS FOR POINTS, CURVES AND SURFACES IN COMPUTATIONAL VISION" by Kalle Astrδm, Lund Tekniska Hogskola, May 30, 1996, ISBN 91-628-2022-2, ISSN 0347-8475, ISRN LUTFD2/TFMA- 96/1006-SE, ISRN LUTFD2/TFMA-96/5002-SE involving complex matrix calculations using e.g. the Newton- Raphson method. The above reference is hereby incorporated in the present application by reference. These essentially two steps can then be applied sequentially in an outer and an inner loop, in accordance with Fig. 3. The flowchart of Fig. 3 further shows how these above mentioned steps can be applied: In the inner loop the bearing and time values are sorted and associated with the reflectors. The prediction filters used, take into account the movements that is continuously imposed on the vehicle. The outer loop is performed when a sufficiently high number of measurements and/or a sufficiently high number of additional reflectors has been added. First the already known reflector positions are refined, and these new values are then the basis for calculating the positions, and uncertainties thereof, of the additional reflectors. When the position of all reflectors has been calculated and the position uncertainties has been reduced to the required level, the reflector map is complete and the measurements finished. In the example in question the reflector organs 6-16 have a limited area of reflection, within which detection can be obtained, which may be used for determining the direction of the reflector organs 9 and thereby also whether a received reflex has been received from a certain reflector organ. The measurement equipment comprises a computer for collecting measuring data relating to received reflexes and their bearing. Although the shown embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the appended figures it should be realized that the invention is not limited to these specific embodiments and that different changes or modifications can be made by a person skilled in the field without deviating from the scope defined by the appended patent claims. The reference objects can for example be natural objects in any environment. Furthermore, for each time value, more than one bearing may be registered, e.g. by detecting a plurality of object bearings simultaneously with the aid of a matrix detector (e.g. a camera/flash system).

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A method for determining the positions of anonymous fixed reference objects for mobile surface transportation units, navigating in relation to said objects, moving over said transportation surface, said method c h a r a c t e ¬ r i z e d by detecting bearings, referenced to a direction fixed to a mobile apparatus from a measuring point on said apparatus to one or more of said reference objects; storing said bearings together with the time at which the bearing is valid. 2. A method according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by computing the positions of said reference objects and the uncertainty of the calculated position of each reference object. 3. A method according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said positions and uncertainties are continuously computed, diminishing said uncertainties as said mobile apparatus is moved over said transportation surface. 4. A method according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said bearings are detected sequentially in time. 5. A method according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that more than one bearing is detected for each time value. 6. A method according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said detection of bearings include emission, reflection and detection of an electromagnetic signal, for example a light signal. 7. A method according to claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said signal is a rotating laser beam, extending substantially in parallel to said transportation surface. 8. A device for determining the positions of anonymous fixed reference objects for mobile surface transportation units, navigating in relation to said reference objects, moving over said transportation surface c h a r a c t e ¬ r i z e d by means for detecting bearings, referenced to a direction fixed to a mobile apparatus from a measuring point on said apparatus to one or more of said reference objects; means for storing said bearings together with the time at which the bearing is valid, and computational means for tracking each reference object, as the apparatus is moved over said transportation surface. 9. A device according to claim 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by means for computing the positions of said reference objects and the uncertainty of the calculated position of each reference object. 10. A device according to claim 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by means for continuously computing said positions and uncertainties and for diminishing said uncertainties, as said mobile apparatus is moved over said transportation surface. 11. A device according to claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said means for detecting bearings include laser scanning means and angular detector means for sequentially in time detecting said bearings. 12. A device according to claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said means for detecting bearings include flash means and camera means for detecting more than one bearing for each time value. 13. A device according to claim 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said computational means for tracking each reference object includes prediction filters. 14. A device according to claim 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by that said reference objects consists of a plurality of reflector means. SUBSTITUTESHEET

Inventors: AASTROEM KARL-ERIK, AASTROEM, KARL-ERIK
Applicants: AASTROEM KARL ERIK, APOGEUM AB, AASTROEM, KARL-ERIK
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G05D1
IPC codes: G01S17, G05D1