Patent ID: 8761989

Claim:
A method of operating a conveyor system for material handling in a facility, said conveyor system including a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, each having a controller including a communication system and a guidance system, said method comprising steps of: determining a travel path having at least one line portion defined by an initial line and an end line; inputting a guided route for the automatic guided vehicle to follow into the guidance system, wherein the guided route includes instructions regarding the plurality of automatic guided vehicles travel along the at least one line portion; assigning a unique ID to each automatic guided vehicle; guiding the plurality of automatic guided vehicles along the travel path; automatically determining a lead automatic guided vehicle in the at least one line portion; automatically determining a last automatic guided vehicle in the at least one line portion; assigning a token to at least one of the lead automatic guided vehicle and the last automatic guided vehicle; automatically updating, using at least one of a central controller and the controller on at least on one of the plurality of automatic guided vehicles, the last automatic guided vehicle in the at least one line portion each time an automatic guided vehicle from the plurality of automatic guided vehicles crosses the initial line of the at least one line portion; automatically updating the lead automatic guided vehicle to a subsequent automatic guided vehicle in the at least one line portion each time the lead automatic guided vehicle from the plurality of automatic guided vehicles crosses the end line; and maintaining a designated spacing between each automatic guided vehicle from the plurality of automatic guided vehicles within the at least one line portion.