SENSOR SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USE WITH AN AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLE (AGV)

摘要

A sensor system (10) for use with an automated guided vehicle (AGV) includes a plurality of sensor units (20-26) electronically coupled to a sensor control module (28) via parallel communications (30). Each sensor unit (20-26) may include a sensor array (40-46) having a plurality of sensor elements (70-84), a conditioning circuit (50-56) having one or more filter/amplifiers (90-104), and a conversion circuit (60-66). The sensor control module (28) may be configured to communicate with other AGV components via serial communications (32). The sensor system (10) is capable of obtaining and storing sensor readings with or without associated offset values and can use the sensor readings to determine the center of a magnetic field (CF) using methods that require relatively little processing power. A method of calibrating the sensor system (10) may include determining and storing offset values for a plurality of sensor elements (70-84) and may be performed with the sensor system (10) installed or uninstalled to the AGV.