CLOSED-LOOP NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR MOBILE ROBOTS

摘要

A visual navigation system provides absolute position information to multiple automatically guided vehicles (AGVs) (36,37) such as mobile robots. The beacon-equipped AGVs (36,37) emit light visible to overhead television cameras. The beacons are arranged and controlled so that the vision system can acquire, measure, and report the locations of multiple AGVs (36,37). The system controller incorporates a programmable "factory map," or knowledge base, of allowable paths of travel for the AGVs (36,37), which navigate by dead reckoning with periodic position updates from the visual navigation system. The visual navigation system notifies the autonomous AGVs (36,37) and the system controller when an AGV strays from its commanded path. The combination of computer controls in the elements of the system provides the means to stop and to recover straying AGVs (36,37). The navigation system visually monitors normal AGV travel, off-course corrections, "lost" AGV searches, and recovery. Thus, it provides closed-loop, servo-like operation.