The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 12, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 13, 1999
Kikuo Hori, Kyoto, JP;
Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha, Kyoto, JP;
Abstract
A plurality of reflectors are disposed along a travelling path, an automatic guided vehicle is started up at a position where a laser scanner can recognize four or more reflectors, and data on the angles and distances of the reflectors is obtained. When the first reflector is recognized, there are N possible hypotheses that would specify the reflectors. When a second reflector is recognized, the distance to the first reflector is rational, therefore, there are kN possible hypotheses (k is 10 or less). When a third reflector is recognized, the triangle formed by the three reflectors cioncides with that on a reflector map, therefore, there are mN possible hypotheses (m<1). Then, the present position is estimated according to mN possible hypotheses. The fourth reflector is recognized and the conformity is checked, the present position of the automatic guided vehicle is specified. Its error rate is about equal to the standard deviation obtained from angular resolution/360 degrees x distance resolution/distance between the reflectors. To enable an automatic guided vehicle to be started up without initial position data.