Method for Operating a Driverless Transport System

Abstract

A method for operating at least one intelligent floor element includes receiving at least one planned movement of at least one object on at least one floor element, determining at least one safety area for each object in its environment on at least one floor element, checking overlaps of safety areas, and outputting a signal with respect to the safety area with the aid of activatable markings on at least one floor element.

Claims

1. A method for operating at least one floor element, comprising: receiving at least one planned movement of at least one object on at least one floor element; determining at least one safety area for each object in its environment on the at least one floor element; checking overlaps of the at least one safety area of each object of the at least one object; and outputting a signal with respect to the at least one safety area with activatable markings on the at least one floor element.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: after outputting the signal, adapting at least one planned movement in response to detecting overlaps during the checking of the overlaps.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method is iteratively carried out in the form of a loop and the method is restarted after the adapting of the at least one planned movement.

4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: assigning priorities to at least two objects; and the adapting of the at least one planned movement includes taking the assigned priorities into account.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the outputting of the signal further comprises using optically activatable markings to output a control signal that is receivable by a moving object.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: adapting a movement of a moving object in response to a control signal.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the determined at least one safety area are temporally variable on the at least one floor element and are determined over an operating period; and the checking of overlaps includes checking for overlaps in a temporally variable manner within the operating period.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outputting of the signal includes outputting at least one warning signal at least one warning signal in response to overlaps being detected in the checking of overlaps.

9. A raised floor element for a raised floor, comprising: an upper floor panel; at least one functional element configured to be actuated by a control device; and at least one connecting element configured to connect to at least one further raised floor element, wherein the at least one functional element is a row or a matrix of activatable markings configured to indicate an area on the raised floor element.

10. The raised floor element according to claim 9, wherein the activatable markings comprise light-emitting devices.

11. The raised floor element according to claim 9, wherein the at least one functional element includes at least one sensor configured to capture objects and.

12. The raised floor element according to claim 11, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to capture movements of objects.

13. A raised floor comprising: at least two raised floor elements, each of which comprises: an upper floor panel; at least one functional element configured to be actuated by a control device; and at least one connecting element configured to connect to at least one further raised floor element, wherein the at least one functional element is a row or a matrix of activatable markings configured to indicate an area on the raised floor element; and a control unit configured to: receive at least one planned movement of at least one object on the at least one floor element; determine at least one safety area for each object of the at least one object in its environment on the at least one floor element; check overlaps of the at least one safety area of each object of the at least one object; and output a signal with respect to the at least one safety area with the activatable markings.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0065] The described method and the described raised floor element as well as the raised floor constructed from the latter are explained in more detail below on the basis of the figures. The figures describe particularly preferred exemplary embodiments, but the method, raised floor element and raised floor are not limited thereto. In the drawings:

[0066] FIGS. 1a, 1b: show schematic illustrations of activatable markings on a raised floor element,

[0067] FIG. 2: shows a three-dimensional illustration of a raised floor element described,

[0068] FIG. 3: shows an exemplary planned movement of an object in the method,

[0069] FIG. 4: shows two exemplary planned movements of objects in the method with an overlap, and

[0070] FIG. 5: shows a flowchart of the described method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b show a schematic illustration of a raised floor 8 from above. Individual floor tiles which can be formed by floor elements 1, for example, can be seen here. Activatable markings 7 which may be in the form of LEDs, for example, can likewise be seen. In FIG. 1a, the activatable markings 7 are arranged in a matrix arrangement. In FIG. 1b, the activatable markings are arranged in a linear arrangement. The matrix arrangement of the activatable markings 7 in FIG. 1a enables a very free presentation of safety areas on the raised floor. The presentation possibilities with the activatable markings according to FIG. 1b are somewhat more restricted. In this case, surface areas of the surface of the raised floor 8, in particular, which are surrounded or enclosed by the lines formed with the activatable markings can be marked as a safety area. FIG. 1 also illustrates, by way of example, that the activatable markings 7 can be used to output a signal 6 which can be read in by an object on the raised floor 8 using read-in means provided for this purpose. Such a signal 6 functions in a similar manner to a barcode, for example.

[0072] FIG. 2 shows a three-dimensional illustration of a raised floor 8 comprising floor elements 1. The floor elements 1 each have a floor panel 9 which is arranged on supports 13, wherein the supports 13 predefine a distance to a subfloor 14 on which the floor elements 1 stand and on which they form the raised floor 8. According to FIG. 2, the activatable markings 7 are linear, as according to FIG. 1b as well. By way of example, it is shown how these activatable markings are used here to highlight a pathway 16. A sensor 15 is respectively depicted here, by way of example, on some floor elements 1 or on some floor panels 9. All floor elements 1 preferably have a sensor 15. Further components may be present on an underside of the floor panels 9, for example further functional elements 10 and/or control devices 11 assigned to the respective floor panels 9. By way of example, connecting elements 12 are also illustrated on a floor element 1 and are used to connect the floor element 1 to further floor elements 1 and, in particular, also enable a data connection of a control device 11 of the floor element 1 to a central control device 11 or to the control devices of further (in particular adjacent) floor elements 1.

[0073] FIG. 3 explains the visualization of a planned movement (or trajectory or driverless transport system route) on the raised floor 8 comprising the floor elements 1. The object 3 on the raised floor 8 and its planned movement 2/the trajectory can be seen. The safety area 4 is presented around the course of the planned movement 2 with the aid of activatable markings 7. The activatable markings 7 are arranged in a matrix arrangement. This enables a very free presentation of safety areas 4 on the raised floor 8. The planned movement 2 and/or the safety area 4 is/are visualized by means of the activatable markings 7. The visualization with the activatable markings 7 can also be simultaneously used to transmit the course of the planned movement 2 to the object 3.

[0074] The example from FIG. 3 is extended in FIG. 4 by virtue of the fact that two objects 3 with their planned movements 2 and their safety area 4 are presented on the raised floor 8 and are explained. It can be seen that a planned movement 2/trajectory respectively exists here for each object 3, in which case there is a primary planned movement 17/trajectory and a secondary planned movement 18/trajectory. Safety areas 4 with an overlap 5 respectively exist for both planned movements 2, 17 and 18. In such a case, it would now be necessary to carry out a step e) in order to adapt the secondary planned movement 18 of the corresponding object 3, so that the overlap 5 no longer occurs. FIG. 4 also illustrates, by way of example, a signal 6 which can be used to transmit data from the raised floor 8 to an object 3 on the raised floor 8.

[0075] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the described method. Method steps a) to e) which can be iteratively repeated in the manner of a loop can be seen.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0076] 1 Floor element [0077] 2 Planned movement [0078] 3 Object [0079] 4 Safety area [0080] 5 Overlap [0081] 6 Signal [0082] 7 Activatable marking [0083] 8 Raised floor [0084] 9 Floor panel [0085] 10 Functional element [0086] 11 Control device [0087] 12 Connecting element [0088] 13 Support [0089] 14 Subfloor [0090] 15 Sensor [0091] 16 Pathway [0092] 17 Primary planned movement [0093] 18 Secondary planned movement