Method for Operating a Track Guidance System

Abstract

A method for operating a track guidance system including at least one floor element includes specifying a destination point of at least one object on the at least one floor element, and moving the at least one object along the at least one floor element toward the specified destination point. As the at least one object moves, the movement is tracked along the at least one floor element and movement information is transmitted at least to a further object on the at least one floor element or to a first of the at least one floor element.

Claims

1. A method for operating a track guidance system including a plurality of floor elements, comprising: specifying a destination point of at least one object on or above the plurality of floor elements; tracking movement of a first of the at least one object along a first of the plurality of floor elements toward the specified destination point to generate movement information; and transmitting the generated movement information to at least one of a second of the at least one object and a second of the plurality of floor elements.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: offering multiple routes along the plurality of floor elements to the first of the at least one object prior to tracking movement of the first of the at least one object along the first of the plurality of floor elements toward the specified destination point.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: influencing, with a plurality of local control centers of the at least one floor element, a movement of the first of the at least one object along the at least one floor element toward the specified destination point.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: conducting a data communication between the first of the at least one object and at least one of the plurality of floor elements.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: providing the plurality of floor elements with at least one of a marking element and an indicating element; and activating the provided at least one of the marking element and the indicating element based on the conducted data communication.

6. 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 the raised floor element to at least one further raised floor element, wherein a first of the at least one functional element is configured as one of a series of activatable markings and a matrix of activatable markings, defining a region of the raised floor element.

7. The raised floor element according to claim 6, wherein the one of the series of activatable markings and the matrix of activatable markings comprises light emitters.

8. The raised floor element according to claim 6 wherein: a second of the at least one functional element comprises at least one sensor configured to sense objects on or above the raised floor element.

9. The raised floor element according to claim 6 wherein: the second of the at least one functional element comprises at least one sensor configured to sense movements of objects on or above the raised floor element.

10. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: providing the plurality of floor elements with at least one of a marking element and an indicating element; and activating the provided at least one of the marking element and the indicating element based on an evaluation of the data communication with the at least one object.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] The disclosure and the technical environment are also explained in more detail below on the basis of figures. In this case, the same components are identified by the same reference signs. The representations are schematic and not intended to illustrate relative sizes. The explanations given with reference to individual details of a figure can be extracted and freely combined with substantive matter from other figures or from the description above, unless something else necessarily emerges for a person skilled in the art or such a combination is explicitly prohibited here. In the drawings:

[0058] FIG. 1: schematically shows an intelligent floor with an opto-electronic track guidance system in the example of a raised floor comprising multiple raised floor elements;

[0059] FIG. 2: schematically shows an illustration of the route tracking and subsequent route specifying mechanism;

[0060] FIG. 3: schematically shows an arrangement of colored LEDs and light sensors in the case of an intelligent floor; and

[0061] FIG. 4: schematically shows a possibility for the opto-electrical tracking of object movements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of an intelligent floor with an opto-electronic track guidance system. Shown is a raised floor element 1 of a raised floor 6 with an upper floor panel 7, which rests at the corners on a frame element 13 in the form of (metal) supports, by which the floor panel 7 is supported above a raw floor 15, for example made of concrete. The floor panel 7 is arranged at a distance from the raw floor 15 with the aid of the supports, so that a free space 14 (intermediate space) is formed between the raw floor and the floor panel 7.

[0063] The intelligent floor may be a raised floor 7 made of individual tiles or elements (floor elements 1), which have integrated additional functions, such as for example embedded LEDs as a visualization function or as activatable markings 11 with marking elements 4. Depending on the selected expansion stage, the LEDs can be organized in this case as LED strips and/or as an LED matrix (see FIG. 1). The primary function of the LEDs is, on the one hand, the marking of pathways, routes, etc. Additionally, the LEDs can be used as a dynamic track guidance system for objects 2, in particular track-guided driverless transport systems (DTS). The activatable markings 7 are used in particular for transmitting control information to the DTS.

[0064] FIG. 2 is intended to illustrate by way of example how the method could proceed in the form of an opto-electronic track guidance system for driverless transport systems (DTS). It is illustrated on the left in FIG. 2 that the objects choose or are given multiple routes 17 or paths in order to arrive at a destination point 19 from a starting point 18. In this case, depending on the direction of movement (see direction arrows a, b in the figure), a starting point may also be a destination point for an (another) object. It is illustrated in the middle in FIG. 2 that the intensity of movement and/or the frequency of use is sensed and possibly analyzed. The results of this process can be followed up and passed on to a control center and/or directly to the objects, so that the next time they travel from the starting point 18 to the destination point 19 they choose a route 17 that is particularly preferred (for example because shorter), compare on the right in FIG. 2.

[0065] FIG. 3 shows a left detail of an intelligent floor 1, 6, may with a paired arrangement of colored LEDs as marking elements 4 and light sensors 12. Matching this, the object 2 may be equipped by means of a sensor array 20 and an LED as marking elements 4 (shown on the right). The sensor array 20 is in this case designed such that at least one LED of the intelligent floor 1, 6 always remains within its receiving range or monitoring range 21. If the object 2 is placed on the intelligent floor 1 6, it detects the LED that is emitting the highest trail intensity. This directly gives the trajectory to be followed, as indicated by way of example in FIG. 4, along which the object (finally) travels.

[0066] FIG. 4 illustrates the behavior for selecting a preferred route according to the path with the highest trace intensity (see at (+)) and the resultant trajectory of the object on the intelligent floor 1, 6. In this case, the object 2 is above or on the correspondingly equipped floor. Once the object has reached the destination LED, it emits by means of its own LED a corresponding trail signal, which is sensed by the associated light sensor 12 on the floor. The described process is repeated with the LEDs then lying in the measuring range. Thus an overall route is produced from the linking up of the individual trajectories.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0067] 1 Floor element [0068] 2 Object [0069] 3 Control center [0070] 4 Marking element [0071] 5 Indicating element [0072] 6 Raised floor [0073] 7 Floor panel [0074] 8 Functional element [0075] 9 Control device [0076] 10 Connecting element [0077] 11 Activatable marking [0078] 12 Sensor [0079] 13 Frame element [0080] 14 Free space [0081] 15 Raw floor [0082] 16 Controller [0083] 17 Route [0084] 18 Starting point [0085] 19 Destination point [0086] 20 Sensor array [0087] 21 Monitoring range [0088] 22 Trajectory