Intelligent Rail-Guided Vehicle Obstacle Avoidance

The intelligent rail-guided transport system connects transmission stations in different areas via specific tracks. Specialized transport vehicles travel along these fixed tracks, enabling three-dimensional, point-to-point transportation between stations. To improve the operational efficiency of the rail-guided vehicles, multiple vehicles can run simultaneously. To prevent collisions between these vehicles, Benewake has introduced a LiDAR obstacle avoidance solution, ensuring safe operation of the vehicles and reducing property damage.

Overhead Rail Vehicles

Following delivery instructions from the control center, intelligent vehicles travel along overhead rails to material delivery point A and transport the materials to station B via horizontal or vertical tracks. This achieves fast, contactless intelligent material transportation. To prevent collisions between multiple overhead rail robots during operation, two TF-Luna low-cost LiDAR distance measurement modules are installed at both the front and rear of the robots (as shown in the diagram) to detect distances. When an obstacle is detected during operation, the inspection robot triggers an alarm and decelerates or stops immediately, ensuring the safe operation of the overhead rail inspection robots.

Shuttle Vehicles in Automated Warehouses

In automated warehouses, multiple shuttle vehicles operate on tracks at high speeds. To prevent collisions and safety incidents that could reduce the warehouse's operational efficiency, Benewake single-point LiDAR units can be integrated in four directions on the shuttle vehicles. These LiDAR units detect obstacles and measure distances to other vehicles in real-time. When an obstacle suddenly appears or another vehicle stops, the LiDAR provides immediate distance feedback, allowing the system to promptly control the shuttle vehicles to decelerate or stop.

Overhead Cranes

Overhead cranes are essential equipment for lifting and transporting materials in large factories and workshops, commonly found in industries such as metallurgy, papermaking, and construction materials. In large workshops, multiple overhead cranes often operate simultaneously on the same track, undertaking heavy workloads. Collisions between cranes, often caused by delayed braking, can significantly impact production efficiency and even result in employee safety incidents.

Collision prevention devices for overhead cranes measure the distance between cranes on the same track in real-time. They can also monitor the distance between a crane and the end of the track, set safety alert distances, control the crane to decelerate or stop, and promptly notify the operator to pay attention to the distance between cranes. These devices are crucial for the safe operation of overhead cranes. Benewake's single-point LiDAR modules offer a wide range of models that are unaffected by environmental light and other interferences. With a maximum range of up to 350 meters, centimeter-level measurement accuracy, a detection frequency of up to 1000Hz, and a design tailored for industrial environments with IP65/67 protection ratings, these modules provide stable and reliable distance measurement results for overhead crane collision prevention systems.

Solution Introduction

1. Solution Diagram

3. Solution Description

Based on the different directions of crane operation, the system determines whether the area ahead is occupied by another crane or the end of the track and sets different alert zones accordingly. As shown in the red area of the diagram, the zone within distance L2 from the crane is designated as the collision prevention zone, or emergency braking area (Zone ①). The slightly farther zone, depicted in yellow, where the distance D between cranes is between L1 and L2, is designated as the deceleration zone (Zone ②). Any area where the distance is greater than L1 is considered the normal driving zone (Zone ③).

For cranes moving in the same direction, the deceleration threshold L1 is typically set to 15 meters. The LiDAR continuously measures the real-time distance D between two cranes. When D is less than the L1 threshold, the crane decelerates. The emergency braking threshold is usually set to 5 meters. If the real-time distance D between two cranes falls below the L2 threshold, the crane performs an emergency stop to prevent collisions.

If the crane is moving towards the end of the track with no other cranes in between, the deceleration threshold L1 is typically set to 10 meters, and the emergency braking threshold L2 is set to 3 meters.

When the distance falls within the alert zones, the system triggers the audio-visual alarm module to alert the operator to drive safely.

4. Installation Method

Install a Benewake LiDAR on both sides of the crane's direction of travel to detect the left and right side distances. The two LiDAR units are mounted on opposite corners of the crane to prevent interference from direct line-of-sight between the LiDAR units of two adjacent cranes. Align the LiDAR with the target or object, using an indicator laser and infrared camera to ensure the LiDAR beam's center is aimed accurately at the target.