A new concept for triangulation measurement of AGV attitude and position

This work discusses the working principle and mechanical details of a new scanning transducer for angle measurement between IR modulated emitters placed in known positions. The system can be used for position estimation of AGVs inside structured environments. Position is computed by triangulation. The advantage of the proposed transducer is that, having approximately the same accuracy as the commonly widespread laser system, it makes use of active targets, which allow a further degree of freedom: height for target installation. In other words, coplanarity between targets and plane of scanning is no longer required (as in the case of laser beams). Consequently, target visibility may be achieved even in the case of bulky machinery placed inside the factory environment. Using three targets repeatability error in angle estimation is ±47 arcseconds, which means that positional accuracy in a square 10 m room is ±2 mm.