Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Sebastian B. Tidikwe
BEng Mechanical Engineering
Project Supervisor: Dr H.S.Qi
2014
By Sebastian B. Tidikwe
I.
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................... 3
II.TABLE OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................... 5
III.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................... 5
1.INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................ 5
1.1.BACKGROUND............................................................................................... 5
1.2.OUTLINE OF REPORT..................................................................................... 6
1.3.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.................................................................................. 8
1.3.1.AIM:........................................................................................................ 8
1.3.2.OBJECTIVES:........................................................................................... 8
2.LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................. 9
2.1. FUZZY LOGIC............................................................................................... 9
2.1.1. THE CONCEPT OF FUZZINESS.............................................................. 10
2.1.2. FUZZY INFERENCE PROCESS............................................................... 24
2.2.AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLE SYSTEMS.................................................... 32
2.2.1.DAWN OF THE AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLE...................................... 33
2.2.2.GENERAL TECHNOLOGY........................................................................ 37
3.FUZZY CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLE........................................ 45
3.1. DEVELOPMENT........................................................................................... 48
3.1.1. MEMBERSHIP FUNCTIONS.................................................................... 48
3.1.2. RULES................................................................................................. 55
4.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................... 59
5.CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................... 63
5.1. CONCLUSION............................................................................................. 63
5.2. RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................. 64
6.REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................... 65
7.APPENDIX...................................................................................................................................... 67
7.1.GANTT CHART............................................................................................. 67
7.2.HEALTH & SAFETY, ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY....................................... 68
7.3.PARAMETERS.............................................................................................. 68
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 5
II.
III.
TABLE OF FIGURES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my very great appreciation to Dr H.S.Qi for his valuable and
constructive suggestions during the planning and development of this report. His
willingness to give his time so generously has been highly appreciated. I would also like
to thank all the colleagues and friends who contributed to the successful completion of
this project. My grateful thanks are also extended to Dr Readle for his valuable advice
upon completion of the project.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.
BACKGROUND
The issue of uncertainty has not always been embraced within the scientific
community; uncertainty represents an undesirable state, a state that must be avoided at
all costs. The leading theory in quantifying uncertainty in specific models from the late
nineteenth century until the late twentieth century had been probability theory.
However, the gradual evolution of the expression of uncertainty using probability theory
was challenged, first in 1937 by Max Black, with his studies in vagueness, followed by
the introduction of fuzzy sets by Lofti Zadeh in 1965 whos work had a profound
influence on the philosophy about uncertainty because he challenged not only
probability theory as a sole representation of uncertainty, but the very fundamentals
upon which probability theory was based: classical binary (two valued) logic [Klir and
Yuan, 1995 cited in (Ross, 2004)].
This project has been inspired by the fuzzy computer research which focuses in
achieving high speed characteristics with fuzzy interference computer relationships
1.2.
OUTLINE OF REPORT
Report focuses on developing fuzzy controllers that will allow automated guided
vehicles to avoid stagnant obstacles on guidepath.
Chapter 1: Introduction
A brief presentation of the problem to be addressed by the report.
Chapter 7: Appendix
Supports the report and has information that impedes the main text such as Gantt chart
and simulation parameters. Also includes a critical reflection on Health and Safety,
Ethics and Sustainability.
1.3.
1.3.1. AIM:
1.3.2. OBJECTIVES:
Discuss results
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. FUZZY LOGIC
Fuzzy logic is a form of multivalued logic derived from fuzzy set theory to deal with
reasoning that is approximate rather than precise. Just as in the fuzzy set theory the set
membership values can range (inclusively) between 0 and 1, in fuzzy logic the degree of
truth of a statement can range between 0 and 1 and is not constrained to the two truth
values {true, false} as in classic predicate logic (Vargus, 2009, p. vii). With the use of
logistic variables, these degrees may be managed by specific functions.
Mankind often uses notions which are quite vague; for example, a man is considered
young or old, an object light or heavy, a car slow or fast and so on. Take young as an
illustration; Suppose A is a 20 year old man, who is reflected to be certainly young. Now
comes another man B, only one day older than A. Of course, B is also young but how
about a man only one day older than B. Continuing in this way, it quite difficult to
determine an exact age beyond which a man will be considered middle aged. As a
matter of fact, there is no distinct line between the two but rather a gradual transition
from one concept to another.
In 1965, Zadeh introduced the concepts of fuzzy sets just in order to represent this class
of sets. Providing a number to every element in the universe, which indicates the degree
(grade) to which the element belongs to a fuzzy set. In this interpretation, everybody has
a degree to which he or she is young (eventually the degree is 0 or 1). (Xushu, et al.,
2009, pp. 21-22)
T : u U (0,1)
Example 1. Let P be the proposition the structural beam is an 18WF45 and let Q be
the proposition the structural beam is made of steel. Let X be the universe of
structural members comprised of girders, beams and columns; x is an element (beam),
A is the set of all wide-flange (WF) beams, and B is the set of all steel beams. Hence
P : x is in A
Q : x is in B
A propositional calculus (also known as algebra of propositions) will exist for the case
where proposition P measures the truth of the statement that an element, x, from the
universe X is contained in set A and the truth of the statement Q that this element, x, is
contained in set B, or more conventionally.
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 11
Set Operations
In its simplest meaning, an operation is a procedure which produces a new value from
one or more input values. In ordinary arithmetic and algebra the four common
operations that can be performed are namely; addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. Similarly we also define several operations on sets, the most fundamental
operations being union, intersection and complement of any set with respect to some
superset of it.
Union: The union of two sets A and B is written as A B and defined as that set which
contains all the elements lying within either A or B or both. In the basic representation
the definition is:
A B = { x: x A or x B}
Mathematical Modelling
The basic concept of fuzziness as shown in the examples above needs to be represented
in a mathematical manner. This is a requirement in getting to the sentiment of the
notion, in manipulating fuzzy statements, and in applying them. (Nguyen & Walker,
1997, p. 2). The succeeding definition expresses this concept of fuzzy sets
mathematically.
Definition: Let X be the universe. A mapping A : X [0,1] is called a fuzzy set on X. the
value A(x) of A at x X stands for the degree of membership of x in A. The set of all
fuzzy sets on X will be denoted by F(X).
A(x) = 1 means full membership, A(x) = 0 means non membership and intermediate
values between 0 and 1 mean partial membership. A(x) is referred to as membership
function or characteristic function as x varies in X.
Defined as
Example: let O denote old and Y denote young. We limit the scope of age to X = [0,100]
then both O and Y are fuzzy sets that are respectively defined as follows:
If the kind of distinction shown previously is impractical, then what is the right way to
define the set of tall people? The following figure shows a smoothly varying curve that
passes from not-tall to tall. The output-axis is the membership value between 0 and 1
where is the membership function that defines the transition from not tall to tall.
Crisp output
Fuzzy output
The sigmoidal membership function is open either left or right. Closed membership
functions can be synthesised using two sigmoidal functions, so in addition to the
basic sigmf, you also have the difference between two sigmoidal functions, dsigmf,
and the product of two sigmoidal functions psigmf.
Polynomial based curves include Z, S, and Pi curves, all named because of their shape.
The function zmf is the asymmetrical polynomial curve open to the left, smf is the
mirror-image function that opens to the right, and pimf is zero on both extremes with
a rise in the middle.
(MathWorks, 1994-2014)
Logical Operations
Fuzzy logic, just as fuzzy sets, borrows notion from crisp logic. As in our extension of
classical set theory to fuzzy set theory, our extension of crisp logic to fuzzy logic is made
by replacing membership functions of crisp logic with fuzzy memberships. (Bandemer
& Gottwald, 1995). If you keep the fuzzy values at their extremes of 1 (completely true)
and 0 (completely false), standard logic operations will hold.
For example: consider the following truth variables;
Now, because in fuzzy logic the truth of any statement is a matter of degree, these truth
tables can be altered.
Notice how the previous truth table is completely unaffected by this substitution.
Because there is a function behind the truth table rather than just the truth table itself,
you can now consider values other than 1 and 0. Figure 10 uses a graph to show the
same information, the truth table is converted to a plot of two fuzzy sets applied
together to create one fuzzy set. The upper part of the figure displays plots
corresponding to the preceding two-valued truth tables while the lower part of the
figure shows how the operations work over a continuously changing range of truth
values A and B according to the fuzzy operations.
In this case, we have defined what is called Fuzzy Intersection (AND), Fuzzy Union
(OR) and Fuzzy Complement (NOT).
These fuzzy operators which are often referred to as T-norm and S-norm operators
respectively, meet the following basic requirements:
Boundary: T(0,0) = 0, T(1,a) = T(a,1) = a
S(1,1) = 1, S(a,0) = S(0,a) = a
Monotonicity: T(a,b) <= T(c,d) if a <= c and b <= d
S(a,b) <= S(c,d) if a <= c and b <= d
Commutativity: T(a,b) = T(b,a)
S(a,b) = S(b,a)
Associativity: T(a,T(b,c)) = T(T(a,b),c)
S(a,S(b,c)) = S(S(a,b),c)
Fuzzy Rules
Represented by a sequence of the form IF-THEN, fuzzy rules lead to procedures
describing what action or output should be taken in terms of the currently observed
information, which includes both input and feedback, if a closed-loop control system is
applied. The law to design of fuzzy rules is based on a human beings knowledge or
experience, which is dependent on each application.
The IF part is mainly used to capture knowledge by using the elastic conditions
whereas the THEN part can be utilized to give the conclusion in linguistic variable
form.
A linguistic variable is a variable whose values are words in a natural language, for
example, height is a linguistic variable which can take values as short, average and
tall and so on.
If-Then Rules
Fuzzy sets and fuzzy operators are subjects and verbs of fuzzy logic. These if-then
statements are used to express the conditional statements that compromise fuzzy logic. A
fuzzy if-then rule assumes the form;
If x is A then y is B
Where A and B are linguistic values defined by fuzzy sets on the ranges X and Y,
respectively. The if-part of the rule x is A is called the antecedent, while the then-part
of the rule y is B is called the consequent or conclusion. An example of such a rule
might be;
The process of fuzzy inference involves all the pieces described in the previous sections:
membership functions, fuzzy logic operators and if-then rules. There are two types of
fuzzy inference systems that can be implemented in the MATLAB Fuzzy Logic
Toolbox: Mandani-type and Sugeno-type. These two types of inference systems vary
somewhat in the way outputs are determined.
Mandanis fuzzy inference method is the most commonly seen fuzzy methodology and
as defined for the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox, expects the output membership functions to be
fuzzy sets. After the aggregation process, there is a fuzzy set for each output variable
that needs defuzzification. It is possible, and in many cases efficient, to use a single spike
as the output membership function rather than a distributed fuzzy set. This is
sometimes known as singleton output membership function, and it can be thought of as
a pre-defuzzified fuzzy set. It enhances the efficiency of the defuzzification process
because it greatly simplifies the computation required by the more general Mandani
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 24
In the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox there are five parts of the fuzzy inference process:
Defuzzification
the
membership
qualifying
functions
max (maximum)
figure 16 shows all three rules placed together to show how the output of each rule is
combined, or aggregated, into a single fuzzy set whose membership function assigns
a weighting for every output (tip) value.
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 28
Step 5. DEFUZZIFY
The input of the defuzzification process is the aggregate output fuzzy set and the output
is a crisp number. As much as fuzziness helps the rule evaluation during the transitional
steps, the final desired output for each variable is generally a crisp number. However,
the aggregate of a fuzzy set incorporates a range of output variables, and so must be
defuzzified in order to resolve a single output value from the set.
The most common defuzzification method is the centroid calculation, which returns the
centre of area under the curve. There are five built-in methods supported: centroid,
bisector, middle of maximum (the average of the maximum value of the output set),
largest of maximum and smallest of maximum.
Figure 14 Defuzzification
(MathWorks, 1994-2014)
2.2.
Economic Justification. In more and more material handling situations, AGVSs are
proving themselves as the most economical method of moving material.
System Liability. Computer control allows material tracking between stations and
delivery confirmation in real time.
Safe Handling. Studies prove there is less product and plant equipment damage
when an AGVS is used to move material. This is because the vehicles travel on a
predetermined route and thus cannot collide with racks or other obstacles.
LIMITATIONS
No matter how marvellous an automation device may be, there are always associated
drawbacks. AGVS are no exception. In some instances these drawbacks may prevent a
system from being installed or necessitate extensive modification of the existing facility
to permit use of the device. Negative management and/or employee attitudes should be
considered as a possible drawback.
Expense. Experienced users claim that the initial investment for large assembly-type
AGVS may be two or three times that of traditional material handling methods.
Ramp Gradients. Ramp gradients are usually limited to 4-6%, although gradients of
up to 10% are permissible with reduced load capacity. Long ramps may create such
problems as overheating of motors and my further reduce the load capacities. In
addition, if the vehicle is required to stop on the ramp (either emergency or
programmed stop), the motor may not have sufficient restart power.
Complexity. Use of higher level of software and hardware prevents the majority of
electricians from troubleshooting and repairing AGVs. (Hammond, 1986, pp. 17-19).
A map of the area in which the AGV can operate contained in the vehicles
computer memory.
Multiple, fixed reference points located within the operating area that can be
detected or seen by the AGV.
During travel the AVG will measure distance and direction by counting the number of
wheel revolutions and measuring the steering angle (odometry). Sensors attached to the
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 38
Laser
Grid
GPS
The GPS option is only applicable outdoors. Grid and laser are calibration alternatives
suited for indoor environments, while the grid can also be applied in outdoor AGV
applications.
Laser
Commonly used in industry environments, laser guidance
involves
reflective
reference
(super-
reflectors)
emmits
back
to
the
vehicle when it strikes the reflector. An Automated Guided Vehicle needs only two (but
idealy three or four) targets in order to calculate a relative coordinate location and
heading using simple geometry.
Grid
Tuning by means of grid is less common as it
is original to only a selected group of licencees
such as FROG AGV Systems. The grid
consists of small magnets implanted in the
road surface and the AVG re-calibrates its
position everytime the vehicle travels over one
automotive
type
steering
sensor
can
whether
the
vehicle is to the left or right of the path by detecting the positive or negative phase of the
signal received from the guidepath calibration.
Steered wheel control is used in all types of automated guided vehicles; however,
differential steer control is not used in towing applications or on vehicles which have
many on-board controls. Differential steer control vehicles are used in pivot steer
modules in space limited applications not requiring high throughput volume. This is
because the vehicle can perform 90 turns and proceed into or out of a station. If
sufficient room is present, a normal radius curve is often better from the standpoint of
flow and controls simplicity.
Steered wheel type vehicles have excellent guidance tolerance along the guidepath.
Differential steer vehicles normally have less tracking tolerance and therefore require
external guides or positioning devices at load stations when used in automatic load
transfer applications.
Because of the advantages of each type of steering for various situations, some
commercial vehicles are supplied with dual steering capabilities. (Miller, 1987, pp. 1617)
COMMUNICATION
Message commands such as where to go, when to start, when to slow down and when to
stop and also includes fault condition reporting. Computer-controlled systems
overseeing remote objects need a means of communication commands, and in many
cases confirming replies between a supervisory computer and the objects being
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Power on virtually all AGVs is provided by batteries. Different battery technologies are
available for AGVs, but the selection of most appropriate battery type for each AGVapplication is determined by factors such as ambient temperature, throughput, number
of shifts in operation, the type of AGV used to handle the loads, the load weight, and
specific customer requirements.
SAFETY
The purpose of an AGV obstacle detection is to detect any obstacle on the path, in the
time, so that the AGV can slow down and stop, if necessary until the path is clear. As the
path clears, the AGVs will automatically continue their trip.
Bumpers: Some AGVs are equipped with bumpers and/or contact strips which work
upon impact causing the vehicle to stop immediately when in contact with an obstacle.
This is the most basic form of obstacle detection but is perfectly adequate for certain
AGV acoording to application.
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 43
As seen on the previous chapter, AGVs are somehow limited when it gets to obstacle
avoidance. This could be a major drawback in the technology as one of the main factors
to be considered in technology progression is safety at large. However, technology grows
in all directions and when we make ends meet we come up with better solutions to our
continuously evolving problems.
With the use of modern programming, sensors and actuators, we can improve the safety
of Automated Guided Vehicles and this chapter shows us how. In this chapter we shall
design and make a model of an automated guided vehicle that can avoid obstacles using
MATLAB Simulink.
This model can be annexed to any complete guide-path program and will override the
guide-path whenever an obstacle has been detected. Like any control system it involves
an input a processing unit and an output. These vary according to the kind of detection
and steering system used. In this case we assume the model uses infrared sensors as
inputs and differential motor steering as the form of output. As explained in the
previous section most current AGV that use non-contact obstacle detection are limited
to only two commands; stop when an obstacle is detected, and go when obstacle has
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 45
the
object,
and
two
outputs,
W1
and
W2.
3.1. DEVELOPMENT
3.1.1. MEMBERSHIP FUNCTIONS
Input: SHARP IR SENSOR
Sharp infrared detectors and rangers boast a
small
package,
output options. In
order to maximise each sensors potential, it is important to understand how these types
of sensors work, their effective ranges and how to interface them.
Infrared rangers use triangulation and a small linear CCD array to compute the
distance and/or presence of objects in the field of view. In order to triangulate, a pulse of
IR light is emitted by the emitter. The light travels out into the field of view and either
hits an object or just keeps on going. In the case of no object, the light is never reflected
and the reading shows no object. If the light reflects off an object, it returns to the
detector and creates a triangle between the point of reflection, the emitter and the
detector.
The incident angle of the reflected light varies based on the distance to the object. The
reciever portion of the IR rangers consists of a precision lens that transmits reflected
light onto various portions of the enclosed linear CCD array based on the incident angle
of the reflected light. The CCD array can then determine the incident angle and thus
calculate the distance to the object..
Unfortunately, due to the trigonometry involved in computing the distance based on the
reflected light incident angle, the output of these detectors is non-linear with respect to
the distance being measured. In other words a big change in output voltage does not
always indicate a big change in distance to an object. The graph below taken off the
Acroname website
shows
example
analog
of
the
output voltage vs
an
distance to
an object.
detectors
(10cm
Using the acquired data about the IR sensor above, the Distance membership
functions can be customized to suit the Sharp IR sensor. Due to the logarithmic change
in the analog output, the gaussmf will be a suitable membership function for the sensor.
With corresponding parameters obtained from the linearized graph, assume NR to be
0cm to 40cm, MID to be 30cm to 70cm and FAR to be 60cm+. Cross-firing the sensors
will result in the sensor detection range being between 10cm and 80cm thus eliminating
interference confusion. Figure 33 shows the modified Distance membership functions.
Most Sharp IR sensors have a viewing angle that ranges between 25 and 35 so it will
be reasonable to give the sensors an average viewing angle of 30. Figure 34 below
shows the modified Angle membership functions as according to viewing angle.
Angles 0 to 35 and 145 to 180 are not included in detection range because any
obstacles that could be detected on these angles will be on the side but this project
mainly focuses on obstacles on the robot guide-path. During further development, more
sensors can be added to the system in order to detect obstacles approaching the AGV
from the sides.
Output: DC MOTOR
The output involves a differential drive configuration with two DC motors, Vl and Vr.
Since the motors have a rated voltage of 12V, the output from the inference system will
Supervised By: Dr. H.S.Qi
Report By: Sebastian Baboni Tidikwe Page 50
Since the motor voltage is regarded as output of the system, a DC motor simulation has
been deemed necessary. To be able to simulate the output, it must be understood how
the DC motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy.
Figure 24 DC motor
Above is the electrical diagram of a DC motor, its working principle lies in the Lorenz
force created as a consequence of having an electric current going through a conductor
which is placed within an external magnetic field. Following are briefly explained
equations that govern the DC motor.
(1)
From these equations it can noticed that there is a linear relationship between the
current in the winding () and the rotor torque () and there a correspondence between
the back e.m.f. ( ) and the rotor rotational speed (). The torque is exerted to accelerate
the rotor and ultimately this mechanical power will be transmitted through a gear set to
the wheel. Therefore part of the torque will cause a rotational acceleration of the rotor,
depending on its inertia, and the rest of the energy will be dissipated in the bearings
according to its viscous friction and the rotational speed. The application will require
certain reduction in order to adapt to the speed (reduced) and torque (increased) and
meet the wheel kinematics needs. Therefore the desired modelling would be:
Figure 25
Moving on to studying the gear reduction effect in more detail it is evident that not only
does it adapt the mechanical variables but it also reduces quadratically the dynamic
Using relationships;
and
and
Once these equations are gathered, they are arranged and Laplace transformation is
applied. Working out the calculations, the outcome could be represented on the block
diagram as follows;
The input of this sub-system is the voltage of the motor (V1) and it has as outputs, the
linear speed generated by the rotation of the wheel (m/s) and its displacement (m),
which is simply its integral. The large transfer function relates the rotor torque with the
rotor speed considering the wheel dynamic influence and also the gear efficiency. For a
differential drive steering two of these subsystems will be required.
Where:
and are the linear speed of the right and left wheels, respectively.
The average speed and the rotational speed of the mobile platform can be simply
determined as;
Bearing in mind that the linear velocity is the cross product of the rotational velocity
and the distance from the turning point to the centre, in other words the turning radius
as we just need its absolute value:
Next is the modelling of all the differential drive equations in Simulink and related the
according blocks. Therefore, the centre of the robot can be tracked.
The subsystem at the bottom represents the position of the robot in function of its angle
through time.
(Raul, 2011)
3.1.2. RULES
With information flowing from left to right, from two inputs to two outputs with three
membership functions each, the result is 9 rules as shown below.
Figure 28 rules
These rules are decided using human logic and can be altered depending on ones
preference. Once decided the rules can be implemented on the rule editor and viewed on
the rule viewer as shown below.
Once the rules have been implemented the model can be imported to the workspace to
be used in Simulink to simulate the steering model. On the Simulink library is the fuzzy
logic controller block under the fuzzy logic toolbox which is used to interface the fuzzy
model into the simulation. Once in the fuzzy controller block parameters, the matrix
can be viewed by looking under the mask, figure 43 shows how it looks like.
Now that the fuzzy controller has been implemented, it can now be introduced to the
differential drive kinematic model. The diagram below shows the complete model with
inputs distance and angle as constants in the universe of their respective discourse.
The graphs above illustrate the voltage output from the fuzzy controller in Volts, this
voltage is then fed to the motors to produce the desired steering of the vehicle.
Case
2:
Assume
Figure 50 case 2
Case 3: Assume an obstacle more than 80cm away (0.0V, far) on the left (50),
Figure 52 case 3
Notice the difference in all three cases. Case 1 demonstrates a greater turning radius to
Case 2 because of the differences in distances. The nearer the obstacle to the vehicle the
sharp the turn is expected hence the behaviour in Case 2. The direction of the turn can
also be noticed to change according to angle of obstacle. Case 3 demonstrates the
response of the vehicle when an obstacle is detected far. When left for longer the
vehicle tends to turn to the right gradually, this could be due to the controller error and
can be avoided by optimising.
This model would be most efficient for Free Range AGV Navigation Systems as they are
not required to follow a fixed path to reach their destination. For Fixed Path Navigation
Systems it might require too many modifications to the system program in order for the
obstacle avoidance to be effective as the AGV will have to leave the path to avoid the
obstacle.
In this report the automated guided vehicle has been researched and understood.
this includes historical background, applications, benefits and limitations, safety
as well as general technology
The fuzziness of the AGV was identified needed as most AGVs would only stop
when detecting a vehicle rather than avoiding it. This means if obstacle is
stagnant, AGV will have to stop until object has been moved thus slowing
production and efficiency.
The concepts of fuzzy logic had been well understood and applied to the
fuzziness in the AGV safety. Defining the relevant membership functions and
Once the fuzzy controller was implemented it was integrated with Simulink to
test its viability and results came positive showing a steady state cornering of the
AGV with assumed conditions.
5.2. RECOMMENDATIONS
Now that it is understood how fuzzy logic operates, there is infinite directions to take
from here. As this report only demonstrates the function of the fuzzy logic, its only a
basic stage of the fuzzy logic application. Given more time and resources, more can be
accomplished through fuzzy logic. Currently most control systems use C software to
program their control systems which also means most of the microcontrollers would
also support C rather than MATLAB. To be able to integrate the MATLAB fuzzy
logic into a C program, one needs to understand both MATLAB and C. One way to
transfer variables from MATLAB to C is by using the MATLAB coder which can be a
whole report by itself. Also C code can be generated through Kalman Filtering or the
use of MATLAB libraries in C or vice versa.
If there was work done in this project in the future, it is recommended that the program
be tested on physical applications. This includes learning and understanding MATLAB
embedded coding or the use of fuzzy logic libraries in C in order to be able to program a
microcontroller to use on a test robot. From there fuzzy logic interface can be modified
to avoid moving objects by adding more rules and membership functions that can
anticipate non stationary obstacles.
There have been numerous researches on how to optimise fuzzy logic controllers to get
the best outputs from the system, it also recommended to look into optimising the
controller once it has been proven to work on physical test robots. One way to optimise
the system would be by using rotating sensors that will be able to tell exactly where the
object is from the AGV.
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Bandemer, H. & Gottwald, S., 1995. Fuzzy Sets, Fuzzy Logic, Fuzzy
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Belohlavek, R. & Klir, G. J., 2011. Concepts and Fuzzy logic, s.l.:
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Xushu, W., Da, R. & Kerre, E. E., 2009. Mathematics of Fuzziness Basic Issues. vol 245 ed. Berlin: Springer, p. 21-22.
28.
Xushu, W., Da, R. & Kerre, E. E., 2009. Mathematics of Fuzziness Basic Issues. vol 245 ed. Berlin: Springer, p. 21.
29.
Xushu, W., Da, R. & Kerre, E. E., 2009. Mathematics of Fuzziness Basic Issues. vol 245 ed. Berlin: Springer, p. V.
30.
Xushu, W., Da, R. & Kerre, E. E., 2009. Mathematics of Fuzziness Basic Issues. vol 245 ed. Berlin: Springer, p. 22
7. APPENDIX
7.1.
GANTT CHART
7.2.
HEALTH
&
SAFETY,
ETHICS
AND
SUSTAINABILITY
The principal aim of this report is to solve safety problems in automated guided
vehicles. Components needed for the proposed model to function are already installed in
AGVs being produced at the moment. The AGVs themselves can have long term
consequences to the environment as they use components such as batteries which
require exploitation of natural resources to be produced. Progression in this sector of
technology threatens human welfare as it replaces manual labour leaving work for only
the qualified and professionals in higher education. On the bright side, this model can
be annexed to almost any kind of automated guided vehicle with only little modification
made to the vehicle and in most cases only the control program needs to be edited,
leaving a safer working environment for human, robots and inventory.
7.3.
PARAMETERS
clear
clc
Dist_wheels=0.12;
%m