Extended range tactility in material handling

Optical fibres sensitized to their geometric curvature are arranged in loop s around an autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) in order to extend the vehicle' s tactile sensing range and allow larger speeds that require larger stoppin g distances. When the AGV approaches other objects (obstacles) within this range, fibre optic loops deform and sense the gradual change in their curva ture. No intermediate mechanical elements are used to either transfer the i mpact loads onto the sensitive element or to provide compliance to it. Opti cal fibres themselves achieve these two functions simultaneously. As a resu lt, tactility is achieved within a comparatively large position range exten ding over 15 cm. Throughout this range, virtually no reaction forces are ge nerated with the impacting body. The range mentioned is on top of the one p rovided by the more traditional elastic bumper on which the optical fibres are mounted. Obstacle avoidance and wall-following AGV guidance can readily be achieved with such loops of optical fibre. A high degree of reactive ca pability and safety is hence provided in the system. With similar advantage s, the method can likewise be applied to fixed or mobile material-handling robots.