Combined navigation and anti-collision sensor for transport robots.

A sensor system to detect and locate a tag for an automatic transport vehicle, e.g., a forklifter, is described. It consists of a laser scanner that scans a tag. Due to an individual coding of each tag, a typical pulse train can be derived from the reflected light. This pulse train contains information about the tag identity and the tag position relative to the scanner. Data processing is done by a microcomputer within the scanner system, which transfers the data to the control system of the forklifter. Thus, the basis is given for a real-time computation of an optimized driving strategy. An additional laser scanner detects even extremely faintly reflecting obstacles in a well-defined range in front of the vehicle and prevents collisions with persons and objects in the working area of the forklifter.