A phase sensitive guidance system for an inductively powered automatic guided vehicle

Inductively powered automatic guided vehicles have existed for several years as commercial items. The vehicle used for the work described in this paper is unusual in that it employs a resonant 100 kHz air cored transformer to couple energy from beneath the floor to the electric drives. The primary circuit is also used to provide the guidance signals needed to steer the vehicle. The acquisition and processing of these signals is examined in this paper. Phase information in the signal is used to double the normal range over which steering information can be unambiguously obtained