An autonomous container transportation vehicle 100 is disclosed, comprising a chassis 101 configured to receive a container to be transported, a plurality of wheels 102 coupled to the chassis 101, at least one electric motor 103 configured to drive at least one of said plurality of wheels 102, and a vehicle controller 104 configured to receive vehicle control commands from an external apparatus and to drive the container transportation vehicle 100 in accordance with the received vehicle control commands. To ensure the vehicle maintains an upright position whilst being driven, a balance control unit may be incorporated. Two or more of the autonomous container transportation vehicles 100 can be combined with a container to form a transportation apparatus 110, the wheelbase of which can be determined by appropriate spacing of the separate vehicles. A levering member connected to the chassis by a pivot provides a potential means of attachment (505, Fig.5). Possible apparatus and methods for managing a plurality of the autonomous container transportation vehicles 100 are also detailed, including a computer-readable storage medium arranged to store program instructions.
Autonomous container transportation
2016-07-13
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
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