Lateral Misalignment Sensor for Autonomously Guided Vehicles

In this paper, a lateral displacement sensor is presented. The proposed sensor is based on a resonating tag in the shape of a Triangular Spiral Resonator (TSR) that is coupled with a rectangular probe that is the antenna of the reader. The sensing modality is based on the variation of the variation of the coupling strength due to a change in the displacement. The sensor has the advantage of single frequency operation as well as capability to detect the direction of displacement due to the asymmetric design of the tag. An envisioned application for the proposed is as a guidance sensor on-board Autonomously Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The design of the sensor is optimized using parametric design techniques, and the numerical results shows the potential of this sensing technique in guidance applications.