System and method for controlling dollies

Abstract

According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a system and method for synchronizing and controlling at least one dolly may be provided. The system may include at least one dolly, a power unit, and a control device, all communicatively coupled via at least one network. Dolly coordinates and steer points for a load may be recorded. Adjustments to the dolly may be made based on desired changes to the orientation of the steer points.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for transporting a load by two or more dollies comprising:
 processing baseline dolly data using one or more of a control device and a dolly control unit;   processing a steering method using one or more of the control device and the dolly control unit;   processing a desired steer point orientation using one or more of the control device and the dolly control unit;   measuring dolly orientation using a top cap encoder and front axle encoder disposed on the two or more dollies and communicatively coupled to a dolly control unit;   calculating necessary adjustments to the two or more dollies using a power unit computer, wherein calculations use dolly control unit data;   instructing at least one power unit using a power unit computer to actuate the at least one dolly to achieve the necessary adjustments;   instructing the at least one dolly to drive using one of the control device or a separate drive control device; and   adjusting the desired steer point orientation and drive instructions to transport the load,   wherein at least two of the two or more dollies are arranged in parallel and are independently steerable.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising adding or removing dollies to the system to accommodate a load and making corresponding adjustments to the baseline data. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more dollies are hydraulic dollies configured to independently drive a load by controlling speed and direction, and the at least one power unit is a hydraulic power unit hydraulically coupled to the two or more dollies and configured to actuate components of the two or more dollies. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steering method is one of standard, articulated or crab steering. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steer point coordinates are points on the load. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein dolly orientation adjustments, including frame angle and front axle angle adjustments, are calculated by determining X and Y coordinates for a calculated steer point; determining proper steer angles for each dolly using the X and Y coordinates for the calculated steer point, dolly coordinates, and desired steer point orientation; and determining adjustments to each measured dolly orientation to match the proper steer angle. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising correcting differences between target steer angles and actual steer angles. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more dollies is a coaster dolly.