JP2015210761A - Unmanned carrier travel system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an unmanned carrier from traveling off its course through an unmanned carrier travel system in which the unmanned carrier travels along a travel line through image recognition.SOLUTION: A travel line 20 using tapes comprises a main track 20A and an auxiliary track 20B on one side or both sides of the main track 20A. The automatic guided vehicle 10 acquires an outline by imaging the travel line 20 (main track 20A and auxiliary track 20B) by a USB camera 12. A center value of the outline is obtained. A moving direction is determined according to a position (corresponding to coordinates) and an angle of the center value on a screen. A PLC is connected to an elevator 1 control board for an elevator to communicate with a server PC. The PLC and an elevator PLC control PC are connected to an elevator 2 control board of the elevator to communicate with the server PC. The unmanned carrier 10 and the server PC communicate, and the unmanned carrier 10 elevates/lowers with respect to the elevator.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automated guided vehicle traveling system in which an automated guided vehicle travels by recognizing a travel line, and an elevator boarding / exiting system that enables the automated guided vehicle to get on and off the elevator.

  Conventionally, a magnetic tape is well known as a travel line on which an automated guided vehicle travels, but it travels along the magnetic tape while detecting magnetism with a magnetic sensor, and once out of the magnetic tape, it goes out of track and stops. It is like that. The thing of Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-012485 (patent document 1) implement | achieves by making it back from the point which went out of course as a course out return method.

  Conventionally, the following means is required as a configuration for an automated guided vehicle to get on and off an elevator. The first is means for detecting the presence or absence of an automatic guided vehicle in the vicinity of each floor elevator. Second, it is a means for enabling each floor elevator call button to be controlled from an automated guided vehicle. Third, there is a means for notifying the automatic guided vehicle that the elevator has arrived at the calling floor and has entered the door open state. Fourth, it is a means for enabling the destination floor button in the elevator car to be controlled from the automatic guided vehicle. Fifth, it is means for notifying the automatic guided vehicle that the elevator has arrived at the destination floor and has entered the door open state. Sixth, it is a means for closing the elevator door after the automated guided vehicle completes getting off the elevator.

  Conventionally, when the direction of a guided vehicle is changed in a narrow passage, a spin turn that turns about the center of a vehicle body as a center of rotation is often used because it is very convenient for vehicle operation. This is a function that saves the course layout and has the advantage of shortening the turn time. Conventionally, in a magnetic tape type automatic guided vehicle, for example, as in Japanese Patent No. 3134571 (Patent Document 2), the stop position before the start of the spin turn is strictly adjusted, and after the spin turn is completed, the magnetic sensor is connected to the guide path. It was necessary to adjust it so that it was directly above. It is realized by detecting the magnetic tape while turning and ending the turn when detected. Alternatively, there is a method of detecting a half rotation by providing an angle sensor in the automatic guided vehicle. In addition, there is a device that spins by rotating for a specified time, as in Japanese Patent No. 2661720 (Patent Document 3). Both are methods for making the position of the taxiway detection sensor after the spin turn complete right above the taxiway.

  As before, if the automated guided vehicle backs from the course-out point, it takes time to find the runway. In the first place, it was a return method premised on going out of the course.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic guided vehicle traveling system in which the automatic guided vehicle does not go out of course.

  The automatic guided vehicle traveling system according to claim 1 is an automated guided vehicle traveling system in which the automated guided vehicle travels by recognizing an image of the traveling line, and the traveling line includes a main line and an auxiliary line located beside the main line. When the automatic guided vehicle loses sight of the main line, the automatic guided vehicle is returned to the main line based on the auxiliary line.

  According to the automatic guided vehicle traveling system of claim 1, in the automatic guided vehicle traveling system in which the automated guided vehicle travels by recognizing the traveling line, one or more auxiliary lines are provided beside the main line during traveling. Therefore, it can return to the main line without going out of the course even if the automatic guided vehicle is off the road due to the rear-end collision of the towed object when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped, or in a place where the automatic guided vehicle is easily removed from the traveling on a dirty floor.

It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the automatic guided vehicle of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the image acquired from the USB camera of embodiment, the outline acquired from the image, the angle of a outline, and a median value. It is a figure explaining the process of the outline of the image in embodiment. It is a figure explaining a user's input processing in an embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the course layout and structure of a running line in embodiment. It is a figure which shows the action which shows the operation schedule, format, and operation | movement in embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the runway deviation at the time of the stop by l tow object collision in embodiment. It is a system configuration diagram in an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the layout at the time of one auxiliary line for 180 degree | times turns in embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the layout at the time of two auxiliary lines for 180 degree | times turns in embodiment. It is a figure explaining the example of a layout at the time of two auxiliary lines for 180 degree | times turns, and several areas in embodiment. It is a 1st flowchart of the automatic guided vehicle in embodiment. It is a 2nd flowchart of the automatic guided vehicle in embodiment. It is a 3rd flowchart of the automatic guided vehicle in embodiment. It is a 4th flowchart of the automatic guided vehicle in embodiment. It is a flowchart of server PC in an embodiment. It is a flowchart of PLC control PC for elevators in embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) according to an embodiment of the present invention. This automatic guided vehicle 10 constitutes an automatic guided vehicle traveling system together with a traveling line. The automatic guided vehicle 10 includes a computer 11 and includes a USB camera 12, a fluorescent lamp 13, an obstacle sensor 14, and a motor 15. Hereinafter, in the embodiment, the computer is referred to as “PC”. The USB camera 12, the fluorescent lamp 13, the obstacle sensor 14, and the motor 15 are connected to the PC 11. The USB camera 12 is attached at a position where an image of the front of the automated guided vehicle 10 (hereinafter also referred to as “AGV”) can be taken, and the front of the oblique angle forms an angle of about 35 degrees with respect to the floor surface. Yes. Note that the PC 11 is operated by electric power supplied from the converter 16 and the main battery 17.

  The automatic guided vehicle 10 runs on a course layout shown in FIG. 5, for example, which is made of a commercially available 19 mm wide black vinyl tape. The course layout comprises a main line 20A and an auxiliary line 20B made of black vinyl tape as shown in FIGS. 7, 9, 10, and 11, for example. The main line 20A and the auxiliary line 20B are collectively referred to as “travel line 20”. The automatic guided vehicle 10 analyzes the image acquired by the USB camera 12 and travels according to the travel line 20.

  FIG. 2 is an image (FIG. 2 (A)) acquired from the USB camera 12, a contour (FIG. 2 (B)) acquired from the image, and an angle and median of the contour (FIG. 2 (C)). . As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the image G2 of the travel line 2 is taken against the background image GB of the floor color green. As shown in FIG. 2B, contours E1 and E2 of the image G2 of the travel line 20 are extracted from the image G2. Then, the contours E1 and E2 are analyzed to determine the median value (image coordinates) of the contours E1 and E2.

  How the contours of the images acquired from the images GB and G2 are processed will be described with reference to FIG. An image (an image having a width of 160 dots and a height of 120 dots) is acquired from the USB camera 12, and the contours E1 and E2 of the travel line 20 are obtained. These processes are performed using an image processing library running on the PC 11.

  Next, the area, median, and angle of the contour are obtained. As shown in FIG. 3A, the contour is composed of seven line segments, and the coordinates of each line segment are (75, 10), (69, 59), (76, 88), (72, 106), ( 84, 8), (86, 85), (80, 115).

Median x = (x maximum value + x minimum value + 1) / 2 = (86 + 69 + 1) / 2 = 78
Median y = (y maximum value + y minimum value + 1) / 2 = (115 + 8 + 1) / 2 = 62
It becomes.
Also, atan ((y maximum value−y minimum value + 1) / (x maximum value−x minimum value + 1)) = atan ((115−8 + 1) / (86−69 + 1)) ≈81 degrees, which is directly above the screen. Since the direction is based on 0 degree, the angle is 90-81 = 9 degrees.
The angle also needs to reflect the left and right orientations, so if (y when x takes the minimum value <y when x takes the maximum value), the left direction (-sign), (x is the minimum value) If y> = x when y is taken to be the maximum value y), it is set to the right (+ sign).

In the case of the above seven coordinates, since y = 59 when x takes the minimum value and y = 85 when x takes the maximum value, the angle = −9 degrees.
For the area (number of dots), the value obtained by the image processing library is used as it is. In this way, the median: (78, 62), angle: (-9), and area (1500) are calculated. In addition, as an effective contour condition, the area is limited to a contour of 1900 (19 mm × 100 mm) to 5700 (19 mm × 300 mm). This prevents the contours of less than 950 from being regarded as the contours of the running line 20 in order to prevent the floor surface from being erroneously detected as a contour.

  Next, how the steering of the automatic guided vehicle 10 is determined from the median and the angle will be described. If the median x-coordinate value is 60 <= x <= 100, the vehicle goes straight, if x <60, the left steering is performed, and if 100 <x, the right steering is performed. If the angle is less than 20 degrees, go straight, if it is -20 degrees or more, steer left, and if it is +20 degrees or more, steer right. The final steering direction is determined from the correlation between the median and the angle.

  FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of “right steering shift” in a state where the main line 2A is off the screen and the main line 2A is lost. As described above, when the final steering is determined only by the angle (45 degrees), the right steering is further continued. Since the travel line 20 disappears from the field of view of the USB camera 12, the median value is adopted in the case of the median value (35, 25) and the angle (45 degrees) shown in FIG. . That is, the final steering direction is determined based on the correlation between the median and the angle so that the contour E1 of the travel line 20 is always near the center of the camera image. This is the same control as when a person drives a car. Further, when an outline having a length of 20 cm or more is detected on the right side of the main line 20A, the address is determined. When the address is detected, the contents described in an operation schedule described later shown in FIG. 6 are counted up.

  The PC 11 of the automatic guided vehicle 10 stores, for example, data of an operation schedule shown in FIG. Each data of this schedule is in the format as shown in FIG. 6B, and the “action” indicating the operation in the data is determined as shown in FIG. 6C. And the automatic guided vehicle 10 operate | moves according to this operation schedule.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a course layout and a configuration in which the automatic guided vehicle 10 travels. When the automatic guided vehicle 10 starts to travel, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the user inputs a destination from the keyboard of the PC 11. In this example, it is assumed that “1” is input as the destination station, and the departure point is the start point in FIG. 5 (immediately after the address 50). Start running by pressing the start key. When the input of the destination station is “1”, the row of the destination station 1 in the operation schedule of FIG. 6A is adopted as the operation schedule.

  First, an example of course out prevention will be described. When the first address 51 after the start of traveling is read from the starting point, it is “51: EI1: 21”, so it gets on the elevator 1 and goes from 2F to 1F, is interpreted as a command, and stops first. As shown in FIG. 7, the automatic guided vehicle 10 is towing a towed object 30, and no brake mechanism is provided on the towed object 30 side. Accordingly, the towed object 30 collides and the automatic guided vehicle 10 is pushed forward. At this time, there are many cases where the direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10 bends left and right. However, as shown in FIG. 7, since there is an auxiliary line 20B in addition to the main line 20A, it is possible to return to the main line 20A without going out of the course by traveling along the auxiliary line 20B at the time of restart. Further, if there is a point on the course where it is easy to go out of the course (not necessarily an address with a stop operation), it is possible to prevent the course out by providing auxiliary lines 20B and 2B on both sides of the main line 20A.

  Next, an example of elevator getting on and off will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 5 (B) and 8, the elevator 1 control panel E11 and the elevator 1 main body EV1, and the elevator 2 control panel E21 and the elevator 2 main body EV2 are elevator company jurisdiction devices. A PLC 31 is connected to the elevator 1 control panel E11, and the PLC 31 is connected to the server PC 100 by serial communication. Further, a PLC 32 is connected to the elevator 2 control panel E21, and the PLC control PC 200 for the elevator 2 is connected to the PLC 32, and the PLC control PC 200 for the elevator 2 is connected to the server PC 100 through a LAN connection.

  For this connection, ask the elevator company for each of the floor, door open / close, in use, malfunctioning output terminals and floor / door closed that originally existed in the elevator 1 control panel E11 and the elevator 2 control panel E21. A wire is connected to the input terminal and the wire is taken out of the elevator. And as shown in FIG. 8, each line of an elevator output terminal is connected to the input terminal of PLC31,32, and each line of an elevator input terminal is connected to the output terminal of PLC31,32.

  The automatic guided vehicle 10 is given a unique name as its own name (for example, the computer name of the PC 11), and “AGV-001” is the name of the automatic guided vehicle 10 running on the course of FIG. When the power is turned on, “C: \ robot” of the server PC 100 is shared using the file sharing mechanism of the OS so as to have the configuration of the system configuration diagram of FIG. Then, the PC 11 of the automatic guided vehicle 10 is shared and connected to C: \ robot \ of the server PC by the network drive assigning means. Further, the PLC control PC 200 for the elevator 2 is shared and connected to C: \ robot \ of the server PC 100 by means of the network drive allocation means.

  As described above, the user starts traveling by inputting the destination 1 and pressing the start key. An example of this operation will be described. Note that since command data, status data, and the like are stored in a hierarchical file structure or read out, in the following description, these data are represented by a hierarchy root and its directory. Since the destination station is 1, the first address 51 after starting the run from the start point according to the row of destination station 1 in the schedule of operation in FIG. 6 (A) is “51: EI1: 21”. Then go from 2F to 1F and interpret as a command and stop.

  First, C: \ robot \ E1R_AGV-001 (21) is generated, and an elevator 1 usage right acquisition request is issued to the server PC 100. Note that 1 in E1R means getting on and off the elevator E1. Content 21 means going from 2F to 1F. Also, wait for generation of C: \ robot \ E1G_AGV-001. That is, the server waits for the elevator 1 usage right acquisition OK. Next, when C: \ robot \ E1G_AGV-001 is generated, C: \ robot \ EV1_REQ (CAL, 2) is generated and an elevator 2F call request is issued to the server PC 100. Then, it waits for generation of C: \ robot \ EV1_ANS. That is, the server waits for a server response that the elevator has reached 2F and the door has been opened.

  When C: \ robot \ EV1_ANS is generated, the automatic guided vehicle 10 (AGV-001) starts automatically and starts entering the elevator. When the address 52 in the elevator is read, it is “52: OI”, so the obstacle sensor 14 Disable and continue driving. The obstacle sensor 14 referred to here is an ultrasonic method, and if there is an obstacle within the range of 1 m in front of the automatic guided vehicle 10, the sensor is turned on and stopped, and when the obstacle disappears, the sensor is turned off and unmanned. The transport vehicle 10 restarts.

  When the next address 53 is read, it is “53: EG”, so the elevator approach is completed, so it is interpreted as a command to go to the destination floor, and C: \ robot \ EV1_REQ (GOT, 1) is generated. And thereby, an elevator 1F movement request is issued to server PC100. In addition, when the next address is read after the obstacle sensor 14 is disabled, the obstacle sensor 14 is enabled again. Since the next execution address of the schedule is the same 53, it is recognized as multi-action and “53: IL: 300” is executed. When the next address after the executed address is the same address, it is executed as a multi-action so that a plurality of operation instructions can be given to one address. In the present embodiment, two identical addresses have been described, but any number of identical addresses may be defined (the embodiment of claim 11).

  Next, it is rotated 180 degrees in preparation for getting off the elevator. The spin turn that rotates 180 degrees will be described later. Then, it waits for generation of C: \ robot \ EV1_ANS. That is, the server waits for a server response that the elevator has arrived at 1F and the door has been opened. When C: \ robot \ EV1_ANS is generated, the automatic guided vehicle 10 automatically starts and starts getting off from the elevator. Then, when the address 44 outside the elevator is read, it is “44: EO”, so that the elevator gets off, it is interpreted as an instruction to close the door, and C: \ robot \ E1R_AGV-001 is deleted. The above is the process on the automatic guided vehicle 10 side.

  The processing of the elevator 1 on the server PC 100 side checks for the presence of E1R_AGV-XXX (XXX = 001-200) every 3 seconds. The E1R 1 represents a request for getting on and off the elevator 1. When "Elevator 1 usage right acquisition request from AGV-001" E1R_AGV-001 (21) is generated, a C: \ robot \ E1G_AGV-001 file is generated to give the elevator 1 usage right. Next, the existence of the C: \ robot \ EV1_REQ file and the C: \ robot \ E1R_AGV-001 file is checked every second. When there is an EV1_REQ file, processing is performed according to the file contents.

  In the case of CAL, 2, it is checked whether or not the elevator 2 is in use by referring to C: \ robot \ ev1 \ STATUS. That is, a check is made because a person may be in use. If the elevator is not in use, a 2F movement command is issued to the control software of the PLC 31 of the elevator 1. That is, C: \ robot \ ev1 \ REQUEST is generated. Next, referring to C: \ robot \ ev1 \ STATUS, when the elevator comes to 2F and the door is opened, an EV1_ANS file is created.

  In the case of GOT, 1, a 1F movement command is issued to the control software of the PLC 31 of the elevator 1. That is, C: \ robot \ ev1 \ REQUEST is generated. Next, referring to C: \ robot \ ev1 \ STATUS, when the elevator comes to 1F and the door is opened, an EV1_ANS file is created.

  When the C: \ robot \ E1R_AGV-001 file disappears, the automatic guided vehicle 10 recognizes that the elevator has finished getting off and issues an elevator door closing command. That is, C: \ robot \ ev1 \ REQUEST is generated. Refer to C: \ robot \ ev1 \ STATUS and delete the E1G_AGV-001 file when the elevator door is closed.

  The server PC 100 and the PLC 31 are connected by serial communication so that the server PC 100 can control the input / output terminals of the PLC 31. The processing of the control software of the PLC 31 of the elevator 1 operating on the server PC 100 performs the following two processes every second. One is to read the information of the input terminal of the PLC 31 and store it in C: \ robot \ ev1 \ STATUS. As a result, the server PC 100 can know the status of the elevator 1 by looking at the contents of C: \ robot \ ev1 \ STATUS. For example, how many floors you are on, whether the door is open, closed, in use, or out of order. The other is to check the contents of the C: \ robot \ ev1 \ REQUEST file and if there is a PLC output request, turn on the output terminal of the PLC 31 to move the elevator 1 to any floor or close the door. can do.

  Hereinafter, a procedure for the automatic guided vehicle 10 to get on and off the elevator 2 will be described. The user inputs the destination “2” from the keyboard of the PC 11. Departure is the start point in FIG. 5 (immediately after the address 50). Start running by pressing the start key. Since the destination station is “2”, the row of destination station 2 in the operation schedule of FIG. 6 is adopted as the operation schedule. When the first address 51 after the start of traveling is read from the start point, it is “51: L”, so it branches to the left. Since the next address 54 is “54: −”, it goes straight without doing anything. Since the next address 55 is “55: EI2: 21”, get on the elevator 2 and go from 2F to 1F, interpret it as a command, generate C: \ robot \ E2R_AGV-001 (21), and request to acquire the right to use elevator 2 Is issued to the server PC 100. E2R 2 means getting on and off the elevator 2. Content 21 means going from 2F to 1F. Next, it waits for generation of C: \ robot \ E2G_AGV-001. That is, the server waits for the elevator 2 usage right acquisition OK. When C: \ robot \ E2G_AGV-001 is generated, C: \ robot \ EV2_REQ (CAL, 2) is generated and an elevator 2F call request is issued to the server PC 100. Then, it waits for generation of C: \ robot \ EV2_ANS. That is, the server waits for a server response that the elevator has reached 2F and the door has been opened. When C: \ robot \ EV2_ANS is generated, the automatic guided vehicle 10 starts automatically and starts entering the elevator. When the address 56 in the elevator is read, it is "56: OI". to continue. Also, when the next address 57 is read, it is “57: EG”, so the elevator approach is complete, so go to the destination floor, interpret it as a command, generate C: \ robot \ EV2_REQ (GOT, 1), and request an elevator 1F move request Issue to server PC100.

  In addition, when the next address is read after the obstacle sensor 14 is disabled, the obstacle sensor 14 is enabled again. Since the next execution address of the operation schedule is also 57, it is recognized as multi-action and “57: IL: 400” is executed. An embodiment of the spin turn will be described later, which rotates 180 degrees in preparation for getting off the elevator. Then, it waits for generation of C: \ robot \ EV2_ANS. That is, the server waits for a server response that the elevator has arrived at 1F and the door has been opened. When C: \ robot \ EV2_ANS is completed, the automatic guided vehicle 10 automatically starts and gets off from the elevator. When the address 46 outside the elevator is read, it is “46: EO”, so that the elevator gets off, it is interpreted as a command to close the door, and C: \ robot \ E2R_AGV-001 is deleted. The above is the process on the automatic guided vehicle 10 side.

The processing of the elevator 2 on the server PC side checks for the presence of E2R_AGV-XXX (XXX = 001-200) every 3 seconds. In addition, 2 of E2R represents the boarding / alighting request to the elevator 2. When E2R_AGV-001 (21) for requesting acquisition of the right to use elevator 2 is generated from the automated guided vehicle 10, a C: \ robot \ E2G_AGV-001 file is generated to give the right to use elevator 2. Next, the existence check of the C: \ robot \ EV2_REQ file and the C: \ robot \ E2R_AGV-001 file is performed every second. When there is an EV2_REQ file, processing is performed according to the file contents. For CAL, 2,
If the elevator is not in use referring to C: \ robot \ ev2 \ STATUS. A 2F movement command is issued to the control software of the PLC 32 of the elevator 2. That is, C: \ robot \ ev2 \ REQUEST is generated. Next, referring to C: \ robot \ ev2 \ STATUS, when the elevator comes to 2F and the door is opened, an EV2_ANS file is created. In the case of GOT, 1, a 1F movement command is issued to the control software of the PLC 32 of the elevator 2. That is, C: \ robot \ ev2 \ REQUEST is generated. Next, referring to C: \ robot \ ev2 \ STATUS, an EV2_ANS file is created when the elevator comes to 1F and the door is opened. When the C: \ robot \ E2R_AGV-001 file disappears, the automatic guided vehicle 10 recognizes that the elevator has been dismounted and issues an elevator door closing command. That is, C: \ robot \ ev2 \ REQUEST is generated. When the elevator door is closed by referring to C: \ robot \ ev2 \ STATUS, delete the E2G_AGV-001 file.

  The PLC control PC 200 for the elevator 2 and the PLC 32 are connected by serial communication so that the server PC 100 can control the input / output terminals of the PLC 32. The control software processing of the PLC 32 of the elevator 2 running on the elevator 2 PLC control PC 200 performs the following two processes every second. One is to read the information of the input terminal of the PLC 32 and store it in C: \ robot \ ev2 \ STATUS. As a result, the server PC can know the status of the elevator 2 by looking at the contents of C: \ robot \ ev2 \ STATUS. For example, how many floors you have, whether the door is open, closed, in use, or out of order. If the contents of the C: \ robot \ ev2 \ REQUEST file are checked and there is a PLC output request, the elevator 2 can be moved to an arbitrary floor or the door can be closed by turning on the output terminal of the PLC 32.

  The processing on the server PC 100 side is performed in parallel for the number of elevators. That is, E1R_AGV-XXX (XXX = 001-200), E2R_AGV-XXX (XXX = 001-200), E3R_AGV-XXX (XXX = 001-200), E4R_AGV-XXX (XXX = 001-200), E5R_AGV-XXX ( XXX = 001-200) is checked. And if there exists, it is that the series of processes which perform the said predetermined process required for elevator boarding / alighting are performed in parallel. As described above, if the PLC control PC 200 for the elevator 2 and the elevator 2 control panel E21 are connected by the PLC 32, the number of elevators can be increased. When there is only one elevator, the configuration may be either with or without the elevator 1 PLC control PC. When the PLC control PC for the elevator 1 is not installed, the server PC 100 may be used also as the PLC control PC function for the elevator 1. In the present embodiment, the case where the server PC 100 is also used as the PLC control PC for the elevator 1 has been described. When installing the PLC control PC for the elevator 1, the PLC control PC for the elevator 1 may be installed and connected to C: \ robot \ of the server PC 100 by the network drive allocation means.

  Next, an embodiment of the spin turn command “53: IL: 300” will be described. Since “53: IL: 300”, it is interpreted as a spin turn (rotated 180 degrees on the spot). In the meaning of IL, I means spin turn, and L means left rotation. The meaning of 300 designates the rotation time, and 300 × 100 msec = 3 sec is the rotation time. The specified rotation time (specified time) is 3 seconds because the stop position at the end of the rotation depends on the remaining battery level, rolling resistance, etc., so it cannot always stop at a position of 180 degrees. It may be 135 degrees or 225 degrees. Therefore, 3 sec is set as the optimum value at the address 53 point (the rotation time at which the stop can be closest to 180 degrees).

  On the other hand, since the operation schedule of the address 57 is “57: IL: 400”, the rotation amount is 4 sec. Since address 57 has greater rolling resistance than address 53, 4 sec was set to an optimum value (rotation time at which it can be stopped at about 180 degrees). As a precondition, the spin turn execution procedure at the address 53 will be described below assuming that the variation at the end of the rotation falls within 135 to 225 degrees. Thus, the spin turn is executed by rotating for a specified time.

  FIG. 9 shows a layout in the case where there is one auxiliary line 20B for 180-degree turn. First stop and disable the obstacle sensor 14. Next, since the rotation time is 300, it is interpreted as 300 × 100 msec = 3 sec, and after rotating for 3 sec in the right direction, it stops. The rotation means that the left and right motors are rotated in reverse. In the left rotation, the left wheel is reversed and the right wheel is rotated forward. At this time, if the position of the USB camera 12 is on the main line 20A, the main line 20A can be found within the camera angle of view, so that the vehicle can run as it is. When the battery level is low or the rolling resistance is large, the amount of rotation is small, so the USB camera 12 is positioned above the main line 20A. In this case, there is a case where the main line 20A does not enter the camera angle of view, but since there is an auxiliary line 20B, it is possible to return to the main line 20A by traveling along the auxiliary line 20B. Then, since the rotation of 180 degrees has been completed, the obstacle sensor 14 is enabled by stopping.

  FIG. 10 shows a layout in the case where there are two auxiliary lines 20B for a 180 degree turn. First stop and disable the obstacle sensor 14. Next, since the rotation time is 300, it is interpreted as 300 × 100 msec = 3 sec, and after rotating for 3 sec in the right direction, it stops. At this time, if the position of the USB camera 12 is on the main line 20A, the main line 20A can be found within the camera angle of view, so that the vehicle can run as it is. When the battery level is low or the rolling resistance is large, the amount of rotation is small, so the USB camera 12 is positioned above the main line 20A. When the battery level is sufficient or the rolling resistance is low, the amount of rotation is Therefore, the position of the USB camera 12 is below the main line 20A. In these two cases, there is a case where the main line 20A does not enter the camera angle of view. However, since there is an auxiliary line 20B, it is possible to return to the main line 20A by traveling along the auxiliary line 20B. Then, since the rotation of 180 degrees has been completed, the obstacle sensor 14 is enabled by stopping.

  FIG. 11 shows a case where the auxiliary line 20B for 180-degree turn has a layout of two, has a plurality of areas, and has an auxiliary line at the center. In this case, the vehicle is first stopped and the obstacle sensor 14 is invalidated. Next, since the rotation time is 300, it is interpreted as 300 × 100 msec = 3 sec, and after rotating for 3 sec in the right direction, it stops. At this time, if the position of the USB camera 12 is on the main line 20A, the main line 20A can be found within the camera angle of view, so that the vehicle can run as it is. When the battery level is low or the rolling resistance is large, the amount of rotation is small, so the USB camera 12 is positioned above the main line 20A. When the battery level is sufficient or the rolling resistance is low, the amount of rotation is Therefore, the position of the USB camera 12 is below the main line 20A. Three areas for the camera angle of view are prepared, and the auxiliary line 20B is provided at the center of each area. Therefore, the rotation stop position is about tan-1 (40 cm / 10 cm) = 76 degrees, that is, (180 ± 76 degrees). The auxiliary line 20B is surely present at a position that can cover the entire range. After that, if the vehicle travels along the detected main line 20A or auxiliary line 20B, it can return to the main line 20A. Then, since the rotation of 180 degrees has been completed, the obstacle sensor 14 is enabled by stopping.

  When the travel line 20 (main line 20A or auxiliary line 20B) cannot be detected at the rotation stop position, an autonomous search operation is performed. When the elapsed operation time is less than 3 hours, the remaining battery level is high and the amount of rotation tends to be larger. Therefore, it is determined that the rotation stop position exceeds the lower auxiliary line, and the search start direction is left It is desirable to do from. When the operation elapsed time is 3 hours or more, the remaining battery level is low and the amount of rotation tends to be small, so it is determined that the rotation stop position has not reached the upper auxiliary line, and the search start direction is to the right It is desirable to do from. The autonomous search operation repeats the range of 45 degrees from the rotation stop position to the left and right at 10 degrees (rotation time: about 500 msec), 500 sec rotation → stop → camera image capture until the travel line can be detected. If the travel line 20 cannot be found even after searching the 45 ° range, the course is out and the operation stops.

  12 is a first flowchart of the automated guided vehicle, FIG. 13 is a second flowchart of the automated guided vehicle, FIG. 14 is a third flowchart of the automated guided vehicle, and FIG. 15 is a fourth flowchart of the automated guided vehicle. When the PC of the automatic guided vehicle executes these flowcharts, a process of recognizing a travel line and traveling is performed. Further, by executing these flowcharts, the “means for disabling the obstacle sensor” and the “means for enabling the obstacle sensor” as described above are realized. Further, “means for spin-turning in the elevator”, “means for rotating for a specified time”, “means for disabling the obstacle sensor during rotation for the specified time”, and “rotation amount detecting means” are realized.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the server PC, and by executing this flowchart, the server PC gives an elevator use right to the request of the automatic guided vehicle. It also controls the movement of the elevator to the designated floor. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the elevator PLC control PC. By executing this flowchart, the elevator PLC control PC performs control such as writing a file to the server PC in accordance with the elevator information from the PLC.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, it is composed of four elements, that is, the automatic guided vehicle, the server PC, the elevator control panel, and the PLC, and the automatic guided vehicle and the server PC wirelessly perform procedures necessary for getting on and off the elevator. Communicate by communication. The server PC and the elevator control panel are connected via a PLC so that the elevator control panel can be controlled from the server PC. An operation schedule is stored in the PC mounted on the automatic guided vehicle, and three instructions of an elevator call instruction, an elevator movement instruction, and an elevator disembarkation completion instruction are defined in the operation schedule. As a result, the number of remodeled items on the elevator side, which are necessary for getting on and off the elevator, and incidental facilities necessary for control are reduced. Therefore, it is possible to construct an elevator boarding / alighting system with low cost and low man-hours. The number of remodeling items on the elevator side mentioned here is only one remodeling point for taking out a signal line in the elevator control panel. The signal line that originally exists in the elevator control panel does not require as much work as a modification that only takes it out of the elevator control panel. As for the incidental equipment, since the automatic guided vehicle and the elevator control panel are already existing, there are two points of the server PC and the PLC. The installation of the server PC is only connected to a wired LAN. The installation of the PLC means that the PLC and the server PC are serially connected, and the input / output terminals of the PLC are connected to the elevator control panel (Claim 2).

  When there are a plurality of elevators on which the automated guided vehicle should get on and off, the procedure required for getting on and off the elevator is the same as the configuration performed by wireless communication between the automated guided vehicle and the server PC. For each elevator, the elevator-connected PLC control PC connected to the LAN is connected to the elevator control panel via the PLC so that the automatic guided vehicle can get on and off any elevator. Therefore, it is not necessary to have facilities necessary for getting on and off the elevator for each elevator, and an elevator getting on and off system can be constructed at a low cost and with a low introduction man-hour.

  In addition, since the elevator getting-off completion instruction is omitted from the description contents of the operation schedule when the automated guided vehicle gets on and off the elevator, the trouble of describing the operation schedule can be simplified.

Moreover, when an automated guided vehicle gets on an elevator, it becomes a problem whether the size of an automated guided vehicle fits into the size of an elevator cage. However, since the function of the obstacle sensor possessed by the automatic guided vehicle is disabled, the elevator wall in the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle is recognized as an obstacle and does not stop. In other words, the size of the automatic guided vehicle that can be used in the elevator only needs to satisfy (the size of the automatic guided vehicle) <(the size of the elevator car) (claim 4).

  In addition, since the vehicle is spinning in the elevator, the automatic guided vehicle can get off and move forward. Also, since the elevator is spinning after instructing the destination of the elevator, the elevator will make a spin turn while moving to the destination floor, so that the time required for the spin turn can be eliminated, so an automated guided vehicle can be installed. It can be used efficiently. In addition, since the obstacle sensor is disabled during rotation of the automated guided vehicle in the elevator car, a spin turn can be realized without the obstacle sensor detecting and stopping the wall in the elevator car. ).

  Moreover, since the automatic guided vehicle is spinning in the elevator, the automatic guided vehicle can get off and move forward. Also, since the elevator is spinning after instructing the destination of the elevator, the elevator will make a spin turn while moving to the destination floor, so that the time required for the spin turn can be eliminated, so an automated guided vehicle can be installed. It can be used efficiently. In addition, since the obstacle sensor is disabled during rotation of the automated guided vehicle in the elevator car, a spin turn can be realized without the obstacle sensor detecting and stopping the wall in the elevator car. )

Also, since auxiliary lines are provided on the left and right of the main line,
Even when the rotation end position varies between the left and right positions of the main line, either the main line or the auxiliary line can be detected.

  In addition, it has a plurality of camera angle-of-view areas, and an auxiliary line is provided at the center of each area. Therefore, even if the rotation end position varies on either the left or right side of the main line, if the variation position is within the area corresponding to the camera angle of view, either the main line or the auxiliary line can be detected. Item 8).

  Further, even when the travel line after the end of rotation is not found, since the autonomous search is performed for the determined range of the left and right, the return accuracy to the main line can be improved (claim 9).

  Further, when the travel line after the end of rotation is not found, the optimum search start direction is determined from the rotation amount, so that the search time can be shortened.

  Moreover, in order to give a plurality of instructions in the elevator, it is necessary to provide a plurality of addresses, but a plurality of instructions can be given to one address from the operation schedule. Therefore, even when the elevator car is small and a plurality of addresses cannot be provided, the automated guided vehicle can get on and off the elevator (claim 11).

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

10 Automated guided vehicle 20 Traveling line 20A Main line 20B Auxiliary line 30 Towed object 31 PLC
32 PLC
100 server PC
200 PLC control PC for elevator 2
E11 Elevator 1 control panel E21 Elevator 2 control panel

Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-012485 Japanese Patent No. 3134571 Japanese Patent No. 2661720

Claims (11)

An automated guided vehicle traveling system in which an automated guided vehicle travels by recognizing an image of a traveling line,
The travel line is composed of a main line and an auxiliary line located beside the main line,
An automatic guided vehicle travel system, wherein when the automatic guided vehicle loses sight of the main line, the automatic guided vehicle is returned to the main line based on the auxiliary line. An elevator boarding / alighting system in which the automatic guided vehicle gets on and off the elevator by the automatic guided vehicle traveling system according to claim 1,
It is composed of four elements, the automatic guided vehicle, a server computer, an elevator control panel, and a PLC.
The automatic guided vehicle and the server computer communicate with each other by wireless communication a procedure necessary for getting on and off the elevator,
The server computer and the elevator control panel are connected via the PLC so that the server computer can control the elevator control panel,
An operation schedule is stored in a computer mounted on the automatic guided vehicle, and three instructions of an elevator call instruction, an elevator movement instruction, and an elevator disembarkation completion instruction are defined in the operation schedule,
An elevator boarding / exiting system characterized in that the automatic guided vehicle can get on and off the elevator. An elevator boarding / alighting system for getting on and off an arbitrary elevator of an elevator having a plurality of the automatic guided vehicles by the automatic guided vehicle traveling system according to claim 1,
It is composed of five elements: the automatic guided vehicle, a server computer, an elevator PLC control computer, an elevator control panel, and a PLC.
The automatic guided vehicle and the server computer communicate with each other by wireless communication a procedure necessary for getting on and off the elevator,
The elevator PLC control computer and the elevator control panel are connected via the PLC so that the elevator control panel can be controlled from the elevator PLC control computer.
The server computer and the elevator PLC control computer are connected by wired or wireless communication so that an arbitrary elevator control panel can be controlled from the server computer via each elevator PLC control computer.
An operation schedule is stored in a computer mounted on the automatic guided vehicle, and three instructions of an elevator call instruction, an elevator movement instruction, and an elevator disembarkation completion instruction are defined in the operation schedule,
An elevator boarding / exiting system characterized in that the automated guided vehicle can be boarded / exited to / from an arbitrary elevator only by following the procedure of boarding / exiting an elevator with one server computer. The elevator boarding / alighting system according to claim 2 or 3,
Means for disabling the obstacle sensor prior to the elevator movement instruction;
Means for enabling the obstacle sensor after execution of the elevator movement instruction;
An elevator boarding / exiting system characterized by comprising: The elevator boarding / alighting system according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The auxiliary line for returning to the main line in the elevator,
The automatic guided vehicle has a means for rotating for a specified time and a means for disabling an obstacle sensor during the specified time as a means for spin-turning in the elevator to get off the elevator from the boarded elevator. ,
The automatic guided vehicle executes a spin turn by traveling along one of the main line and the auxiliary line installed at a position where the automatic guided vehicle stops after the completion of the rotation for a specified time, and after the execution of the spin turn, an obstacle occurs. An elevator boarding / exiting system characterized by enabling an object sensor and executing the spin turn after an elevator destination instruction. A spin-turn method in an elevator in which the automatic guided vehicle having an obstacle sensor spin-turns in an elevator in an elevator getting-on / off system in which the automatic guided vehicle gets on and off the elevator by the automatic guided vehicle traveling system according to claim 1. Because
The auxiliary line for returning to the main line is provided in the elevator, and the automatic guided vehicle travels along one of the main line or the auxiliary line provided at the position where the vehicle stops after the completion of rotation for a specified time. A spin turn method in an elevator, wherein after the spin turn is executed, the obstacle sensor is made effective and the spin turn is executed after the destination of the elevator is instructed.   The spin-turn method in an elevator according to claim 6, wherein the auxiliary line is installed on the left and right of the main line.   The spin-turn method in an elevator according to claim 7, wherein the automatic guided vehicle has a plurality of camera angle-of-view areas for recognizing a travel line, and each of the plurality of camera angle-of-view areas is A spin-turn method in an elevator, wherein the auxiliary line is provided in the center. A spin-turn method in an elevator according to any one of claims 6 to 8,
A spin turn method in an elevator characterized by autonomously searching left and right when a running line is not found after completion of rotation for a specified time. A spin-turn method in an elevator according to claim 9,
If the running line is not found after completion of rotation for the specified time,
A spin turn method in an elevator, characterized in that a search start direction is determined from a rotation amount detection means and a detection result of the rotation amount detection means. The elevator boarding / alighting system according to claim 5,
An elevator boarding / exiting system characterized in that a plurality of operation instructions can be specified for one address, and an elevator destination instruction and a spin turn instruction can be executed at one address.

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