JP3294954B2 - Mobile delivery control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plurality of unmanned transport vehicles, for example, in a factory, a building, a distribution terminal, and the like. The present invention relates to a mobile object delivery control method for efficiently allocating a mobile object with the best conditions to a source of a move request, such as when assigning a mobile object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following luggage transport system is known as a luggage transport system using an automatic guided vehicle in a factory, a building, a distribution terminal, or the like.

[0003] When it becomes necessary to move the automatic guided vehicle, the luggage carrier issues a transportation request to the central control center. In this central control center, the presence or absence of a transport request is monitored, and the distance is calculated at regular intervals. Specifically, a pair of a luggage carrier that issued a transfer request in that cycle and an unmanned transport vehicle in a standby state are considered in pairs, and the distances are calculated for all the combinations.

[0004] Next, for all feasible combinations of the plurality of pairs, the sum of the distances of the pairs belonging to the combination is obtained, and the combination that minimizes the sum of the distances is extracted. Then, the pair of the unmanned guided vehicle and the luggage transport source belonging to the extracted combination is determined as the unmanned guided vehicle to be distributed and the luggage transport destination of the dispatch destination.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional luggage transport system, it is necessary to calculate the sum of distances for all achievable combinations and extract the combination that minimizes the sum of the distances. Therefore, it takes time to increase the number of combinations. That is, when the number of automatic guided vehicles and the number of transport requests that need to be processed simultaneously are large, the amount of calculation and the amount of communication become enormous, and there is a problem that control in real time becomes difficult.

[0006] The present invention is provided to eliminate the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide a mobile object delivery control method capable of performing allocation efficiently in a short time.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling delivery of a moving object, comprising: a plurality of moving objects arranged to be movable within a predetermined area; A plurality of move request issuers that asynchronously issue a move request for moving any of the moving objects to an arbitrary position when necessary, and when one or more of the move request issuers issue a move request, In a mobile object delivery control method for issuing a movement request message in response to any one of the movement requests and determining a moving object to move to a designated point by message exchange, the broadcast range of the movement request message from the movement request issuer is provided. At the beginning, and when it is not possible to receive the movement request message from the mobile unit, re-broadcast by slightly expanding the broadcast range, gradually expanding the broadcast range for each re-broadcast, And performing re-broadcast until it receives the desired message.

[0008] A mobile object delivery control method according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises:
The predetermined area is divided into a plurality of small areas, and a relay station is installed in each of the small areas. The movement request issuing source and the mobile unit transmit and receive a message to and from the relay station in the small area where they are located. The relay station receives a message transmitted from a mobile request issuer and a mobile unit in a small area where the relay station is located and a message transmitted from another relay station, and transfers the received message to the small area. It is provided with a function of broadcasting in an area or transmitting to another relay station, and expanding a broadcast range of a movement request message from the movement request issuer in units of the small area.

A mobile object delivery control method according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises:
The moving request issuer determines that rebroadcasting of the moving request message is performed when the moving request message cannot be received from the moving object within a predetermined time after issuing the moving request message.

[0010] A mobile object delivery control method according to a fourth invention is characterized in that:
The relay station in the small area determines whether to rebroadcast the movement request message when the movement request issuer that issued the movement request message has not received the movement request message from the mobile body within the predetermined time. I do.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a movement request message from a movement request issuer is first broadcasted with its broadcast range narrowed.
When the moving request message is not received, rebroadcasting is performed while gradually expanding the broadcast range until the moving request message is received, so that the combination of the moving request issuing source and the moving object becomes small and the process of extracting the moving object becomes easy. Thereby, the delivery control of the moving body can be efficiently performed in a short time.

In the second invention, the broadcast range of the movement request message from the movement request issuer is expanded in small area units via the relay station. Since communication with a mobile unit is performed and communication is performed only between relay stations between a plurality of small areas, useless communication can be omitted and processing efficiency can be improved.

[0013] In the third aspect of the present invention, when the move request message is not received within a predetermined time, the move request message is rebroadcast based on the judgment of the move request issuer. Body delivery control can be performed.

In the fourth invention, the relay station in the small area determines rebroadcast of the movement request message. In this case, as in the case of the third invention, the mobile unit is efficiently delivered in a short time. Control can be performed.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a luggage transport system at a certain time using a carrier vehicle allocation control method as a mobile object delivery control method according to the present embodiment. .

This luggage carrying system is schematically configured as follows. CA in the figure is a transfer area. This transport area CA is divided into a plurality of small areas BA-1, BA-2,.
, BA-L are provided with radio relay stations 11-1, 11-2,..., 11-L, respectively. In the transport area CA, a plurality of load transport sources (hereinafter simply referred to as “transport sources”) 12-1 as transfer request issue sources
.., 12-M are at fixed positions. Further, in the transport area CA, a plurality of unmanned transport vehicles 13-1, 13-2 as movable movable bodies for transporting packages from the transport sources 12-1, 12-2,. ..., 13-N exist. Then, in response to a transfer request from the transfer source 12 at an arbitrary position that occurs asynchronously, the optimum unmanned guided vehicle 13 is dispatched by message exchange. The unmanned guided vehicle 13 to which the vehicle is dispatched loads the load at the transfer source 12 and transfers the load to the position specified by the transfer source 12.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a function related to the control of vehicle delivery in the respective functions of the radio relay station 11, the transport source 12, and the automatic guided vehicle 13.

Each transport source 12 includes transport request transmitting means 21
An assignment request receiving unit 22, a minimum value calculating unit 23, and a transfer request transmitting unit 24 are provided. Each radio relay station 11
Has a message receiving means 31, a message relay transmitting means 32 and a message broadcasting means 33. Also,
The automatic guided vehicle 13 includes a transfer request receiving unit 41, an evaluation value calculating unit 42, a maximum value calculating unit 43, an assignment request transmitting unit 44, a transfer request receiving unit 45, and an autonomous moving unit 46.

[Configuration of the Transport Source 12] The transport request transmitting means 21 of the transport source 12 is provided with a wireless communication device installed in the small area BA to which the transport source 12 belongs when the transport source 12 needs to carry a load. The transport request is transmitted to the relay station 11. Further, the transport request transmitting means 21 counts the elapsed time after the transmission of the transport request. If an allocation request to be described later is not received after a lapse of a predetermined time, the following measures are taken.

FIG. 3A shows an example of the structure of a message for this transport request. Here, the information M1 indicating the content of the transport request message, the identifier M2 of the transport source 12, which is the transmission source,
It is composed of information M3 indicating a broadcast, the number of relay stations 11 (the number of relays) M4 used for expanding the broadcast range, the position M5 of the transport source 12, and the time M6 at which a transport request is issued by the transport source 12.

The assignment request receiving means 22 of the transfer source 12 in FIG. 1 is a means for receiving an assignment request message sent after the transfer request is sent by the transfer request sending means 21. If the allocation request receiving unit 22 does not receive the allocation request message from the radio relay station 11 within a predetermined time after the transmission of the transfer request by the transfer request transmitting unit 21, the broadcast range is set by the transfer request transmitting unit 21. The transmission request is retransmitted to the radio relay station 11 together with a message to the effect of the enlargement (increase in the number of relays). If you did not receive an assignment request with this transmission,
Further, the transport request is re-transmitted to the wireless relay station 11 together with a message indicating that the broadcast range is expanded. in this way,
Each time the number of transmissions is repeated, the broadcast range of the transport request is expanded. That is, in order to expand the broadcast range, the number of wireless relay stations 11 to be relayed is increased, and the number of wireless relay stations 11 to broadcast the transport request message is increased.

The allocation request receiving means 22 receives all the allocation requests transmitted from the unmanned vehicles 13 to the source 12. All the position information added to the received allocation request message is converted to the minimum value calculating means 2.
3 and outputs information indicating that the assignment request message has been received to the transport request transmitting means 21.

The minimum value calculating means 23 compares all the position information received from the assignment request receiving means 22, and detects the unmanned guided vehicle 13-min (mi
n is any one of 1 to N) and transport request transmitting means 2
4 is output.

The transport request transmitting means 24 issues a transport request to the unmanned transport vehicle 13-min having the minimum distance extracted by the minimum value calculating means 23 to request that the luggage be picked up at the position of the transport source 12. Then, the signal is transmitted to the wireless relay station 11 in the small area BA where the carrier 12 is located.

The minimum value calculating means 23 and the transfer request transmitting means 24 constitute a moving body determining means.

FIG. 3B shows a configuration example of the transport request message. Here, information M7 indicating that the request is a transfer request, an identifier M8 of the transfer source 12 that is the transmission source,
Automated guided vehicle 13-m extracted as the minimum destination distance
It is composed of an identifier M9 of "in" and position information M10 of the transport source 12 concerned.

[Configuration of Radio Relay Station 11] The message receiving means 31 of the radio relay station 11 in FIG. 1 receives all messages. If the message received by the message receiving means 31 is a message instructing a broadcast, the message is output to the message broadcasting means 33.
At this time, if the message indicates that the broadcast range is to be expanded, that is, if the number of relays is two or more, the number of relays is reduced by one from the message and output to the message relay transmission unit 32. If the message received by the message receiving means 31 is a message addressed to the outside of the area, that is, the destination is a small area BA outside the small area BA to which the wireless relay station 11 belongs, the received message is relayed by a message. Output to the transmission means 32. If the received message is a relay, the relay message in the message is output to the message broadcasting means 33.

FIG. 3C shows a configuration example of a relay message transmitted from one radio relay station 11 to another radio relay station 11. Here, information M11 indicating that the message is a relay, the wireless relay station 1 indicating the source,
1 is composed of an identifier M12, an identifier M13 of the corresponding radio relay station 11 indicating a destination, and a message M14 to be relayed given from the message receiving means 31.

The message relay transmission means 32 in FIG.
If the message received from the message receiving means 31 is a broadcast (a message to be relayed), the message is transmitted to the adjacent wireless relay station 11, and if the message is addressed to the outside of the area, the wireless relay station 11 in the corresponding area is transmitted. Send to.

The message broadcasting means 33 transmits the message input from the message receiving means 31 to the radio relay station 1
Broadcast to the small area BA to which 1 belongs.

[Structure of the AGV 13] The transfer request receiving means 41 of the AGV 13 shown in FIG. 1 receives all receivable transport requests broadcast at that time (processing timing) and receives them. All the transport request messages thus output are output to the evaluation value calculating means 42.

The evaluation value calculating means 42 calculates, for each of the received transport requests, information on the transport source 12 included in the transport request, and position information of the automatic guided vehicle 13 given from the autonomous moving means 46. , An evaluation value, which will be described later, of the automatic guided vehicle 13 with respect to all the transport sources 12 that have transmitted the transport request. All the evaluation values obtained in this way are given to the maximum value calculation means 43. Here, the evaluation value is, for example, a value given by the following equation. It is conceivable that the evaluation value is smaller as the distance d between the transfer source 12 and the automatic guided vehicle 13 is longer, and is larger as the elapsed time t after the transfer request is generated at the transfer source 12 is longer.

Evaluation value: E (d, t) = αt−βd where α and β are positive constants.
Compare the evaluation value for
ax (max is any one of 1 to M)
Request request transmitting means 44 for allocating 2-max information and distance information
Output to The evaluation value calculation means 42 and the maximum value calculation means 43 constitute an assignment request issue destination determination means.

The allocation request transmitting means 44 issues an allocation request to the source 12-max having the largest evaluation value extracted by the maximum value calculating means 43, indicating that the automatic guided vehicle 13 can respond to the transport request. Is transmitted to the wireless relay station 11 in the small area BA where the automatic guided vehicle 13 is located.

FIG. 3D shows a configuration example of the assignment request message. Here, the message M15 requesting the assignment, the automatic guided vehicle 13 indicating the transmission source,
M16, the identifier M17 of the transport source 12-max extracted as the destination evaluation value maximum, and the automatic guided vehicle 13
And the extracted distance information M18 between the transfer source 12-max and the position information M19 of the automatic guided vehicle 13.

The transfer request receiving means 45 in FIG. 1 receives a transfer request directed to the automatic guided vehicle 13 from a specific transfer source 12, and transmits at least information on a moving destination (the position of the specific transfer source 12). Output to the autonomous moving means 46.

The autonomous moving means 46 includes the transport request receiving means 4
When a moving destination is designated from 5, the autonomous vehicle 13 moves to the destination by autonomously moving within the transport area CA while acquiring the position information of the current position. The position information acquired by the autonomous moving means 46 is also output to the evaluation value calculating means 42.

There are various means for measuring the current position by the autonomous moving means 46. For example, a navigator method for locating a beacon in the transport area CA and detecting position information from the beacon,
It can be realized by a method using satellite navigation using an artificial satellite such as S (Global Positioning System).

The autonomous moving method in the autonomous moving means 46 is, for example, a guide method using an electromagnetic induction wire or a magnetic tape, or a method of moving while recognizing the environment with various sensors such as an ultrasonic sensor or an optical sensor. Various methods are applicable.

Further, between the wireless relay station 11, the transport source 12, and the automatic guided vehicle 13, specifically, the transport request transmitting means 21 and the transport request transmitting means 24 of the transport source 12 and the wireless relay station of the small area BA. , The allocation request transmitting means 44 of the automatic guided vehicle 13 and the message receiving means 3 of the wireless relay station 11 in the small area BA.
1, the message relay transmitting means 32 of one wireless relay station 11 and the message receiving means 31 of another wireless relay station 11
Between the transfer request receiving means 41 and the transfer request receiving means 45 of the automatic guided vehicle 13 and the wireless relay station 1 in the small area BA.
1 and a suitable communication link (frequency, modulation method, etc.) between the allocation request receiving means 22 of the carrier 12 and the message broadcasting means 33 of the radio relay station 11 in the small area BA. The encoding method and the like are connected by arbitrary).

[Transport Vehicle Dispatch Control Method] The transport vehicle disposition control method will be described below. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the transport area CA has six small areas BA-1, BA-
, BA-6, and radio relay stations 11-1,..., 11-6 are arranged in each small area BA.

As shown in FIG. 4A, at a certain timing, the three automatic guided vehicles 13-1, 13-2, and 13-3 are in a standby state, It is assumed that a transport request has been issued at several places at the same time. This source 12-1, 12-2
Are located in small areas BA-1, BA-2, respectively.

In the transport source 12-1, the small area BA-1
The transmission request message is transmitted to the wireless relay station 11-1.
Specifically, a transport request message is transmitted from the transport request transmitting unit 21 of the transport source 12-1 to the message receiving unit 31 of the wireless relay station 11-1. If the transport request message received by the message receiving means 31 indicates a broadcast, the message is output to the message broadcasting means 33. The message broadcasting means 33 transmits the message input from the message receiving means 31 to the radio relay station 11-1.
Broadcast in the small area BA-1 to which belongs.

In the small area BA-1, the automatic guided vehicle 13 is located.
-1 is present, and the transfer request receiving means 41 of the automatic guided vehicle 13-1 receives the message from the message broadcasting means 33 and outputs it to the evaluation value calculating means. The evaluation value is calculated by the evaluation value calculation means 42 and output to the maximum value calculation means 43. The maximum value calculating unit 43 determines the transport source 12-1 as the transport source 12 having the largest evaluation value, and outputs the source to the allocation request transmitting unit 44. The allocation request transmitting means 44 transmits an allocation request message for the carrier 12-1 to the wireless relay station 11-1 as shown in FIG. In the wireless relay station 11, the above-mentioned assignment request message is received by the message receiving means 31 and transmitted to the carrier 12-1 via the message broadcasting means 33.

In the transport source 12-1, the allocation request receiving means 22 receives the allocation request message, and outputs all the received allocation request messages to the minimum value calculating means 23. The unmanned transport vehicle 13-1 located at the minimum distance is extracted by the minimum value calculating means 23 and output to the transport request transmitting means 24. In the transport request transmitting means 24, FIG.
As shown in (1), a transport request message addressed to the automatic guided vehicle 13-1 is transmitted to the wireless relay station 11-1. The wireless relay station 11 transmits the message to the automatic guided vehicle 13-1 via the message receiving means 31 and the message broadcasting means 33.

In the automatic guided vehicle 13-1, the transfer request message is received by the transfer request receiving means 45, and the autonomous moving means 46
And the unmanned transport vehicle 13-1 itself is moved to the transport source 12-1 under the control of the autonomous moving means 46 to perform the cargo handling operation.

Here, for the sake of convenience, the case where one transport source 12-1 and one unmanned transport vehicle 13-1 exist in the small area BA-1 has been described as an example, but a plurality of transport sources 12 exist. In this case, the destination to which the allocation request is transmitted is specified by the allocation request issue destination determination means including the evaluation value calculation means 42 and the maximum value calculation means 43 of the automatic guided vehicle 13. Also,
When there are a plurality of automatic guided vehicles 13 in the small area BA-1, a transfer request is issued by the moving object determining means (automated guided vehicle determining means) including the minimum value calculating means 23 and the transport request transmitting means 24 of the transport source 12. The transmission destination is specified.

On the other hand, in the transport source 12-2, the small area BA-2
Since there is no unmanned transport vehicle 13 in the vehicle, the allocation request receiving means 22 cannot receive an allocation request message within a predetermined time for the first transport request. Specifically, first, the transport request message is transmitted to the wireless relay station 11-2 by the transport request transmitting means 21 of the transport source 12-2. The radio relay station 11-2 broadcasts a transport request message into the small area BA-2 via the message receiving means 31 and the message broadcasting means 33. On the other hand, since no unmanned transport vehicle 13 exists in the small area BA-2, the allocation request receiving means 22 of the transport source 12-2 does not receive the allocation request message within a predetermined time. . For this reason, the number of relays of the transport request message is set to 2 by the transport request transmitting means 21 and is transmitted again to the wireless relay station 11-2. Radio relay station 11
-2, the number of relays is 2, so that the received message is broadcasted in the small area BA-2 via the message broadcasting means 33, and the number of relays is set to 1 and the message relay transmitting means 32 Small areas BA-1, BA-3, BA-4, BA-5, B adjacent to each other as shown in FIG.
, And 11-6.

In the radio relay station 11 of each small area BA, the message receiving means 31 receives a message from the radio relay station 11-2, but since this message has one relay, the message broadcasting means The message is output only to the address 33. The message broadcasting means 33 broadcasts the contents of the message toward the small area BA to which the radio relay station 11 belongs. This broadcast is in each small area BA-1, BA-
3, BA-4, BA-5, and BA-6. As a result, the transport request message reaches the automatic guided vehicles 13-2 and 13-3.

In the automatic guided vehicle 13-2, based on the received transport request message, a series of processes from the transport request receiving means 41 to the allocation request transmitting means 44 as described above perform a series of processing from the transport source 12- which issues the allocation request. Decide 2,
Send an assignment request message. This transmission processing is specifically performed as follows.

As shown in FIG. 4-5, the allocation request transmitting means 44 of the automatic guided vehicle 13-2 transmits an allocation request message addressed to the transport source 12-2 of the small area BA-2 to the small area B.
It transmits to the wireless relay station 11-5 of A-5. In the radio relay station 11-5, the message receiving means 31 is connected to the automatic guided vehicle 13-2.
Receives an assignment request message from. Since the destination of the received message is the carrier 12-2 of the small area BA-2, the message receiving means 31 outputs this message to the message relay transmitting means 32 and incorporates the message into the relay message to incorporate the message into the small area BA-2. It transmits to the wireless relay station 11-2.

Message receiving means 3 of radio relay station 11-2
In No. 1, since the received message is a message supporting the relay, the relay message (M14) is output to the message broadcasting means 33 and broadcast in the small area BA-2. With this broadcast, the allocation request message of the automatic guided vehicle 13-2 reaches the transport source 12-2.

The automatic guided vehicle 13-3 in the small area BA-6 also determines the transport source 12-2 which issues the allocation request in the same manner as the automatic guided vehicle 13-2, and the radio relay stations 11-6 and 11-2. And transmits an allocation request message to the transport source 12-2 via the.

The transfer source 12-2, which has received the allocation request message from each of the automatic guided vehicles 13-2 and 13-3, issues a transfer request from the allocation request receiving unit 22 to the transfer request transmitting unit 24 as described above. The automatic guided vehicle 13-3 is determined, and a transport request message is transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle 13-3 via the wireless relay stations 11-2 and 11-6 as shown in FIG. 4-6.

As described above, the transport area CA is divided into a plurality of small areas BA-1, BA-2,..., BA-L, and each of the small areas BA-1, BA-2,. The wireless relay station 11 is set up, and a transfer request is issued from the transfer source 12 to one or more automatic guided vehicles 13 via the plurality of wireless relay stations 11 step by step,
The unmanned guided vehicle 13 receiving the plurality of transfer requests specifies the transfer source 12 having the largest evaluation value and issues an allocation request, and the transfer source 12 receiving the plurality of allocation requests specifies the unmanned transfer vehicle 13 at the minimum distance. Then, the automatic transfer vehicle 13 is determined in accordance with the procedure of issuing the transfer request.

The radio relay station 11 installed in each of the small areas BA-1, BA-2,..., BA-L relays all messages, and if communication is not possible within a limited range, the number of relays is reduced. Since the broadcast area and the communication area are gradually increased by increasing the number, the transmission output of each message transmitting means of the carrier 12 and the automatic guided vehicle 13 can be reduced. Further, unnecessary communication between the transport source 12 and the unmanned transport vehicle 13 in a positional relationship where assignment is not clearly performed becomes unnecessary, and the unmanned transport vehicle 13 is efficiently allocated in a short time. Will be able to do it.

[Second Embodiment] The overall configuration and arrangement of a luggage transport system used in the transport vehicle distribution control method of this embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description is omitted.

The feature of this embodiment lies in that the function of rebroadcasting is provided in the radio relay station 11. That is, the rebroadcast of the transport request when the allocation request is not received within a predetermined time by the allocation request receiving unit 22 after the transport request is issued by the transport request transmitting unit 21 of the transport source 12 is performed in the first embodiment. In this case, the transfer source 12 itself has performed the function, but the wireless relay station 11 has this function.

FIG. 5 shows a radio relay station 111 for use in a luggage transport system using the method for controlling the distribution of vehicles according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a function related to a vehicle delivery control among respective functions of a transfer source and an unmanned guided vehicle.

In this figure, the automatic guided vehicle 13 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. The carrier 112 and the wireless relay station 111 have substantially the same configuration as the carrier 12 and the wireless relay station 11 of the first embodiment.

In the transfer request transmitting means 121 of the transfer source 112, when it becomes necessary to carry a load at the transfer source 12, the transfer request is transmitted to the wireless relay station 11 installed in the small area BA to which the transfer source 12 belongs. Submit the request. The elapsed time after transmission of the transport request is not counted.

The allocation request receiving means 122 receives all the allocation requests transmitted from the unmanned transport vehicles 13 to the source 112. All the distance information added to the received assignment request message is output to the minimum value calculating means 23. No information is output to the transport request transmitting means 121. The minimum value calculating means 23 and the transport request transmitting means 24 have the same configuration as in the first embodiment.

Message receiving means 1 of radio relay station 111
At 31, all messages are received. If the received message is a transport request and an allocation request, the message is output to the transport request rebroadcast determination unit 134. At the same time, if the message supports broadcasting, the message is output to the message broadcasting means 33. If the destination of the message is outside the area, the message is output to the message relay transmitting means 32. If the message supports the relay, the relay message is output to the message broadcasting means 33 among the messages. The message relay transmitting means 32 and the message broadcasting means 33 have the same configuration as in the first embodiment.

The transport request rebroadcast determination means 134 has a counter function, and starts counting when a transport request message is received from the message receiving means 131. Further, the transport request rebroadcast determination unit 134 detects the transport source 112 that needs retransmission processing from information on the transmission source of the transport request message and the transmission destination of the allocation request message received from the message receiving unit 131. That is,
The transfer source 112 that has not received the allocation request within a predetermined time after transmitting the transfer request is detected based on whether or not the transmission source of the transfer request message matches the transmission destination of the allocation request message. As a result, the number of relays indicating the broadcast range of the transport request message transmitted by the transport source 112 is increased by one for the transport source 112 that has passed the predetermined time and output to the message relay transmitting means 32 and the message broadcasting means 33. I do.

The message relay transmitting means 32 includes a transport request rebroadcast determining means 134 and a message receiving means 131
From the given wireless relay station 111
Send to. The message broadcasting means 33 broadcasts the messages from the transport request rebroadcast determination means 134 and the message receiving means 131 to the small area BA.

[Transport vehicle allocation control method] The following describes a transport vehicle allocation control method. Here, only the portions different from the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6A, at a certain timing, three automatic guided vehicles 13-1, 13-2, and 13-3 are in a standby state, and two unmanned transport vehicles 112-1, 112-2 are located. Suppose that a transfer request is generated at the same time. In this case, the transport source 112-1
Transmits a transport request message to the wireless relay station 111-1 in the small area BA-1, and the carrier 112-2 transmits a transport request message to the wireless relay station 111-2 in the small area BA-2.

Since the received message is a transport request, the message receiving means 131 of the radio relay station 111-1 outputs the message to the transport request rebroadcast determining means 134 and the message broadcasting means 33. The message broadcasting means 33 broadcasts the input transport request message into the small area BA-1, and the transport request message from the transport source 112-1 reaches the automatic guided vehicle 13-1. Similar processing is performed in the radio relay station 111-2.

The operation between the transfer source 112-1 and the automatic guided vehicle 13-1 is the same as in the first embodiment, and is described in FIGS.
Vehicle allocation is performed as in -3.

On the other hand, the transfer request rebroadcast determination means 134 of the radio relay station 111-2, when the allocation request for the transfer request received from the transfer source 112-2 cannot be received within a predetermined time, will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in (1), the number of relays indicating the broadcast range of the transport request message issued by the transport source 112-2 is increased by one and output to the message relay transmitting means 32. In this message relay transmitting means 32, adjacent wireless relay stations 111-1, 111-3, 111-4, 111-5, 111
Send to -6. Each radio relay station 111-1, 111-3,
111-4, 111-5, 111-6 message receiving means 13
1, the received message is sent to the message broadcasting means 33.
, And broadcast into the small areas BA-1, BA-3,..., BA-6. The subsequent operation is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As described above, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, since the transfer request rebroadcast determination means 134 is newly provided in the wireless relay station 111, the transfer source 112 only needs to transmit the transfer request once. Thereafter, the processing is automatically performed by the transport request rebroadcast determination means 134, and the transport source 112 may wait until the allocation request arrives. This is effective when applied to a case where a person issues a transfer request at a manned terminal as a transfer source.

[Modification] In each of the above embodiments, the broadcast range of the transport request, the retransmission interval, etc. can be arbitrarily determined by the transport source 12 or the radio relay station 111 itself as a place where the mobile object delivery control method is used. For example, urgent transportation source 12,
The unmanned guided vehicle 13 may be preferentially assigned to 112 by shortening the retransmission interval as compared with the other transport sources 12 and 112.

In each embodiment, the case of the distribution terminal has been described as an example, but the small areas BA-1, BA-2,.
By setting BA-L as each floor of the building and installing wireless relay stations 11 and 112 at each floor, the present invention can be applied to a method of disposing the automatic guided vehicle 13 in the building.

In each of the above embodiments, the transport area CA is divided into a plurality of small areas BA-1, BA-2,
…, BA-L, divided into small areas BA-1, BA-2,…, BA
Although the case where the wireless relay stations 11-1,..., 11-6 are installed for each L is described as an example, the method of designating the broadcast area is as follows. A method of making the transmission output of each of the 13 messages variable is also possible.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the automatic guided vehicle 13 has been described as an example of a moving body.
Even when used in a manned carrier such as an airplane, the same operation and effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0077]

As described above, according to the moving object delivery control method of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) The broadcast range of a move request message from a move request issuer is initially narrowed, and if a move request message from the mobile unit cannot be received, the broadcast range is slightly expanded and rebroadcasted. Since the broadcast range is gradually expanded for each broadcast and rebroadcasting is performed until a move request message is received, a move between a mobile unit and a move request issuer that has a positional relationship that is not clearly assigned is performed. Useless communication is not required, and mobile bodies can be efficiently allocated in a short time.

(2) Since the broadcast range of the move request message from the move request issuer is expanded in small area units, the broadcast area and the communication area can be efficiently expanded and transmitted with the relay station as the core. The output can be reduced.

(3) Since the move request issuer or the relay station individually determines the rebroadcast of the move request message,
This eliminates the need for unified control of the entire system, thereby suppressing unnecessary communication and efficiently allocating mobile units.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a radio relay station 11, a carrier 12, and an automatic guided vehicle 13 used in a mobile object delivery control method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration and arrangement of a luggage transport system using the moving object delivery control method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing the contents of each message.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram showing an overall operation according to a carrier vehicle allocation control method.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing configurations of a radio relay station 111, a carrier 112, and an unmanned carrier 13 using a carrier vehicle allocation control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram showing the overall operation of the carrier vehicle allocation control method according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: wireless relay station, 12: carrier, 13: automatic guided vehicle,
21: transport request transmitting means, 22: allocation request receiving means, 23: minimum value calculating means, 24: transport request transmitting means,
31 ... message receiving means, 32 ... message relay transmitting means, 33 ... message broadcasting means, 41 ... transport request receiving means, 42 ... evaluation value calculating means, 43 ... maximum value calculating means,
44: assignment request transmitting means, 45: transport request receiving means, 46: autonomous moving means, 111: wireless relay station, 112
... conveyor, 121 ... transport request transmitting means, 122 ... assignment request receiving means, 131 ... message receiving means, 134
... Transport request rebroadcast determination means.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-168059 (JP, A) JP-A-62-2725 (JP, A) JP-A-60-95615 (JP, A) JP-A-6-95615 309090 (JP, A) JP-A-7-230316 (JP, A) JP-A-1-146635 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 1/00 G05D 1 / 02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of mobile units movably arranged in a predetermined area and a plurality of asynchronously issuing a move request for moving any of the mobile units in a standby state to an arbitrary position when necessary. A moving body that issues a move request message in response to one of the move requests and moves to a designated point when one or more of the move request issuers issue a move request, In the mobile object delivery control method determined by message exchange, the broadcast range of the move request message from the move request issuer is initially narrowed, and the broadcast range is slightly expanded when the move request message from the mobile object cannot be received. A rebroadcast, a broadcast range is gradually expanded for each rebroadcast, and rebroadcasting is performed until a movement request message is received. 2. The mobile object delivery control method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined area is divided into a plurality of small areas, and a relay station is installed in each of the small areas. The relay station has a function of transmitting and receiving a message to and from the relay station in the small area where the relay station is located. A function of receiving a message transmitted from the relay station, broadcasting the received message in the small area or transmitting the message to another relay station, and expanding a broadcast range of the movement request message from the movement request issuer. And vice versa in a small area unit. 3. The moving object delivery control method according to claim 1, wherein the moving request issuer fails to receive a moving request message from the moving object within a predetermined time after issuing the moving request message. And determining whether to rebroadcast the movement request message in the event that the movement request message is transmitted. 4. The mobile object delivery control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the relay station in the small area requests the mobile station from the mobile object within a predetermined time at a source of the mobile request that issued the mobile request message. A mobile delivery control method, comprising: determining rebroadcasting of a movement request message when a message cannot be received.