JP2001019123A - Stocker operation controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stocker operation controlling method for guaranteeing a sure execution of a work instruction with high priority in a work instruction list of work instructions imparted from an upper rank control system to a stocker, preventing interference of works of stacker cranes each other and having a high utilization factor of the stacker cranes, in the stocker installing a plurality of stacker cranes on a track. SOLUTION: A stocker control device STC selects a work instruction with highest priority of a plurality of work instructions received from an upper rank control system USC, selects stacker cranes St1 to StN for the highest priority work instruction, reserves a work area for the highest priority work instruction, selects a work instruction of the next highest priority among work instructions within areas except the reserved area and determines the work instruction as a next work of an other stacker crane.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for managing the operation of a stacker crane of a stocker (automatic warehouse) in which a plurality of stacker cranes are installed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, several stacker cranes St1, St2
Is installed, and the work area of one stacker crane St1 and the work area on the traveling track R of the stacker crane St2 adjacent to the stacker crane St1 are shared. Upon receiving a work instruction including information such as “work ID”, “conveyance object ID”, “transfer source ID”, “destination ID”, and “priority ID”, the following processing was performed. .

A RAM installed in a stocker control device
The work information registered in an unexecuted work instruction list (hereinafter, referred to as a “work instruction list”) is stored in the stacker crane that can access the source port of the work instruction OrderA in the work instruction list. St1,
If there is no work instruction using St2..., Or if there is a work instruction requesting the stacker cranes St1 and St2, and the priority of the work instruction OrderA is compared, as a result, the priority of the work instruction OrderA is the highest. Checks the status of the stacker cranes St1, St2,... And the assigned work area (the travel area of the stacker crane for the transfer between the transfer source port and the transfer destination port), and accesses the transfer source port of the work instruction OrderA. Possible and waiting stacker cranes exist and work instructions O
When the work area of rdderA does not interfere with the work area of the currently executed work instruction, one stacker crane that satisfies the condition is selected, and the work instruction is assigned to this stacker crane.

Further, the work instruction OrderA is compared with the work instructions in the work instruction list, and
The work instruction Or requires a stacker crane that is the same as the stacker crane requested by the work instruction OrderA.
If there is a job with a higher priority than derA, the work instruction OrderA has the highest priority, but the work instruction Ord.
If there is no stacker crane requested by derA, or if there is a stacker crane requested by work order OrderA with the highest priority of work order OrderA, there is a work order OrderA.
If the work area of (1) interferes with the work area of the currently executed work instruction, the work instruction OrderA is registered in the work instruction list.

Next, a description will be given of a process when the stocker control device receives a work completion from the stacker crane control device. When any of the stacker cranes (here, “stacker crane St1”) completes the transfer operation, the stacker crane control device reports the completion of the operation to the stocker control device. Upon receiving the completion report from the stacker crane control device, the stocker control device selects a work instruction to be given to the stacker crane St1 from a work instruction list of the stocker control device.

In this work instruction selection stage, first, the work having the highest priority among the works that can be conveyed by the stacker crane St1 is selected from the work instruction list, and is selected as the next work candidate A. Then, check the work instructions assigned to the adjacent stacker crane,
If the work being executed by the adjacent stacker crane does not interfere with the work area of the candidate A, the candidate A is assigned to the stacker crane. If the work being executed by the adjacent stacker crane interferes with the work area of candidate A, candidate A is skipped, the next higher priority transport instruction is set as the next work candidate, and the adjacent stacker crane work is performed again. Check for interference with the work area. Such a procedure is repeated until a finally executable transfer instruction is found or the work instruction list is completed.

[0007]

By the way, such work instruction scheduling is performed in order from the work instruction list, which can be executed. Therefore, from the viewpoint of maximizing the number of times of transportation, efficiency is low. It seems to be higher.
However, in the above-described conventional method, even if the priority of the transfer instruction is high, there are cases where the work cannot be performed depending on the work area of the work allocated to the adjacent stacker crane. There is a stochastic phenomenon that the waiting time until the is assigned is very long. Such properties are, for example,
In a semiconductor factory or the like in which a plurality of stockers are installed and the stockers are connected to each other by an automatic transfer facility to perform the transfer, there is a problem in that the transfer time of some of the goods is lengthened.

According to the present invention, in a stocker in which a plurality of stacker cranes are installed on a single track, a high-priority work instruction in a work instruction list of work instructions given to the stocker from a higher-level management system is reliably provided. An object of the present invention is to provide an operation management method of a stocker that guarantees the execution of the stacker, prevents interference between operations of the respective stacker cranes, and has a high utilization rate of the stacker cranes.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for managing the operation of a stocker, wherein a work area is shared between a shelf for storing goods and a loading / unloading port. A plurality of stacker cranes for carrying, a stacker crane control device installed on each stacker crane,
In the operation management method for a stocker including a stocker control device that performs management of work instructions, communication control, inventory management, and the like for each stacker crane, the stocker control device has the highest priority among a plurality of work instructions received from the upper management system. The work instruction of the highest priority work instruction is selected, the work area of the highest priority work instruction is reserved, and the next priority is given from the work instructions in the area other than the reserved area. In this case, the operator selects one of the work instructions and decides the next work instruction for another stacker crane.

In the above-mentioned operation management method of the stocker according to the present invention, since the work instructions given to the stocker are sequentially and reliably executed from the work instruction having the highest priority, the conventional drawback that the highest-priority work is postponed is eliminated. In addition, since the highest priority work instruction and the work that does not interfere with the work area are executed at the same time, the transport efficiency can be greatly improved.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, the "work ID", "transportation object ID", "transporter ID", "transport destination ID", "priority ID"("transport I
The “D” and the “destination ID” may be determined by the stocker control device. ), When the stocker control device receives the work instruction including the information, the transfer instruction is registered in the work instruction list in the storage device of the stocker control device, and the work instruction list is rearranged in priority order. Is provided as a candidate for the next operation.

In addition, the transfer source ID and the transfer destination ID of the work instruction
A second function of determining the ID of the stacker crane to execute the transfer, the transfer source ID and the transfer destination ID of the work instruction
Determine the stop position address of the transfer source stacker crane and the stop position address of the transfer destination stacker crane,
A third function for specifying a work area used by the work instruction based on the transfer source address and the transfer destination address;
With this third function, the usage status of the work area is grasped and the reservation of the work area is managed.

Further, when a plurality of work instructions are registered in the work instruction list of the stocker control device, the mode shifts to the synchronous transfer mode, and all the stacker cranes installed in the stocker complete the work currently being executed. A fourth function is provided for limiting the next work instruction so as not to be given.

A fifth function is provided for executing the third function when performing a transition to the synchronous transport mode and, at the same time, determining the next work instruction to be given to each stacker crane. In the fifth function, first, a stacker crane is selected by the second function for the highest priority work at the head of the work instruction list, and it is determined that this stacker crane performs the highest priority work in the work instruction list. The work area for the work instruction is reserved.

Next, a work instruction for another stacker crane is selected from a work instruction list. The selection condition is that the work area of the work instruction is determined by the third function for the work already determined, the work area is reserved, and the work instruction in the area other than the reserved area has a higher priority. Is determined as the next operation of the stacker crane.

After the transition to the synchronous transfer mode, when all the stacker cranes have completed the work and are in the standby state,
A sixth function is provided for simultaneously providing the next operation for each stacker crane determined by the fifth function to each stacker crane control device. Here, the synchronous transport mode and the asynchronous transport mode are separately managed so that it is possible to easily determine whether or not to perform the synchronous transport. If the number of operations registered in the list is 0, the process of asynchronous transport may be performed. If the number of registered work instruction lists is 1 or more, the process of synchronous transport may be performed.

An embodiment of the operation management method of the stocker according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The operation management method of the stocker according to the present embodiment is applied to the stocker as shown in FIGS. That is, based on the work instruction given from the host management system, the stocker stores the shelf Sh1 and the entry / exit ports P1, P2.
And a plurality of stacker cranes St1 to StN (here, in order to simplify the description, the stacker cranes St1,
St2. ) To convey the conveyed object.

IDs as shown in FIG. 3 (collectively referred to as "port IDs") are assigned to the shelves and the entrances and exits provided in the stocker. Further, the traveling trajectory of the stacker crane is managed by dividing the work area as shown in FIG. One work area includes one stop point. Stacker crane control device Stc1-StcN
Controls the stacker crane when it receives the “transportation object ID”, “transportation source ID”, and “destination ID” from the stocker control device, and conveys the specified conveyance from the source ID to the destination ID Then, when the transfer is completed, a completion report is transmitted to the stocker control device.

When the stocker control device STC receives a work instruction including “transportation object ID”, “work ID”, “transfer source ID”, “transport destination ID” and “priority ID” from the upper management system USC, Based on the information of the transfer instruction, the information of the transfer source area ID, the transfer destination area ID, and the used stacker crane ID is identified. If the work instruction cannot be assigned to the stacker crane, the work instruction is set in the stocker control device STC. Work instruction list in the RAM (FIG. 8)
Register). The operation management method of the stocker according to the present embodiment executes the scheduling of work instructions when a large number of work instructions are registered in the work instruction list of the stocker. In this application example, as shown in FIG. The state is managed separately in the transport mode M71 and the synchronous transport mode M72, and in the case of the synchronous transport mode, the scheduling of the work instructions of the plurality of stacker cranes is performed.

Next, the operation of the operation management method for the stocker of this embodiment will be described.

First, the transfer mode transition of FIG. 7 will be described. The stocker control device STC operates in the synchronous transport mode M72.
And the asynchronous transfer mode M71. When the number of registrations in the work instruction list changes from 1 to 0, the synchronous transfer mode M71
State transition 51 is made from 71 to the asynchronous transfer mode. The state transition 52 from the asynchronous transport mode to the synchronous transport mode is performed when the number of registered work instruction lists changes from 0 to 1.

Next, the flow of processing when the stocker control device STC receives a work instruction from the host management system USC will be described with reference to FIG. Stocker controller STC
Receives a work order from the upper management system USC,
At Step 11, the current operation mode is confirmed.

When the current mode is the synchronous transport mode, the work instruction is stored in the work instruction list as shown in FIG.
They are registered in order (Step 12).

Then, the process proceeds to Step 13, where a work instruction candidate for each stacker crane is determined. Here, a method of determining a work instruction candidate will be described in detail. The work instruction list after the end of Step 13 is the work instruction list shown in FIG. First, the highest-priority work (work number 1, transfer source ID
7001 → destination ID 0503) to the stacker crane St1. Then, the transfer source area Ar02 and the transfer destination area Ar0 of the transfer instruction of the work number 1
5, the work area Ar of the stacker crane
02 to Ar05 are reserved.

Next, an operation for the stacker crane St2 is selected. From the work list, select the work area Ar0
Among the work instructions that do not use Ar2 to Ar05 and can be transported by the stacker crane St2, those with the highest priority are set as the next work candidates of the stacker crane St2.

On the other hand, a process when the asynchronous transport mode is selected in Step 11 will be described. First, Ste
At p21, it is determined whether there is a stacker crane capable of performing the work in response to the work instruction.

If there is no usable stacker crane, a state transition is made to the asynchronous transfer mode in Step 22 (state transition 52 in FIG. 7), and a work instruction is registered in the work instruction list (Step 23).

If there is a stacker crane that can be used in Step 21, a work instruction is given to the stacker crane control device of the stacker crane.

Next, the procedure of synchronous transport will be described with reference to FIG. When the stocker control device transits to the synchronous transport mode, it enters a state of waiting for a completion report from the stacker crane control device (Step 51). Here, upon receiving the completion report from the stacker crane control device, the work state of the stacker crane is confirmed, and it is determined whether or not all the stacker cranes are in the standby state (Step 5).
2).

In this case, if there is a stacker crane for which a work instruction is being executed, the process returns to Step 51 and waits for a completion report from the stacker crane control device.

If all the stacker cranes are on standby in Step 52, the next work instruction for each stacker crane determined in Step 13 in FIG. 5 is transmitted.

[0033]

According to the stocker operation management method of the present invention, since the work instructions given to the stocker are sequentially and reliably executed in the order of the highest priority, the highest priority work is postponed. In addition, since the work instruction with the highest priority and the work that does not interfere with the work area are simultaneously executed, it is possible to greatly improve the transfer efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a stocker to which the operation management method for a stocker according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the control system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a port ID of the stocker.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a work area ID of the stacker crane.

FIG. 5 is a chart showing control logic of the stocker.

FIG. 6 is a chart showing a transmission procedure of a transport instruction of the stocker.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state transition of a transport mode of the stocker.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a work instruction list of the stocker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Sh1 shelf T01 to T10 Shelf row St1 to StN Stacker crane Stc1 to StcN Stacker crane controller STC stocker controller USC Host management system

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of stacker cranes for sharing a work area between a shelf for storing goods and a loading / unloading port to transfer the goods, and a stacker crane control device installed in each stacker crane. And a stocker operation management method including a stocker control device that performs work instruction management, communication control, inventory management, and the like for each stacker crane, wherein the stocker control device includes a plurality of work instructions received from the upper management system. The highest-priority work instruction is selected, a stacker crane is selected for the highest-priority work instruction, the work area of the highest-priority work instruction is reserved, and the next work instruction in an area other than the reserved area is selected. The operation management method of the stocker, characterized in that a work instruction having a priority of (1) is selected and determined as a next operation of another stacker crane.