JP2001100842A - Automated guide vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely control traveling at respective points, crossing or auto- shutter. SOLUTION: The traveling course of an automated guided vehicle is divided at points and exclusive control areas such as crossing, auto-shutter and signal- track block are provided. When traveling to the next point, the automated guided vehicle requests blocking to a system controller, and if that point is not blocked, the system controller applies a traveling permission and blocks that point. In the exclusive control area, the traveling permission is applied after a traveling enable state is confirmed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle system, and more particularly, to permitting traveling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic guided vehicle system, a plurality of automatic guided vehicles are arranged on a traveling path and run under the control of a system controller. Here, when the number of automatic guided vehicles is increased, a traveling control algorithm is required to avoid collision. However, there is no known algorithm for simply and reliably assigning a traveling path to a plurality of automatic guided vehicles.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to control the traveling of an automatic guided vehicle by a simple and reliable method to prevent collision. An additional object of the invention of claim 2 is to allow the vehicle to smoothly travel in a section having a shutter. An additional object of the invention according to claim 3 is to allow the vehicle to travel smoothly in a section where there is a device that interferes with the automatic guided vehicle.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a plurality of points are provided along a traveling path, and each unmanned guided vehicle notifies a system controller of blocking of a point to be traveled and release of blocking of a passing point. The vehicle controller is provided with a traveling request means for requesting,
An automatic guided vehicle system includes a traveling permission unit that permits a blocking request to a non-blocked point and releases the blocking by a blocking release request (claim 1).

The invention according to a second aspect of the present invention further provides a shutter such as a freezer door on the transport path, wherein the travel request means requests the system controller to permit the shutter to travel, and the travel permission means includes a shutter. The vehicle is allowed to run after confirming that the vehicle has been opened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a device which interferes with the automatic guided vehicle on the transport path, wherein the travel request means requests a system controller to permit travel in a section which interferes with the device. Further, the traveling permission means is configured to permit traveling in the section after confirming that the device is not in interference with the automatic guided vehicle.

[0007]

According to the present invention, when the automatic guided vehicle attempts to travel at a certain point, the automatic guided vehicle requests the blocking of the point before traveling, and the system controller blocks the other automatic guided vehicle. If not, allow blocking and unblock after passing. For this reason, the right of passage of the point is assigned to the automatic guided vehicle by blocking, and the passing right can be transferred to another automatic guided vehicle by releasing the blocking. Therefore, the traveling path can be divided into points by simple control of blocking and its release, and traveling can be controlled while preventing collision between the automatic guided vehicles (claim 1).

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the automatic guided vehicle is allowed to travel after confirming that the shutter is open, so that the vehicle can travel smoothly in a section having the shutter.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since it is confirmed that a device that interferes with the automatic guided vehicle is in a non-interfering state and the travel is permitted, the automatic guided vehicle can travel without interfering with the device. .

[0010]

1 and 2 show an embodiment relating to traveling control of an automatic guided vehicle system 2. FIG. FIG. 1 shows the layout of the automatic guided vehicle system 2, in which a large number of physical points 6 and the like indicated by a circle are provided along the traveling path 4. Reference numeral 8 denotes a number of stations provided along the traveling path 4 for exchanging articles with the automatic guided vehicle 10. 1
2 is a charging point, and 14 is a charging coupler provided facing the charging point 12. For each point 6 and the like, a plurality of attributes can be defined on the system controller 30 described later. For example, the charging point 12 is a charging attribute point, and besides this, a sneaking attribute can be defined for a sneaking station. At certain points of the device, attributes of the transfer device can be defined. These are examples of devices that interfere with automatic guided vehicles.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a single-track section, which is provided with a general-purpose lock having the single-track section as an attribute, and limits the number of unmanned guided vehicles 10 that can enter to one or the like. In addition to the single track section 16, a section in which the number of entering vehicles is limited by exclusive control may be provided in order to prevent deadlock. 20 is the wall of the freezer;
Reference numeral 24 denotes an auto shutter, which is provided with a general-purpose lock having an auto shutter attribute to perform exclusive control.
This is the next point after 2,24. Auto shutter 2
Instead of 2 and 24, a fire shutter or the like may be used.

The traveling path 4 includes intersections C1 to C5 including branches.
There is a general lock of intersection attribute and exclusive control,
In addition, the junction may be exclusively controlled as an intersection.
In the embodiment, no points are provided at intersections, branches, and junctions. The junctions are controlled by blocking the next point, and the intersections including the branches are exclusively controlled by the general lock of the intersection attribute.

The traveling of the automatic guided vehicle 10 on the traveling path 4 is controlled by a system controller 30, and each of the automatic guided vehicles 10 is provided with a traveling request means 31.
The vehicle travels after transmitting a blocking request or the like to the travel permission means 32 and receiving a travel permission such as blocking from the travel permission means 32. Further, when the automatic guided vehicle 10 passes through the section where the blocking has been performed, the release of the blocking is transmitted from the traveling request unit 31 to the traveling permission unit 32, and the traveling permission unit 32 releases the blocking in the section in question.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of an algorithm of the traveling control in the embodiment. The traveling control in the embodiment is performed at points 6 and 6.
Running control (blocking) such as 12 and single track section 16,
Auto shutters 22, 24 and intersections C1 to C5
Exclusive control such as travel permission. In the traveling control of the point 6, etc., if the point requested to be blocked from one AGV has already been blocked to another AGV, the blocking request is queued,
The unmanned guided vehicle that has requested the blocking waits until the blocking of the point is released. Since a plurality of attributes can be defined at the point 6 and the like, the status (the state of the device such as the charging coupler 14 that interferes with the automatic guided vehicle 10) related to these attributes at the time of blocking is checked, and these do not interfere with the automatic guided vehicle 10. Make sure you are in the state and block.

In the case of the charging point 12, the charging coupler 1
4 is confirmed to be in a submerged state (non-interference with the automatic guided vehicle 10), entry is permitted, and when charging is to be performed, the automatic guided vehicle 10 requests charging in addition to the blocking request.
After entering, the charging coupler 14 is set to the outgoing state by a predetermined procedure to charge the automatic guided vehicle 10. In the station with the sneaking attribute, traveling is not permitted when both the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the station have a load.

On the other hand, automatic shutters 22, 24
In such cases, the automatic guided vehicle 10 has the automatic shutters 22, 24.
And the automatic guided vehicle 10 stops immediately below the auto shutters 22 and 24, and
In order to prevent such a situation as not being able to drop 4, exclusive control is performed by the system controller 30. Similarly, in the single-track section 16, exclusive control is performed to limit the number of unmanned guided vehicles 10 entering the section to one. Intersections C1 to C
5 is to prevent a collision between the automatic guided vehicles 10 and so on.
Perform exclusive control.

Each exclusive control area is provided with a variable S representing the number of unmanned guided vehicles 10 permitted to enter the section. In the single-track section 16 and the intersections C1 to C5, the upper limit of S is 1, for example. In the automatic shutters 22 and 24, the upper limit of S may be set to 1 or the upper limit may be set to 2 or more. When a traveling request to the exclusive control area occurs, S is checked, and in the single track section 16 and the intersections C1 to C5, S is 1 and entry is impossible, the traveling request is accommodated in a queue and waited until S becomes 0,
After S is set to 0 and S is set to 1, running is permitted.

In the automatic shutters 22 and 24, when a traveling request occurs, the state of the automatic shutters 22 and 24 is checked. When the automatic shutters 22 and 24 are closed, the automatic shutter 10 is instructed to open and the automatic guided vehicle 10 is put on standby. Is confirmed to be in the open state, the variable S is incremented by 1, and traveling is permitted. The auto shutters 22 and 24 may allow a plurality of automatic guided vehicles to travel, in which case S is increased by 1 for each automatic guided vehicle. When the automatic guided vehicle has finished traveling through the automatic shutter, S is decremented by one. And S is 0
Command the automatic shutters 22 and 24 to close. The traveling request of the auto shutters 22 and 24 is
It is preferable to make a request from a distant place early in anticipation of the opening time of 24.

In any case, when traveling in the exclusive control area is permitted, S is incremented by 1, and then traveling permission is transmitted from the traveling permitting means 32 to the traveling requesting means 31. Is reduced by one. Preferably, the next point 28 and the like in the exclusive control area are collectively blocked together with the permission to drive to the exclusive control area. In this case, in the general lock control, in addition to the value of S, the blocking situation of the next point is also checked. , And give permission to run.

In the embodiment, since a plurality of attributes can be defined for each point 6 and the like, it can be checked whether or not it interferes with the automatic guided vehicle 10 in addition to whether or not blocking has been completed. Since the attribute of the control can be defined, the control according to the type of the exclusive control area can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a layout of an automatic guided vehicle system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for permitting travel in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Automatic guided vehicle system 4 Running path 6 Points 8 Station 10 Automatic guided vehicle 12 Charging point 14 Charging coupler 16 Single track section 20 Wall 22, 24 Auto shutter 30 System controller 31 Travel request means 32 Travel permission means C1-C5 Intersection

Claims (3)

[Claims] A traveling request for requesting a system controller to provide a plurality of points along a traveling path, and to request each of the automatic guided vehicles to block a point to be traveled and to release a blocking of a passing point. Means to allow the system controller to block requests to non-blocking points,
An automatic guided vehicle system, further comprising a traveling permission unit for releasing a blocking in response to a blocking release request. 2. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter provided in said transport path, said travel request means requesting a system controller to permit travel of the shutter, and said travel permission means allowing travel after confirming opening of the shutter. The automatic guided vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. An apparatus that interferes with an automatic guided vehicle is provided on the transport path, the travel request means requests a system controller to authorize travel in a section that interferes with the equipment, and the travel permission means includes: 2. The automatic guided vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein after confirming that the device is in a state of non-interference with the automatic guided vehicle, traveling in the section is permitted.