JP2020154978A - Vehicle, track, and vehicle travel system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle, a track, and a vehicle travel system, capable of achieving a travel along a regular guide in a track with both a vehicle body center profiling type guide and an axle profiling type guide provided.SOLUTION: When a vehicle is made to go straight on a crossing track Cm with both of a center straight advance guide GCS and an axle left/right turn guide GAT are provided, an unmanned carrier 1 is traveled on the basis of a detection result of the center straight advance guide GCS by a center sensor 4. Thus, when the vehicle is made to go straight on the crossing track Cm, the vehicle can go straight on the crossing track Cm without need for running along the axle left/right turn guide GAT. When the vehicle is made to turn left or right turn in the crossing track Cm, the vehicle is made to run on the basis of a detection result of the axle left/right turn guide GAT by an axle sensor 5. The axle sensor 5 disposed on the axle has higher trace precision of a magnetic guide than the center sensor 4 disposed on a vehicle body. Thus, the axle left/right turn guide GAT can be detected with high precision and the vehicle can exactly execute left/right turn on the crossing track Cm.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to vehicles, travel paths and vehicle travel systems.

Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic guided vehicle that travels while detecting a guide laid on a traveling path with a sensor provided in the center of the vehicle body. In the automatic guided vehicle, the traveling is controlled so that the guide is located at the center of the vehicle body (car body center copying type). Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an automatic guided vehicle that travels while detecting a guide laid on a traveling path by a sensor provided on an axle. In the automatic guided vehicle, the traveling is controlled so that the guide is located on the axle (axle copying type).

Here, when an automated guided vehicle that follows the axle is driven on the runway that follows the center of the vehicle body, it is necessary to newly lay a guide that follows the axle on the runway. Then, in a place where there is no intersection between the traveling paths, the guide of the vehicle body center copying type and the guide of the axle copying type do not intersect, so even if both types of guides are installed, the automatic guided vehicle can run. There is no problem.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-307626 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-219216

However, at places where travel paths intersect, such as at a crossroads or a junction, the guides that follow the center of the vehicle body and the guides that follow the axles intersect. When an automated guided vehicle that follows the axle travels along the intersection of the guides, there is a problem that the automatic guided vehicle travels along the wrong guide.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to realize traveling along a regular guide even on a traveling road in which a vehicle body center copying type guide and an axle copying type guide are provided side by side. It is intended to provide vehicles, roadways and vehicle travel systems.

In order to achieve this object, the vehicle of the present invention includes a vehicle body, a plurality of rotating shafts rotatably arranged on the vehicle body, a plurality of steering means for individually steering the plurality of rotating shafts, and the above. Based on the wheels attached to a plurality of rotating shafts via axles, the driving means for rotationally driving the wheels, the guide sensor capable of detecting the guide indicating the traveling path, and the detection result of the guide sensor. The guide sensor includes a steering means and a traveling control means for controlling the driving means to control the traveling, and the guide sensor has a central sensor provided in the center of the vehicle body and an axle sensor provided on the axle. The travel control means is configured to perform travel control based on the detection result of the axle sensor when traveling on a normal travel road where the travel roads do not intersect, and when traveling straight on an intersecting travel road where the travel roads intersect, the travel control means described above. Travel control is performed based on the detection result of the central sensor.

Further, the traveling path of the present invention is a traveling path on which the vehicle of the present invention travels, and the normal traveling path is provided with a central guide that can be detected by the central sensor and an axle guide that can be detected by the axle sensor. The crossing road is provided with the central guide and the axle guide as guides for turning right or left, and the central guide is provided as a guide for going straight, while the axle guide is provided. Absent.

Further, the vehicle traveling system of the present invention has the vehicle of the present invention and the traveling path of the present invention.

According to the vehicle of the present invention, when traveling on a traveling road in which a vehicle body center copying type guide and an axle copying type guide are provided side by side, the traveling control means is when traveling straight on an intersecting traveling road where the traveling paths intersect. Performs driving control based on the detection result of the central sensor. Therefore, it is possible to travel along the regular guide on the crossing road without following the wrong guide.

Further, in general, when comparing the traveling of the vehicle body center copying type and the traveling of the axle copying type, the tracing accuracy of the guide is higher in the axle copying type running. This is because the axle rotates so as to be orthogonal to the guide in the axle-following type traveling, so that the guide and the sensor continue to be substantially orthogonal to each other. Further, in the vehicle body center copying type traveling, since the sensor is provided on the vehicle body, the sensor may be positioned at an angle with respect to the guide, and in that case, the tracing accuracy is lowered.

According to the vehicle of the present invention, when traveling on a traveling road in which a vehicle body center copying type guide and an axle tracing type guide are provided side by side, the traveling control means is traveling on a normal traveling road where the traveling paths do not intersect. When turning left or right on an intersecting road, driving control is performed based on the detection result of the axle sensor, so that driving with high tracing accuracy can be realized.

According to the traveling path of the present invention, a central guide and an axle guide are provided on the normal traveling path, and a central guide and an axle guide are provided on the intersecting traveling path as guides for turning right or left. There is. Therefore, in both the vehicle body center copying type vehicle and the axle copying type vehicle, the left and right turns of the normal traveling road and the crossing traveling road can be driven along the guide. Further, although a central guide is provided as a guide for going straight on the crossing road, an axle guide is not provided. Therefore, since it is possible to eliminate the portion where the central guide and the axle guide intersect, it is possible to reduce erroneous detection of the guide by the vehicle.

Further, the normal running path continuously formed on the crossing running path is formed to be longer than the length of the vehicle body. Therefore, it is possible to switch from the axle-following type traveling to the vehicle body center-following type traveling during stable straight-ahead traveling in the normal traveling path, so that erroneous detection of the guide due to the switching of the traveling method can be reduced.

According to the vehicle traveling system of the present invention, the effect of the vehicle of the present invention and the traveling path of the present invention can be obtained.

(A) is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention, and (b) is a bottom view of the automatic guided vehicle seen from the direction of arrow Ib of (a). It is a schematic diagram which shows the traveling path which an automatic guided vehicle travels. It is a block diagram which shows the electric structure of an automatic guided vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the main process. It is a flowchart which shows the intersection processing. (A) is a diagram showing the automatic guided vehicle 1 when turning left on the crossing road after traveling on the normal driving road, and (b) is a diagram showing the automatic guided vehicle 1 when traveling on the normal driving road and then going straight on the crossing road. It is a figure which shows the automatic guided vehicle of the case. It is a flowchart which shows the main processing in the modification. It is a flowchart which shows the cross road processing in the modification.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 1 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1A is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a bottom view of the automatic guided vehicle 1 as viewed from the direction of arrow Ib in FIG. 1A. Is. The direction of the arrow F in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 is the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 1. The automatic guided vehicle 1 carries a transported object (not shown) and is a guide made of magnetic tape installed on the traveling path. Central straight guide GCS, central right / left turn guide GCT, axle straight guide GAS, and axle right / left turn. It is a vehicle that travels according to a guide GAT (see FIG. 2, hereinafter collectively abbreviated as "magnetic guide G"). The automatic guided vehicle 1 has a vehicle body 2, a traveling device 3, a central sensor 4, an axle sensor 5, a magnetic mark sensor 6, and an ID tag sensor 7.

The traveling device 3 is a device for traveling the automatic guided vehicle 1, and is arranged at four corners of the lower part of the vehicle body 2 in the bottom view of the automatic guided vehicle 1. Each traveling device 3 is provided with an axle 3a, a pair of wheels 3b arranged at both ends of the axle 3a, and a rotating shaft 3c for steerably connecting the axle 3a and the wheels 3b to the vehicle body 2. Will be done. The traveling device 3 is further provided with a rotary drive device 3d for rotationally driving the wheels 3b and a steering drive device 3e for steering the rotary shaft 3c (both see FIG. 3).

The central sensor 4 is a wide sensor that detects the position of the central sensor 4 by detecting the magnetic force generated from the central straight guide GCS and the central right / left turn guide GCT, and is the lower part of the vehicle body 2 on the length direction side of the vehicle body 2. And at the center of both sides on the width direction side, respectively. The axle sensor 5 is a wide sensor that detects the position by detecting the magnetic force generated from the axle straight-ahead guide GAS and the axle right-left turn guide GAT, and the front and rear, that is, the wheels 3b are arranged on the axle 3a of each traveling device 3. It is arranged on the side orthogonal to the side to be installed.

Here, since the central sensor 4 is arranged on the vehicle body 2, the central sensor 4 may be positioned obliquely with respect to the magnetic guide G. On the other hand, the axle sensor 5 is arranged orthogonal to the wheel 3b with respect to the axle 3a. Therefore, when the axle 3a is rotated so that the unmanned carrier 1 is aligned with the magnetic guide G, that is, the wheels 3b are aligned with the magnetic guide G, the axle sensor 5 rotates so as to be orthogonal to the magnetic guide G. It becomes easy to make the magnetic guide G and the axle sensor 5 orthogonal to each other. As a result, the position of the magnetic guide G on the axle sensor 5 becomes clear, so that the trace accuracy of the axle sensor 5 with respect to the magnetic guide G can be made higher than that of the central sensor 4. Since the automatic guided vehicle 1 of the present embodiment is provided with both the central sensor 4 and the axle sensor 5, it is possible to realize traveling with high trace accuracy by detecting the magnetic guide G with the axle sensor 5 as much as possible. ..

The magnetic mark sensor 6 is a sensor that detects the magnetic mark M (see FIG. 2), and is arranged at four corners in the lower portion of the vehicle body 2. The ID tag sensor 7 is a sensor that detects the ID tag T (see FIG. 2), and is arranged at the lower part of the vehicle body 2 and at the center of both sides of the automatic guided vehicle 1 on the length direction side in the bottom view.

The automatic guided vehicle 1 of the present embodiment has a traveling direction on either the length direction side or the width direction side of the vehicle body 2, and travels by two central sensors 4 or axle sensors 5 in the front-rear direction in the traveling direction. The vehicle travels while detecting the magnetic guide G on the road. Next, the travel path on which the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a travel path on which the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels. The travel path in the present embodiment is formed by continuously connecting the normal travel paths N1 to N7 and the crossing travel paths C1 to C3. The normal travel paths N1 to N7 are travel paths that do not intersect with each other. The lengths of the normal traveling paths N1 to N7 are formed to be longer than the length of the vehicle body 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 1, respectively.

The crossing runways C1 to C3 are runways where the runways intersect. Of these, the crossing roads C1 and C3 are so-called "junctions" in which the two roads intersect in a clove, and the crossing roads C2 are so-called "crossroads" in which the two roads intersect in a cross. Hereinafter, when the normal driving roads N1 to N7 are not particularly distinguished, they are referred to as "normal driving road Nn" (n is a natural number), and when the crossing driving roads C1 to C3 are not particularly distinguished, "crossing driving road Cm" (m is). It is called a natural number).

A central straight-ahead guide GCS, a central right-left turn guide GCT, an axle straight-ahead guide GAS, and an axle right-left turn guide GAT are installed on the normal traveling path Nn and the crossing traveling path Cm, respectively.

The central straight-ahead guide GCS is a guide (central guide) that guides the automatic guided vehicle 1 traveling based on the central sensor 4, and goes straight out of the traveling roads that intersect with the substantially center of the normal traveling road Nn at the crossing traveling road Cm. It is installed along the approximate center of the running path.

The center right / left turn guide GCT is a guide (center guide) for turning the automatic guided vehicle 1 traveling based on the central sensor 4 to the right or left, and is an abbreviation for a traveling path for turning left or right among the intersecting traveling paths of the intersecting traveling path Cm. It is installed along the center.

The axle straight-ahead guide GAS is a guide (axle guide) for traveling the automatic guided vehicle 1 traveling straight based on the axle sensor 5, and is a guide (axle guide) that travels straight on the left and right sides of the central straight-ahead guide GCS on the normal travel path Nn and the crossing travel path C1 , C3 is installed along the left and right sides of the central straight-ahead guide GCS where the normal travel path Nn is disconnected (hereinafter abbreviated as "non-connecting side").

The axle right / left turn guide GAT is a guide (axle guide) for turning the automatic guided vehicle 1 traveling based on the axle sensor 5 to the right or left, and is an unmanned vehicle that turns right or left out of the left and right of the center right / left turn guide GCT on the crossing road Cm. It is installed along the side corresponding to the inner ring (hereinafter abbreviated as "inner ring side") of the wheel 3b (see FIG. 1) of the transport vehicle 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the crossing runway Cm, especially in the crossing runway C2 which is a crossroads, a center right / left turn guide GCT and an inner wheel side axle right / left turn guide GAT are installed side by side as guides for turning the automatic guided vehicle 1 right / left. On the other hand, as a guide for traveling the automatic guided vehicle 1 straight, only the central straight guide GCS is installed, and the axle straight guide GAS is not installed.

As a result, the intersection of the central straight guide GCS and the axle straight guide GAS and the intersection of the center right / left turn guide GCT and the axle straight guide GAS can be eliminated. Therefore, the central straight guide GCS and the axle straight guide by the automatic guided vehicle 1 can be eliminated. False positives with GAS can be reduced.

On the other hand, since the axle straight-ahead guide GAS is not installed on the crossing track C2, the crossing track C2 cannot be driven straight based on the detection result of the axle sensor 5. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the details will be described later, but when the crossing road Cm including the crossing road C2 is to be driven straight, the central sensor 4 detects the central straight guide GCS so that the vehicle is installed alongside the crossing road Cm. Go straight on the crossing road Cm without following the right / left turn guide GAT. A system having such an automatic guided vehicle 1 and a normal traveling path Nn and an intersecting traveling path Cm is referred to as a "vehicle traveling system S".

Stations ST1 and ST2 for stopping the automatic guided vehicle 1 and loading and unloading the transported object are also provided on the normal traveling path Nn and the crossing traveling path Cm. The above-mentioned magnetic mark M and ID tag T are provided in each station ST1 and ST2, and when the traveling unmanned vehicle 1 detects the magnetic mark M and ID tag T, it is said that the vehicle has arrived at stations ST1 and ST2. Judging, the traveling position of the automatic guided vehicle 1 (the traveling position memory 12a described later in FIG. 3) is updated to the position of the corresponding stations ST1 and ST2.

The magnetic mark M is also provided at a position other than the stations ST1 and ST2 (for example, before entering the intersecting travel path C1 in the normal travel path N1), and even when the magnetic mark M is detected at a position other than the stations ST1 and ST2. , The automatic guided vehicle 1 updates its traveling position to the corresponding position.

Next, the electrical configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 1. The automatic guided vehicle 1 includes a CPU 10, a flash ROM 11, and a RAM 12, each of which is connected to an input / output port 14 via a bus line 13.

The central sensor 4, the axle sensor 5, the magnetic mark sensor 6, the ID tag sensor 7, the rotation drive device 3d, and the steering drive device 3e are connected to the input / output port 14, respectively. A plurality of these are arranged with respect to the automatic guided vehicle 1, but in FIG. 3, they are collectively one central sensor 4, an axle sensor 5, a magnetic mark sensor 6, an ID tag sensor 7, and a rotation drive device 3d. And the steering drive device 3e.

The CPU 10 is an arithmetic unit that controls each unit connected to the bus line 13 and the input / output port 14. The flash ROM 11 is a rewritable non-volatile memory, and stores the control program 11a and the map data 11b. The control program 11a is a program that causes the CPU 10 to execute the main process of FIG. 4 and the intersection process of FIG. The map data 11b is data in which information about the travel path of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is stored, and together with the map information of the travel path, the travel path for each travel position (that is, the normal travel path Nn or the crossing travel path Cm) and the magnetism. The traveling position for each mark M and ID tag T is stored.

The RAM 12 is a memory for the CPU 10 to rewritably store various work data, flags, and the like when the control program 11a or the like is executed. The traveling position memory 12a for storing the traveling position of the unmanned transport vehicle 1 and the front sensor. A memory 12b and a rear sensor memory 12c are provided. The front sensor memory 12b is a memory that stores sensor information for detecting the magnetic guide G among the central sensor 4 or the axle sensor 5 provided on the front side in the traveling direction, and the rear sensor memory 12c is the rear sensor memory 12c in the traveling direction. Of the central sensor 4 or the axle sensor 5 provided on the side, this is a memory for storing sensor information for detecting the magnetic guide G.

Next, the main process executed by the CPU 10 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the main process. The main process is repeatedly executed immediately after the power of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is turned on.

First, the main process confirms whether the magnetic mark M is detected by the magnetic mark sensor 6 or the ID tag T is detected by the ID tag sensor 7 (S1). When the magnetic mark M or the ID tag T is detected in the process of S1 (S1: Yes), the traveling position corresponding to the detected magnetic mark M or the ID tag T is acquired from the map data 11b, and the traveling position memory is obtained. Save to 12a (S2). On the other hand, if the magnetic mark M or the ID tag T is not detected in the processing of S1 (S1: No), the processing of S2 is skipped.

After the processing of S1 or S2, the travel path corresponding to the travel position of the travel position memory 12a is acquired from the map data 11b (S3). After the processing of S3, the travel path acquired from the map data 11b is confirmed (determined) (S4).

In the process of S4, when the acquired travel path is the normal travel path Nn (S4: normal travel path), after the automatic guided vehicle 1 starts traveling on the normal travel path Nn, it is between the front and rear axle sensors 5 and above. Check if the vehicle has run (S5). In the process of S5, when the vehicle travels between the front and rear axle sensors 5 or more (S5: Yes), the "left front axle" which is the sensor information representing the left front axle sensor 5 in the traveling direction is stored in the front sensor memory 12b. (S6), the "left rear axle", which is sensor information representing the left rear axle sensor 5 in the traveling direction, is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S7).

That is, after the travel path of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is switched from the crossing travel path Cm to the normal travel path Nn, and when both the front and rear axle sensors 5 are located on the normal travel path Nn, the front-rear sensor that detects the magnetic guide G is used. Switch to the axle sensor 5 at about the same time. In particular, when traveling straight on the crossing travel path Cm and traveling to the normal travel path Nn, it is necessary to switch the sensor for detecting the magnetic guide G from the central sensor 4 to the axle sensor 5. Therefore, the switching of the sensor for detecting the magnetic guide G is compared with the crossing road Cm in which many magnetic guides G are installed, and the magnetic guide G is stably driven straight in the normal road Nn where the configuration of the magnetic guide G is simple. By performing this inside, it is possible to reduce erroneous detection of the magnetic guide G due to such switching.

In the process of S5, if the vehicle has not traveled more than the distance between the front and rear axle sensors 5 (S5: No), the processes of S6 and S7 are skipped.

In the process of S4, if the acquired travel path is the intersection travel path Cm (S4: intersection travel path), the intersection path processing (S8) is executed. Such crossroad processing will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flowchart of crossroads processing. In the intersection processing, first, the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 1 on the intersecting traveling road Cm is confirmed based on the map data 11b and the traveling position of the traveling position memory 12a (S20).

In the process of S20, when the unmanned carrier 1 is to go straight (S20: go straight), the sensor information "front center" representing the front center sensor 4 in the traveling direction is stored in the front sensor memory 12b (S21). “Rear center”, which is sensor information representing the rear center sensor 4 in the traveling direction, is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S22).

In the process of S20, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is to be turned left (S20: turn left), the "left front axle" which is the sensor information representing the left front axle sensor 5 in the traveling direction is stored in the front sensor memory 12b (S23). ), The "left rear axle" representing the left rear axle sensor 5 in the traveling direction is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S24). Further, in the processing of S20, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is to be turned right (S20: right turn), the "right front axle" which is the sensor information representing the right front axle sensor 5 in the traveling direction is stored in the front sensor memory 12b (S20: right turn). S25), the “right rear axle”, which is sensor information representing the left rear axle sensor 5 in the traveling direction, is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S26).

That is, even when the travel path of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is switched from the normal travel path Nn to the crossing travel path Cm, the front and rear sensors of the automatic guided vehicle 1 are switched at substantially the same time. As a result, the front and rear sensors can be switched during stable straight running in the normal running path Nn before entering the crossing running path Cm, so that false detection of the magnetic guide G due to such switching can be reduced.

After the processing of S22, S24, and S26, the intersection processing is completed, and the process returns to the main processing of FIG.

After the processing of S5, S7, and S8 of FIG. 4, the amount of deviation between the sensor corresponding to the guide information of the front sensor memory 12b and the rear sensor memory 12c and the magnetic guide G detected by the sensor is acquired (S9). ).

At this time, in the portion where the normal traveling path Nn is switched to the crossing traveling path Cm, for example, in the portion where the normal traveling path N2 is switched to the crossing traveling path C2 in FIG. 2, one central straight-ahead guide GCS, a central straight-ahead guide GCS, and a right / left turn There is a position where there are three branches to the center right / left turn guide GCT. At such positions, the central sensor 4 detects three positions.

Therefore, among the positions of the magnetic guide G detected by the central sensor 4, the position corresponding to the traveling direction (for example, of the three positions, the position corresponding to the center in the width direction of the central sensor 4 when moving straight, turn right. By preferentially detecting (the position corresponding to the right side in the width direction of the central sensor 4), the magnetic guide G can be accurately detected according to the traveling direction even when the magnetic guide G branches. ..

After the processing of S9, the rotary drive device 3d and the steering drive device 3e of each traveling device 3 are operated so that the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels along the magnetic guide G based on the deviation amount acquired in the processing of S9. (S10). Then, the traveling position corresponding to the traveling distance of the automatic guided vehicle 1 according to the processing of S10 is stored in the traveling position memory 12a (S11), and the processing of S1 is repeated.

Here, with reference to FIG. 6, switching of the central sensor 4 and the axle sensor 5 according to the traveling road or the traveling direction in the processing of S5, S7, S8 of FIG. 4 and the intersection processing of FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an automatic guided vehicle 1 when turning left on the crossing road Cm after traveling on the normal traveling road Nn, and FIG. 6B is a diagram after traveling on the normal traveling road Nn. , It is a figure which shows the automatic guided vehicle 1 when going straight on the crossing runway Cm. In FIG. 6, the central sensor 4 and the axle sensor 5 are shown for the sake of explanation.

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is driven on the normal traveling road Nn, or when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is turned left or right (not shown) with respect to the crossing traveling road Cm. The axle sensor 5 detects the axle straight-ahead guide GAS or the axle right-left turn guide GAT. Since the axle sensor 5 has higher tracing accuracy with respect to the magnetic guide G than the central sensor 4, the axle sensor 5 can accurately detect these axle straight-ahead guide GAS or axle right-left turn guide GAT. As a result, the automatic guided vehicle 1 can be accurately driven without deviating from the normal travel path Nn or the crossing travel path Cm.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels straight on the crossing road Cm, the central sensor 4 detects the central straight guide GCS. In the vehicle traveling system S of the present embodiment, unlike the axle straight-ahead guide GAS, the central straight-ahead guide GCS is always installed on the traveling path of the crossing traveling path Cm, so that the central straight-ahead guide GCS is detected by the central sensor 4. By doing so, it is possible to go straight on the crossing road Cm without following the axle right / left turn guide GAT attached to the crossing road Cm.

Further, as described above in FIG. 2, the length of the normal traveling path Nn is set to be longer than the length of the vehicle body 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. 6B, when the crossing road Cm is driven straight from the normal driving road Nn, the front and rear axle sensors 5 both detect the axle straight guide GAS at least until the vehicle enters the crossing road Cm. There is. Therefore, by switching the sensor for detecting the magnetic guide G from the axle sensor 5 to the central sensor 4 at the timing when the front and rear axle sensors 5 switch from the normal traveling path Nn to the crossing traveling path Cm, the axle sensor 5 to the central sensor 4 It is possible to reduce erroneous detection by the magnetic guide G due to a shift in the timing of switching to. Further, since the switching from the axle sensor 5 to the central sensor 4 can be performed during stable straight running in the normal traveling path Nn, it is possible to reduce erroneous detection of the magnetic guide G due to such switching.

By the way, in FIG. 2, a central straight guide GCS is installed on the normal traveling path Nn. Further, a center right / left turn guide GCT is installed on the crossing road Cm, and an axle straight-ahead guide GAS is installed on the side of the crossing roads C1 and C3 where other roads are not connected. These are not detected by the central sensor 4 and the axle sensor 5 due to the traveling control of the automatic guided vehicle 1 in FIGS. 4 and 5, but are along the traveling directions in which the respective traveling paths are straightened or turned left or right. Therefore, when either the central sensor 4 or the axle sensor 5 fails, the automatic guided vehicle 1 is temporarily operated by the central sensor 4 or the axle sensor 5 to detect these magnetic guides G. It can be driven with respect to the normal traveling road Nn and the crossing traveling road Cm.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is easy that various improvements and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be inferred from.

In the above embodiment, when the traveling path is switched from the normal traveling path Nn to the crossing traveling path Cm, or when the traveling path is switched from the crossing traveling path Cm to the normal traveling path Nn, the front and rear sensors are switched at substantially the same time. However, the timing of switching the rear sensor is not necessarily limited to this. For example, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels more than between the front and rear sensors after switching the front sensor due to the switching of the travel path. The sensor on the rear side may be switched to.

For example, in the main process of FIG. 7, if the travel path acquired in the process of S4 is the normal travel path Nn (S4: normal travel path), first, the "left front axle" is stored in the front sensor memory 12b. (S40) After that, after the automatic guided vehicle 1 starts traveling on the normal traveling path Nn by the process of S6, it is confirmed whether the automatic guided vehicle 1 has traveled between the front and rear axle sensors 5 and above, and the vehicle has traveled between the front and rear axle sensors 5 and above. (S6: Yes), the "left rear axle" may be stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S7).

By doing so, when the crossing road Cm is switched to the normal road Nn, the front sensor is first switched to the axle sensor 5, and then the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels between the front and rear axle sensors 5 or more. The rear sensor switches to the axle sensor 5. As a result, when switching from the crossing travel path Cm to the normal travel path Nn, the sensor on the rear side of the automatic guided vehicle 1 can detect the same magnetic guide G as the sensor on the front side at the same travel position. 1 can be run stably.

On the other hand, if the acquired travel path is the intersection travel path Cm in the process of S4 (S4: intersection travel path), the intersection process of FIG. 8 is executed (S80). In the crossroads processing of S80, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is to go straight in the processing of S20 (S20: going straight), the "front center" is saved in the front sensor memory 12b (S21), and the automatic guided vehicle 1 goes straight. After starting to do so, it is confirmed whether the vehicle has traveled more than the distance between the front and rear central sensors 4 (S41). In the process of S41, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 has traveled between the front and rear center sensors 4 or more after starting to go straight (S41: Yes), the "rear center" is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S22). On the other hand, if the automatic guided vehicle 1 has not traveled between the front and rear central sensors 4 or more since it started to travel straight (S41: No), the process of S22 is skipped.

When the automatic guided vehicle 1 is to be turned left in the process of S20 (S20: left turn), the "left front axle" is saved in the front sensor memory 12b (S23), and after the automatic guided vehicle 1 starts to turn left, the front and rear axles It is confirmed whether the vehicle has traveled more than the distance between the sensors 5 (S42). When the automatic guided vehicle 1 has traveled between the front and rear axle sensors 5 or more after starting to turn left (S42: Yes), the "left rear axle" is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S24). On the other hand, if the vehicle is not traveling between the front and rear axle sensors 5 or more (S42: No), the process of S24 is skipped.

Similarly, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is to be turned right in the process of S20 (S20: right turn), the "right front axle" is saved in the front sensor memory 12b (S25), and after the automatic guided vehicle 1 starts to turn right, the front and rear It is confirmed whether or not the vehicle has traveled more than the distance between the axle sensors 5 (S43). When the automatic guided vehicle 1 has traveled between the front and rear axle sensors 5 or more after starting to turn right (S43: Yes), the "right rear axle" is stored in the rear sensor memory 12c (S26). On the other hand, if the vehicle is not traveling between the front and rear axle sensors 5 or more (S43: No), the process of S26 is skipped.

That is, when the normal traveling path Nn is switched to the crossing traveling path Cm, the sensor on the rear side of the automatic guided vehicle 1 can detect the same magnetic guide G as the sensor on the front side at the same traveling position. It can be run stably. In addition, when traveling from the normal traveling road Nn to the crossing traveling road Cm, the left rear axle sensor 5 having high tracing accuracy is used as the rear sensor from the time when the front sensor is switched until the vehicle travels between the front and rear sensors. Since it is used, the automatic guided vehicle 1 can be driven more faithfully to the axle straight-ahead guide GAS.

In the above embodiment, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is driven on the normal traveling path Nn, the left axle sensor 5 detects the left axle straight-ahead guide GAS in the traveling direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is driven on the normal traveling path Nn, the right axle sensor 5 may detect the right axle straight-ahead guide GAS in the traveling direction.

In the above embodiment, the guide installed on the traveling path is a magnetic guide G made of magnetic tape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the guide may be a white line painted on the traveling path. In such a case, the position of the white line may be detected by an optical sensor provided at the lower part of the vehicle body 2 instead of the central sensor 4 or an optical sensor arranged on the axle 3a instead of the axle sensor 5.

In the above embodiment, the control program 11a is stored in the flash ROM 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the control program 11a may be stored in an optical disk such as a DVD or a magnetic medium such as a hard disk drive and executed, or may be executed in a server on a network (Internet, intranet, etc.). The control program 11a may be stored, and the control program 11a may be downloaded from the server and executed.

In the above embodiment, the automatic guided vehicle 1 has been described as an example of the vehicle, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to, for example, a manned or unmanned unit carrier.

1 Automatic guided vehicle (vehicle)
2 Body 3a Axle 3b Wheel 3c Rotating shaft 3e Steering drive device (steering means)
3d rotary drive device (drive means)
4 Central sensor 5 Axle sensor C1 to C3, Cm Crossing road N1 to N7, Nn Normal road G Magnetic guide (guide)
GCS Central Straight Guide (Guide and part of Central Guide)
GCT center right / left turn guide (guide and part of center guide)
GAS Axle Straight Guide (Guide and part of Axle Guide)
GAT Axle Right / Left Turn Guide (Guide and part of Axle Guide)
S Vehicle travel system S10 Travel control means

Claims (6)

A vehicle body, a plurality of rotating shafts rotatably arranged on the vehicle body, a plurality of steering means for individually steering the plurality of rotating shafts, and the plurality of rotating shafts attached to the plurality of rotating shafts via axles. Wheels, a driving means for rotationally driving the wheels, a guide sensor capable of detecting a guide indicating a traveling path, and the steering means and the driving means are controlled based on the detection result of the guide sensor to control traveling. In a vehicle equipped with a travel control means
The guide sensor is configured to include a central sensor provided in the center of the vehicle body and an axle sensor provided in the axle.
The traveling control means performs traveling control based on the detection result of the axle sensor when traveling on a normal traveling road where the traveling roads do not intersect, and when traveling straight on the intersecting traveling road where the traveling roads intersect, the central sensor A vehicle characterized in that traveling control is performed based on the detection result. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the traveling control means performs traveling control based on a detection result of the axle sensor when turning left or right on the intersecting traveling road. The first or second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the traveling control means stores map data of a traveling road and discriminates between the normal traveling road and the intersecting traveling road based on the map data. The listed vehicle. In the traveling path on which the vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3 travels,
A central guide that can be detected by the central sensor and an axle guide that can be detected by the axle sensor are provided side by side on the normal traveling path.
The crossing road is provided with the central guide and the axle guide as guides for turning right or left, and the central guide is provided as a guide for going straight, while the axle guide is not provided. Characteristic driving path. The traveling path according to claim 4, wherein the normal traveling path continuously formed on the intersecting traveling path is formed to be longer than the length of the vehicle body. A vehicle traveling system comprising the vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and the traveling path according to claim 4 or 5.

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