JP2021095250A - Automatic warehouse system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an automatic warehouse system capable of surely and quickly performing picking work.SOLUTION: An automatic warehouse system 1 has: racks 4a and 4b for housing an article storage body of rack 2; and a traveling carriage 10 having a robot arm 21 and imaging means 22 for putting an article storage body of sorting 7 for storing an article G taken out from the article storage body of rack 2 on the traveling carriage 10 and taking out a specified article G from the article storage body of rack 2. The automatic warehouse system 1 has switching means 24 for switching between an autonomous operation mode for autonomously operating the robot arm 21 and a manual operation mode for manually operating the robot arm 21 by remote control from a remote terminal 6 done by an operator.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an automated warehouse system including a rack in which an article accommodating body is stored and a traveling carriage provided with a robot arm capable of taking out a designated article from the article accommodating body.

In the distribution warehouse, racks capable of accommodating a large amount of containers, which are article accommodating bodies for accommodating articles, are installed, and various articles are sorted into each rack container according to the type, size, and the like. In such a distribution warehouse, various operations (unpacking, package change, picking, inspection, packing, etc.) are performed. For example, at the picking operation stage, the rack container is first operated from the rack storage position. Picking is carried out using a stacker crane to the work space provided at the entrance and exit of the rack where the workers are waiting, and then in the work space, the specified items are taken out from the rack container carried out by the workers and transferred to the sorting container. Work is being done. In recent years, with the rapid spread of e-commerce, the expansion and expansion of distribution warehouses have been active, and along with this, attempts have been made to automate the work performed in the distribution warehouses.

In automating this picking operation, an automatic picking means including an imaging means for imaging the inside of a rack container in which articles are stored and a robot arm for actually taking out a designated article by means such as grasping or sucking. As a result, an article in the rack container can be taken out by a robot arm based on the imaging of the imaging means, and the automatic picking means is arranged on a traveling carriage of a stacker crane (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this, at the position where the rack container is taken out from the rack, the specified goods can be moved to the sorting container on the stacker crane traveling carriage, and the stacker crane traveling carriage needs to return to the work space. The picking work can be performed efficiently without doing so.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-188308 (Page 6, Fig. 1)

By the way, although the technology for taking out articles by automatic picking means is advancing day by day by learning control etc., it has not yet reached the skill of human beings, and when the articles cannot be taken out well by the autonomous operation of the robot arm, or the imaging means In some cases, the object cannot be detected properly. In the case of such a situation, in the automated warehouse system as in Patent Document 1, it is determined to try many times until the robot arm can take out the article, or to give up taking out the article and stop the picking work. In any case, there is a problem that the picking work orders that are entered one after another are interrupted and cannot be carried out promptly. As described above, at present, it is difficult to perform picking work by leaving it to completely autonomous operation.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automated warehouse system capable of performing picking work reliably and quickly.

In order to solve the above problems, the automated warehouse system of the present invention
The rack in which the article housing for the rack is stored, and
A traveling trolley equipped with a robot arm and an imaging means capable of mounting a sorting article accommodating body for accommodating articles taken out from the rack article accommodating body and taking out a designated article from the rack article accommodating body. ,
It is an automated warehouse system that has
The automated warehouse system is characterized by having a switching means for switching between an autonomous operation mode in which the robot arm is autonomously operated and a manual operation mode in which the robot arm is manually operated by a remote control from a remote terminal by an operator. There is.
According to this feature, the robot arm can be autonomously operated to move the specified article from the rack article accommodating body stored in the rack to the sorting article accommodating body, and the designated article can be moved in the autonomous operation mode. When a situation occurs in which the removal work of the robot fails, the designated article can be taken out by remote control by switching from the autonomous operation mode to the manual operation mode. Therefore, time loss due to the occurrence of such a situation can be suppressed, and picking work can be performed reliably and quickly. In addition, the remote control is not only an operation of completing all the taking-out work by an operation command from the remote terminal, but also an autonomous operation by, for example, moving a specific article in a specific direction in the rack article storage body. Assisting operations are also included.

The traveling carriage is characterized in that it can travel in a state where a plurality of the sorting article accommodating bodies are placed.
According to this feature, the work of accommodating the articles in the sorting article accommodating bodies serving as a plurality of sorting destinations can be performed in parallel, and the work efficiency is high.

The automated warehouse system is characterized in that, in the manual operation mode, the remote terminal is notified of information on the sorting article container for which the designated articles have been stored.
According to this feature, in a traveling trolley on which a plurality of sorting article accommodating bodies are placed, the operator of the remote terminal is informed of which sorting article accommodating body does not need to accommodate the specified articles any more. It is possible to notify and prevent the specified article from being excessively contained in the sorting article container.

The traveling trolley is such that the robot arm takes out a designated article from the rack article accommodating body in a state where the rack article accommodating body taken out from the rack is placed on the traveling trolley. It is a feature.
According to this feature, the designated article can be reliably taken out from the rack article container regardless of the structure of the rack.

Based on the confirmation by the imaging means that the robot arm has succeeded in taking out the last designated article, the traveling trolley performs an operation of returning the rack article container taken out from the rack to the rack. It is characterized by being able to start.
According to this feature, when the removal of the article by the robot arm is completed, the operation of returning the rack article container taken out from the rack to the rack without waiting for the specified article to be accommodated in the sorting article container. Can be started, and picking work can be performed in a short time.

In the manual operation mode, the remote terminal can accept an interruption process of the operation of taking out an article designated by the operator, and transmits the accepted interruption process to the central control device of the automated warehouse system. It is characterized by that.
According to this feature, when the operator determines that it is difficult to complete the specified article take-out operation in the manual operation mode, the operator requests the central control device of the automated warehouse system for interruption processing. The automated warehouse system can efficiently proceed with the subsequent picking work by temporarily skipping the work of taking out the designated article.

Based on the receipt of the interruption process, the central control device determines whether or not there is another rack article container in the rack in which the designated article corresponding to the interruption process is housed. However, if it exists, it is characterized in that the rack article accommodating body is selectively presented to the remote terminal as the rack article accommodating body from which the designated article is taken out.
According to this feature, when the operator determines that it is difficult to complete the removal work of the designated article in the manual operation mode, the rack article container in which the designated article is housed is provided. If there are other items in the rack, the designated article can be taken out from the rack article container, and the probability that the designated article can be taken out can be increased.

The switching means is characterized in that it switches to the manual operation mode based on the determination that a predetermined abandonment condition is satisfied in the operation of taking out the designated article in the autonomous operation mode.
According to this feature, it is possible to automatically take over from autonomous operation to manual operation, and picking work can be performed reliably and quickly.

The automated warehouse system is characterized in that when it is determined that a predetermined return condition is satisfied in the manual operation mode, the operator of the remote terminal is notified that the autonomous operation mode can be returned. It is said.
According to this feature, since it is possible to notify the operator of the remote terminal that it is possible to return to the autonomous operation mode, it is possible to quickly take over from the manual operation to the autonomous operation.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the automated warehouse system in the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the transfer apparatus. (A) is a plan view showing an operation of taking out a rack container from a rack by a fork device, and (b) is a plan view showing an operation of taking out a designated article from the rack container by a robot device. (A) is a plan view showing an operation of moving a designated article from a rack container to a sorting container by a robot device, and (b) is a plan view showing an operation of returning the rack container to the rack by a fork device. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the automated warehouse system. It is a figure which shows an example of a remote terminal. Similarly, it is a figure which shows an example of a remote terminal. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the remote control request in a remote terminal. It is an image diagram which shows the manual operation list. (A) is a diagram showing a captured image and a notification screen on a remote terminal, and (b) is a diagram showing a completion message on the remote terminal. (A) is a diagram showing a return notification screen on a remote terminal, and (b) is a diagram showing a captured image and a notification screen on the remote terminal. It is a figure which shows the captured image and the notification screen in a remote terminal. It is a figure which shows the selection screen in a remote terminal.

A mode for implementing the automated warehouse system according to the present invention will be described below based on examples.

The automated warehouse system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. Hereinafter, the rear side (right side of the paper surface) of the rack in FIG. 1 in the stretching direction will be the front side, and the vertical and horizontal directions when the front side is viewed will be used as a reference.

Racks 4a and 4b capable of accommodating a large amount of rack containers 2 (rack article accommodating bodies) for accommodating articles are installed in the warehouse (see FIG. 1), and unpacking, packaging change, picking, and inspection.・ Work such as packing is being carried out. Article G (see FIG. 3) is transferred to the rack container 2 by unpacking and packing shape change work outside the racks 4a and 4b, and these rack containers 2 are moved to the desired positions of the racks 4a and 4b by the stacker crane 5. Is housed in. Further, the article G housed in the rack container 2 is associated with the unique ID of the rack container 2, and the storage place of the rack container 2 in the racks 4a and 4b (what number of which rack and what number). Etc. are recorded as a database of the central control device 3 described later. By referring to the database in this way, it is possible to grasp the storage position of the rack container 2 housed in the racks 4a and 4b in the racks 4a and 4b, and the product name and number of the housed articles G. .. In this embodiment, the automated warehouse system 1 is used to automate the picking operation among the above-mentioned operations.

As shown in FIG. 5, the automated warehouse system 1 includes a central control device 3, racks 4a and 4b (see FIG. 1), and a stacker crane 5 having a transfer device 10 (running bogie, see FIG. 2). It is mainly composed of a remote terminal 6. The central control device 3 receives a delivery instruction from the instruction terminal 8, determines the rack container 2 in which the designated article G is stored in the above-mentioned database, and controls the stacker crane 5. Although the central control device 3 is shown in FIG. 5 as being compatible with one stacker crane 5 including one robot device 20 and one remote terminal 6 for convenience of explanation, the stacker There may be a plurality of cranes 5 and remote terminals 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, the racks 4a and 4b are erected facing each other with a predetermined dimension apart in the left-right direction, and one or more pairs of racks 4a and 4b are arranged in parallel (in FIG. 1). Only a pair of racks 4a and 4b are shown, and the rear side of the racks 4b is omitted for convenience of explanation). The transfer device 10 can move between the racks 4a and 4b in the front-rear direction and the up-down direction, and takes out a required number of the articles G from the rack container 2 containing the designated articles G and transfers them to the sorting container 7. The sorting container 7 containing the article G can be transported to one end inlet 42 of the racks 4a and 4b. In this embodiment, although details will be described later, the stacker crane 5 having the transfer device 10 can move in the front-rear direction, and the transfer device 10 can move in the up-down direction (in FIG. 1). Only one stacker crane 5 is shown). Since the racks 4a and 4b have substantially the same structure, only the removal of the rack container 2 of the rack 4a will be described below, and the rack 4b will be omitted.

A lower rail R is installed on the floor surface between the racks 4a and 4b so as to extend in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stacker crane 5 includes a transfer device 10, a traveling base 11 that automatically travels on the lower rail R by a drive device (not shown) such as an inverter motor, and the traveling base 11. It is provided with a pair of masts 12a and 12b erected in front of and behind the above, and elevating means 14a and 14b provided with a drive device such as an inverter motor for elevating and lowering the transfer device 10 along the pair of masts 12a and 12b. .. Although the upper parts of the pair of masts 12a and 12b and the racks 4a and 4b are omitted in FIG. 1 for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the pair of masts 12a and 12b and the racks 4a and 4b continue upward. ..

The transfer device 10 includes a fork device 15, a mounting table 16, a robot device 20, and a loading platform 17 on which the fork device 15, the mounting table 16, and the robot device 20 are placed. In FIG. 2, the transfer device 10 has a fork device 15 in the front, a mounting table 16 in the rear, and a robot device 20 in the middle of these, but the transfer device 10 may be arranged differently from these.

The fork device 15 has a pair of front and rear arm members 15a and 15b that can be expanded and contracted in the left-right direction, and the rack container 2 can be taken in and out of the rack 4a by expanding and contracting the arm members 15a and 15b. Further, the fork device 15 has a mounting portion 18, and the rack container 2 taken out from the rack 4a can be temporarily mounted on the mounting portion 18. The structure for taking in and out the rack container 2 is not limited to the fork device 15, and for example, a structure using a transport roller, a pusher, or the like may be used.

Two small sorting containers 7 (sorting article accommodating bodies) for accommodating the designated article G are placed on the loading table 16, and the sorting container 7 falls down when the transfer device 10 is moved up and down and back and forth. And, the regulating means 19 extending upward is provided on each of the four sides of the upper surface of the mounting table 16 so as not to fall. The number of sorting containers 7 mounted on the mounting table 16 is not limited to two, and one large sorting container 7 may be placed. Also, the specifications of the regulation means 19 may be changed for sorting with a small size. It may be possible to place three or more containers 7.

The robot device 20 includes a main body 27, a robot arm 21, an imaging unit 22, an arithmetic unit 23, a switching unit 24, a notification unit 25, and a return notification unit 26. The switching means 24, the notification means 25, and the return notification means 26 may be arranged in other places independent of the robot device 20 as long as they are included in the automated warehouse system 1.

A hand-type robot arm 21A and a rod-type robot arm 21B, which are robot arms 21, are arranged on the left and right sides of the main body 27 of the robot device 20, respectively. The hand-type robot arm 21A is a manipulator equipped with a plurality of joints corresponding to human elbows and shoulders, and also equipped with members such as fingers of a human hand. It is a type of robot arm that can be moved to the location of. The method of taking out the object is not limited to this, and for example, the object may be taken out by sandwiching it between the hand-type robot arm 21A and the rod-type robot arm 21B.

The rod-type robot arm 21B has a plurality of joints corresponding to human elbows and shoulders, a rod is fixed to the tip, and the hand-type robot arm 21A does not have a member like the fingers of a human hand. It is a robot arm with a simple structure and operation compared to the above. The rod-type robot arm 21B is not limited to such a structure, and may have the same structure as the hand-type robot arm 21A.

The imaging means 22 is arranged between the hand-type robot arm 21A and the rod-type robot arm 21B at the upper part of the main body 27, and can image an object in the field of view of the imaging means 22.

The arithmetic unit 23 is a computer including an MPU and a storage medium, and the storage medium includes a program for controlling the operation of the robot arm 21, a program for analyzing an image captured by the imaging means 22, and an image analysis. The detection conditions when detecting the object, the operation information such as the operation mode of the robot arm 21 and the procedure thereof, and the like are stored.

Further, the robot device 20 is set with an autonomous operation mode that autonomously operates according to the arithmetic unit 23 and a manual operation mode that can be manually operated by the operator by remote control from the remote terminal 6 described later. The operation mode and the manual operation mode are switched by the switching means 24 under certain conditions. Details of the switching means 24 will be described later.

The remote terminal 6 (see FIG. 5) is a terminal that is operated from a position away from the robot device 20 regardless of whether it is inside or outside the warehouse, and is a terminal that can remotely control the robot device 20 in the manual operation mode. Any configuration may be used as long as it includes a communication means, a display means, and an operation input means. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the personal computer 6A adopted in the present embodiment, the display 61 constitutes the display means, the keyboard, the mouse 62, etc. constitute the operation input means, and the personal computer 6A is combined with the built-in communication means. Although it constitutes the remote terminal 6, instead, it may be a motion sensor 6B provided with a display as shown in FIG. 7 and an imaging means for capturing the body movement of the operator. On the display 61 of the personal computer 6A, the image of the imaging means 22 of the robot device 20 constitutes an operation screen and is displayed in real time. That is, in the manual operation mode, the remote terminal 6 is a master unit, and the robot device 20 is a slave unit that is controlled by the remote terminal 6.

According to this, since the robot device 20 can be remotely controlled by the remote terminal 6 in the manual operation mode, the operator does not have to approach the robot device 20 and the safety of the operator can be protected.

Here, the basic removal of the designated article G by the transfer device 10 will be described. In the transfer device 10 before taking out the designated article G, the sorting containers 7 and 7 are mounted on the mounting table 16, and the rack container 2 is mounted on the mounting portion 18 of the fork device 15. It is not in the state (see Fig. 2). When the rack container 2 in which the article G specified by the delivery instruction is stored is determined by the database of the central control device 3, the stacker crane 5 moves back and forth and the transfer device 10 moves up and down. The transfer device 10 is placed sideways at the position of the rack container 2.

After that, the fork device 15 extends the pair of arm members 15a and 15b toward the rack 4a and grips the rack container 2 in the rack 4a. From this state, the fork device 15 pulls the rack container 2 toward the transfer device 10 by contracting the pair of arm members 15a and 15b (see FIG. 3A), and the rack container 2 is placed on the mounting portion. Temporarily place on 18. After that, the robot device 20 in the autonomous operation mode or the manual operation mode rotates the main body 27 clockwise by 90 degrees (that is, from the position of the two-point chain line to the position of the solid line) (see FIG. 3B). The desired article G is sandwiched and lifted from the rack container 2 by the hand-type robot arm 21A and the rod-type robot arm 21B, and the robot device 20 rotates the main body 27 by about 180 degrees (that is, the solid line from the position of the two-point chain line). (Rotate to position) and transfer the article G to one of the sorting containers 7 (see FIG. 4 (a)). Not limited to this, for example, the desired article G may be gripped and lifted by the hand-held robot arm 21A. Furthermore, when it is necessary to move the designated article G to the plurality of sorting containers 7, the operation of grasping and lifting the designated article G is repeated.

When the robot device 20 finishes transferring the designated article G from the rack container 2 to the sorting container 7, the robot device 20 rotates the main body 27 clockwise by about 90 degrees and enters a standby state at the initial position. .. After that, the rack container 2 is pushed into the rack 4a by the pair of arm members 15a and 15b of the fork device 15 and returned to the original position (see FIG. 4B). The operation of returning the rack container 2 to the rack 4a may be started based on the confirmation by the imaging means 22 that the robot arm 21 has taken out the designated last article G from the rack container 2. In this case, when the removal of the last designated article G by the robot arm 21 is completed, the operation of returning the rack container 2 to the rack 4a without waiting for the designated article G to be stored in the sorting container 7. That is, the operation of transferring the last article G to the sorting container 7 and the operation of returning the rack container 2 to the rack 4a can be performed at the same timing, and the picking operation can be performed in a short time. it can.

Next, when the storage of all the designated articles G is not completed, the transfer device 10 is moved to the rack container 2 in which the next article G is accommodated, the above-mentioned steps are repeated, and the article G is moved each time. After the image pickup means 22 confirms that the container 7 has been moved to the sorting container 7, information to that effect is transmitted to the central control device 3.

After that, the transfer device 10 is moved to one end inlet 42 (see FIG. 1) of the racks 4a and 4b, and the sorting container 7 that has been sorted by a transfer means (not shown) is transferred to the roller conveyor 41 (see FIG. 1). , The sorting container 7 is moved to an inspection space (not shown). Then, when the central control device 3 receives the next delivery instruction, after the new sorting container 7 is placed on the transfer device 10, the transfer device 10 is used for the rack in which the newly designated article G is stored. It is moved to the position of container 2. Needless to say, when there are a plurality of designated articles G, the transfer device 10 is moved to the one end inlet 42 of the racks 4a and 4b after all the designated articles G have been taken out and completed.

Next, the switching means 24 will be described. When the robot device 20 takes out the designated article G in the autonomous operation mode, for example, when the article G cannot be grasped by the hand-held robot arm 21A, or when the article G cannot be recognized by the imaging means 22. When the arithmetic unit 23 determines that the predetermined abandonment condition is satisfied, the switching means 24 can switch to the manual operation mode. According to this, it is possible to automatically take over from autonomous operation to manual operation, and picking work can be performed reliably and quickly.

At this time, by displaying the request screen 63 as shown in FIG. 8 from the switching means 24 toward the remote terminal 6, it is possible to request the operator for remote control. It should be noted that the proficiency level of the operator who is the user of each remote terminal 6 for taking out the article G is totaled in advance to create a manual operation list 64 (see FIG. 9), and the proficiency level suitable for the case can be handled. A person may be selected and the request screen 63 may be displayed on the remote terminal 6 of the operator.

When the request for remote control is accepted through the request screen 63, the remote terminal 6 and the robot device 20 are connected, and the image captured by the imaging means 22 of the robot device 20 is displayed on the display means of the remote terminal 6. It is displayed to configure the screen. At the same time, the operation right of the robot arm 21 of the robot device 20 is transferred to the operation input means of the remote terminal 6, and the remote control by the operator using the remote terminal 6 is performed until the robot device 20 returns to the autonomous operation mode described later. Operation becomes possible. At this time, the remote terminal 6 displays a notification screen 65 for notifying the information of the sorting container 7 in which the designated article G has been stored based on the information notified from the notification means 25 together with the captured image. Then, the operator can grasp from the notification screen 65 which sorting container 7 has completed the storage of the designated article G. For example, as shown in FIG. 10A, the notification screen 65 includes how many designated articles G are planned to be stored in each sorting container 7 (planned storage number), and how many designated articles G are stored. (The number of completed accommodations) may be displayed (in the figure, it is shown as the number of completed accommodations / the number of planned accommodations).

Further, when the imaging means 22 confirms that one designated article G is stored in the sorting container 7, the number of completed storage of the notification screen 65 is updated each time. When the storage of the designated article G is completed, the completion message 66 as shown in FIG. 10B is displayed on the remote terminal 6, and the operator manually presses the completion button of the completion message 66 to manually operate the robot device 20. It is possible to switch from the operation mode to the autonomous operation mode. When the designated article G is transferred to an inappropriate sorting container 7 (for example, when the article G is transferred to the sorting container 7 that has already been stored, or the sorting container 7 that is not scheduled to be stored). (When the article G is transferred to), an error screen (not shown) is displayed on the remote terminal 6.

Further, the arithmetic unit 23 of the robot device 20 analyzes the image captured by the imaging means 22 in the manual operation mode, and determines a predetermined return condition (for example, whether or not the designated article G can be detected) at any time. .. For example, by moving a specific article G in a specific direction (that is, an assist operation) by remote control, the arithmetic unit 23 can detect the designated article G, and when a predetermined return condition is satisfied, the return notification means. The remote terminal 6 displays the return notification screen 67 as shown in FIG. 11A by 26, and notifies the operator that it is possible to return to the autonomous operation mode. The return notification screen 67 confirms with the operator about switching from the manual operation mode to the autonomous operation mode. Pressing the Yes button switches to the autonomous operation mode, and pressing the No button keeps the manual operation mode. ing. According to this, by displaying the return notification screen 67 on the operation screen of the remote terminal 6, it is possible to notify the operator that it is possible to return to the autonomous operation mode, and it is possible to quickly take over from the manual operation mode to the autonomous operation mode. Can be done.

As shown in FIG. 11B, there are a plurality of types of designated articles (for convenience of explanation, two types of articles G1 and G2 are used), and the articles G1 and G2 designated during retrieval in the autonomous operation mode. When the abandonment condition is satisfied for any of the articles (for example, the article G1), the switching means 24 switches to the manual operation mode, and the remote terminal 6 displays a notification screen 65 indicating the planned number of items to be stored and the number of completed items to be stored for each item G1 and G2. Is displayed. Then, when the accommodation of the article G1 is completed, the completion message 66 as shown in FIG. 10 (b) is shown, and when the predetermined return condition for the article G1 is determined by the arithmetic unit 23, for example, FIG. 11 (a) is shown. The return notification screen 67 is displayed on the remote terminal 6 and can be switched to the autonomous operation mode.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of types of designated articles (for convenience of explanation, two types of articles G1 and G2) are mixed in the rack container 2, and the designated articles G1 and G2 are used. When transferring to the sorting container 7, each of the articles G1 and G2 is tried to be taken out in the autonomous operation mode. After that, the abandonment condition is satisfied for any of the articles G1 and G2 (in FIG. 12, it is assumed that the article G2 is hidden under the article G1 and cannot be detected. In this case, after the article G1 is stored, the rack container 2 is placed in the rack 4a. (Assuming that the article G2 is continuously taken out without being returned), the switching means 24 switches to the manual operation mode, and the remote terminal 6 shows the number of articles G1 and G2 to be accommodated and the number of completed articles 65. Is displayed. Then, when the accommodation of the article G2 is completed, the completion message 66 as shown in FIG. 10B is determined by the arithmetic unit 23 that the article G1 can be moved and the article G2 hidden underneath can be detected. The return notification screen 67 as shown in (a) is displayed on the remote terminal 6, and the autonomous operation mode can be switched to.

The suspend button 68 of the notification screen 65 shown in FIGS. 10 (a), 11 (b), and 12 can accept the suspend process of the designated article G take-out operation in the manual operation mode, and the suspend button 68. By pressing 68, the interruption process is transmitted to the central control device 3 of the automated warehouse system 1, and the remote terminal 6 is displayed to the effect that the retrieval operation is interrupted (not shown). According to this, when the operator determines that it is difficult to complete the take-out work of the designated article G in the manual operation mode, the operator can request the central control device 3 to perform the interruption process. The automated warehouse system 1 can efficiently proceed with the subsequent picking work by temporarily skipping the picking work of the designated article G.

At this time, the central control device 3 refers to the database as to whether or not there are other rack containers 2 in the racks 4a and 4b in which the article G is housed, based on the receipt of the interruption process. To judge. When such a rack container 2 exists, by displaying the selection screen 69 on the remote terminal 6 as shown in FIG. 13, the rack container 2 is designated as the rack container 2 from which the article G is taken out. It is designed to be presented to the operator so that it can be selected as. When the Yes button is pressed, the transfer device 10 moves to the rack container 2 and performs the removal work in the autonomous operation mode, and when the No button is pressed, the original rack container 2 resumes the removal work in the manual operation mode. It has become.

According to this, when the operator determines that it is difficult to complete the removal work of the designated article G in the manual operation mode, the rack container 2 in which the designated article G is housed is placed. If there are other items in the racks 4a and 4b, the operation of taking out the designated article G can be tried from the rack container 2, and the probability that the operation of taking out the designated article G can be performed can be increased.

As described above, the automated warehouse system 1 has an autonomous operation mode in which the robot arm 21 of the robot device 20 is autonomously operated and a manual operation mode in which the robot arm 21 can be manually operated by remote control from the remote terminal 6 by the operator. It has a switching means 24 for switching between. From this, it is possible to autonomously operate the robot arm 21 of the robot device 20 to move the designated article G from the rack container 2 housed in the racks 4a and 4b to the sorting container 7, and to perform the autonomous operation. If a situation occurs in which the specified article G extraction work fails during the mode, the specified article G extraction operation can be performed by remote control by switching from the autonomous operation mode to the manual operation mode. Can be done. Therefore, time loss due to the occurrence of such a situation can be suppressed, and picking work can be performed reliably and quickly.

Further, since the transfer device 10 can travel with two sorting containers 7 placed therein, the work of accommodating the articles in the sorting containers 7 and 7 serving as a plurality of sorting destinations is performed in parallel. And work efficiency is high.

Further, in the automated warehouse system 1, in the manual operation mode, the information of the sorting container 7 in which the designated article G has been stored is notified to the remote terminal 6 as the notification screen 65.
In the transfer device 10 on which the two sorting containers 7 and 7 are placed, the operator of the remote terminal 6 is notified of which sorting container 7 does not need to accommodate the designated article G any more. This makes it possible to prevent the designated article G from being excessively stored in the sorting container 7.

Further, in the transfer device 10, the robot arm 21 of the robot device 20 mounts the rack container 2 taken out from the racks 4a and 4b on the mounting portion 18 of the fork device 15 of the transfer device 10. Since the designated article G is taken out from the container 2, the designated article G can be reliably taken out from the rack container 2 regardless of the structure of the racks 4a and 4b. Further, since the rack container 2 can be placed on the transfer device 10, the rack container 2 can be transported to the inlet 42 at one end when the article G cannot be taken out.

Although examples of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these examples, and any changes or additions within the scope of the gist of the present invention are included in the present invention. Is done.

For example, in the above embodiment, the display of the request screen 63, the updated notification screen 65, the return notification screen 67, and the selection screen 69 on the remote terminal 6 is not limited to this, and may be accompanied by voice, or instead. The operator may be notified by e-mail or the like.

Further, not limited to specific conditions, the operator may arbitrarily switch between the autonomous operation mode and the manual operation mode by operating the remote terminal 6.

Further, in the above embodiment, the lower rail R is installed on the floor surface so as to extend in the front-rear direction, but not limited to this, the upper rail extending in the front-rear direction is installed above the lower rail R, and the lower rail R and the lower rail R are installed. The upper rail may be parallel to each other, and the stacker crane 5 may be arranged between the lower rail R and the upper rail.

Further, the transfer device 10 is capable of traveling in the front-rear direction by traveling the traveling base 11 of the stacker crane 5, but the transfer device 10 is not limited to this, for example, the transfer device can be self-propelled, and the racks 4a and 4b can travel. Rails are provided according to the height of each step, and the transfer device may be able to travel on the rails of each height by an elevator.

Further, the arithmetic unit 23, which constitutes the robot device 20 and includes control of the operation of the robot arm 21, image processing of the imaging means 22, a predetermined abandonment condition, a predetermined return condition, and the like, is provided in each robot device 20. Not limited to this, for example, the central control device 3 may also function as an arithmetic unit for all the robot devices 20 in the warehouse, or may be located in a remote location connected to the Internet, and thus the robot arm 21 and the robot arm 21 may be used. Even if it is not integrated, it shall constitute an automatic picking means.

Further, the hand-held robot arm 21A is not limited to the configuration provided with members such as human elbows and shoulders and fingers of human hands, and may be configured to lift an article by suction or the like, for example.

Further, the remote terminal 6 is not limited to the one illustrated in the above embodiment, and for example, a head-mounted display is used as a display device, and an operator wearing a head-mounted display as an operation glove that can be worn by the operator as an operation input unit. The imaging direction of the imaging means 22 may be linked to the movement of the head. Further, as the operation input unit, a controller provided with an operation lever or an operation button, for example, a game pad, a joystick, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, or the like may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the hand-shaped robot arm 21A constituting the automatic picking means and the manually operated rod-type robot arm 21B have been described in the same robot device 20, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the tool means and the imaging means that can be manually operated and the robot device 20 can interfere with the article in the container to which the work is assigned are configured as a device different from the robot arm 21 and the imaging means 22 that constitute the robot device 20. May be good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the hand-type robot arm 21A constituting the automatic picking means and the manually operated rod-type robot arm 21B have been described as a configuration in which they operate completely independently in their roles, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in autonomous operation, the hand-type robot arm 21A and the rod-type robot arm 21B may be operated in cooperation with each other, and may be operated in cooperation with manual operation, or may be operated in cooperation with either autonomous operation or manual operation. It may be configured to operate.

Further, it has been explained that the rack container 2 in the racks 4a and 4b is taken out by the fork device 15 and the designated article G is taken out by the robot device 20 in a state of being temporarily placed on the mounting portion 18, but this is not limited to this. Instead, the designated article G may be taken out directly from the rack container 2 in the racks 4a and 4b by the robot device 20.

Further, the display screen on the remote terminal 6 shown in FIGS. 8 and 10 to 13 is an example, and the message text, layout, and the like of the display screen may be slightly different.

1 Automated warehouse system 2 Rack container (rack article container)
3 Central control device 4a, 4b Rack 5 Stacker crane 6 Remote terminal 7 Sorting container (sorting article container)
10 Transfer device (driving trolley)
20 Robot device 21 Robot arm 22 Imaging means 24 Switching means 25 Notification means 26 Return notification means 68 Suspend button G, G1, G2 Article R Lower rail

Claims (9)

The rack in which the article housing for the rack is stored, and
A traveling trolley equipped with a robot arm and an imaging means capable of mounting a sorting article accommodating body for accommodating articles taken out from the rack article accommodating body and taking out a designated article from the rack article accommodating body. ,
It is an automated warehouse system that has
The automated warehouse system is characterized by having a switching means for switching between an autonomous operation mode in which the robot arm is autonomously operated and a manual operation mode in which the robot arm is manually operated by a remote control from a remote terminal by an operator. Automatic driving system. The automatic traveling system according to claim 1, wherein the traveling carriage can travel in a state where a plurality of sorting article accommodating bodies are placed. The automated warehouse system according to claim 2, wherein the automated warehouse system notifies the remote terminal of information on the sorting article container for which the designated articles have been stored in the manual operation mode. Driving system. The traveling trolley is such that the robot arm takes out a designated article from the rack article accommodating body in a state where the rack article accommodating body taken out from the rack is placed on the traveling trolley. The automatic traveling system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the automatic traveling system is characterized. Based on the confirmation by the imaging means that the robot arm has succeeded in taking out the last designated article, the traveling trolley performs an operation of returning the rack article accommodating body taken out from the rack to the rack. The automatic traveling system according to claim 4, wherein the automatic traveling system can be started. In the manual operation mode, the remote terminal can accept an interruption process of the operation of taking out the article designated by the operator, and transmits the accepted interruption process to the central control device of the automated warehouse system. The automated driving system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the automatic traveling system is characterized. Based on the receipt of the interruption process, the central control device determines whether or not there is another rack article container in the rack in which the designated article corresponding to the interruption process is housed. The automatic traveling system according to claim 6, wherein, if present, the rack article accommodating body is selectively presented to the remote terminal as a rack article accommodating body from which the designated article is taken out. The switching means is characterized in that it switches to the manual operation mode based on the determination that a predetermined abandonment condition is satisfied in the operation of taking out the designated article in the autonomous operation mode. The automatic driving system according to any one of claims 7. The automated warehouse system is characterized in that when it is determined that a predetermined return condition is satisfied in the manual operation mode, the operator of the remote terminal is notified that the autonomous operation mode can be returned. The automated driving system according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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