JP2023135698A - Allocation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an allocation device improved in the conveyance efficiency of a conveyance vehicle system.SOLUTION: An allocation device 100 has a conveyance request acquisition part 101 sequentially acquiring the conveyance request, an allocation part 103 sequentially allocating the conveyance request to a conveyance vehicle 230, and a state grasping part 102 grasping a position of the conveyance vehicle 230 and an allocation state of the conveyance request. The allocation part 103 allocates the conveyance request in a time priority mode from a standby conveyance vehicle inside, when the state grasping part 102 grasps that the standby conveyance vehicle exists, and allocates the conveyance request in a distance priority mode from an executing conveyance vehicle inside, on the basis of a conveyance destination included in the allocated conveyance request, when the state grasping part 102 grasps that the standby conveyance vehicle does not exist.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an allocation device that allocates transport requests to transport vehicles that transport luggage based on transport requests that are information regarding transport of luggage.

Conventionally, multiple transport vehicles that transport cargo, and transport requests known as so-called from-to information, which is information that allows the transport vehicles to transport the cargo from the transport source to the transport destination, are sequentially obtained, and There exists a conveyance vehicle system that includes an allocation device that determines a conveyance vehicle to which a conveyance request is to be assigned.

For example, in Patent Document 1, for a plurality of transport vehicles traveling along a predetermined trajectory, if an empty transport vehicle exists within a predetermined distance behind a fully loaded transport vehicle that arrives at a load port first, describes a transport vehicle system that allocates transport requests to rear transport vehicles.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-61524

In a conveyance vehicle system, which conveyance vehicle is assigned the sequentially generated conveyance requests affects the conveyance efficiency. There are broadly two types of methods for allocating transport requests. One is a distance priority mode in which the transport vehicle is the closest to the transport source, and the other is a time priority mode in which the transport vehicle is allocated to the transport vehicle whose arrival time at the transport source is the earliest. Conventionally, guided vehicle systems have been operated after the designer has decided in advance whether to use distance-priority mode or time-priority mode, and it is unclear whether the optimal mode is being adopted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide an allocation device that can allocate transport requests according to the situation of a transport vehicle system.

In order to achieve the above object, an allocation device that is one aspect of the present invention includes a transport request acquisition unit that sequentially acquires transport requests, which are information for transporting packages from a transport source to a transport destination to a transport vehicle, and an allocation unit that sequentially allocates requests to any of the transport vehicles, and a situation grasp unit that grasps the position of the transport vehicle and the allocation status of transport requests, and the allocation unit is configured to acquire transport requests. If the situation understanding unit recognizes that there is a waiting guided vehicle that does not have any work at the moment, it determines a guided vehicle to which the transportation request is assigned in a time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles. , if the situation grasping unit understands that there is no waiting guided vehicle, the transport destination included in the assigned transport request is selected from among the running transport vehicles to which the transport request is allocated. Determines the transport vehicle to which the transport request is assigned in distance priority mode.

According to the present invention, it is possible to change the allocation mode according to the allocation status of transport requests and improve transport efficiency.

It is a perspective view showing an example of a conveyance vehicle system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the allocation device. 3 is a flowchart showing a first processing flow of the allocation device. It is a flowchart which shows the second processing flow of an allocation device. It is a flowchart which shows the third processing flow of an allocation device. It is a flowchart which shows the fourth process flow of an allocation device.

Embodiments of the layout device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments are provided as an example to explain the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. For example, the shapes, structures, materials, components, relative positional relationships, connection states, numerical values, formulas, contents of each step in the method, order of each step, etc. shown in the following embodiments are merely examples. It may contain content not listed. Furthermore, although geometric expressions such as parallel and perpendicular are sometimes used, these expressions do not indicate mathematical rigor and include substantially permissible errors, deviations, and the like. Furthermore, expressions such as "simultaneously" and "identical" also include a substantially permissible range.

In addition, the drawings are schematic diagrams with emphasis, omission, or ratio adjustment as appropriate for explaining the present invention, and differ from the actual shapes, positional relationships, and ratios. Further, the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis that may be shown in the drawings indicate orthogonal coordinates arbitrarily set for the purpose of explaining the drawings. In other words, the Z-axis is not necessarily an axis along the vertical direction, and the X-axis and Y-axis are not necessarily in a horizontal plane.

Furthermore, hereinafter, multiple inventions may be comprehensively described as one embodiment. Further, some of the contents described below are explained as optional components related to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a transport vehicle system 200. The carrier system 200 is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, it includes an automated warehouse 210, a station 220, a carrier 230, a charging point 240, and an allocation device 100. .

The automatic warehouse 210 is a facility that can store a predetermined number of packages 300, automatically carry the packages 300 into each storage location, and carry out the packages 300 from each storage location. In the case of the present embodiment, the automated warehouse 210 includes a plurality of take-out locations where the cargo 300 can be delivered to the carrier vehicle 230, and a plurality of carry-in locations where the cargo can be received from the carrier vehicle 230. The carry-out location becomes the transport source of the transport vehicle 230, and the carry-in location becomes the transport destination of the transport vehicle 230. Note that the automated warehouse 210 may have a location that implements both the carry-out function and the carry-in function.

The station 220 is a facility or a place that can receive the luggage 300 from the transport vehicle 230 and deliver the luggage 300 to the transport vehicle 230. In the case of this embodiment, the carrier system 200 includes a plurality of stations 220. The station 220 is a so-called picking station where a placed worker or a robot picks out a predetermined number of products from a received package 300 and stores the extracted products in another package 300. Further, at the station 220, the package 300 from which the product has been removed is delivered to the transport vehicle 230.

The transport vehicle 230 is a cart that can receive the cargo 300 at a location specified in the transport request according to the assigned transport request, transport the cargo 300 to the location specified in the transport request, and deliver the transported cargo 300. be. In the case of the present embodiment, the transport vehicle 230 is an unmanned cart that autonomously travels on the floor without track according to transport requests, and is equipped with a transfer device that can receive and deliver the cargo 300.

In the conveyance vehicle system 200, the conveyance vehicles 230 are classified into work conveyance vehicles that have work and standby conveyance vehicles that do not have work. Further, the work transport vehicle is classified into an active transport vehicle to which a transport request is assigned, and a charging transport vehicle that requires charging. Requiring charging includes a state in which there is a plan to charge, a state in which the battery is heading to the charging point 240 for charging, and a state in which the battery is being charged at the charging point 240. The existence of a charging schedule means, for example, when the remaining battery level of the guided vehicle 230 becomes equal to or less than the remaining capacity threshold value.

The charging point 240 is a facility that charges the battery of the conveyance vehicle 230 that has arrived and is connected. In the case of this embodiment, the guided vehicle system 200 includes a plurality of charging points 240.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the allocation device 100. The allocation device 100 is a computer system that can process acquired information and output the processing results to the transport vehicle 230, and includes a transport request acquisition unit 101 and a processing unit realized by causing a processor to execute a program. , a situation understanding section 102, and an allocation section 103. Note that the computer system functioning as the allocation device 100 may have other functions, such as a function of controlling the automated warehouse 210.

The transport request acquisition unit 101 is information that allows a transport vehicle to transport a package from a transport source such as an unloading location of the automated warehouse 210 or a delivery location of the station 220 to a transport destination such as an incoming location of the automated warehouse 210 or a receiving location of the station 220. This is a processing unit that acquires a certain transport request. Although there is no particular limitation on the source from which the transport request is obtained, in the case of this embodiment, the transport request is obtained from the host computer 310. In the host computer 310, the timing at which transport requests are generated is random, and the transport request acquisition unit 101 acquires the transport requests in the order in which the transport requests are generated in the host computer 310.

The transport request is information that includes at least information indicating the position of the transport source and information indicating the position of the transport destination. In the case of this embodiment, the transport request includes at least one of receiving deadline information indicating by when the package 300 is to be received at the transport source and delivery deadline information indicating by when the package 300 is to be delivered to the transport destination. It is.

The situation grasping unit 102 grasps the position of each transport vehicle 230 and the allocation status indicating whether or not a transport request is allocated to the transport vehicle 230. The method of grasping the situation by the situation grasping unit 102 is not particularly limited, and examples include a method of directly acquiring the situation from the transport vehicle 230, a method of acquiring the status from the allocation unit 103, a method of acquiring the status from the host computer 310, etc. can. Specifically, the situation grasping unit 102 determines whether the work conveyance vehicle has work to be done or the standby conveyance vehicle has no work to do. In the case of the present embodiment, the situation grasping unit 102 determines whether the work transport vehicle is an active transport vehicle or a charging transport vehicle. Furthermore, the situation grasping unit 102 grasps at least the number of waiting guided vehicles. The situation grasping unit 102 may grasp the number of running guided vehicles and the number of charging guided vehicles.

The situation grasping unit 102 may grasp the number of waiting guided vehicles or their presence or absence in a predicted state after a predetermined period of time (for example, several seconds) from the time when the conveyance request acquisition unit 101 acquires the conveyance request. Specifically, the situation grasping unit 102 grasps the progress status of the guided vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned, and the guided vehicle 230 whose time until the transport request is completed is less than the expected end threshold is designated as a waiting guided vehicle. It is okay to understand that. Further, the situation grasping unit 102 may grasp the progress of charging of the charging guided vehicle, and may grasp that the guided vehicle 230 whose charging time is less than the end expected threshold is a waiting guided vehicle.

The allocation unit 103 is a processing unit that sequentially allocates the transport requests acquired by the transport request acquisition unit 101 to one of the transport vehicles 230. If the situation understanding unit 102 knows that there is a waiting guided vehicle when the transportation request acquisition unit 101 acquires the transportation request, the allocation unit 103 allocates the transportation request from among the waiting guided vehicles in a time priority mode. When the transport vehicle 230 is determined and the situation understanding unit 102 understands that there is no waiting transport vehicle, the transport vehicle 230 is determined in the distance priority mode based on the transport destination included in the transport request allocated from among the transport vehicles in execution. The transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is added and allocated is determined. In addition, in the time priority mode, determining the transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned from among the waiting transport vehicles means denying the assignment of the transport request to transport vehicles 230 other than the waiting transport vehicle under other conditions (see below). It's not a thing. Similarly, in the distance priority mode, determining the transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is to be assigned from among the transport vehicles currently in execution does not negate the assignment of the transport request to a transport vehicle 230 other than the transport vehicle in execution.

Specifically, in the time priority mode, the position of each waiting guided vehicle is acquired from the situation grasping unit 102, and the transportation request is assigned to the waiting guided vehicle that can reach the transportation source included in the transportation request earliest. In the case of the distance priority mode, the transport request is assigned to the transport vehicle in execution that is closest in distance from the transport destination position assigned to each transport vehicle in execution to the transport source of the transport request to be assigned.

Furthermore, when the number of waiting guided vehicles is one or more and less than the number threshold, the allocation unit 103 allocates a transport request from among the waiting guided vehicles and the running guided vehicles in the time priority mode, and if the number of waiting guided vehicles is equal to If the number is greater than or equal to the threshold, a transport request may be assigned from among the waiting transport vehicles. Specifically, we compare the time for a waiting transport vehicle to arrive at the transport source included in the transport request, and the time for the running transport vehicle to arrive at the transport source after finishing the transport request to which it has been assigned, and find the shortest time. The transport request is assigned to the transport vehicle 230 that arrives at the transport source in time.

Note that the method for determining the transport vehicle that can reach the transport source earliest is not limited. In the case of this embodiment, the expected arrival time of each guided vehicle at the transportation source is calculated in the following procedure, and determined based on the calculation result.

(1) Estimate the expected arrival time of each conveyance vehicle.
1.1. For running vehicles:
(Approximate expected arrival time) = (estimated execution completion time) + (shortest distance from execution completion position to transport source) / (average speed of transport vehicle) + (number of turns from current location to transport source) × (per time turn time)
1.2. For waiting vehicles:
(Approximate expected arrival time) = (Shortest distance from current location to transportation source) / (Average speed of transportation vehicle) + (Number of turns from current location to transportation source) × (Turn time per turn)
(2) Select the top few vehicles with the earliest estimated estimated arrival times and calculate a planned route taking route interference with other guided vehicles into consideration.
(3) Based on the calculated planned route information (for example, the traversal distance of the transport vehicle and the number of times, the turn time and the number of times), 1.1. or 1.2. Using the same calculation formula as above, calculate the expected arrival time of each guided vehicle using the approximate expected arrival time as the expected arrival time.
(4) The transport vehicle with the earliest calculated expected arrival time is determined.

Note that the planned route that takes route interference with other guided vehicles into account can be calculated by, for example, Enhanced Conflict-Based Search.

In addition, when the allocation unit 103 acquires a transport request and the situation understanding unit 102 knows that there is no waiting transport vehicle, the transport request assigned from among the transport vehicles in progress is the earliest. If the end timing exceeds a predetermined end time threshold, the transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned may be determined by switching from the distance priority mode to the time priority mode. The timing at which the transport request ends may be obtained based on delivery deadline information included in the transport request. Alternatively, the timing at which the transport request ends may be acquired based on the lead time of the transport vehicle 230 that the situation grasping unit 102 knows.

Further, the allocation unit 103 determines that when the situation grasping unit 102 knows that there is no waiting guided vehicle, the situation grasping unit 102 grasps that there is a charging guided vehicle that is assigned the task of going to a charging point. In this case, the transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned may be determined from among the charging transport vehicles based on the transport request to be allocated and the position of the charging point. Specifically, the transport request assigned from the position when determining the charging point 240 (including the position before heading to the charging point 240 and the position on the way to the charging point 240) is executed, and the charging point 240 is If the distance to reach the charging point 240 is less than the distance threshold times the distance directly from the position of the charging guided vehicle to the charging point 240, the guided vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned may be determined from among the charging guided vehicles.

Next, the first processing flow of the allocation device 100 will be explained. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the first processing flow of the allocation device 100. As shown in the figure, the situation understanding unit 102 knows the situation of the transport vehicle 230 (S101). Next, when the transport request acquisition unit 101 acquires a transport request (S102, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines whether there is a waiting guided vehicle (S103). If there is a waiting guided vehicle (S103, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines which guided vehicle 230 is to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles (S104). If there is no waiting guided vehicle (S103, No), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the distance priority mode from among the currently running guided vehicles (S104). The above process is repeated until the operation ends (S106). As described above, it is possible to comprehensively judge the situation of each transport vehicle 230 and change the mode to an appropriate mode, thereby improving the transport efficiency of the transport vehicle system 200.

Next, a second processing flow of the allocation device 100 will be explained. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the second processing flow of the allocation device 100. As shown in the figure, the situation understanding unit 102 knows the situation of the transport vehicle 230 (S201). Next, when the transport request acquisition unit 101 acquires a transport request (S202, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines whether there is a waiting guided vehicle (S203). If there is a waiting guided vehicle (S203, Yes), the allocation unit 103 further determines whether the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold (S204). If the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold (S204, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles and the running guided vehicles (S205). If the number of waiting guided vehicles is equal to or greater than the number threshold (S204, No), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles (S206). If there is no waiting guided vehicle (S203, No), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the distance priority mode from among the currently running guided vehicles (S207). The above process is repeated until the operation ends (S208). As described above, when the number of waiting guided vehicles is small, the transport efficiency of the guided vehicle system 200 can be improved by adding the currently running guided vehicles to the allocation targets in the time priority mode.

Next, a third processing flow of the allocation device 100 will be explained. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the third processing flow of the allocation device 100. As shown in the figure, the situation understanding unit 102 knows the situation of the transport vehicle 230 (S301). Next, when the transport request acquisition unit 101 acquires a transport request (S302, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines whether there is a waiting guided vehicle (S303). If there are waiting guided vehicles (S303, Yes), the allocation unit 103 further determines whether the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold (S304). If the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold (S304, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles and the running guided vehicles (S305). If the number of waiting guided vehicles is equal to or greater than the number threshold (S304, No), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles (S306). If there is no waiting guided vehicle (S303, No), the allocation unit 103 determines whether the time required for the currently executed guided vehicle to finish the assigned transportation request is less than the end time threshold (S307). If the time required to complete the transport request is less than the end time threshold (S307, Yes), the allocation unit 103 selects the transport vehicle 230 in the distance priority mode from among the transport vehicles 230 whose time until the transport request is completed is less than the end time threshold. The transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned is determined (S308). If the time required to complete the transport request is equal to or greater than the end time threshold (S307, No), a transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned in the time priority mode is determined from among the transport vehicles in progress (S309). The above process is repeated until the operation ends (S310). As described above, when there are no waiting guided vehicles, the transport efficiency of the guided vehicle system 200 can be improved by selecting the mode according to the number of currently running guided vehicles.

Next, a fourth processing flow of the allocation device 100 will be explained. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the fourth processing flow of the allocation device 100. As shown in the figure, the situation understanding unit 102 knows the situation of the transport vehicle 230 (S401). Next, when the transport request acquisition unit 101 acquires a transport request (S402, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines whether there is a waiting guided vehicle (S403). If there are waiting guided vehicles (S403, Yes), the allocation unit 103 further determines whether the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold (S404). If the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold (S404, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles and the running guided vehicles (S405). If the number of waiting guided vehicles is equal to or greater than the number threshold (S404, No), the allocation unit 103 determines the guided vehicle 230 to be allocated in the time priority mode from among the waiting guided vehicles (S406). If there is no waiting guided vehicle (S403, No), the allocation unit 103 determines whether a charging guided vehicle exists (S407). If a charging vehicle exists (S407, Yes), the allocation unit 103 determines the transport vehicle 230 to which the transport request is allocated in the distance priority mode from among the charging transport vehicle and the currently running transport vehicle (S408). If there is no charging vehicle (S407, No), a vehicle 230 to which the transport request is assigned in the distance priority mode is determined from among the currently running transport vehicles (S409). The above process is repeated until the operation ends (S410). As described above, by adding charging vehicles to the allocation targets, the number of options to be allocated increases, and the transport efficiency of the transport vehicle system 200 can be improved.

According to the allocation device 100 according to the embodiment described above, since the mode is changed based on the presence or absence or number of waiting guided vehicles, the transport efficiency of the guided vehicle system 200 can be improved. Specifically, it is possible to avoid a phenomenon that occurs due to fixing to the time priority mode, for example, a phenomenon in which a transport vehicle 230 that is far away faces a transport source included in a transport request and causes unnecessary congestion in a narrow space. can. In addition, a phenomenon that occurs due to fixing to the distance priority mode, for example, a transport request is assigned to a running transport vehicle even though there is a waiting transport vehicle, and the number of transports between transport vehicles 230 may be uneven. This phenomenon can be avoided.

Further, by finely changing the mode depending on the number of waiting transport vehicles, it is possible to prevent further inefficient allocation of transport requests.

Further, when there is no waiting guided vehicle, the transport efficiency of the guided vehicle system 200 can be improved by switching between the distance priority mode and the time priority mode based on the time until the completion of the transport request of the currently running guided vehicle. .

Furthermore, by adding charging vehicles to the targets for assignment of transport requests, the number of choices of transport vehicles 230 to be assigned increases, making it possible to improve transport efficiency.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the embodiments of the present invention may be realized by arbitrarily combining the components described in this specification or by excluding some of the components. The present invention also includes modifications obtained by making various modifications to the above-described embodiments that a person skilled in the art can conceive without departing from the gist of the present invention, that is, the meaning of the words written in the claims. It will be done.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the guided vehicle 230 is trackless, but the guided vehicle 230 may be a tracked vehicle.

In addition, although multiple flows from the first processing flow to the fourth processing flow have been explained, some of the processing from these flows may be omitted, or some of the processing from these flows may be combined. The allocation device 100 may perform processing based on a new flow.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be utilized for the conveyance vehicle system provided with the several conveyance vehicle to which a conveyance request is allocated.

100 Allocation device 101 Transport request acquisition unit 102 Situation understanding unit 103 Allocation unit 200 Transport vehicle system 210 Automated warehouse 220 Station 230 Transport vehicle 240 Charging point 300 Baggage 310 Host computer

Claims (5)

a conveyance request acquisition unit that sequentially acquires conveyance requests, which are information for causing a conveyance vehicle to convey a load from a conveyance source to a conveyance destination;
an allocation unit that sequentially allocates the acquired transport requests to any of the transport vehicles;
a situation grasping unit that grasps the position of the conveyance vehicle and the allocation status of the conveyance request,
The allocation section is
If the situation understanding unit recognizes that there is a waiting conveyance vehicle that does not have any work when the conveyance request is acquired, the conveyance request is assigned in a time priority mode from among the waiting conveyance vehicles. When the conveyance vehicle is determined and the situation grasping unit understands that there is no waiting conveyance vehicle, the conveyance request is included in the assigned conveyance request from among the conveyance vehicles in execution that are the conveyance vehicles to which the conveyance request is assigned. An allocation device that determines a transport vehicle to which a transport request is allocated in distance priority mode based on the transport destination. The allocation section is
When the situation grasping unit knows that there are waiting guided vehicles when the transportation request is generated, and the number of waiting guided vehicles is less than the number threshold, allocating the transportation request from among the waiting guided vehicles and the running guided vehicles; The allocation device according to claim 1, wherein when the number of waiting guided vehicles is equal to or greater than a number threshold value, the allocation device allocates a transport request from among the waiting guided vehicles. The allocation section is
In the case where the situation grasping unit understands that there is no waiting conveyance vehicle when the conveyance request is acquired, the predetermined end is the timing at which the conveyance request assigned from among the currently executed conveyance vehicles ends earliest. The allocation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the time threshold is exceeded, the allocation device switches from the distance priority mode to the time priority mode and determines the transport vehicle to which the transport request is allocated. The allocation section is
In a case where the situation grasping section knows that there is no waiting guided vehicle, and when the situation grasping section grasps that there is a charging guided vehicle which is the guided vehicle that requires charging work, a transportation request is made. The allocation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which determines a transport vehicle to which the transport request is allocated from among the charging transport vehicles based on the position of the charging point. The situation understanding unit is
5. The allocation device according to claim 1, wherein the number of waiting guided vehicles or the presence or absence of the vehicles is grasped based on a predicted state after a predetermined period of time from the time when the conveyance request acquisition unit acquires the conveyance request.

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