JP2909179B2 - Control method of unmanned transfer device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling an unmanned transport device that centrally controls a plurality of unmanned transport vehicles having a charging function.

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 4, an automatic guided vehicle of this type, when a traveling request for an unmanned guided vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an AGV) 1 is input to a central control unit 7, a communication unit 6 for a departure point. The vehicle transmits the traveling data based on the traveling request to the AGV 1 in front of the communication unit 6 and instructs the AGV 1 to depart, and the AGV 1 traveling along the main route 2 transmits the traveling data to the communication unit 5 at the arrival point after the work is completed. arrive.

A conventional control method for the AGV 1 after arrival will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. If there is an unprocessed travel request in step # 1, there is no other AGV1 in the communication unit 6 at the departure point in step # 2, and if the AGV1 does not need to be charged in step # 3, for example, the number of times of travel since the previous charge If has not yet reached the predetermined reference number of runs, this AG
In order to run V1, the vehicle is moved to the communication section 6 through the bypass route 4 in step # 4.

If any of steps # 1 to # 3 is negative, this AG
V1 is not driven, and if there is a charging unit 8 not in use in step # 5, the AGV1 is moved to the charging unit 8 along the charging route 3 in step # 6 to perform charging at the reference time. In step # 7, the process waits.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above conventional example, since the operation of the AGV is instructed only according to the reference number of times of travel and the reference charge time, if the number of travel requests to the AGV fluctuates depending on the time zone, FIG. As described above, there is a problem that the number of AGVs becomes excessive or deficient, and the efficiency of the automatic guided vehicle is reduced.

In addition, if the number of AGV runs and the charging time are changed in accordance with the unprocessed amount of the travel request, and the AGVs that have reached the reference number of times or the AGVs that have not reached the reference charge time are forcibly driven, the operating rate is temporarily reduced. Can be raised. However, in this case, a trouble occurs due to insufficient charging during the operation, and as a result, the efficiency of the unmanned transport device is reduced.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the first invention of the present application has a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, a main route for guiding the automatic guided vehicles to a work site, and a charging unit for charging each automatic guided vehicle. And a centralized control unit for recognizing the number of runs of each AGV after charging, inputting a travel request, and instructing the AGV to perform a predetermined operation. In the control method of the automatic guided vehicle, which basically sets the reference number of travels along the main route and guides the automatic guided vehicle that has reached the reference number of times to the charging unit and charges it, In the centralized control unit, the unprocessed amount of the travel request is compared with the data indicating the travel request frequency distribution, and the central processing unit compares the unprocessed amount of the travel request with the data indicating the travel request frequency distribution. The decrease in the number of requests If it is anticipated, the number of times the unmanned guided vehicle travels with one charge is set to be greater than the reference number of travels, and the unmanned guided vehicle travels along the main route without a new charge until the required traveling period decreases. It is characterized by making it.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, a main route for guiding the automatic guided vehicles to a work location, a charging unit for charging each automatic guided vehicle, and a travel request are input. And a centralized control unit that instructs each AGV to perform a predetermined operation, determines a reference charging time for the AGV to travel along the main route, and guides the AGV to the charging unit when charging is required. In the control method for an unmanned transport device, which is based on the principle that the charging is performed at the reference charging time, the centralized control unit stores data indicating a travel request frequency distribution for each time zone determined empirically, and the centralized control unit The unprocessed amount of the request is compared with the data indicating the travel request frequency distribution. If the unprocessed amount is large and the number of travel requests is expected to decrease, the time required for one charge of the automatic guided vehicle is reduced. The reference charge Defined smaller than between, characterized in that to travel along the main route after the charging at the time the newly established the AGV has been completed.

Operation During periods such as during lunch breaks when the number of travel requests decreases, sufficient time can be taken for each AGV using this idle time. Such a travel request frequency distribution can be empirically converted into data based on the use results of the unmanned transport device. Each invention of the present application uses data indicating a travel request frequency distribution for each time zone determined empirically, and increases the amount of unprocessed travel requests, for example, increases the number of unprocessed travel requests and the waiting time of travel requests. On the other hand, it compensates for the excess or deficiency of the number of AGVs as follows.

In the first invention, when the unprocessed amount of travel requests is large and the number of travel requests is expected to decrease, the number of times that the automatic guided vehicle travels with one charge is set to be greater than the reference travel number. The AGV, which has reached the reference number of times of travel and has not been driven because charging is necessary, is driven without charging until the period of decrease in travel demand, so that the AGV with respect to the unprocessed amount is reduced.
Can be increased, and charging corresponding to the reference number of times of traveling can be performed during a time period when the number of traveling requests decreases.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the unprocessed amount of travel requests is large and the number of travel requests is expected to decrease, the time required for one charge of the automatic guided vehicle is set shorter than the reference charging time. AGVs that did not run until they were completed because charging in the charging time was necessary are charged over a longer period of time if charging was completed for a time that is shorter than the reference charging time By running the vehicle without performing the above, the operation rate of the AGV can be increased with respect to the unprocessed amount, and the charging at the reference charging time can be performed during a time period when the number of traveling requests decreases.

Accordingly, the first and second inventions can cope with the unprocessed amount of the traveling request without causing a trouble due to insufficient charging, and can improve the efficiency of the unmanned transfer device.

Embodiment 1 A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 4, the traveling route of the automatic guided vehicle (AGV) 1 includes a main route 2 clockwise, a charging route 3 for charging, and a bypass 4 therefor. The communication unit 5 provided at the arrival point of the main route 2 and the communication unit 6 provided at the departure point of the main route 2 are connected to a centralized control unit 7 including a computer, a sequencer, and the like. In the charging route 3, a charging unit 8 capable of automatically charging the AGV 1 is provided.

 The operation will be described below.

When a travel request for the AGV 1 is input to the centralized control unit 7, the communication unit 6 at the departure point sends the AG in front of the communication unit 6.
After transmitting the travel data based on the travel request to V1, the AGV1
Instruct departure. The AGV 1 moves along the traveling route based on the traveling data, and arrives at the communication unit 5 at the arrival point after completing the work.

Regarding the control procedure for the AGV 1 arriving at the communication unit 5,
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step # 1, the current busyness, that is, the unprocessed amount of the traveling request, is obtained. In addition, in order to obtain the time until lunch break (12:00) when the decrease in the number of traveling requests is empirically expected, in step # 2, And the operation rate of the AGV1 is changed in step # 3 based on these times. Next, in step # 4, there is an unprocessed travel request, and in step # 5, there is no other AGV1 in the communication unit 6 at the departure point.
If V1 is runnable, that is, if the number of runs N up to that time has not reached the reference number of runs determined within the range in which the vehicle can run continuously without charging, step # 7 is performed to run this AGV1. To move to the communication section 6 through the bypass route 9. On the other hand, if any of steps # 1 to # 3 is negative, it is determined in step # 8 whether or not there is a charging unit 8 that is not in use.
The AGV 1 is moved to the charging section 8 to perform charging for the reference charging time, and if not, the communication section 5 at the arrival point waits in step # 10.

Here, an example of a method of changing the operation rate of the AGV1 in step # 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the present embodiment, "If the user is busy now, raise the operation rate of the AGV. (Rule 1)", "During a break such as lunch break, the AGV
, The charging time can be sufficiently taken. Therefore, before the break time, increase the operation rate of AGV. (Rule 2) ”and the AGV1
Operating rates are changing. Let the membership functions of rule 1 be A ₁ and B ₁ (FIG. 2 (a)), and let the membership functions of rule 2 be A ₂ and B ₂ (FIG. 2 (b)).

The value indicating the current busyness of Rule 1 is, for example, a relative value between the current queue length (the number of unprocessed traveling requests) L and the average queue length Lq in the system, or the current waiting time. The relative value with respect to the average waiting time Wq can be represented by using any method. In the membership functions A ₁ of the present embodiment shows the case where L = 2 × Lq, busyness fitness when a is "1". In Rule 2,
Based on the data indicating the frequency distribution of the number of travel requests for each time zone shown in FIG. 3, the operation rate of the AGV1 is increased depending on how close the current time is to the rest time. In the membership function A ₂ of the present embodiment shows a case where fitness before break time the closer the lunch break is set to "1".

The operation rate of the AGV 1 in this embodiment can be obtained as follows.

From L and T, the inference suitability w ₁ and w ₂ are obtained.

Find B ₁ and B ₂ .

B ₀ (FIG. 2 (c)) obtained by integrating B ₁ and B ₂ is obtained.

As the center of gravity of B _0, we obtain the Gx.

 This Gx is the operation rate.

In the present embodiment, the number of travels N
Is defined in the range of “1” to “4” as shown in FIG. 2D, thereby realizing the operation rate Gx.

That is, if the number of runs N is set to “4” which is larger than the reference number of runs “3”, for example, if the number of runs N of the AGV 1 arriving at the communication unit 5 at the arrival point is “3”, step #
In step 6, the AGV1 was not driven until the reference number of runs was reached and charging was required until the step # 8 was reached and charging was performed for the reference charging time. , And it can be determined that the vehicle can travel without charging, and the process can proceed to step # 7. still,
If there is an AGV1 being charged in each charging unit 8 and there is no AGV1 in any of the communication units 5 and 6, by shortening the reference charging time of the AGV1 as a means for realizing the operation rate Gx,
If the charged amount of the AGV 1 is at least enough to run until the time when lunch break starts, it is possible to instruct the vehicle to start moving to the communication unit 6.

In the above embodiment, the communication unit 6 at the departure point and the charging unit 8 are separate devices. However, the charging unit must have a communication function of the communication unit 6, that is, a transmission function of driving data and a departure instruction based on a driving request. Can also. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to such a case. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 9 denotes a charging unit having a communication function.

In the present embodiment, when the unprocessed amount of the traveling request is large and the number of traveling requests is expected to decrease, the operation time according to the unprocessed amount is determined by setting the charging time for the AGV1 to be shorter than the reference charging time. Is being implemented.

Hereinafter, the control procedure of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step # 1, the current busyness is determined,
The current time is obtained in step # 2, and the operation rate of the AGV1 is changed in step # 3 according to these values. The steps so far are the same as the steps in the first embodiment. Next, if there is an unprocessed travel request in step # 4, and if any of the charging units 9 has an AGV1 being charged in step # 5, and in step # 6 the AGV1 can travel at least until lunch break, That is, in order to realize the operation rate, when one charging time for the AGV1 is set to be smaller than the reference charging time and the already-charged time has reached the newly determined charging time, the AG
After transmitting the traveling data to V1 based on the traveling request, the vehicle is commanded to depart. Also, in step # 5, the AG that is charging any charging unit 9
If there is no V1 and the communication unit 5 has the AGV1 in step # 8 and the AGV1 can run in step # 9, the travel data based on the travel request is transmitted to the AGV1 of the communication unit 5 and then the departure command is issued. I do.

When the AGV 1 arrives at the communication unit 5 and there is no unprocessed traveling request and there is a charging unit 9 that is not in use, the AGV 1 is moved to the charging unit 9. If all the charging units 9 are in use and any of the charging units 9 has an AGV 1 that has been charged, the AGV 1
V1 is moved to the communication unit 5 through the idle operation route 10, while the AGV1 waiting in the communication unit 5 is moved to the charging unit 9 used by the AGV1.

Effects of the Invention Since the first invention of the present application has the above-described configuration and operation, even if the number of times of running has reached the reference number of times of running, the AGV can be run without new charging without causing trouble due to insufficient charging. it can.

Further, since the second invention of the present application has the above-described configuration and operation, charging is performed only for a time shorter than the reference charging time.
The AGV can be driven without causing trouble due to insufficient charging.

As a result, it is possible to easily respond to an increase in the unprocessed amount of the traveling request, and it is possible to improve the efficiency of the automatic transfer device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a process in a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of changing an operation rate according to an unprocessed amount and a time zone, and FIG. 3 is a number of traveling requests for each time zone. FIG. 4 is a diagram of data showing frequency distribution, FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the entire configuration, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing in the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process in a conventional example. 1 ... automatic guided vehicle 2 ... main route 7 ... centralized control unit 8, 9 ... charging unit

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Maehara 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-1-270112 (JP, A) JP-A-3- 201011 (JP, A) JP-A-3-111910 (JP, A) JP-A-2-277106 (JP, A) JP-A-4-12604 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G05D 1/02 B60L 11/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Recognizing a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, a main route for guiding the automatic guided vehicles to a work site, a charging unit for charging each automatic guided vehicle, and the number of times each automatic guided vehicle has traveled after charging, A centralized control unit for inputting a traveling request and instructing each unmanned guided vehicle to perform a predetermined operation; determining a reference number of times the unmanned guided vehicle travels along the main route by one charge; In the control method of the automatic guided vehicle, which basically guides the unmanned transport vehicle that has reached the number of times to the charging unit and charges the data, the central control unit stores data indicating a travel request frequency distribution for each time zone determined empirically. The central control unit compares the unprocessed amount of the travel request with the data indicating the travel request frequency distribution. If the unprocessed amount is large and the number of travel requests is expected to decrease, the unmanned transport vehicle 1 Traveling with multiple charges It defines the number to greater than the reference number of travels, a control method for an automated guided vehicle, characterized in that to travel along the main route without new charges the AGV to travel requirements reduced number of phase. 2. A plurality of automatic guided vehicles, a main route for guiding the automatic guided vehicles to a work site, a charging unit for charging each automatic guided vehicle, a travel request being input and a predetermined A central control unit for instructing the operation, determining a reference charging time for the automatic guided vehicle to be able to travel along the main route, guiding the automatic guided vehicle to the charging unit when charging is required, and charging at the reference charging time. In the control method of an unmanned transfer device based on the principle, the centralized control unit stores data indicating the travel request frequency distribution for each time zone determined empirically, and the centralized control unit stores the unprocessed amount of the travel request and the travel request. Comparing with the data indicating the frequency distribution, if the unprocessed amount is large and the number of traveling requests is expected to decrease, the time required for one charge of the automatic guided vehicle is set to be smaller than the reference charging time, Unmanned guided vehicles Control method for an unmanned conveying device, characterized in that the charging time as defined in others to travel along the main route after completion.