JP3241617B2 - Automated guided vehicle address detection device and its address detection method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an address detecting device and method for an automatic guided vehicle traveling on a floor using a magnetic tape which emits a permanent magnetic field and is guided on a floor as a guide course.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automatic guided vehicle that automatically travels along a guide course, it is necessary to detect the position, that is, the address, of the automatic guided vehicle for automatic traveling.
As a conventional configuration or method for the detection, as shown in FIG.
And a magnetic tape or a magnetic bar 5 for generating permanent magnetic fields for addressing alternately on the left and right sides of the guide course 4 on the ground.
And the magnetic tape or the magnetic bar 5 is attached to the magnetic sensor 3.
There is one that is detected by the following. By detecting the magnetic tape or the magnetic bar 5 alternately left and right in this manner,
In addition to preventing erroneous detection, the counter is incremented each time detection is performed, and relative address detection is performed. Also, at the home position (HP) which is a standby place, for example,
The magnetic tapes or the magnetic rods 5 are simultaneously detected, and when they are simultaneously detected, it is recognized as the home position, and the counter is reset, that is,
Use the origin. Note that the guide course includes an electromagnetic induction method in which a high-frequency current flows through an electric wire and is guided by a pickup coil of the vehicle body, and a magnetic induction method in which a magnetic tape is attached to the floor and guided by a magnetic guide sensor of the vehicle body.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration or method, it is necessary to provide a magnetic tape or a magnetic bar separately from the guide course, so that the amount of construction work is large and the cost is high. I was In addition, even if an attempt is made to stop the vehicle body at a predetermined position, the width of the frontage match is wide due to the detection configuration, the accuracy is not high, the direction of overshoot or undershoot is unknown, and fine adjustment (called inching control) cannot be performed. There was such a problem. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the construction work is simple and inexpensive.In addition, the width of matching the frontage for the stop can be narrowed, and the accuracy can be improved. Unmanned guided vehicle that can easily determine the direction of overshoot and overshoot or undershoot, and enable inching control
It is an object of the present invention to provide an address detection device and an automatic guided vehicle address detection method.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is based on a magnetic tape attached on a floor.
A magnetic guide sensor that detects a permanent magnetic field
Address detection sensor for detecting the presence or absence of
Guide the magnetic tape based on the detection signal of the id sensor.
Automatic guided vehicles
Identify the part corresponding to the stop position or address detection position of the car.
Cut by the fixed pitch length to form a non-stick area, and
Two dress detection sensors are connected in series in the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle.
The range of the above cut length so that the non-stick area can be detected
Magnetic sensor comprising two magnetic sensors arranged in
Unmanned transport when both are not magnetic in the non-stick area
Outputs an instruction to stop transport, and when the automatic guided vehicle stops
The magnets on the front and rear sides in the traveling direction in the address detection sensor
Magnetic detection status of the air sensor (ON when magnetic detection, non-magnetic detection
OFF if the front side is ON and the rear side is OFF
The human carrier determines that the vehicle has passed the regular stop position,
If the side is OFF and the rear side is OFF, the automatic guided vehicle stops normally
Is determined to be stopped at the position, the front side is OFF, and the rear side is O
If N, it is determined that the automatic guided vehicle does not reach the regular stop position
It is provided with a control device for setting.

In this configuration , when the magnetic sensor detects a magnetic non-detection in the non-sticking area of the magnetic tape, the relative address can be detected by counting up the counter. When each of the magnetic sensors detects no magnetic field in the non-sticking area of the magnetic tape, an instruction for stopping the automatic guided vehicle is issued from the control device, and when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped by the control device, the address is detected. The front side is determined by the magnetic detection state (ON for magnetic detection and OFF for non-magnetic detection) of the magnetic sensors on the front and rear sides in the traveling direction in the sensor.
N, if the rear side is OFF, it is determined that the automatic guided vehicle has passed the normal stop position. If the front side is OFF, and if the rear side is OFF, it is determined that the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at the normal stop position, and the front side is OFF. If the rear side is ON, it is determined that the automatic guided vehicle does not reach the normal stop position, and accurate stop control of the automatic guided vehicle can be performed by performing inching control based on the determination result.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an address detection method for an automatic guided vehicle which guides and travels using a magnetic tape which emits a permanent magnetic field and is adhered on a floor as a guide course. An address detection sensor having a sensor disposed at the bottom of the automatic guided vehicle, an antenna formed of a loop-shaped coil provided in proximity to the address detection sensor, and a controller for analyzing modulation data of a voltage induced in the coil. A portion of the magnetic tape corresponding to the stop position or the address detection position of the automatic guided vehicle is set as a non-stick area for a predetermined length, and a high frequency modulated ID code data corresponding to the non-stick area on the floor. An ID tag capable of generating a magnetic field is attached, and the modulated high frequency magnetic field of the ID code data generated by the ID tag is detected and induced in the coil. The controller analyzes the modulation data from the pressure and performs absolute address detection.On the other hand, if the magnetic sensor in the address detection sensor does not detect the magnetic field in the area where the magnetic tape is not attached, it issues an instruction to stop the automatic guided vehicle. is there.

In this method, an antenna coil is induced by a high-frequency magnetic field that modulates ID code data generated from an ID tag attached to an unattached area on the floor, which is analyzed by a controller and analyzed by an absolute address. When detection is possible, and when the magnetic tape non-sticking area is detected by the magnetic sensor in the address detection sensor, an instruction to stop the automatic guided vehicle is output.

[0008]

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram in which an address detection method for an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention is implemented, FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a sensor arrangement in a situation where the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at a home position (HP) on the floor, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the automatic guided vehicle. As a guide course on which the automatic guided vehicle 1 guides and travels (in this case, magnetic guidance), a magnetic tape 4 that emits a permanent magnetic field is stuck on the floor. A portion corresponding to the address detection position is cut by a predetermined pitch length to form a non-sticking area 4c. At the bottom of the automatic guided vehicle 1, a magnetic guide sensor 2 is provided before and after the automatic guided vehicle 1, and two magnetic sensors 6a and 6b constituting an address detection sensor 6 are provided substantially at the center of the vehicle body.
Are provided respectively. A non-stick area 4c of the magnetic tape 4 is provided at a home position (HP), which is a standby place, and a magnetic tape 8 for the home position is stuck to the side.

The unattached area 4c of the magnetic tape 4 may be provided at a position where the automatic guided vehicle 1 transfers a load or the like. The cut length is about 100 mm. , And its length is about 200 mm. The magnetic tape 4 is obtained by mixing barium ferrite powder having a large magnetic holding power with rubber to form an elastic body.
mm and a thickness of about 1.8 mm are used. Further, two magnetic sensors 6a and 6b are arranged in series in the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 1 within the range of the cut length so as to detect the non-stick area 4c. When the two magnetic sensors 6a and 6b are both magnetically non-detected in the non-stick area 4c of the magnetic tape 4, a counter (not shown) is counted up.
Relative address detection is performed, and an instruction to stop the automatic guided vehicle is issued. One magnetic sensor 6 may be used, but using two magnetic sensors 6 reduces miscounting even if the magnetic tape 4 is partially damaged. When the magnetic sensors 6a and 6b are both non-magnetic and the origin detection sensor 7 is activated, the absolute address can be detected by resetting the counter to the origin.

The magnetic sensors 6a and 6b are both magnetic tape 4
When the magnetic field is not detected in the non-sticking area 4c, an instruction to stop the automatic guided vehicle is issued, and the automatic guided vehicle 1 stops. FIG.
It is a figure explaining the method of judging too much or not enough to the regular stop position of an automatic guided vehicle. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the automatic guided vehicle has passed the regular stop position,
When the front magnetic sensor 6b is ON (magnetic detection) and the rear magnetic sensor 6a is OFF (magnetic non-detection), and the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at the regular stop position as shown in FIG. When the sensors 6b and 6a are both turned off and the automatic guided vehicle does not reach the normal stop position as shown in FIG. 3C, the front magnetic sensor 6b is turned off and the rear magnetic sensor 6a is turned on. The above determination can be made by checking the magnetic detection states of the magnetic sensors 6b and 6a on the front side and the rear side in the traveling direction. Based on this result, automatic inching correction control is possible.

While the automatic guided vehicle 1 is traveling along the magnetic tape 4 which is a guide course, 100 m after passing the stop point.
Only the distance of m is the guide non-detection area, but the running state immediately before the guide is not detected (running speed, steering wheel steering angle, etc.)
If the guideway is maintained, the guide can be detected again. After the guide is not detected, there is no problem in the normal running if the running state is maintained until the running of 150 mm. The emergency stop may be performed when the vehicle travels 150 mm or more.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a function of detecting a high-frequency magnetic field obtained by modulating ID code data and performing absolute address detection is added to the above configuration. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sensor arrangement of the vehicle body, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a magnetic tape provided on the floor, an ID tag, and a sensor of the vehicle body. At the bottom of the automatic guided vehicle 1, in addition to the magnetic sensors 6a and 6b serving as the address detection sensors, an antenna 10 including a loop-shaped coil is provided so as to be close to and surrounding the address detection sensor. And a controller 11 for analyzing modulation data of a voltage induced in the antenna coil. An ID tag 12 capable of generating a high-frequency magnetic field modulated with ID code data is attached to a non-stick area 4c of the magnetic tape 4 on the floor.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show the magnetic sensors 6a and 6b.
FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an antenna 10 including a loop-shaped coil b and a loop-shaped coil, and appearances of magnetic sensors 6a and 6b. The antenna 10 is formed by etching a pattern that becomes a coil of several loops on the printed circuit board 13. The magnetic sensor 6a,
6b is a printed circuit board 13 inside the coil of the antenna 10.
It is attached so that the position can be adjusted by screws using a long hole. The antenna 10 induces a voltage in the coil by a high-frequency magnetic field obtained by modulating the ID code data generated by the ID tag 12, and analyzes the modulated data from the voltage by the controller 11 to detect an absolute address. The ID tag 12 is activated by being excited by a high-frequency magnetic field generated by a coil of the antenna 10, modulates its high frequency at a predetermined low frequency, and outputs it as digital ID code data. Also,
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the output characteristics of the magnetic guide sensor. The horizontal axis represents the lateral deviation, and the vertical axis represents the sensor output. If the magnetism of the magnetic tape 4 is detected at the center of the sensor, the sensor output is zero, and if there is a lateral deviation of the detected magnetism, a linear output proportional to the lateral deviation amount is obtained.

In the above configuration, since the antenna 10 induces a voltage in the coil by a high-frequency magnetic field obtained by modulating the ID code data generated by the ID tag 12 in the coil, the ID code data is analyzed from the voltage to obtain a high voltage. Accurate absolute address detection can be performed. Also, the magnetic sensors 6a, 6b
Detects the non-stick area 4c of the magnetic tape 4 and issues an instruction to stop the automatic guided vehicle. Non-stick area 4c with ID tag 12
And both magnetic sensors 6a and 6b are not magnetically detected, ie, OF
Even if F, this is not counted, it is used to check the stop position,
In the same manner as described above, the direction of overshoot, normal and undershoot is determined.

[0016]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
Conventionally, relative address detection can be performed by detecting a non-sticking area only for a predetermined length at a position corresponding to the stop position or address detection position of the automatic guided vehicle, and detecting the non-sticking area by a magnetic sensor for address detection. It is not necessary to provide a magnetic bar etc. separately from the guide course as in the above, construction work is simple and inexpensive, and it is arranged in series in two running directions.
Unmanned according to the magnetic detection state using the magnetic sensor
Checking the stop position of the vehicle, i.e.
Direction can be determined by inching control.
More accurate stop control is possible. According to the second aspect of the present invention, an ID tag is attached to a non-stick area on the floor, and an antenna coil is induced by a high-frequency magnetic field that modulates ID code data generated from the ID tag. Absolute address detection can be performed with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system in which an address detection method for an automatic guided vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention is implemented.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a sensor arrangement in a situation where the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at a home position on the floor.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the automatic guided vehicle.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams for explaining a method of determining whether the vehicle has passed or stopped short of a normal stop position of the automatic guided vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a sensor arrangement of a vehicle body according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a relationship between a magnetic tape provided on a floor, an ID tag, and a vehicle body sensor according to a second embodiment.

7A is a configuration diagram of an antenna including a magnetic sensor and a loop-shaped coil, and FIG. 7B is an external view of the magnetic sensor.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing output characteristics of a magnetic guide sensor.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration or method for detecting an address of a conventional automatic guided vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 automatic guided vehicle 4 magnetic tape 4c non-stick area 6 address detection sensor 6a, 6b magnetic sensor 10 antenna (coil) 11 controller 12 ID tag

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 1/00-1/12

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for producing a magnetic tape from a magnetic tape attached to a floor.
A magnetic guide sensor for detecting a permanent magnetic field,
An address detection sensor for detecting the presence or absence of
Guide the magnetic tape based on the detection signal of the guide sensor.
Corresponds to a stop position or an address detection position of the automatic guided vehicle that guides and travels as a document.
Area to be cut by a fixed pitch length
And the address detection sensor is provided in a traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle.
2 in series, so that the non-stick area can be detected
It consists of two magnetic sensors arranged within the cut length.
As a result, the magnetic sensor does not detect the magnetic field in the non-stick area.
Outputs an instruction to stop the unmanned guided vehicle, and when the unmanned guided vehicle stops , the address detection sensor
Detection status of the front and rear magnetic sensors in the traveling direction
(ON by magnetic detection, OFF by non-magnetic detection) , the automatic guided vehicle stops normally if the front side is ON and the rear side is OFF
It is determined that the vehicle has passed the position, and if the front side is OFF and the rear side is OFF, the automatic guided vehicle is stopped normally.
It is determined that the vehicle is stopped at the stop position, and if the front side is OFF and the rear side is ON, the automatic guided vehicle stops normally.
That a control device that determines that the
Characteristic address detection device for automatic guided vehicles. 2. A method for detecting an address of an automatic guided vehicle that guides and travels using a magnetic tape that emits a permanent magnetic field attached to a floor as a guide course, comprising: a magnetic sensor that detects presence or absence of magnetism of the magnetic tape; Using an address detection sensor arranged at the bottom, an antenna formed of a loop-shaped coil provided in close proximity to the address detection sensor, and a controller for analyzing modulation data of a voltage induced in the coil, A part corresponding to the stop position or the address detection position of the automatic guided vehicle is set as a non-stick area for a predetermined length, and an ID corresponding to the non-stick area on the floor.
An ID tag capable of generating a high-frequency magnetic field that modulates code data is affixed. The controller detects the modulation high-frequency magnetic field of the ID code data generated by the ID tag and analyzes the modulation data from the voltage induced in the coil by the controller. And performing an absolute address detection, and on the other hand, if the magnetic sensor in the address detection sensor is not magnetically detected in the non-sticking area of the magnetic tape, issues an instruction to stop the automatic guided vehicle. Address detection method.