JP5135550B2 - Transport system control device, transport system control method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport system control device for a system that transports an article by a plurality of automatic transport carts in a predetermined area, a control method for the transport system, and a program.

  Conventionally, for example, in a factory or a plant, a system using a plurality of automatic guided vehicles (AGV) is used as a transport system for transporting articles. In this transportation system using AGV, a traveling route in a factory or a plant is set in advance, and each time the transportation work is assigned, each AGV communicates with the control device of the system body, and on the transportation route of the traveling route. The article is transported by traveling unattended.

  In general, the AGV is often driven by an electric motor mounted thereon, and the charge control is performed so that the remaining amount of the battery of the AGV is necessary for the next transport (hereinafter also referred to as the next transport). It is determined whether it is left, and charging is instructed only when the necessary remaining amount does not remain. In addition, when there is no next conveyance, it is determined whether or not it can be forwarded to the waiting area, and charging is assigned only when the forwarding is impossible (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-62-193502

  In a factory or plant, a system using a plurality of automatic guided vehicles (AGV) is used as a transport system for transporting articles. This AGV is often battery driven. When engine drive is used, (1) exhaust gas is generated. (2) Refueling needs to be performed by a person because of handling dangerous goods. This is because there is a problem in that there are restrictions on the system.

  It is preferable that the remaining battery charge of the AGV is always kept high. This is because there is a possibility that the next transfer cannot be performed when the remaining battery charge is low.

  In order to maintain a high charge level, it is better to charge frequently. However, since the charging station where the AGV performs charging is expensive, the number of installation locations is reduced as much as possible, and it exists only in a limited location. For this reason, even if it is desired to charge the AGV, there is not always a charging place where the charging is desired. As a result, in order to perform charging, it is necessary to perform charging forwarding (forwarding to a charging station, charging, and then moving to a predetermined location). For this reason, one charge per work increases waste.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a layout example of an actual production line. The AGV transports articles from a certain skid (load receiving or unloading position) shown in FIG. 1 to a certain skid. In addition, when the transportation work or the charging process is completed and there is a time allowance until the next transportation work, the AGV waits until a transportation instruction is transmitted in one of the waiting areas shown in FIG. To do. In a wide range of plants having a plurality of production lines as shown in FIG. 1, there are seven AGV waiting areas. This indicates that seven AGVs are in charge of conveyance in the plant having such a layout example. On the other hand, there are only two charging stations that can charge seven AGVs in the plant shown in FIG.

  The number of AGVs is determined according to the transport amount in the plant to be introduced. That is, in a plant with many things to be transported, the number of AGVs increases, and when there are few things to be transported, the number of AGVs to be introduced also decreases. For this reason, AGV normally has a short waiting time when there is no transported object and is empty. Therefore, as in the method described in Patent Document 1, charging to the AGV is generally performed under a policy that “it is not performed until the remaining charge becomes unusable”.

  For example, in the method described in Patent Document 1, when a next transport command is assigned, the vehicle is charged when traveling through a series of steps “current location → load receiving position (From skid) → unloading position (To skid) → charging station”. When it is determined that the remaining amount is below the predetermined threshold, an instruction is transmitted to the AGV to charge first. In addition, in the method described in Patent Document 1, when there is no next conveyance after the completion of conveyance, and it is determined that the remaining charge is below a predetermined threshold after traveling through a series of “current location → standby location”, AGV The instruction is transmitted to charge first.

  However, in such a method described in Patent Document 1, if there is no next transport after the transport is completed and the amount of charge does not fall below a predetermined threshold even after traveling to the standby location, the remaining charge level at the standby location Is not necessarily high, and the AGV is waiting. As a result, charge forwarding is assigned for the first time when the next transport command is generated, and the AGV may not be able to immediately start transporting.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and its purpose is to prevent the occurrence of the above-described situation in advance, and to make the unmanned transport cart move as wastefully as possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transport system control device, a transport system control method, and a program capable of waiting a cart with a higher remaining charge.

In order to solve the above-described problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control device for a transport system that transports an article manufactured on a production line by a plurality of automatic transport carts, and the production of the article on the production line Production status related information , which is information related to the status, including information regarding the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the transport destination of the article, acquired at an arbitrary timing A production status related information acquisition unit for acquiring a thing and a transport cart related information including information on a charge amount of the unmanned transport cart, and an instruction regarding work to be performed by the unmanned transport cart are transmitted. Based on the unmanned transport cart control unit that controls the operation status, the production status related information and the transport cart related information, An operation schedule determination unit that performs an operation state prediction simulation of a human transport cart to predict a transport load of the unmanned transport cart and determines an operation to be assigned to the unmanned transport cart based on a prediction result of the transport load. When it is possible to secure the time required for charging the unmanned transport cart until the instruction about the next transport operation is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart as a result of the prediction of the transport load. The operation schedule determination unit is provided with a transfer system control device that assigns a charging operation to an automatic transfer cart that can secure a time required for charging.

According to this configuration, the production status-related information acquisition unit is production status-related information that is information related to the production status of the article in the production line, the operation status of the production line acquired at an arbitrary timing, the article Information including information on a scheduled completion time, a production pitch in the production line, and a transport destination of the article is acquired. In addition, the automatic guided vehicle control unit acquires the information related to the transport cart including information on the charging amount and the operation status of the automatic transport cart, and transmits an instruction regarding work to be performed by the automatic transport cart. The operation schedule determination unit predicts the transport load of the unmanned transport cart based on the production status related information and the transport cart related information, predicts the transport load of the unmanned transport cart, and based on the prediction result of the transport load. The work assigned to the automatic guided vehicle is determined. In addition, when it is possible to secure the time required for charging the unmanned transport cart until the instruction about the next transport operation is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart as a result of the prediction of the transport load. The operation schedule determination unit assigns the charging operation to the automatic guided vehicle that can secure the time required for charging.

  The information on the production status preferably includes information on the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the destination of the article.

  The transport system control device further includes a storage unit that stores a database that associates a time required for the unmanned transport cart to move from the movement source to the movement destination and a charge amount consumed by the movement, and determines the operation schedule. The section refers to the database, calculates a scheduled end time at which work scheduled to be assigned to the unmanned transport cart ends, and a charge amount of the unmanned transport cart at the scheduled end time, and based on the calculation result, calculates the unmanned It is preferable to determine the next work to be assigned to the transport carriage.

  In the transport system control device, the minimum value of the charge amount to be maintained by the unmanned transport cart is set in advance, and the operation schedule determination unit calculates the predicted value of the charge amount of the unmanned transport cart at the scheduled end time. And when the said predicted value is less than the minimum value of the said charge amount, you may make it not allocate the conveyance operation | work of the said article | item with respect to the said automatic guided vehicle.

  The operation schedule determination unit may assign a charging operation to the automatic guided vehicle when the predicted value is lower than the minimum value of the charge amount.

  In the case where there are a plurality of automatic guided vehicles that can secure the time required for charging, the operation schedule determination unit preferably assigns a charging operation to the automatic guided vehicle with the smallest amount of charge.

In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for a transport system for transporting an article manufactured in a production line by a plurality of unmanned transport carts. Production status related information that is information related to the production status, which is obtained at an arbitrary timing, and includes information on the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the transport destination of the article and production status related information acquisition step of acquiring one containing the a conveyance carriage related information acquisition step of acquiring conveyance carriage related information including information on the amount of charge of the unmanned conveyance carriage, the production status related information and the transport vehicle-related information Based on the above, the operation load prediction simulation of the automated guided vehicle is performed to predict the transport load of the automated guided vehicle , An operation schedule determination step for determining work to be assigned to the unmanned transport cart based on the transport load prediction result, and an instruction regarding the next transport work is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart as a result of the transport load prediction. If it is possible to secure the time required for charging the automatic guided vehicle until it is charged, the charging operation is assigned to the automatic guided vehicle capable of securing the time required for charging. And a charging instruction transmission step.

In order to solve the above-described problem, according to still another aspect of the present invention, a computer that controls a conveyance system that conveys an article manufactured in a production line by a plurality of unmanned carriages is provided. Production status related information that is information related to the production status, which is obtained at an arbitrary timing, and includes information on the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the transport destination of the article and production status related information obtaining function for obtaining those containing, the obtains the conveyance carriage related information including information on the amount of charge of the unmanned transport vehicle, and transmits the instruction on the work the be unmanned transport vehicle is running, the unmanned An unmanned transport cart control function for controlling the operation status of the transport cart, the production status related information, and the transport platform An operation schedule for predicting the transport load of the unmanned transport cart by performing an operation state prediction simulation of the unmanned transport cart based on the related information, and determining the work to be assigned to the unmanned transport cart based on the prediction result of the transport load As a result of the determination function and the prediction of the transport load, it is possible to secure the time required to charge the unmanned transport cart until the instruction about the next transport operation is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart. In such a case, a program for realizing a charging work assignment function for assigning a charging work to an automatic guided vehicle capable of securing the time required for charging is provided.

  According to such a configuration, the computer program is stored in the storage unit included in the computer, and is read and executed by the CPU included in the computer, thereby causing the computer to function as the transport system control device. A computer-readable recording medium in which a computer program is recorded can also be provided. The recording medium is, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a flash memory, or the like. Further, the above computer program may be distributed via a network, for example, without using a recording medium.

  According to the present invention, when it is possible to secure the time required for charging until the unmanned transport cart starts the next transport work, the charge work is assigned to the unmanned transport cart. It is possible to keep the automatic guided vehicle on standby with a higher remaining charge.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

The description will be made in the following order.
(1) 1st Embodiment (1-1) About whole structure of conveyance system (1-2) About functional structure of conveyance system control apparatus (1-3) About control method of conveyance system
Overall flow of control method of transport system
Detailed flow of control method of transport system
Transport instruction prediction simulation
Operational state prediction simulation
Charging work allocation process (1-4) Specific example of transport system control method (2) Hardware configuration of transport system control apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention (3) Summary

  As a result of earnest research to achieve the above object, the present inventor has come up with a transport system control apparatus and a transport system control method as described below.

(First embodiment)
<Overall configuration of transport system>
First, a transport system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG. A transport system 1 according to the present embodiment is a system for transporting articles in a factory, a plant, or the like. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a communication network 3, an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) 10, The communication device 30 and the transport system control device 100 are mainly provided, and are connected to the production line management device 20 via the communication network 3.

  The communication network 3 is a communication line network that connects the communication line 30 that controls communication with the production line management device 20 and the AGV and the transport system control device 100 so that bidirectional communication or one-way communication is possible. This communication network is, for example, a public network such as the Internet, a telephone network, a satellite communication network, a broadcast communication channel, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), an IP-VPN (Internet Protocol-Virtual). Private network), a dedicated line network such as a wireless LAN, etc., whether wired or wireless.

  An unmanned transport cart (hereinafter also referred to as AGV) 10 is a battery-powered cart that transports articles in accordance with instructions transmitted from the transport system control device 100. Further, the AGV 10 charges the battery based on an instruction transmitted from the transport system control device 100. The AGV 10 exchanges various types of information with the transport system control apparatus 100 via a plurality of communication devices 30 described later. In more detail, AGV10 transmits the conveyance trolley relevant information containing the information regarding charge amount and an operation condition to the conveyance system control apparatus 100. FIG. Further, the AGV 10 receives a control signal such as an article conveyance instruction transmitted from the conveyance system control apparatus 100. In FIG. 2, only one AGV 10 is shown, but a plurality of AGVs 10 may exist depending on the scale of a factory, plant, or the like where the transport system 1 is introduced.

  The production line management device 20 is a device that manages the operational status of various production lines existing in a factory, plant, or the like where the transport system 1 is introduced. The production line management device 20 may be provided in each production line existing in a factory, a plant, or the like, and one production line management device 20 may be provided for a plurality of production lines. Therefore, although only one production line management device 20 is shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of production line management devices 20 may exist in the transport system 1.

  The production line management device 20 transmits information related to the production status of articles in the production line managed by the production line management device 20 to the transport system control device 100 via the communication network 3, for example. Information regarding the production status of the article will be described in detail later.

  The communication device 30 is a device that mediates transmission / reception of various signals performed between the AGV 10 and the transport system control device 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of communication devices 30 are installed in a factory or a plant where the transport system 1 is introduced. Therefore, in FIG. 2, only one communication device 30 is illustrated, but there are a plurality of communication devices 30 in the transport system 1. The number of communication devices 30 installed in the factory or plant can be determined as appropriate.

  The communication device 30 may be a device capable of realizing bidirectional wireless communication using a predetermined frequency band with the AGV 10, and bidirectional light using light of a predetermined wavelength with the AGV 10. An optical space transmission device (OCD) capable of realizing communication may be used.

  The conveyance system control apparatus 100 is an apparatus that controls the conveyance system 1 according to the present embodiment, and is configured to transfer an article manufactured on a production line from a certain place (usually a receiving position) to a certain place (usually an unloading position). In order to transport the vehicle with the AGV 10, the operation status of the AGV 10 is controlled. The transport system control device 100 uses the transport cart-related information including information on the charge amount and the operation status acquired from the AGV 10 and the information on the production status of the articles acquired from the production line management device 20 to determine the operation status of the AGV 10. Control.

  The transport system control device 100 will be described in detail later.

<Functional configuration of transport system control device>
Next, the functional configuration of the transport system control apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the transport system control apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the transport system control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a production status related information acquisition unit 101, an automatic guided vehicle control unit 103, an operation schedule determination unit 105, and a storage unit 111. Prepare mainly.

  The production status related information acquisition unit 101 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a communication device, and the like. The production status related information acquisition unit 101 receives information related to the production status of articles in the production line managed by the production line management device 20 from the production line management device 20 (hereinafter also referred to as production status related information). To get.

  Here, the production status related information acquired from each production line management device 20 by the production status related information acquisition unit is information including the contents as shown in FIG. 4, for example. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the production status related information includes the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article (that is, the scheduled time for generating the next conveyance command), the production pitch in the production line, and the article conveyance source. And information about the destination of goods. Here, the operation status of the production line represents information such as whether the production line is in an operating state or a non-operating state, as shown in FIG. Moreover, the production pitch in a production line is information showing how many time intervals the articles manufactured on the production line are produced. In addition, in FIG. 4, information related to the conveyance source of the article (that is, information related to the receiving location) is described as “From skid”, and information related to the conveyance destination (that is, information related to the unloading location) is “To skid”. ". Note that FIG. 4 is shown for explaining the production status related information, and the production status related information itself does not need to have the data format as shown in FIG. 4 and includes such information. Any data format may be used.

  The production status related information acquisition unit 101 obtains the above-described production status related information from the production line management device 20 at an arbitrary timing, for example, when the transfer system control device 100 is operated, for example, a time determined within a day. It is possible to get at. Further, the production status related information acquisition unit 101 may request the production line management device 20 to transmit the production status related information at regular time intervals, and periodically transmit from the production line management device 20. Production status related information may be acquired.

  The production status related information acquisition unit 101 transmits the acquired production status related information to the operation schedule determination unit 105. In addition, the production status related information acquisition unit 101 may record the acquired production status related information in the storage unit 111 in association with information related to the date and time when the information is acquired.

  The automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 is composed of, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a communication device, and the like, acquires conveyance cart related information including information related to the charge amount of the AGV, and transmits instructions regarding work to be performed by the AGV Then, the operation status of the AGV is controlled. More specifically, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 acquires, via the communication device 30, information related to the charge amount detected by the remaining charge detection unit 13 of the AGV 10 and transmitted via the communication unit 11 of the AGV 10. . Further, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 may determine the current position of the AGV 10 by determining from which position in the factory or plant the information related to the charge amount is acquired from the communication device 30. . In addition, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 can acquire information related to work being executed by the AGV 10 by referring to work history information and the like recorded in the storage unit 15 and the like provided in the AGV 10.

  The automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 acquires the information related to the transport cart as described above from, for example, all the AGVs 10 at predetermined time intervals. Thereby, the automatic guided vehicle control part 103 can grasp | ascertain the information regarding the charge amount of all the AGV10, an operating condition, etc. in real time.

  The unmanned transport cart control unit 103 transmits the acquired transport cart-related information to the operation schedule determination unit 105. Further, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 may record the acquired transport cart related information in the storage unit 111 in association with information related to the date and time when the information is acquired.

  Further, when the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 is requested by the operation schedule determination unit 105 to transmit a control signal for allocating work to the AGV 10, the requested work is requested to the corresponding AGV 10. A control signal for executing the above is transmitted. This control signal is transmitted via the communication device 30.

  Further, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 associates the time when the AGV 10 starts traveling with the remaining charge amount acquired from the AGV before the traveling starts, and records them in the storage unit 111 and the like described later. Information relating to the travel start time and the remaining charge before the start of travel is used for a transport load prediction process by the operation schedule determination unit 105 described later.

  The operation schedule determination unit 105 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and includes production status related information transmitted from the production status related information acquisition unit 101 and conveyance cart related information transmitted from the unmanned conveyance cart control unit 103. Based on the above, the operation schedule of the AGV 10 is determined. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the operation schedule determination unit 105 further includes a conveyance command prediction unit 107 and an operation state prediction unit 109.

  The conveyance command predicting unit 107 is composed of, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and predicts the generation status of the conveyance command in the conveyance system 1 based on the production status related information transmitted from the production status related information acquisition unit 101. .

  The conveyance command predicting unit 107 acquires the production status related information as shown in FIG. 4 from all the production line management devices 20 existing in the factory or plant, for example, the article as shown in FIG. A list of expected transport instructions in which the skids serving as the unloading locations and the skids serving as the unloading locations are described in the order of the expected completion time of the articles is generated. Also, the length of time covered by the list of expected transport instructions can be set to an arbitrary length, for example, about 0.5 hours.

  When the generation of the list of expected conveyance commands is completed, the conveyance command prediction unit 107 transmits the created list of expected conveyance commands to the operation status prediction unit 109.

  The operation status prediction unit 109 is configured by, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and includes a list of predicted transfer commands transmitted from the transfer command prediction unit 107 and transport cart related information transmitted from the unmanned transport cart control unit 103. Based on this, an AGV operating condition prediction simulation is performed, and the next work to be performed is assigned to all AGVs managed by the transport system control apparatus 100.

  First, the operation status prediction unit 109 obtains the information related to the transport carriage as described above from all the AGVs 10 existing in the factory or plant, and generates an operation status list of AGVs as shown in FIG. 6, for example. To do.

  Next, the operation status prediction unit 109 performs an AGV operation status prediction simulation using the expected transfer instruction list, the created AGV operation status list, and a transfer constant database stored in the storage unit 111 described later. The work to be performed next is assigned to all AGVs managed by the transport system control apparatus 100.

  Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the transport constant database includes all sections in which the AGV can move in the factory or plant, the time required for moving each section, and the consumption by movement. It is a database in which the amount of charge to be performed is described in association with each other. For example, focusing on the section “Skid A <−> Skid B” described in FIG. 7, the transport constant database relating to this section is “AGV moves from Skid A to Skid B, or from Skid B to Skid A. ", One minute is required, and the amount of charge consumed at that time is 2%". In addition, the transport constant database also describes the charging time, which is the time required to fully charge the battery.

  The operation status prediction unit 109 refers to the conveyance constant database, and when the work described in the list of expected conveyance instructions is performed, the AGV finishes the work when the AGV finishes the work, and the AGV battery remaining at the scheduled completion time. Calculate the amount. When the calculation of the scheduled end time and the remaining battery level is completed, the operation status prediction unit 109 refers to the list of predicted transport instructions based on the calculated scheduled end time, and determines the next transport command generation scheduled time after the scheduled end time. The expected transport instruction is selected and assigned to the AGV 10 that has completed the work.

  Here, the operation status prediction unit 109 calculates the scheduled charging end time when the AGV 10 starts the charging operation from the scheduled termination time, and calculates the next transfer command generation scheduled time and the scheduled charging termination time after the scheduled termination time. Determine which one will arrive sooner. When the scheduled charging end time comes before the scheduled next transport command generation time, it is possible to secure the time required for the AGV 10 to perform charging before the instruction related to the next transport operation is transmitted. It means that there is. Therefore, the operation status prediction unit 109 assigns the AGV 10 satisfying such a condition to perform a charging operation.

  In addition, the transfer system control device 100 is set in advance with a minimum charge amount that the AGV 10 should maintain during the transfer operation. The minimum value of the charge amount can be appropriately determined according to the environment or the like in which the transport system 1 is introduced, and can be set to about 75%, for example. The operating state prediction unit 109 assigns the charging work to the AGV 10 without assigning the article transport work to the AGV 10 when the calculated predicted value of the charge amount is below the set minimum value.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of AGVs 10 that can secure the time required for charging, the operation status prediction unit 109 assigns a charging operation to the AGV with the smallest amount of charge. By performing such assignment processing, it becomes possible to efficiently assign charging work to the AGV, and as a result, the work efficiency of the AGV can be improved.

  When the work to be assigned to the AGV 10 is determined, the operation status predicting unit 109 transmits a request for transmission of an AGV control signal to the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103, and responds to the work assigned to the corresponding AGV 10. Request to transmit a predetermined control signal.

  The operation status prediction unit 109 allocates a charging operation to an AGV that can secure the time required for charging by performing such an operation status prediction simulation and performing an appropriate operation allocation process. As a result, in the transport system 1 according to the present embodiment, the AGV 10 can always hold a high charge amount that is equal to or higher than the minimum value of the charge amount, and as a result, the work efficiency of the AGV can be improved. Become.

  The details of the transport instruction prediction simulation and the operation state prediction simulation will be described in detail again with reference to the flowchart below.

  The storage unit 111 records a conveyance constant database that is referred to when the operation schedule determination unit 105 performs AGV conveyance load prediction processing and AGV operation allocation processing. In addition to these data, the storage unit 111 stores various parameters, intermediate progress of processing, and various databases that need to be stored when the transport system control apparatus 100 performs some processing. Can be stored as appropriate. This storage unit 111 can be freely read and written by the production status related information acquisition unit 101, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103, the operation schedule determination unit 105, the conveyance command prediction unit 107, the operation status prediction unit 109, and the like. is there.

  Heretofore, an example of the function of the transport system control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has been shown. Each component described above may be configured using a general-purpose member or circuit, or may be configured by hardware specialized for the function of each component. In addition, the CPU or the like may perform all functions of each component. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately change the configuration to be used according to the technical level at the time of carrying out the present embodiment.

<About the control method of the transport system>
Subsequently, the control method of the transport system according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8-11 is a flowchart for demonstrating the control method of the conveyance system which concerns on this embodiment.

[Overall flow of control method for transport system]
First, an overall flow of the control method of the transport system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the transport system control method according to the present embodiment, AGV operation control is performed based on the result of the transport load prediction simulation. As will be described below, the transport load prediction simulation includes a transport command prediction simulation performed by the transport command prediction unit 107 and an operation state prediction simulation performed by the operation state prediction unit 109. .

  Prior to the transport load prediction simulation, the production status related information acquisition unit 101 of the transport system control device 100 is managed by the production line management device 20 from all the production line management devices 20 to which the transport system control device 100 can be connected. Get production status related information on the production line. The production status related information acquisition unit 101 transmits all acquired production status related information to the operation schedule determination unit 105.

  Next, the conveyance command prediction unit 107 of the operation schedule determination unit 105 performs a conveyance command prediction simulation based on the production status related information transmitted from the production status related information acquisition unit 101 (step S101). Details of this transport command prediction simulation will be described later in detail.

  When the conveyance command prediction simulation is completed, the conveyance command prediction unit 107 transmits the simulation result to the operation status prediction unit 109.

  Subsequently, the operation state prediction unit 109 performs an operation state prediction simulation using the result of the transfer instruction prediction simulation transmitted from the transfer command prediction unit 107 (step S103). The operation status prediction unit 109 allocates a transport operation or a charge operation to the AGV based on the AGV operation status prediction result. Details of the operational state prediction simulation will be described later in detail.

  AGV control based on such a control method of the transport system is performed at a predetermined cycle (for example, every one minute).

[Detailed flow of transport system control method]
Next, a detailed flow of the control method of the transport system according to the present embodiment, more specifically, a transport load prediction simulation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11.

[Conveyance command prediction simulation]
First, the flow of the transport command prediction simulation performed by the transport command prediction unit 107 of the operation schedule determination unit 105 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The transport command predicting unit 107 creates a list of predicted transport commands as shown in FIG. 5 based on the production status related information in all the production lines transmitted from the production status related information acquisition unit 101 (steps). S201). More specifically, the conveyance command predicting unit 107 lists the expected conveyance commands based on the time described in “scheduled next conveyance command occurrence time” included in the production status related information as illustrated in FIG. 4, for example. Create

  Next, the conveyance command predicting unit 107 adds the time described in the “production pitch” to the time described in the “next conveyance command occurrence scheduled time” included in the production status related information, and Estimated next transfer command generation time is predicted and added to the list of generated predicted transfer commands (step S203).

  Subsequently, the transport command predicting unit 107 determines whether or not a list of predicted transport commands for the required predicted time (for example, about 0.5 hour) has been created (step S205). If a list of predicted conveyance commands for the necessary predicted time has not yet been created, the conveyance command prediction unit 107 sets the time described in “Production pitch” at the next conveyance command occurrence scheduled time calculated in step S203. Are further added to newly calculate the next conveyance command occurrence scheduled time and add it to the list (step S207).

  In addition, when a list of predicted transfer instructions for the required predicted time is created, the transfer instruction prediction unit 107 determines whether there is a skid that has not yet predicted the next transfer instruction occurrence scheduled time. (Step S209). If there is a skid that does not predict the next transfer command generation scheduled time, the transfer command prediction unit 107 changes the next transfer command generation prediction target skid to an unpredicted skid (step S211), and the process proceeds to step S201. Go back and continue prediction. If there is no unpredicted skid, the transport command predicting unit 107 ends the transport command prediction simulation and transmits the simulation result to the operation status predicting unit 109.

  By performing the processing as described above, the conveyance command predicting unit 107 can predict the scheduled generation time of the conveyance command that is expected to be generated in all the production lines existing in the conveyance system 1.

  In the transport command prediction simulation, the order of skids for calculating the next transport command occurrence scheduled time is not questioned. For example, for the skids that exist in the transport system 1 and need to be predicted, the simulation execution order ( That is, the priority of skids that need to be predicted may be determined, and the skids to be simulated may be selected according to this order.

[Operational state prediction simulation]
Subsequently, the flow of the operation state prediction simulation performed by the operation state prediction unit 109 of the operation schedule determination unit 105 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

  First, based on the transport cart related information transmitted from the unmanned transport cart control unit 103, the operation status prediction unit 109, for example, as shown in FIG. A list is created (step S301). Thereby, the operation status prediction unit 109 can grasp the operation status of the AGV necessary for executing the operation status prediction simulation.

  Next, the operating status prediction unit 109 sets the simulation time in the operating status prediction simulation to the current time (step S303).

  Subsequently, the operation status prediction unit 109 changes the status of the command that has passed the scheduled generation time in the list of predicted transfer commands from “not generated” to “not generated” based on the set simulation time and the next transfer command generation scheduled time. It is changed to “unassigned” (step S305).

  Next, the operation status prediction unit 109 refers to the set simulation time and the end time of the operation described in the AGV state described in the operation status list, and completes the transfer operation or the charging operation The state of the AGV 10 is set to an empty vehicle (step S307).

  Subsequently, the operation status prediction unit 109 executes the generated unallocated instruction while referring to the conveyance constant database to allocate the generated unallocated instruction in the nearest skid to the AGV 10 in an empty state. A predicted end time of the work and a predicted value of the remaining charge are calculated (step S309).

  The operating state prediction unit 109 determines whether or not the battery of the AGV 10 can withstand the next transport based on the calculated predicted value of the remaining charge (step S311). The determination of whether or not the battery can withstand is performed based on, for example, whether or not the calculated predicted value of the remaining charge is below a preset minimum charge amount.

  When the remaining battery capacity is sufficient and the battery can withstand the next transport, the operation status prediction unit 109 further determines the AGV that has been determined that the battery can withstand the next transport based on the conditions shown in FIG. This is performed (step S313). The conditions shown in FIG. 11 are conditions for determining whether or not to assign a charging operation to the AGV 10. This condition will be described in detail later.

  When the charge allocation condition described later is not satisfied, the operation status prediction unit 109 allocates the transfer operation to the AGV (step S315), and changes the state of the AGV from “empty” to “transfer”. In addition, when the battery cannot withstand the next transfer and when the AGV satisfies the charging allocation condition, the operation state prediction unit 109 allocates the charging operation to the AGV (step S317), and sets the AGV state to “ Change from "empty car" to "charge".

  Next, the operation status prediction unit 109 determines whether or not there are still instructions to be assigned to the empty vehicle AGV (step S319). When the instruction to allocate remains, the operation status prediction unit 109 returns to Step S309 and allocates work to the remaining empty vehicles AGV.

  When there is no remaining instruction to be assigned to the empty vehicle AGV, the operating state prediction unit 109 resets the simulation time after a predetermined period (for example, after 1 minute) (step S321).

  Next, the operating state prediction unit 109 determines whether or not the simulation has been executed for a necessary simulation time (for example, 0.5 hours) (step S323). If the simulation for the necessary time has not ended, the process returns to step S305 and the simulation is continued based on the reset simulation time. In addition, when the simulation for the necessary time is completed, the operation state prediction simulation is terminated.

[Charging work assignment process]
Next, the details of the charging work assignment process in the operation state prediction simulation will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  In the operational state prediction simulation according to the present embodiment, as described above, a determination based on the conditions described below is performed on the AGV that has been determined that the battery can withstand the next transfer, and the conditions are satisfied. For the AGV, a charging operation is assigned instead of a transfer command.

  First, the operation status prediction unit 109 performs a condition determination based on the following condition 1 for an AGV whose “status” column of the operation status list is currently empty (step S401). As shown in FIG. 11, the condition 1 is a condition that “the waiting time at the waiting place” is longer than “the moving time to the charging place + the charging time + the moving time to the waiting place”. Here, the “waiting time in the waiting area” can be calculated as the difference between the next transfer command occurrence scheduled time described in the expected transfer command list and the simulation time. Further, “traveling time to charging station + charging condition + moving time to standby field” can be calculated based on a transport constant database stored in the storage unit 111.

  The operating state prediction unit 109 assigns a charging operation to the AGV 10 that satisfies the above condition 1 (step S403). This is because the AGV 10 that satisfies the condition 1 is an AGV that can secure the time to move to the charging station, complete the charging, and return to the waiting area until the next transfer operation is started.

  Next, the operation status prediction unit 109 performs a condition determination based on the following condition 2 on the AGV whose status is “currently” in the operation status list (step S405). As shown in FIG. 11, the condition 2 is that “the travel time from the place where the vehicle becomes empty to the standby place” is “the travel time from the place where the vehicle becomes empty to the charging place + charge time + the travel time to the standby place”. It is a condition that it is longer than. Here, the “place to become an empty vehicle” is an unloading place of an article being transported, that is, a To skid. These times can be calculated based on the transport constant database stored in the storage unit 111.

  The operation status prediction unit 109 assigns a charging operation to the AGV 10 that satisfies the above condition 2 after the currently performed transfer operation is completed (step S407). The AGV 10 that satisfies this condition 2 will move to the charging station and complete the charging and return to the waiting area after completing the current carrying work and before starting the next carrying work. This is because it is AGV that can secure the above.

  Thus, in the control method of the transport system according to the present embodiment, even if the remaining battery level of the AGV 10 maintains the remaining capacity necessary for performing the next transport work, the next transport work is performed. When the time required for charging before starting can be secured, the charging operation is positively assigned to the AGV 10. As a result, in the transport system control method according to the present embodiment, the AGV can be kept on standby with a higher remaining charge, and the AGV can immediately start transporting when the next transport command is generated. Thereby, the improvement of the working efficiency of AGV in the conveyance system 1 is realizable.

<Concerning a specific example of the control method of the transport system>
Next, a specific example of the control method of the transport system according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12 to 13H. 12 to 13H are explanatory diagrams for describing an example of the transport load prediction simulation.

  First, a plant model to which a transport load prediction simulation in the control method of the transport system is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this plant model, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, there are three production lines (production line A to production line C), and each production line has skids A to Skid C as receiving places. Is provided. In this model, one skid is provided as an unloading place, and one charging place is provided in addition.

  Production line management devices 20A to 20C are connected to each production line, and production status related information is transmitted to the transport system control device 100 from each production line management device.

  Also, in this plant, it is assumed that an article manufactured in production line A to production line C is transported to a storage site using one AGV 10, and in the simulation shown below, AGV 10 is empty in the storage skid. Think of a situation that has just become.

  In this plant, the transport constant database shown in FIG. 7 is set, and the minimum value of the charge amount of AGV in the transport system is set to 75% of the complete charge amount. In the transport load prediction simulation, the simulation set time is increased every minute, and the transport load for 0.5 hour is simulated. Also, the simulation described below is assumed to have started at 12:50.

  The production status related information acquisition unit 101 of the transport system control device 100 acquires the production status related information from each of the production line management devices 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> C and transmits it to the operation schedule determination unit 105. Further, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103 acquires the information related to the transportation vehicle related to AGV from the communication device 30 near the standby area, and transmits the information to the operation status schedule determination unit 105.

  The transport command prediction unit 107 creates a list of predicted transport commands as shown in FIG. 13A based on the transmitted production status related information. In this example, since the production line C is non-operational, a list of expected transport instructions including a skid A corresponding to the production line A and a skid B corresponding to the production line B is generated. In the list, 13:00 and 13: 5, which are the next scheduled times of occurrence of the next transport described in the production status related information, and 13:00 obtained by adding the production pitch to the scheduled next time of occurrence of the next transport in the production line A Information of 15 minutes is described.

  The transport command predicting unit 107 transmits the list of predicted transport commands illustrated in FIG. 13A to the operation status predicting unit 109. The operating status prediction unit 109 creates a list of operating statuses as shown in FIG. 13A based on the transmitted transport cart related information.

  In the simulation from the set time 12:50 to 12:59 shown in FIG. 13A, since there is no command to be assigned to the AGV 10, the AGV during this period waits with the skid of the storage area that is a standby place while remaining empty. ing.

  In the simulation at the set time 13:00 shown in FIG. 13B, a transport command in skid A is generated, and the situation is not generated. The operation status predicting unit 109 refers to the transfer constant database to assign the transfer command in the skid A that has not been assigned to the AGV 10 while referring to the transfer constant database and the estimated value of the charge amount at the completion of the operation. calculate. In this case, the operation status prediction unit 109 refers to the “A skid <-> storage area” field of the transport constant database and calculates the time required to complete the transport route “storage area → A skid → storage area” as 8 minutes. The estimated work completion time is predicted to be 13: 8. In addition, since the amount of charge necessary to complete this work is 8% × 2 = 16%, the operating state prediction unit 109 sets the predicted value of the charge amount at the completion of the work to 95% −16% = Estimated 79%.

  The calculated estimated charge amount 79% is equal to or greater than the minimum charge amount (75%), and the charge allocation condition as shown in FIG. 11 is not satisfied. A transfer command generated at 13:00 is assigned, and a request for transmission of a control signal is made to the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103. As a result, the “status” column of the transfer command at the occurrence time of 13:00 in the list of expected transfer commands is changed from “not generated” to “occurrence assigned”, and the “status” column of the operation status list is changed from an empty vehicle to transfer. And change.

  In the simulation of the set time from 13: 1 to 13: 4 shown in FIG. 13C, the AGV 10 is executing the transfer operation that occurred at 13:00, and the situation does not change. For this reason, there is no change in the list of expected conveyance instructions, and there is no change in the status of the operation status list except that the “current location” column is moving.

  In the simulation at the set time of 13: 5 shown in FIG. 13D, a transport command is generated at skid B associated with production line B. However, since there is no AGV for assigning the generated transport command, the operation status prediction unit 109 sets “not generated” in the “status” column of the transport command in skid B.

  In the simulation from the set time 13: 6 to 13: 7 shown in FIG. 13E, the AGV 10 is executing the transfer operation that occurred at 13:00, and the situation does not change. Therefore, there is no change in the state of the list of expected transport instructions and the list of operation statuses.

  In the simulation at the set time 13: 8 shown in FIG. 13F, the transfer command assigned to the AGV is completed, and therefore the description in the corresponding “situation” column in the list of expected transfer commands is transfer completion. Next, the operating state prediction unit 109 calculates the estimated work completion time and the estimated value of the charge amount at the completion of the work in order to assign the command generated at 13: 5 in skid B. In this case, referring to the transport constant database, the amount of charge required for a series of “placement → skid B → placement” is 9% × 2 = 18%. Therefore, the operation state prediction unit 109 calculates the charge amount 79% −18% = 61% at 13: 8 as a predicted value of the charge amount. Since this predicted value is lower than 75%, which is the minimum value of the charge amount, the operating state predicting unit 109 allocates a charging work, not a transporting work, to the AGV 10. The operation status prediction unit 109 predicts that 6 minutes are required from the transport constant database as “moving time from the storage location to the charging location + charging time”. As a result, as the operating status of the AGV, the scheduled completion time of the charging work is set to 13:14.

  In the simulation of the set time 13: 9 to 13:13 shown in FIG. 13G, the AGV 10 is performing the charging operation, and there is no change in the situation. Therefore, there is no change in the state of the list of expected transport instructions and the list of operation statuses.

  In the simulation at the set time 13:14 shown in FIG. 13H, the charging work assigned to the AGV is completed. The operation status predicting unit 109 assigns the transfer instruction generated at 13:05, which has not been generated, to the AGV 10 based on the transfer constant database and the estimated work completion time and the charge amount at the time of completion. Calculate the predicted value. Since the time required to complete the transfer route “charging station → B skid → placement” is 4.5 minutes + 5 minutes = 9.5 minutes from the transfer constant database, the operation status prediction unit 109 sets the time at 13:23. 5 minutes is calculated as the scheduled work completion time. Similarly, since the consumed charge amount required for this work is 9% + 10% = 19% from the transport constant database, the current charge amount 100% -19% = 81% is calculated as the estimated charge amount at the completion of the work. And

  The calculated charge amount predicted value 81% is equal to or greater than the minimum charge amount (75%), and the charge allocation condition as shown in FIG. 11 is not satisfied. A transport command generated at 13: 5 is assigned, and a request for transmission of a control signal is sent to the automatic guided vehicle control unit 103. As a result, the “status” column of the transfer command 13:05 in the list of expected transfer commands changes from “not assigned” to “occurred assigned”, and the “status” column in the list of operation statuses indicates an empty vehicle. Will be changed from transport to transport.

  As described above, in the transport load prediction simulation according to the present embodiment, for the AGV that is waiting in an empty vehicle, the remaining charge amount is confirmed in the AGV, and the state is set to empty in the list of operation statuses. Let the remaining charge be the remaining charge that AGV answered.

  Further, when the AGV is being transported or being charged, the work is scheduled to be completed based on the “time when travel starts”, the “charge remaining amount acquired from the AGV before the start of travel”, and the transport constant database. The time and the estimated value of the charge amount at the time of completion are calculated.

  In the transport system control method according to the present embodiment, since AGV transport control is performed based on these values, it is possible to make the AGV stand by with as much remaining charge as possible, and consequently transport of the entire transport system. Efficiency can be improved.

<About hardware configuration>
Next, the hardware configuration of the transport system control apparatus 100 according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of the transport system control apparatus 100 according to each embodiment of the present invention.

  The transport system control apparatus 100 mainly includes a CPU 901, a ROM 903, a RAM 905, a host bus 907, a bridge 909, an external bus 911, an interface 913, an input device 915, an output device 917, and a storage device 919. A drive 921, a connection port 923, and a communication device 925.

  The CPU 901 functions as an arithmetic processing unit and a control unit, and controls all or a part of the operation in the transport system control apparatus 100 according to various programs recorded on the ROM 903, the RAM 905, the storage apparatus 919, or the removable recording medium. The ROM 903 stores programs used by the CPU 901, calculation parameters, and the like. The RAM 905 primarily stores programs used in the execution of the CPU 901, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, and the like. These are connected to each other by a host bus 907 constituted by an internal bus such as a CPU bus.

  The host bus 907 is connected to an external bus 911 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus via a bridge 909.

  The input device 915 is an operation unit operated by the user, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, a button, a switch, and a lever. Further, the input device 915 may be, for example, remote control means (so-called remote control) using infrared rays or other radio waves, or an external connection such as a mobile phone or PDA corresponding to the operation of the transport system control device 100. It may be a device. Furthermore, the input device 915 includes an input control circuit that generates an input signal based on information input by a user using the above-described operation means and outputs the input signal to the CPU 901, for example. The user of the transport system control apparatus 100 can input various data and instruct a processing operation to the transport system control apparatus 100 by operating the input device 915.

  The output device 917 is, for example, a display device such as a CRT display device, a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display device, an EL display device and a lamp, a sound output device such as a speaker and headphones, a printer device, a mobile phone, a facsimile, etc. It is comprised with the apparatus which can notify the information which carried out visually or audibly to a user. The output device 917 outputs, for example, results obtained by various processes performed by the transport system control device 100. Specifically, the display device displays the results obtained by various processes performed by the transport system control device 100 as text or images. On the other hand, the audio output device converts an audio signal composed of reproduced audio data, acoustic data, and the like into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal.

  The storage device 919 is a data storage device configured as an example of a storage unit of the transport system control device 100. For example, a magnetic storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a semiconductor storage device, an optical storage device, Alternatively, it is composed of a magneto-optical storage device or the like. The storage device 919 stores programs executed by the CPU 901, various data, various data acquired from the outside, and the like.

  The drive 921 is a recording medium reader / writer, and is built in or externally attached to the transport system control apparatus 100. The drive 921 reads information recorded on a mounted removable recording medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, and outputs the information to the RAM 905. The drive 921 can also write a record on a removable recording medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory.

  The connection port 923 includes, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, i. A port for directly connecting devices such as an IEEE 1394 port such as Link, a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) port, an RS-232C port, an optical audio terminal, and an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) port to the transport system control apparatus 100 It is. By connecting an external connection device to the connection port 923, the transport system control apparatus 100 acquires various data directly from the external connection device or provides various data to the external connection device.

  The communication device 925 is a communication interface configured by a communication device or the like for connecting to the communication network 927, for example. The communication device 925 is, for example, a wired or wireless LAN (Local Area Network), Bluetooth, or WUSB (Wireless USB) communication card, an optical communication router, an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) router, or various types. It is a modem for communication. The communication device 925 can transmit and receive signals and the like according to a predetermined protocol such as TCP / IP, for example, with the Internet or other communication devices. The communication network 927 connected to the communication device 925 is configured by a wired or wireless network, and may be, for example, the Internet, infrared communication, radio wave communication, satellite communication, or the like.

  Heretofore, an example of the hardware configuration capable of realizing the function of the transport system control apparatus 100 according to each embodiment of the present invention has been shown. Each component described above may be configured using a general-purpose member, or may be configured by hardware specialized for the function of each component. Therefore, it is possible to change the hardware configuration to be used as appropriate according to the technical level at the time of carrying out this embodiment.

  Further, as a hardware configuration capable of realizing the functions of the transport system control apparatus 100 according to each embodiment of the present invention exemplified above, for example, a personal computer for FA can be used. At that time, each hardware component is provided. Then, a computer program for realizing each function described above or executing each process / data process is prepared and mounted on the personal computer or the like.

<Summary>
As described above, the transport system control device according to each embodiment of the present invention includes the production status related information transmitted from the production line management device that manages the production line, and the transport cart related information acquired from the AGV. Based on the above, a simulation for predicting a transport command generated in the transport system and a simulation for predicting the operating status of the AGV are performed.

  The transfer system control apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention can secure the time required for charging the AGV until the instruction related to the next transfer operation to be performed by the AGV is transmitted. When the simulation result is obtained, the charging operation is assigned to the AGV that can secure the time required for charging.

  In the transport system control apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to make the AGV stand by with as much remaining charge as possible by performing such processing, and consequently improve the transport efficiency of the entire transport system. Can do.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this example. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the operation status is predicted using the value itself described in the transport constant database has been described. However, the transport constant database is based on the weight of the article to be transported. The described value may be corrected using a predetermined correction coefficient, and a simulation may be performed using the corrected value.

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the example of a layout of an actual production line. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the conveyance system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function structure of the conveyance system control apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the production status relevant information which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the estimated conveyance command list which concerns on the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance trolley relevant information which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance constant database which concerns on the embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the control method of the conveyance system which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the control method of the conveyance system which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the control method of the conveyance system which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the control method of the conveyance system which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the conveyance load prediction simulation which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the hardware constitutions of the conveyance system control apparatus which concerns on each embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Transport system 10 Automated guided vehicle (AGV)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Production line management apparatus 30 Communication apparatus 100 Conveyance system control apparatus 101 Production status related information acquisition part 103 Unmanned conveyance cart control part 105 Operation schedule determination part 107 Conveyance command prediction part 109 Operation condition prediction part 111 Storage part

Claims (7)

A control device of a transport system that transports articles manufactured in a production line by a plurality of automatic guided vehicles,
Production status related information that is information related to the production status of the article in the production line, the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the information acquired at an arbitrary timing A production status related information acquisition unit that acquires information including information on the destination of goods ,
An unmanned transport cart control unit that acquires transport cart-related information including information related to the charge amount of the unmanned transport cart, transmits instructions regarding work to be performed by the unmanned transport cart, and controls the operation status of the unmanned transport cart; ,
Based on the production status related information and the transport cart related information, an operation state prediction simulation of the unmanned transport cart is performed to predict the transport load of the unmanned transport cart, and based on the prediction result of the transport load, An operation schedule determination unit that determines the work to be assigned to,
With
As a result of the prediction of the transport load, when it is possible to ensure the time required to charge the unmanned transport cart before the instruction about the next transport work is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart, The said operation schedule determination part allocates a charge operation | work with respect to the automatic guided vehicle which can ensure the time required in order to perform charging, The conveyance system control apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The transport system control device further includes a storage unit that stores a database in which the time required for the unmanned transport cart to move from the movement source to the movement destination is associated with the amount of charge consumed by the movement,
The operation schedule determination unit refers to the database, calculates a scheduled end time at which work scheduled to be assigned to the automated guided vehicle is completed, and a charge amount of the automated guided vehicle at the scheduled scheduled end time, The transfer system control device according to claim 1, wherein an operation to be assigned next to the automatic transfer cart is determined based on the operation. In the transport system control device, the minimum value of the charge amount to be maintained by the unmanned transport cart is preset,
The operation schedule determination unit calculates a predicted value of a charge amount of the automatic guided vehicle at the scheduled end time, and when the predicted value is lower than a minimum value of the charged amount, the article is supplied to the automatic guided vehicle. The transfer system control apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein no transfer work is assigned. The transport system control device according to claim 3 , wherein the operation schedule determination unit assigns a charging operation to the automatic guided vehicle when the predicted value is lower than a minimum value of the charge amount. The operation schedule determination unit, when there are a plurality of automatic guided vehicles capable of securing the time required for charging, assigns a charging operation to the automatic guided vehicle with the least amount of charge. The conveyance system control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . A control method for a transport system that transports articles manufactured on a production line by a plurality of automatic transport carts,
Production status related information that is information related to the production status of the article in the production line, the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the information acquired at an arbitrary timing A production status related information acquisition step for acquiring information including information on the destination of the article ;
A transport cart related information acquisition step for acquiring transport cart related information including information related to a charge amount of the unmanned transport cart;
Based on the production status related information and the transport cart related information, an operation state prediction simulation of the unmanned transport cart is performed to predict the transport load of the unmanned transport cart, and based on the prediction result of the transport load, An operation schedule determination step for determining the work to be assigned to,
As a result of the prediction of the transport load, when it is possible to ensure the time required to charge the unmanned transport cart before the instruction about the next transport work is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart, A charging instruction transmission step for assigning a charging operation to the automatic guided vehicle capable of securing the time required for charging; and
A control method for a transport system, comprising: In a computer that controls a transport system that transports articles manufactured in a production line by a plurality of automatic transport carts,
Production status related information that is information related to the production status of the article in the production line, the operation status of the production line, the scheduled completion time of the article, the production pitch in the production line, and the information acquired at an arbitrary timing A production status related information acquisition function for acquiring information including information on the destination of the goods ,
Unmanned transport cart control that acquires transport cart-related information including information related to the amount of charge of the unmanned transport cart, transmits instructions regarding work to be performed by the unmanned transport cart, and controls the operating status of the unmanned transport cart Function and
Based on the production status related information and the transport cart related information, an operation state prediction simulation of the unmanned transport cart is performed to predict the transport load of the unmanned transport cart, and based on the prediction result of the transport load, An operation schedule decision function that decides the work to be assigned to,
As a result of the prediction of the transport load, when it is possible to ensure the time required to charge the unmanned transport cart before the instruction about the next transport work is transmitted to the unmanned transport cart, A charging work assignment function for assigning charging work to an automatic guided vehicle capable of securing the time required for charging;
A program to realize