JP5874320B2 - Distribution facility display system and distribution facility display method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a distribution facility display method and a distribution facility display system for displaying state information of distribution facilities.

  The automatic warehouse system includes, for example, an automatic warehouse including a rack, a stacker crane, and a loading / unloading station, and further includes a computer for controlling these devices. When the article is carried into the warehousing station, the stacker crane loads the article and transfers it to the rack shelf. In addition, the stacker crane transfers the articles on the rack shelf to another shelf or a delivery station.

  The automatic warehouse system is provided with a terminal screen for informing the operator of the state of the automatic warehouse system in real time. Thereby, the operator can adjust the control of the automatic warehouse as needed.

  In the automatic warehouse system described in Patent Document 1, the system configuration, the number of shelves in the shelf, the number of reserved shelves for delivery, the normal / abnormal state of the transfer device and the station, etc. are displayed on the terminal screen of the automatic warehouse system. Enable to set in / out from the screen. In addition, two settings of distribution according to the machine designation / distribution rate are possible for entry, and three settings of distribution according to the machine designation / first-in first-out / distribution ratio can be performed for delivery. As a result, the entry / exit setting can be performed while grasping the current state of the system.

JP 2000-309409 A

A conventional system configuration, that is, a layout, is newly created by an operator using drawing software while looking at a CAD drawing. This conventional method has the following problems.
・ Many man-hours.
-An accurate layout cannot be obtained.
・ Cannot immediately respond to changes in CAD drawings.

  A system that displays status using CAD data is also conceivable. However, if CAD data is used, the processing load on the display terminal is increased, and therefore, high performance of the display terminal is required.

  An object of the present invention is to enable an accurate layout display while suppressing a processing load in the state display of physical distribution equipment.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of modes will be described as means for solving the problems. These aspects can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

A logistics facility display system according to an aspect of the present invention is a system for displaying status information of a logistics facility including a plurality of devices, and includes a status information receiving unit, an image data receiving unit, and a display control unit. Yes.
The state information receiving unit receives state information.
The image data receiving unit receives image data based on the actual layout of the distribution facility.
The display control unit draws the state information superimposed on the image data.
In this system, since image data based on the actual layout of the distribution facility is used, an accurate layout display is possible. The “image data based on the actual layout of the distribution facility” is image data obtained by using some layout information of the distribution facility.

The physical distribution facility display system may further include a data acquisition unit obtained by converting image data from CAD data on which a device layout is drawn.
In this system, since the conversion source of the image data is CAD data, an accurate layout display is possible.

The display control unit may draw the state information superimposed on the image data using the association information including the area information on the image data of the device and the ID linked to the area information.
In this system, since association information including area information is used, the correspondence between the state information and the image data becomes easy and accurate.

The physical distribution facility display system may further include a data combination unit that combines the association information with the CAD data to create CAD related data . In that case, the data acquisition unit, to extract the association for information from CAD-related data.
In this system, since the association information and CAD data are combined, data handling becomes easy.
The area information may include coordinate data indicating the position of the device.
In this system, the coordinate data is stored in, for example, a text file, so the amount of data is reduced.

A distribution facility display method according to another aspect of the present invention is a method for displaying status information of a distribution facility including a plurality of devices, and includes the following steps.
◎ Get status information.
◎ Acquire image data based on the actual layout of logistics facilities.
◎ Draw state information superimposed on image data.
In this method, since image data based on the actual layout of the distribution facility is used, an accurate layout display becomes possible.

  With the physical distribution facility display system or method according to the present invention, accurate layout display is possible while suppressing processing load.

The block diagram which shows the control structure of an automatic warehouse system. The floor layout of the automated warehouse displayed on the monitoring terminal. A tilted layout of multiple floors displayed on a surveillance terminal. A tilted layout of multiple floors displayed on a surveillance terminal. A tilted layout of multiple floors displayed on a surveillance terminal. A tilted layout of multiple floors displayed on a surveillance terminal. Detailed display screen of status information.

(1) Automatic warehouse system The automatic warehouse system 1 is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the automatic warehouse system.

  The automatic warehouse system 1 is a system for controlling the operation of the automatic warehouse 25. The automatic warehouse 25 has a multiple floor (for example, 3rd floor) structure. The automatic warehouse 25 has a plurality of stacker cranes 27, a plurality of loading / unloading stations 29, a plurality of racks 31, and a maintenance area 33. The rack 31 penetrates all the floors and extends in the vertical direction, and a plurality of shelves are provided in the vertical and horizontal directions. One set of racks 31 is arranged, and one stacker crane 27 is arranged in a passage between each set. The stacker crane 27 has a height corresponding to a plurality of floors. The loading / unloading station 29 is arranged only on the first floor or on all floors.

  The automatic warehouse system 1 has an automatic warehouse controller 3, a monitoring PC 5, and a design PC 7.

  The automatic warehouse controller 3 controls operations of the stacker crane 27 and the loading / unloading station 29 of the automatic warehouse 25. Further, the automatic warehouse controller 3 can grasp the state of each device (stacker crane 27, loading / unloading station 29, rack 31) of the automatic warehouse 25 and notify the state to other devices (described later).

  The monitoring PC 5 is a computer terminal for an operator to monitor the state of the automatic warehouse 25. The monitoring PC 5 includes a control unit 9, an operation unit 11, and a display 13. Details of the monitoring PC 5 will be described later.

  The design PC 7 is a computer terminal for creating / updating CAD data of the automatic warehouse 25.

(2) Monitoring PC
The control unit 9 is a computer including, for example, a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and executes various controls by executing programs stored in the memory.

  Each function realized by the control unit 9 will be described. The control unit 9 includes a display control unit 15, an equipment state information receiving unit 17, and a CAD data receiving unit 19.

The display control unit 15 includes drawing software for changing the display screen. The display control unit 15 takes in various data, creates data to be displayed on the display 13 from these data, and performs drawing. In addition, the display control unit 15 changes the display content according to an input from the operation unit 11.
The display control unit 15 has a storage unit 15a for storing various data.

  The equipment state information receiving unit 17 receives the equipment state information from the automatic warehouse controller 3 and then transmits it to the display control unit 15.

  The CAD data receiving unit 19 receives CAD related data from the design PC 7 and then transmits it to the data acquiring unit 21. The CAD related data includes CAD data and association information. The association information includes area information (described later) on the image data of each physical distribution device and an ID associated with each area information. The area information is, for example, data for which equipment corresponds to where in CAD data, and the equipment name, equipment ID, and coordinates are acquired and converted into text data.

  The data acquisition unit 21 creates image data by converting from CAD data. The image data includes, for example, an image that faithfully represents an actual layout, and is, for example, a CAD diagram or a photograph. The conversion is converting CAD data into image data as it is. Further, the data acquisition unit 21 extracts area information from the CAD related data as text data. The data acquisition unit 21 transmits image data and area information to the display control unit 15 separately.

  As described above, the display control unit 15 is provided with equipment state information, image data, and area information. The display control unit 15 displays the information and data on the display 13 in a superimposed state. As a result, the state of the facility can be displayed with a color at an accurate location.

The operation unit 11 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel.
The display 13 is, for example, a liquid crystal panel, plasma, or CRT.

(3) Various data The equipment state information is information indicating that, for example, the stacker crane 27 and the loading / unloading station 29 are in a normal state, an abnormal state, a failure, or a stop (non-automatic control state). . The equipment state information is composed of an ID of each device and state information. The state information includes simple information (normal, abnormal, failure, or stopped state) and detailed information (for example, detailed contents and recovery information at the time of failure).

The equipment state information includes equipment states on each floor (for example, the first floor, the second floor, and the third floor). Specifically, the equipment state information is composed of, for example, first floor state information, second floor state information, and third floor state information. The first-floor state information, second-floor state information, and third-floor state information include state information of devices in each floor, and state information of devices corresponding to the up and down directions correspond to each other.
In the status information, the simple information and the detailed information are linked to each other. Further, the status information further includes a button (an example of a display start unit) that is combined with the simple information and starts displaying detailed information. The button corresponds to the portion where the simple information is displayed. When the button is clicked or touched, the display control unit 15 activates the display of the detailed information.
The simple information is displayed following the movement of the display of the logistics equipment. The button also moves following the logistics equipment and simple information.

  Image data is image data obtained by conversion from a CAD data diagram. The image data is stored in, for example, a PNG file format. The image data accurately represents the layout of each floor of the automatic warehouse 25 although the amount of data is smaller than the CAD data itself. Therefore, for example, when the worker heads for the failed device, the route and the surrounding situation can be accurately known.

The area information includes position information indicating the position of each physical distribution device in the image data. The position information is composed of coordinate data, for example, and is stored in a text file. If the coordinate data is a plane quadrangular device, it has four coordinates as position information of the device. The area information is associated with the CAD data diagram, and is therefore also associated with the image data obtained from the CAD data.
As described above, by linking the ID of the physical distribution device included in the state information with the ID of the physical distribution device included in the association information, it becomes easy to display the state information superimposed on the image data.
Further, since the image data and the coordinate data have a small amount of data, the drawing load of the display control unit 15 is reduced. Therefore, it is not necessary to improve the performance of the control unit 9. For this reason, even a low-performance monitoring terminal can express an animation with an accurate drawing. As a result, a realistic monitor screen is realized.

(4) Screen Operation As described above, the display control unit 15 uses the area information to display the equipment state information on the image data 13 on the image data. Therefore, the operator can know the state of each device in the automatic warehouse 25 by looking at the display 13. The equipment state is displayed in color, for example. For example, green indicates normality, red indicates abnormality, gray indicates failure (disconnected as operation, manual operation for maintenance or inspection), and yellow indicates stoppage.

  Furthermore, the operator can change the content displayed on the display 13 by the display control unit 15 by operating the operation unit 11.

Moreover, the automatic warehouse controller 3 transmits equipment state information to the control unit 9 irregularly or periodically. Therefore, the display control unit 15 can display the latest equipment state information on the display 13.
The design PC 7 transmits the CAD data to the control unit 9 every time the CAD data is updated or at a predetermined timing. Therefore, the display control unit 15 can display the latest image data on the display 13. As described above, even when the layout of the automatic warehouse 25 is changed, the latest information from the updated CAD data is provided, so that the monitoring PC 5 is quickly linked to the change of the actual system.

2 to 4 show display screens actually displayed on the display 13.
In FIG. 2, a plan view of the first floor layout 41 of the automatic warehouse 25 is shown on the display 13. The first floor layout 41 shows racks 31a to 31h, stacker cranes 27s to 27d, loading / unloading stations 29a to 29d, and a maintenance area 33. The status information is shown in a color displayed superimposed on each device.
On the display 13, a plurality of buttons on the touch panel are displayed as the operation unit 11. The operator can operate the button to change the display on the display 13.

  In FIG. 3, the layout and status information of the three floors of the automatic warehouse 25 are displayed. Here, the first-floor layout 41, the second-floor layout 42, and the third-floor layout 43 are arranged side by side in order from the bottom. In other words, the display control unit 15 arranges a plurality of logistics devices in each layer in the vertical direction in an oblique state so that the entire logistics equipment arranged on the three floors can be seen in the layout and status information of the automatic warehouse 25. As shown, it is drawn in one screen. Specifically, the display is tilted so that the front side of each floor is located on the lower side of the screen compared to the back side. Therefore, the operator can check the entire state of the automatic warehouse without switching the screen. In addition, since the vertical positional relationship between the floors can be easily grasped, the operator can understand the state of each floor in association with the state of other floors.

  The display control unit 15 can collectively change the display of the distribution equipment on the three floors. Therefore, the operability for changing the screen is good. Specifically, the display control unit 15 can collectively change the display angles of the logistics equipment on the three floors. For example, in FIG. 3, each floor is displayed with an inclination so that the front side of each floor is located below the display compared to the back side, and the inclination of each floor is collectively changed. As a result, the display on each floor can be expanded or contracted.

  The display control unit 15 can collectively rotate the displays of the distribution equipment on the three floors. For example, the display control unit 15 can rotate the first floor layout 41, the second floor layout 42, and the third floor layout 43 from the display of FIG. In FIG. 4, the back side of each floor is arranged on the near side on the screen, so that it is easy to see.

  Further, the display control unit 15 can change the display of FIG. 5 to the display of FIG. 5 by rotating the first floor layout 41, the second floor layout 42 and the third floor layout 43 from the display of FIG. 3 by 90 degrees. As a result, the side portions of each floor can be brought to the front side on the screen for easy viewing.

  Furthermore, the display control unit 15 can move / enlarge / reduce a plurality of floor layouts at once.

  In order to collectively move, tilt, rotate, enlarge, and reduce the plurality of layouts arranged on one screen as described above, for example, parameters for image processing using any one of the plurality of layouts as a reference image A method may be employed in which image processing is executed by setting and image processing is performed on another layout based on the above parameters. However, the specific method of image processing is not particularly limited.

  Further, the display control unit 15 can change the layout of each floor independently. For example, the display control unit 15 can arrange the first floor layout 41 so as to be shifted laterally with respect to the second floor layout 42 and the third floor layout 43 from the display of FIG. Thereby, the inclination angle can be changed so that the display of each floor is closer to a plane on one screen. The display control unit 15 can enlarge or reduce the layout of each floor independently.

  When the display of the logistics equipment is changed as described above, the status information is displayed following the corresponding logistics equipment. Therefore, the operator can always accurately grasp the state of the logistics equipment.

Next, detailed information display of status information will be described. For example, when the operator clicks or touches a button on the stacker crane 27a where the failure is displayed, as shown in FIG. 7, a detailed display screen 51 is displayed over the normal screen. The detailed display screen 51 displays a failure state and a recovery method.
As described above, since the buttons are displayed following the display of the logistics equipment, the operator can always accurately grasp the detailed information on the status of the logistics equipment.

(5) Effects of Embodiment The above embodiment can be expressed as follows.
(A) The monitoring PC 5 (an example of a distribution facility display system) is a system that displays state information of an automatic warehouse 25 (an example of a distribution facility) that includes a plurality of devices, and includes an equipment state information reception unit 17 (a state information reception unit). And a display control unit 15 (an example of an image data receiving unit and an example of a display control unit).
The equipment state information receiving unit 17 receives state information.
The display control unit 15 receives image data based on the actual layout of the automatic warehouse 25. The display control unit 15 draws the state information superimposed on the image data.
In this system, since image data based on the actual layout of the automatic warehouse 25 is used, an accurate layout display is possible.

(B) The monitoring PC 5 may further include a data conversion unit 21 (an example of a data acquisition unit) that converts and acquires image data from CAD data on which the layout of the automatic warehouse 25 is drawn.
In this system, since image data is converted from CAD data, an accurate layout display becomes possible.

(C) The display control unit 15 superimposes the state information on the image data using the association information including the area information on the image data of each device of the automatic warehouse 25 and the ID linked to the area information. May be drawn.
In this system, since association information including area information is used, the correspondence between the state information and the image data becomes easy and accurate.

(D) A design PC 7 (an example of a data combination unit) that combines the association information with CAD data may be further provided. In this case, the data acquisition unit 21 extracts the linking information by separating it from the CAD data.
In this system, since the association information and CAD data are combined, data handling becomes easy.

(E) The area information may include coordinate data indicating the position of the physical distribution equipment.
In this system, since the coordinate data is, for example, text data, the data amount is reduced.

(F) The display method of the automatic warehouse 25 is a method of displaying the status information of the automatic warehouse 25 including a plurality of physical distribution devices, and includes the following steps.
◎ Get status information.
Obtain image data based on the actual layout of the automatic warehouse 25.
◎ Draw state information superimposed on image data.
In this method, since image data based on the actual layout of the automatic warehouse 25 is used, an accurate layout display becomes possible.

(6) Other Embodiments Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, a plurality of embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

(A) In the above embodiment, the distribution facility is an automatic warehouse, but the distribution facility may be a transport vehicle system.
(B) In the above embodiment, the layout of a plurality of floors is displayed in the automatic warehouse, but only the layout of each floor may be displayed.

  (C) In the above-described embodiment, image data converted from CAD data is used. However, for example, image data consisting of a photograph of an automatic warehouse taken as a plane may be used. In either case, image data having contents faithful to the actual layout is captured and used.

(D) In the above embodiment, the area information is preliminarily combined with the CAD data and supplied to the control unit 9, but the area information is provided to the control unit 9 (that is, the display control unit 15) separately from the CAD data. May be.
(E) In the above-described embodiment, the work of adding the coordinate data to the CAD data is performed by the design PC, but may be performed by another apparatus.
(F) In the above-described embodiment, the display of the physical distribution equipment is accompanied by the setting of the state information.

  The present invention can be widely applied to a distribution facility display method and a distribution facility display system for displaying state information of distribution facilities.

1 Automatic warehouse system 3 Automatic warehouse controller 5 Monitoring PC
7 Design PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Control part 11 Operation part 13 Display 15 Display control part 15a Storage part 17 Equipment state information receiving part 19 CAD data receiving part 21 Data conversion part 25 Automatic warehouse 27 Stacker crane 29 Entry / exit station 31 Rack 33 Maintenance area 41 First floor layout 42 2nd floor layout 43 3rd floor layout 51 Detailed display screen

Claims (6)

A logistics facility display system for displaying status information of a logistics facility including a plurality of devices,
A state information receiving unit for receiving the state information;
A data acquisition unit that converts CAD data in which an actual layout of the physical distribution facility is drawn, and obtains image data based on the actual layout of the physical distribution facility having a smaller data amount than the CAD data;
An image data receiving unit that receives the images data,
A display control unit that draws the state information overlaid on the image data;
Logistics facility display system equipped with. The display control unit draws the state information by superimposing the state information on the image data by using association information including area information on the image data of the device and an ID associated with the area information. The logistics equipment display system according to claim 1 . A data combining unit that combines the association information with the CAD data to create CAD related data ;
The data acquisition unit, to extract the association information from the CAD-related data, logistics facility display system according to claim 2. The physical distribution facility display system according to claim 2 or 3 , wherein the area information includes coordinate data indicating a position of the device.   The physical distribution facility display system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a file format of the image data is PNG. A method for displaying status information of a logistics facility including a plurality of devices,
Obtaining the state information;
By converting CAD data on which the actual layout of the physical distribution facility is drawn, image data based on the actual layout of the physical distribution facility having a smaller data amount than the CAD data is obtained.
Drawing the state information superimposed on the image data;
Logistics facility display method.

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