JPH01158512A - Controller for unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the title controller which is high in reliability and economically advantageous by transmitting the operation information from a ground side through an IC card equipped with the conveyed goods shifted between the ground side and an unmanned carrier to an unmanned carrier side and controlling the operation of the unmanned carrier based on the operation information. CONSTITUTION:An ID card 7 equipped with conveyed goods 18, shifted between a ground side 6 and an unmanned carrier 16 and able to read and write the information and a first control means 3 to transmit and receive the information through a first transmitting/receiving means 5 at the section of the ID card 7 and write the operation information to the ID card 7 when the operation information is given from a supervision management controller 1 are provided on a ground side 6. A second control means 9 to transmit and receive information through a second transmitting/receiving means 8 at the section of the ID card 7, and read the operation information written in the ID card 7 when the shifting of the conveyed goods 18 is completed and a means 13 to operate and control the unmanned carrier 16 based on the read operation information are provided on the unmanned carrier 16 side. Thus, without generating the error, the transmitting/receiving of the operation information from a ground side to an unmanned carrier side can be surely executed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an improvement in a control device for an automatic guided vehicle.

(Prior Art) Recently, automatic guided vehicles have been widely used for the purpose of transporting products within factories, for example. Conventionally, a control device that controls the operation of this automatic guided vehicle is configured as follows.

In addition, there is a ground-side integrated management and control device (consisting of a host computer, etc.) that performs overall management and control of the entire system.
The ground control panel converts operational information such as transportation commands given by the ground control panel into data. The driving information from 2111 is transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle side via an optical information transmission device on the ground side provided at the station. And on the automated guided vehicle side,
Driving information from the ground side is taken in via the optical information transmission device on the top of the vehicle, and the operation of the automatic guided vehicle is controlled based on this taken driving information and the signal from the guidance sensor, and the automatic guided vehicle is automatically transported to the destination point. The structure is such that the conveyed object (workpiece) is transferred by stopping at a certain point. 'In this way, when controlling the operation of an automatic guided vehicle on a system, operational information is transmitted from the ground side to the automatic guided vehicle using optical means.

On the other hand, as another method of transmitting information, a guide wire is buried in the road surface of the automatic guided vehicle, and a high-frequency current, which is an information signal, is passed through the guide wire to exchange information with the automatic guided vehicle. be.

However, with the method of transmitting driving information from the ground side to the automatic guided vehicle using an optical information transmission device, if the automatic guided vehicle slips on the traveling road, for example,
The automatic guided vehicle that responds to the optical information transmission device on the ground may stop in a position that exceeds the specified value. The optical axis with the optical information transmission device is deviated from the optical axis, and as a result, the operation information cannot be reliably exchanged. In addition, since the method of transmitting driving information using guide lines does not provide continuous information, it cannot be applied to other optical guidance methods, autonomous navigation methods, etc. of automatic guided vehicle guidance methods. I can't. Furthermore, when transmitting driving information using the method described above, in order to provide driving information directly from the host computer to the automatic guided vehicle, a separate device for converting the information is required, and the host computer The driving information from the computer is transmitted via a ground control panel dedicated to the automatic guided vehicle. Therefore, there are economical problems such as a large amount of cost required to construct the system.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in conventional automated guided vehicle control devices, errors occur in information transmission and not only cannot the reliable exchange of driving information be performed, but also There was a problem in that the vehicle was limited by its own guidance method and also had to have a ground control panel dedicated to the automatic guided vehicle.

An object of the present invention is to be able to reliably send and receive driving information from the ground side to the automatic guided vehicle side without causing an error in information transmission, and without being subject to restrictions on the guidance method of the automatic guided vehicle itself. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable and economically advantageous automatic guided vehicle control device that can control the operation of an automatic guided vehicle without providing a ground control panel dedicated to the automatic guided vehicle.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention utilizes operation instructions such as transport commands given from a ground-side general management control device that performs general management control of the entire system. The conveyed object is equipped with an automatic guided vehicle control device that controls the operation of the automatic guided vehicle based on information, automatically stops at the destination point, and transfers the conveyed object. Information is transferred between the ID card, which can read and write information, and the ID card via the first transmitting/receiving means, and operation information from the central management control device is given. A first control means for writing the driving information to the ID card is provided on the ground side.
a second control means for exchanging information with the card and reading operation information written on the ID card when the transfer of the conveyed object is completed; and operation information read by the second control means. The automatic guided vehicle side is provided with an operation control means for controlling the operation of the automatic guided vehicle based on the following.

(Function) Therefore, in the present invention, by using the above means, when operation information such as a transport command is given from the general management control device to the first control means, the operation information is transmitted to the ground side and the automatic guided vehicle. The information is written on the 10 card installed in the conveyed object being transferred to and from. Thereafter, the conveyed object is transferred from the ground side to the automatic guided vehicle side. After the transfer of this conveyance is completed, I
The driving information written in the D card is read by the second control means via the second transmitting/receiving means. The read driving information is then given to the driving control means, and the driving of the automatic guided vehicle is controlled based on the driving information.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control II device for an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an automatic guided vehicle system to which the control device is applied.

In the figure, 1 is a host computer as a ground-side integrated management control device that performs overall system management vJwJ for single production management such as large and medium-sized machines, and outputs operational information such as transport commands as necessary. . On the other hand, input and output crab knit 2. A ground station 6 comprising a card data reader 4 as a first control means consisting of a first arithmetic control section 3 and a first antenna 5 as a first transmitting/receiving means, and an ID card 7 are connected to the ground station 6. configuring the side system. Also, a second transmitting/receiving means is provided.
an antenna 8, a second arithmetic control section 9 as a second control means, and an automatic guided vehicle arithmetic control section 10 consisting of a microcomputer. Inductive sensor 11 consisting of a pickup coil. Output unit 12° travel steering control unit 13. The steering mechanism section 14 and the driving control means including the traveling steering motor 15 constitute an automatic guided vehicle 16 side system.

Here, the input/output crab unit 2 is used to send and receive operating information from the host computer 1. In addition, the first arithmetic and control unit 3 is connected to the input/output crab unit 2, and exchanges information with the 10 card 7 via the first antenna 5, so that driving information from the input/output crab unit 2 is given. This is for writing the driving information into the ID card 7. Furthermore, the first antenna 5 is connected to the card data reader 4 and the I
It exchanges information with the D card 7. Furthermore, the ID card 7 is of a ceramic resonance type, for example, and is fixedly attached to the conveyed object 18 that is transferred between the ground side and the automatic guided vehicle 16 via the transfer section 17, and is coded. It is possible to store and erase the numerical data as information, that is, to read and write it.

On the other hand, the second antenna 8 is used to exchange information between the ID card 7 and the second arithmetic control section 9. Further, the second arithmetic control unit 9 exchanges information with the ID card 7 via the second antenna 8, and when the transfer of the transported object 18 is completed, the operation information written in the ID card 7 is It is used to read and convert data. Roughly speaking, the driving control means, based on the driving information read by the second calculation control unit 9 and the signal from the induction sensor 11,
Output section 12. Travel steering control section 13. By controlling the travel steering motor 15 using battery power through the steering mechanism section 14, the vehicle travels to the destination point.

The conveyed object 18 is transferred by stopping.

Next, the operation of the automatic guided vehicle control device configured as above will be explained.

The host computer 1 performs overall management control of the entire system, and outputs operational information (for example, transport command, transport item number, etc.) as necessary, such as during inter-process transport of transported objects. When this driving information is input to the first calculation control unit 3 through the input/output crab unit 2 of the card data reader 4, the first calculation control unit 3 transmits the driving information to the ID card 7 via the first antenna 5. and wait for the arrival of the automated guided vehicle 16 at ground stage 6. That is, the operating information from the host computer 1 is written to the ID card 7 attached to the conveyed object 18.

Next, the automatic guided vehicle 16 from another ground station 6,
When the vehicle arrives at the above-described corresponding ground station 6 in an empty state, the presence or absence of the conveyed object on the ground station 6 is detected by means not shown, and the conveyed object 18 is received at the transfer section 17 by means not shown. At the ground station 6 where the transported object 18 has disappeared due to this transfer,
Pressure is input from the first calculation control section 3 of the card data reader 4.

Information to that effect (object transfer completion data) is transmitted to the host computer 1 through the crab unit 2, and the information is saved in the host computer 1.

On the other hand, the automatic guided vehicle 16 that has completed loading the transported object 18 transmits the driving information written in the ID card 7 attached to the transported object 18 to the second calculation control unit 9 via the second antenna 8.
The second arithmetic control section 9 reads the data and converts the data.
Operation information such as transportation commands is sent to the automatic guided vehicle calculation control unit 10.
is input.

Thereby, the automatic guided vehicle calculation control unit 10 outputs the output unit 12 based on the driving information read by the second calculation control unit 9 and the signal from the guidance sensor 11. Travel steering control section 13. By controlling the travel steering motor 15 through the steering mechanism section 14, the automatic guided vehicle 16 travels to another target ground station 6, stops, and transports the object 18. When the automatic guided vehicle 16 arrives at the target ground station 6, the status of the ground station 6, that is, the presence or absence of the transported object 18, is determined by means not shown, and the transported object 18 is removed from the automatic guided vehicle 16 by means not shown. It is loaded and unloaded to ground station 6. and,
The automatic guided vehicle 16 that has completed the loading and unloading of the conveyed object 18 in this manner automatically travels and performs the same operation as described above based on the above-mentioned 10 card data that has been input in advance to the next ground station 6. It will be done. On the other hand, at the ground station 6 where the transported object 18 is loaded and unloaded, the information of the ID card 7 attached to the transported object 18 is sent to the first calculation control unit of the card data reader 4 via the first antenna 5. 3 and transmits the information to the host computer 1 through the input/output crab unit 2. As a result, the host computer 1 determines the next process to be carried out for the conveyed object based on this information, and the next information is output to the card data reader 4 of the corresponding ground station 6.

As described above, in the automatic guided vehicle control device according to the present embodiment, driving information is sent and received from the host computer 1 on the ground side as necessary to the ID card 7 on which information can be read and written. This allows automatic guided vehicle 1 to be accessed from the ground side without any errors in information transmission.
In addition to being able to reliably send and receive driving information to the 6 side, there is no restriction on the guidance method of the automatic guided vehicle 16 itself, and a dedicated ground control panel for controlling the operation of the automatic guided vehicle 16 is provided. It becomes possible to control the operation of the automatic guided vehicle 16 without providing the automatic guided vehicle 16. As a result, it is possible to operate the ground station 6 and the automatic guided vehicle 16 connected to the host computer 1 in accordance with the processing of the conveyed objects 18 of the entire system, and it is possible to improve the efficiency of the entire system. Become.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can also be implemented in the following manner.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of the control device for an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention. Parts that are the same as those in FIG. I will only talk about. That is, in FIG. 3, an input/output crab unit 19 having the same function as the input/output crab unit 2 in the ground station 6 is provided on the automatic guided vehicle 16 side in FIG. The reader 20 is configured to exchange information between the second calculation control section 9 and the automatic guided vehicle calculation control section 10 via the input/output crab unit 19.

In this embodiment, the driving information from the host computer 1 on the ground side is transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle 16 side through the ID card 7, as in the above embodiment.
In addition to being able to control the operation of the automatic guided vehicle 16, if a battery voltage drop or a control abnormality occurs in the automatic guided vehicle 16, abnormality information to that effect can be sent to the card data reader 2.
0 through the ID card 7 to the host computer 1 on the ground side. This allows the host computer 1 on the ground side to collectively monitor and control the status of the automatic guided vehicle 16. For example, when receiving information that an abnormality of battery voltage drop has occurred in the automatic guided vehicle 16, the host computer 1 sends driving information for driving the automatic guided vehicle 16 to a charging area as countermeasure information. , host computer 1 to I
It will be transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle 16 side through the D card 7.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, driving information from the ground side is transmitted to the unmanned guided vehicle via the ID card equipped on the transported object transferred between the ground side and the unmanned guided vehicle. Transmitted to the car side,
Since the operation of the automated guided vehicle is controlled based on the operating information, it is possible to reliably send and receive operating information from the ground side to the automated guided vehicle side without any errors in information transmission, and A highly reliable and economically advantageous automated guided vehicle that is not limited by the guidance method of the guided vehicle itself and can control the operation of the automated guided vehicle without the need for a dedicated ground control panel for the automated guided vehicle. Car control equipment can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle control device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an automated guided vehicle system to which the same embodiment is applied, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the automatic guided vehicle control device according to the invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Host computer, 2... Input/output crab unit, 3... First calculation control unit, 4... Card data reader, 5... First antenna, 7... Ground station, 7 ...ID card 1.8...Second antenna, 9...Second 80 arithmetic control unit, 10...Automated guided vehicle arithmetic control unit, 11...Guidance sensor, 12... Output unit, 13... Travel steering control unit, 14... Steering separate structure, 15... Travel steering motor, 16... Automatic guided vehicle, 17... Transfer unit, 18... Transport Things, 19...
In and out crab knit, 20...Card data reader. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] The operation of the automated guided vehicle is controlled based on operation information such as transport commands given from a ground-side integrated management control device that performs overall management control of the entire system, and automatically stops at the destination point. In a control device for an automatic guided vehicle configured to transfer a conveyed object, an ID that is installed on the conveyed object and transferred between the ground side and the automatic guided vehicle and is capable of reading and writing information. card and the first
a first control means for exchanging information with the ID card via a transmitting/receiving means, and writing the driving information to the ID card when driving information is given from the integrated management control device; is provided on the ground side, and transmits and receives information to and from the ID card via a second transmitting/receiving means, and reads the driving information written in the ID card when the transfer of the transported object is completed. the second of
and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the automatic guided vehicle based on the operation information read by the second control means on the automatic guided vehicle side. car control device.