JPH01177619A - Method and device for controlling unmanned vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase an operating efficiency by storing, at each carrying station, distances from the carrying station to all the other carrying stations and transferring an unmanned carrying vehicle to the carrying station in which the distance from the carrying station where it is stopped at present is nearest. CONSTITUTION:To carrying stations 21, 22... of tool machines 11, 12..., distances Lij [(i): carrying source station, (j): carrying destination station] from the carrying station to other respective carrying stations are stored. When an unloading is completed, and arithmetic processing unit 43 of a computer 40 retrieves carrying requests from respective tool machines 11, 12... at such a time, a distance Lik from the carrying station in the middle of a stop at present is obtained to the tool machine to give the carrying request, the carrying station in the nearest position is extracted, and a transfer command is outputted to such a carrying station. Thus, a carrying control with a good efficiency can be realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a control method for an automatic guided vehicle and a control device thereof.

(Prior technology) Generally, in a production line where multiple machine tools are installed and unmanned processing is performed, an automatic guided vehicle is run along the conveyance line and material is transferred to the automatic guided vehicle at the conveyance station in the setup area. Load the material and transport it to the machine tool's transport station at a specified position, and conversely load the processed material from the machine tool's transport station at the specified position and transport it to the setup area's transport station or another transport station. A control device for an automated guided vehicle has been adopted.

In such automatic guided vehicle control devices, the computer that controls the entire device does not issue commands such as ``scoop a load at a certain station and unload it at a certain station.'' Further, such a transport command is also output when the preparation work for the material to be supplied to the machine tool is completed, or when the processing on the machine tool is completed and the processed material is delivered to the transport station.

In a processing line consisting of a plurality of machine tools, transport requests may be simultaneously output from a plurality of other transport stations while the automatic guided vehicle is performing transport work.

In such cases, conventional automatic guided vehicle control devices forward the automatic guided vehicles in the order in which transport requests occur and transport materials and processed materials. The control device determines the forwarding order based on the order in which transport requests occur, so in reality, we want processed materials to be transported to a transport station in the setup area that is close to an empty and stopped transport station. Even if there is a transport station that has a transport request,
If a material transport request is issued from the transport station in the setup area before that transport request, the material will be forwarded empty to the transport station in the transfer area, where the material will be loaded and transported to the designated transport station. However, only when the load becomes empty is a transport operation in which it goes to pick up the processed material that was nearby and transports it to the transfer station in the setup area. There were problems in that it took a long time and the work efficiency was poor.

In addition, because the automatic guided vehicle travels for a long time without being loaded, it takes a long time from the time a transfer request occurs until the transfer is completed, and the operating rate of the machine tool decreases because the material is not supplied to the machine tool. There was a problem with it going down.

This invention was made in order to solve such conventional problems, and it determines the most efficient transport order among the transport requests that occur, and uses automated guided vehicles or empty transport systems that run with empty cargo. It is an object of the present invention to provide a control method and a control device for an automatic guided vehicle that can shorten the time and improve the operating rate of a machine tool accordingly.

The first invention of this application is to forward the automatic guided vehicle to the conveyance station where the conveyance request has been made, load the load onto the automatic guided vehicle, and carry out the conveyance specified by this conveyance station on a conveyance line that includes multiple conveyance stations. A control method for an automated guided vehicle that moves the automated guided vehicle to a destination station and unloads the load, the automated guided vehicle When moving to one transport station, unloading, and forwarding to another transport station, the transport station that is closest to the currently stopped transport station among the transport stations that have a transport request. The station is used as a transport source station, and an automatic guided vehicle is sent there, a load is loaded at the transport source station, and the load is transported by the automatic guided vehicle to a destination station specified by the transport source station.

The second invention of this application is that machine tools are installed at multiple locations, and the material is carried from a transfer station in a setup area to the transfer station of each machine tool, and conversely, the processed material processed by each machine tool is transferred to the machine tool. A control method for an automatic guided vehicle that transports materials or processed materials from one transport station by the automatic guided vehicle from a transport station of a machine to a transport station of a setup area or a transport station of another machine tool. When unloading is carried out to another specified transfer station, and when the unloading is completed, the automatic guided vehicle is forwarded to the other transfer station where a transfer request has been made. Before the machine tool finishes machining the material currently being processed, the processed materials at other transfer stations are transported to the setup yard or another transfer station, and then transferred to the setup yard's transfer station to transfer the materials. Consider whether the machining will be completed by the time the machine is delivered and your hands will be free, and if there is a machine tool for which you cannot find the next machining transport allowance, immediately move it to the transport station in the setup area. The unmanned guided vehicle is then loaded with materials and transported to the transfer station of the machine tool that requested the carry-in. If the next processing transfer allowance time can be found, the material is loaded and transferred to the transfer station of the machine tool that has received the carry-out request. Select the closest transport station from among the stopped transport stations, forward the automatic guided vehicle to that transport station, transport the material or processed material from that transport station to the designated transport destination station, and Even if no material carry-in request has been issued from any machine tool at the time of unloading, the transfer station closest to the currently unmanned guided vehicle or stopped transfer station among the transfer stations for which a carry-out request has been issued. The automatic guided vehicle is then transported to the designated transport station, and the raw material or processed material at that transport station is transported to the designated transport destination station.

The third invention of this application is an unmanned guided vehicle that travels on a conveyance line, and a transport system that transports the unmanned guided vehicle to a source station from which a conveyance request has been made, and carries the load to a destination station designated by the source station. a travel control means for transporting the transport station; a storage means for storing the distance from the transport station to all other transport stations for each transport station; This automatic guided vehicle control device includes arithmetic processing means for selecting a transfer station closest to a current transfer station and setting it as a new transfer source station, and giving a forwarding command to the travel control means.

The fourth invention of this application includes an automatic guided vehicle that travels on a transport line, and a transport system that transports the automatic guided vehicle to a transport source station from which a transport request has been issued, and delivers the load to the transport source station or a designated transport destination station. A travel control means for transport, and a memory that stores, for each transport station, the distance from that transport station to all other transport stations, the processing time required for each machine tool, the time required for material exchange, and the average transport time of the automatic guided vehicle. The remaining time required to finish machining by extracting the machine tool that is in process of machining, finish machining with that machine tool, and start machining the next material, and the time required for one unmanned guided vehicle to carry a calculation means for comparing the time required for twice transporting the material at the transport station of the setup area to the transport station of a predetermined machine tool after transporting the load from the station to another transport station; a means for extracting a transport station closest to the automatic guided vehicle or the stopped transport station among the outgoing transport stations; and when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at one of the transport stations, the calculation means There is a comparison method that compares the magnitude of the remaining time to complete processing calculated by the operator and the time required for two-time transportation, and the shorter time based on the comparison result of this comparison method is prioritized, and the material is transferred to the transportation station in the setup area and loaded. , a command to carry the material into the transfer station of the machine tool that has received a carry-in request, or a command to send the automatic guided vehicle to the nearest transfer station where a carry-out request has been issued, load the material or processed material, and then This is a control device for an automatic guided vehicle, comprising forwarding destination command means for giving a command to the travel control means to transport to a destination station.

(Function) The automatic guided vehicle control method of the first invention of this application and the automatic guided vehicle control device of the third invention provide the following for the automatic guided vehicle:
When unloading at a specified transport station and forwarding to the next transport station, extract all transport stations that are requesting transport at that time and forward it to the nearest transport station from the currently stopped transport station. Load the cargo and transport it to the designated transport station. When the cargo arrives and is unloaded, it is forwarded to the transport station closest to the currently stopped transport station among the transport stations that have a transport request, at a newly stopped transport station. The operation can be controlled so that the load there is transported to a predetermined location.

In the automatic guided vehicle control method of the second invention of this application and the automatic guided vehicle control device of the fourth invention, for the automatic guided vehicle,
When unloading at a designated transfer station and moving to the next transfer station, if there is a machine tool that has a request to carry in the material, the process will be completed before that machine tool finishes processing the material it is currently processing. , among the transport stations that have a transport request, the material or processed material from the transport station closest to the stopped transport station is transported to the designated transport destination station, and then transferred to the transport station in the setup area. The automatic guided vehicle is forwarded to load the material, and it is determined whether or not it will be in time to carry the material to the transfer station of the machine tool that has received the transfer request. The automatic guided vehicle is forwarded to the transport station and the raw material or processed material there is transported to the designated transport destination station.

However, if the material or processed material is transported to the nearest transport station and then transported to another transport station, the machining of the machine tool that is requesting material transport will not be completed. If it is predicted that the machine tool will be left unoccupied, the material will be carried into the machine tool from the transfer station in the setup area.

(Examples) Hereinafter, examples of each invention of this application will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle control device that realizes the first invention and constitutes the third invention, and shows transport to a setup area 10, machine tools 11, 12, 13, . . . Stations 20, 21, 22, . . . are provided.

The automatic guided vehicle 30 is controlled by a control computer 40, and when it moves to a designated transport station and is loaded with cargo there, it uses this as the transport source station and moves to the designated transport destination station. Transport and unload cargo.

The control computer 40 controls the setup area 10 and each machine tool 1.
1,12. The transport request signal Sc, arrival signal Sa, working signal Sw, etc. are input from ..., and the automatic guided vehicle 3
Performs arithmetic control to determine the transport procedure for 0.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed configuration of this control device, and the automatic guided vehicle 30 is equipped with a controller 31 that controls starting and stopping of the vehicle.

The control computer 40 includes a process input/output interface 41, a storage device 42, and an arithmetic processing unit 43.

The operation of the automatic guided vehicle control device having the above configuration will be described next. Incidentally, this operation also serves as a concrete explanation of the embodiment of the first invention.

With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, the machine tool 11
,12. ... transport stations 21, 22, ...
, the distance Lz (i: wi source station, j
: transport destination station) is memorized.

The automatic guided vehicle 30 is located at the transfer station 2 of the setup area 10.
0, the material is transported to the transport station of the machine tool that has requested material transport, based on instructions given to the controller 31 from the arithmetic processing unit 43 of the computer 40, and unloaded.

Here, when the unloading is completed, the arithmetic processing unit 43 of the computer 40 at that point executes the operations for each machine tool 1.1. ,1
2. Step S1) to search for transport requests from...
Step S2. For the machine tool for which a transport request has been issued, the distance MLl between the currently stopped transport stations is determined, and the transport station at the closest position is extracted. S3), a forwarding command is output to this transport station (step 34, S5).

Upon receiving this command, the controller 31 controls the automatic guided vehicle 30.
is transported to a designated transport station, and if it does not arrive at the designated transport station, the processed material is loaded here and transported to a designated transport destination station, for example, transport station 20 of the setup area 10, It is to unload the cargo.

When it arrives at the transfer station 20 of the setup area 10 and unloading is completed, at this transfer station 20,
The necessary materials are loaded into the machine tool that is requested to carry the material, and the materials are transported to the transport station at that location.

In this way, the load is transported to one of the transport stations, and while the load is stopped there, the transport vehicle 30 is forwarded to the nearest transport station from the stopping position at another transport station that has a transport request. However, by transporting raw materials and processed materials, efficient transport control can be achieved.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle control device that realizes the second invention and constitutes the fourth invention. The arithmetic processing unit 43 of the control computer 40 of this embodiment is
Each processing machine 11.12. . . . A processing remaining time calculation unit 44 that calculates the remaining time until the processing ends, and a processing unit 44 that calculates the remaining time until the processing ends, and the automatic guided vehicle 30 that is necessary for transporting the load from one transport station to another transport station and returning. The calculation unit 45 for calculating the average time required for transportation and the automatic guided vehicle 30 pick up the load from the stopped transportation station to the transportation station where the transportation request has been made, load the load there, and transport it to the specified destination station. A forwarding destination determination unit 46 determines whether there will be a time when the machining of any machine tool will be completed and the hands will be free before unloading, and an arithmetic control unit 47 that controls these operations. It is made up of.

The other equipment configurations are the same as those of the third embodiment.

The operation of the automatic guided vehicle control device having the above configuration will be described next.

With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
stores the distances from each transport station to all other transport stations for each transport station 20, 21, 22, . Further, this storage device W42 is stored in each machine tool 11, 12. For...
The machining time tni for each machine tool, the material exchange time tc, and the latest machining start time t for each machine tool.
I remember si.

The automatic guided vehicle 3 is located at a transfer station 20 in the setup area 10.
machine tools 11.12.・・・
- When a material loading request is output, the calculation control unit 47 of the processing unit W40 sets the transport station of the machine tool that received the loading request to the controller 31 of the automatic guided vehicle 30 as the destination station, and transfers the loaded material. Issue a command to transport.

In response to the command, the controller 3 position is set to automatic guided vehicle 30.
The transport request is moved to the designated transport station, and when it arrives at the designated transport destination station and unloading is completed, that transport request is processed against all registered transport requests for the next transport. Determine whether a request to transport material to one of the machines is a request to transport processed material (
Step 511).

If a material loading request is found in one of the transportation requests, step 512) calculates the machining remaining time t□ for the machine tool that outputs the loading request, and calculates = jfi, -( The calculation is performed according to the equation (current time - t31) (step 513).

Then, using this machining end time remaining 〇, in order to check whether it is suitable for the next machining to transport the material or not, calculate the next machining transport margin time tWl based on the formula jw + - jx + (t, X2 + tc + (step 514).

Here, t6: average time required for transportation tc: Required time for processing material exchange It is.

When a machine tool whose next processing transport margin time twl determined here is negative is found (step 515), a material transport command is output for the machine tool with the largest absolute value, and the worker transport vehicle 30 is transferred to the transfer station 20 in the setup area 10, where necessary materials are loaded and transferred to the designated machine tool (step 316).
~S18°523).

If the above calculation does not find a machine tool with a negative next machining transport time jwl (step S15
．． S17, 18), calculate the distance L + h between all the transport stations that have a transport request from the currently stopped transport station. A forwarding command for the transport vehicle 30 is output, and the processed material is efficiently transported (steps 821 to 523).

In this way, in the embodiments of the second and fourth inventions, it is possible to predict whether or not another machine tool will complete machining while the processed material is being transported, leaving that machine tool idle. In such a case, first, the material is transported to this machine tool and the machine tool 11.12. In neither of these situations will your hands be idle, keeping the operating rate high, and also shortening the empty travel distance of the automatic guided vehicle, allowing for efficient transportation.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the first invention and the third invention, the automatic guided vehicle does not have to travel for a long time in an empty state, loads can be efficiently transported, and the automatic guided vehicle is equipped with a variety of batteries. In such cases, consumption can be suppressed.

Further, according to the second invention and the fourth invention, it is possible to carry out efficient transport without having to move the automatic guided vehicle over a long distance in an empty state, and when a particular machine tool is idle while transporting another load. This also improves the operating rate of machine tools.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle control device that uses the first invention and constitutes the third invention;
The figure is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the control device for the automatic guided vehicle as described above, FIG. 3 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the above embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 5, which is a block diagram of an embodiment of the automatic guided vehicle control device constituting the invention, is a flowchart explaining the operation of the above embodiment. 10: Setup area 11.12. ...: Machine tool 20.21,22. ...: Transfer station 30: Automatic guided vehicle 31: Controller 402 control computer 41: Process input/output interface 42: Storage device 43: Arithmetic processing unit 44: Processing remaining time calculation unit 45: Required time calculation for iPl transport

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) On a transport line equipped with multiple transport stations, the automatic guided vehicle is forwarded to the transport station where the transport request was made, the load is loaded onto the automatic guided vehicle, and the load is automatically transported to the destination station specified by this transport station. A control method for an automatic guided vehicle that moves and unloads a vehicle, in which the distances from that transport station to all other transport stations are memorized at each transport station, and the automated guided vehicle operates as a single transport station. When moving to the station, unloading the cargo, and forwarding it to another transfer station,
Among the transfer stations that have received a transfer request, the one closest to the currently stopped transfer station is set as the transfer source station, and the automatic guided vehicle is routed there, and the load is loaded at this transfer source station. A method for controlling an automatic guided vehicle, characterized in that the automatic guided vehicle transports a load to a destination station specified by the source station. (2) Machine tools are installed at multiple locations, and the material is transported from the transfer station in the setup area to the transfer station of each machine tool, and conversely, the processed material processed by each machine tool is transferred from the transfer station of that machine tool. A control method for an automatic guided vehicle that transports materials or processed materials from one transport station to another designated transport station by the automatic guided vehicle. When unloading is carried out to a transfer station, and when the unloading is completed, the automatic guided vehicle is forwarded to another transfer station where a transfer request has been issued, first check the current status of the machine tool for which a material transfer request has been issued. Before the processing of the material being processed is completed, the processed materials at other transport stations are transported to the setup area or another transport station, and then transferred to the transport station in the setup area for processing before being carried in. If there is a machine tool for which it is not possible to find the next machining transport allowance, immediately move the automatic guided vehicle to the transfer station in the setup area. The material is then loaded and transported to the transport station of the machine tool that has received the transport request, and if the next processing transport allowance time can be found, the material is loaded and transported to the transport station of the machine tool that has received the transport request. Select the transport station located closest to the station, send the automatic guided vehicle to that transport station, transport the material or processed material from that transport station to the designated transport destination station, and at the time of unloading. Even if there is no request to carry in material from any machine tool, the automatic guided vehicle is moved to the transfer station closest to the one where the automatic guided vehicle is currently stopped among the transfer stations that have received a request to carry out the material. A method for controlling an automatic guided vehicle, comprising: forwarding the material or processed material at the transport station to a designated transport destination station. (3) An automatic guided vehicle that travels on a transport line, and a travel control means that routes the automatic guided vehicle to a transport source station that has issued a transport request and transports the load to a transport destination station specified by the transport source station. , a storage means for storing the distance from each transfer station to all other transfer stations, and a location closest to the transfer station where the automatic guided vehicle is stopped among the transfer stations that have issued a transfer request. A control device for an automatic guided vehicle, comprising: arithmetic processing means for selecting a transfer station as a new transfer source station, and giving a forwarding command to the travel control means. (4) An automatic guided vehicle that travels on a transport line, and a travel control means that transports the automatic guided vehicle to a transport source station that has issued a transport request and transports the load to a transport destination station specified by the transport source station. , storage means for storing, for each transfer station, the distance from that transfer station to all other transfer stations, the processing time required for each machine tool, the time required for material exchange, and the average transfer time of the automatic guided vehicle; and each machine tool. Among these, we extract the machining operation in progress, and calculate the remaining machining time required for that machine tool to finish machining and start machining the next material, and the time required for the automatic guided vehicle to move from one transfer station to another. calculation means for comparing the time required for twice transporting the material at the transport station of the setup area to the transport station of a predetermined machine tool after transporting the material to the transport station where the transport request has been made; Among them, a means for extracting the nearest transport station from the transport station where the automatic guided vehicle is stopped, and a remaining amount after processing calculated by the calculation means when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at one of the transport stations. There is a comparison method that compares the size of the time and the time required for two-time transportation, and the shorter time based on the comparison result of this comparison method is prioritized, and the material is transferred to the transportation station in the setup area, loaded with material, and the material is requested to be carried in. A command to carry the material into the transfer station of the machine tool currently in use, or a transfer request to send the automatic guided vehicle to the nearest transfer station where a transfer request has been issued, load the material or processed material, and transport it to the specified destination station. A control device for an automatic guided vehicle, comprising: forwarding destination command means for giving a command to the traveling control means.