JPH01292506A - Automatic carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the drive of an automatic carrier on a traveling line by avoiding obstacles in its surroundings by attaching the ultrasonic wave sensors to the carrier at the front and rear and right and left positions. CONSTITUTION:When an automatic carrier body 1 gets out of its traveling line 4, the ultrasonic wave sensors 8a-8d attached to the carrier 1 at the front- back and right-left positions check a peripheral obstacle 10. In case no obstacle is detected, the carrier 1 is moved laterally by a fixed distance and the detecting action is continued until the line 4 gets into an on-carrier recognizable range 9. The left side is first checked and the sensor 8b works to recognize the obstacle. In case no obstacle is detected, the carrier 1 is moved to the left by an optional distance for check whether the line 4 is kept within the range 9 or not. If not, the check of the right side is started. If the detection is impossible at both right and left sides, an alarm is raised to stop the working of all sensors. When the line 4 is recognized again. Then the carrier 1 is driven again after all sensors are restarted and automatically reset to its due state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an automatic transport vehicle that automatically travels along a travel line of optical marks, magnetic tape, or the like.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a conventional automatic guided vehicle of this type. In the figure, (1) is an optical mark reading type or magnetic induction type transport vehicle body, (2) is an operation panel provided on the transport vehicle body (1), and (3) is a communication device for communicating with a computer (not shown). They are provided on both the left and right sides of the transport vehicle body. (4) is the running line of the transport vehicle, which is made of magnetic tape. (5) is a travel control mark set on the travel line (4), (6) is a terminal for communicating transport instructions etc. from the computer to the transport vehicle body, and (7) is a transport vehicle body (
1) is a communication device that performs communication with.

Next, the operation will be explained. The transport vehicle body (1) is equipped with an optical mark recognition device inside, and this recognition device recognizes the pattern of the floor surface within a certain range from the center of the transport vehicle to identify the travel line and the control mark above it (5 ).

First, the conveyance vehicle body (1) starts traveling by receiving a traveling instruction from the computer from the communication device (7) of the terminal (6) through the communication device (3) of the conveyance vehicle body (1). While the transport vehicle body (1) is traveling, the recognition device constantly recognizes the travel line (4) and control mark (5), so that the center of the recognized travel line is located at the center of the transport vehicle body (1). Continuous driving control is performed. In addition, there are various types of control marks (5), such as acceleration, deceleration, stop, and turning. Travel instructions from the computer are given in a continuous pattern of these control marks (5), and the conveyance vehicle moves in the order of the marks given. Follow the control marks (5) to reach the destination.

Next, when the transport vehicle body (1) is to be driven manually, this is done by using the operation panel (2) of the transport vehicle body (1) and pressing manual buttons such as forward, backward, rotation, etc. In the case of manual operation, it does not depend on whether or not the driving line can be recognized, but in automatic driving, if the driving line cannot be recognized, the system immediately stops.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventional automated guided vehicles are configured as described above, so
If the conveyance vehicle body deviates from the regular running line for some reason, the amount and direction of deviation from the running line are unknown, and there is no means for measuring them. When the train stops due to derailment, the operator must manually move the transport vehicle to the running line and then restart it. Furthermore, when there is no operator nearby, the system remains stopped for a long time, causing a significant delay in the conveyance process.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it provides an automatic guided vehicle that automatically detects the running line when the vehicle body derails from the running line and is able to run on the running line again. The purpose is to obtain.

(Means for Solving the Problems) An automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention is an automatic guided vehicle in which the guided vehicle runs on an optical mark reading type or magnetic induction type running line, in which front and rear, front and rear of the guided vehicle, Ultrasonic sensors are installed on the left and right sides to detect surrounding obstacles when the conveyance vehicle derails from the travel line and to enable it to travel on the travel line again.

[Effect]

In this invention, when the carrier body derails from the running line, the ultrasonic sensor detects surrounding obstacles, and the carrier body can be automatically returned to the running line again.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure shows a perspective view of an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, with reference numeral (
1) to (7) are the same as those of the conventional transport vehicle shown in FIG. 4, so the same reference numerals are given and the explanation will be omitted. (8) is an ultrasonic sensor added to the vehicle body (1) in the present invention, and is installed on the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body (1).

Next, the operation will be explained. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the transport vehicle body has derailed from the running line (4) and has stopped.

In the figure, (1) is the transport vehicle body, (4) is the travel line, (
8a) is a forward ultrasonic sensor attached to the transport vehicle;
(8b) is also the ultrasonic sensor in the left direction, (8c) is the ultrasonic sensor in the rear direction, (8d) is the ultrasonic sensor in the right direction, (9) is the recognition range of the recognition device inside the guided vehicle, (
10) indicates an obstacle along the travel line.

The ultrasonic sensors (8a) to (8d) turn on when an object exists within a certain distance.

Conventionally, the conveyance vehicle body (1) is brought to an emergency stop when the travel line deviates from the perceivable range, so it is thought that the conveyance vehicle body (1) will not deviate significantly from the travel line or will stop almost along the travel line. Therefore, when stopping, first (8a) to (8d)
Activate the sensor to check for surrounding obstacles. If there are no obstacles, the vehicle body (1) is moved a certain distance to the left or right to create a recognizable range (9
Detection of the running line (5) is performed until the running line falls within ).

The above automatic return process will be explained according to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S1, when starting the return process,
Each ultrasonic sensor (8a) to (8d) is activated. Next, since it is unclear whether the conveyance vehicle body (1) is shifted to the left or right with respect to the traveling line, detection is performed from the left direction. Therefore, in step S2, the sensor (8b) checks whether there is any obstacle to the left. Then, if the sensor (8b) is turned ON and there is an obstacle, the robot returns to its original position in step S3 and detects the right direction. If there is no obstacle to the left, the conveyance vehicle body (1) is repeatedly moved laterally to the left by a predetermined pitch in steps S4 and S5 from the stop position until it reaches an arbitrary distance, and in step S6 it moves laterally to the left. It is checked whether the running line enters the line, and if it cannot be detected even after moving an arbitrary distance (step S7), the sensor (8d) returns to the original stop position in step S3, and then in step S8 the sensor (8d)
starts detecting the right direction. Note that the rightward running line detection process is also performed in step S9.5I in the same manner as above.
O1Sll and S12 are used to perform detection on both the left and right sides, but if the travel line cannot be detected due to a failure of the recognition device, etc., a buzzer is sounded in step S13 to allow the operator to return manually or to check for failure of the device. . At this time, sensors (8a) to (8d)
stops its operation in step S14. Thus, the left
If the travel line can be recognized in either of the right directions, the operation of the sensors (8a) to (8d) is stopped in step S15, and then, in step S16, the travel processing is executed for the main control program of the automatic guided vehicle. Instructs restart and ends automatic return processing. In addition, in the case of a stopped state as shown in FIG. 2, the left sensor (8b) immediately detects an obstacle (10), so by performing detection processing to the right from the stopped position, the running line (4 ) can be detected.

In the embodiment, one ultrasonic sensor was installed at the front, rear, right and left sides of the transport vehicle body (1), but if two ultrasonic sensors were installed on the left and right with a distance between the front and back, the transport vehicle body (1) would be positioned at the first position relative to the travel line. 2
Even when the vehicle is stopped obliquely as shown in the figure, interference with obstacles can be checked more accurately.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the ultrasonic sensor for detecting surrounding obstacles is provided around the transport vehicle body,
Even if the transport vehicle derails from the running line and stops for some reason, it can automatically return to the running line without the need for an operator to return each time, making it possible to create an unmanned and highly reliable automatic transport system.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic guided vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the guided vehicle has derailed from the traveling line, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the automatic return operation. , FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional transport vehicle. (1)...transportation vehicle body, (2)...operation panel,
(4)... Travel line, (5)... Travel control mark, (8), (8a) to (8d)... Ultrasonic sensor. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an automatic guided vehicle in which the guided vehicle runs on an optical mark reading type or magnetic induction type running line, when the guided vehicle derails from the running line in the front, back, left and right of the guided vehicle, surrounding obstacles are detected. An automatic guided vehicle characterized by being equipped with an ultrasonic sensor that detects and enables the vehicle to travel on the travel line again.