JPH02219112A - Automatic carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable each carrier to operate efficiently by allowing the carrier to receive a signal from another carrier which travels on the same travel line and approaches, to decides priority in comparing with its own signal, and to perform backing processing at need. CONSTITUTION:When two carriers 1a and 1b face each other on the same travel line 4, signal outputted by transmitting means 8a and 8b of the carriers 1a and 1b are received by receiving means 9a and 9b of the opposite carriers. The priority levels of travel time signals and stop time signals of the carriers 1a and 1b are predetermined, so when the priority of one carrier is lower than that of the other carrier, the former carrier backs to the nearest stand-by path and restarts traveling a certain time later. Consequently, the interference between the carries can freely be evaded, and the operation efficiency of the carriers is improved.

Description

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

(Prior art) The ms diagram shows a conventional automatic guided vehicle shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 55-15502, in which (1)
(2) is an operation panel provided on the transport vehicle body (L); (3) is a communication device for communicating with a computer (not shown); It is set in. (4) is the running line of the transport vehicle, which is made of highly reflective white tape or the like. (5) is a travel control mark set on the travel line (4), (6)
1 is a terminal for communicating transport instructions etc. from the computer to the transport vehicle body (1), and (7) is a communication device for communicating with the transport vehicle body (1).

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 recognize the travel line (4) and the controls above it. Mark (5
). First, travel instructions are sent from the computer from the communication device (7) of the terminal (6) to the communication device (1) of the transport vehicle body (1).
3) The conveyance vehicle body (1) starts traveling by receiving the information through . While the transport vehicle body (1) is traveling, the recognition device constantly recognizes the travel line (4) and control mark (5), and the center of the recognized travel line (4) is located at the center of the transport vehicle body (1). Driving control is always performed to ensure that Furthermore, 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 follows the instructions in the order of the marks. Follow the control marks (5) to reach the destination.

Next, when the conveyance vehicle body (1) is to be operated manually, the operation panel (2) of the conveyance vehicle body (1) is used and manual buttons such as forward, backward, rotation, etc. are pressed. In manual mode, it does not depend on whether or not the running line (4) can be recognized, but in automatic running, if the running line (5) cannot be recognized, the vehicle immediately stops.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) Since the conventional automatic guided vehicle is configured as described above,
- When the guided vehicle starts traveling in response to a driving instruction from the courage calculator, the computer keeps track of the position the guided vehicle travels until it reaches its destination and reports to the computer that it has completed the execution of the traveling instructions. Therefore, when two or more guided vehicles are running on the same travel line, a computer must perform complex calculations to select a route to prevent the guided vehicles from colliding with each other. There is a need. Furthermore, if a guided vehicle is stopped, the vehicle must travel on a detour, which poses problems such as poor operating efficiency of the guided vehicle.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and each transport vehicle can detect each other's transport vehicles, and depending on the priority of the work, lower priority transport vehicles can temporarily retreat to the evacuation route. The object of the present invention is to obtain an automatic guided vehicle that can freely avoid mutual interference between the guided vehicles.

[Means to solve the problem]

The automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention is an automatic guided vehicle that runs on an optical mark reading type or magnetic induction type traveling line, and has a predetermined priority order of the signal frequency when the guided vehicle is running and the time when the guided vehicle is stopped. Setting means for setting each signal frequency, driving signal frequency storage means for storing the set driving signal frequency, stop signal frequency storage means for storing the set stop signal frequency, and each of the above storage means. a transmitting means for outputting a running signal or a stop signal in the traveling direction of the guided vehicle based on the memory contents of the guided vehicle; and a receiving means for receiving a signal output from another guided vehicle approaching the guided vehicle. , a determination that compares the signal of another guided vehicle received by the receiving means and the signal of the own guided vehicle outputted from the transmitting means, and determines the priority between the own guided vehicle and the other guided vehicle. When the priority of means and own transport vehicle is low,
A control means for controlling the evacuation of the own guided vehicle to the interference avoidance visiting path is provided.

(Operation) In this invention, when two guided vehicles face each other on the same running line, the signal output from the transmitting means of each guided vehicle is received by the receiving means of the other guided vehicle. Here, the priority of the running signal or stop signal of each guided vehicle is determined in advance, so if the priority of the guided vehicle is lower than that of other guided vehicles, it will back up and move to the nearest evacuation area. The vehicle will evacuate to the road and resume driving after a certain period of time.

In addition, the running signal is set to have a higher priority than the stop signals of any other guided vehicle, and a running guided vehicle is prioritized over a stopped guided vehicle, improving work efficiency. It will be done.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention. As is clear from FIG. 1, this embodiment includes a setting means (11) for setting the running signal frequency and the stop signal frequency of the guided vehicle whose priorities are determined in advance, and the set running time signal frequency. Running signal frequency storage means (12) and stop signal frequency storage means (1) that store the signal frequency and stop signal frequency, respectively.
3) are respectively provided, and when the vehicle is traveling, a traveling signal is output from the transmitting means (14) in the traveling direction, and
When the vehicle is stopped, a stop signal is output from the transmitting means (14) in the direction of travel. On the other hand, a receiving means (15) receives a signal output from another guided vehicle approaching the own guided vehicle.
and the discriminating means (16) receives the signal from the transmitting means (14).
) and 1 received by the receiving means (15).
Compare the priority with No. 3. When the priority of the self-guided vehicle is low, the control means (17) is configured to perform evacuation control to the interference avoidance guide path.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the automatic guided vehicle according to the embodiment of FIG. 1. In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 5 indicate the same or corresponding parts, and (8) indicates the guided vehicle body (1). The oscillation frequency of the output signal can be set arbitrarily by the ultrasonic transmitter installed in the ultrasonic transmitter. Reference numeral (9) denotes an ultrasonic receiving device provided on the conveying vehicle body (1), which, together with the ultrasonic transmitting device (8), is provided at the front end and the rear end of the conveying vehicle body (1) in the running direction, respectively.

Figure 3 shows a state in which two conveyor bodies face each other on the same running line. In the figure, (la) and (lb) are the conveyor bodies, (4) is the running line, and (5a) is the evacuation point. (5b) is a control mark indicating an evacuation point,
(8a) and (8b) are each of the above-mentioned transport vehicle bodies (la),
Ultrasonic transmitter installed in (lb), (9a), (
9b) is an ultrasonic receiving device provided in each of the transport vehicle bodies (la) and (lb).

In addition, the oscillation frequency of each signal of each of the ultrasonic transmitters (8a) and (8b) is as follows, where A0 is the oscillation frequency of the ultrasonic transmitter (8a) when it is stopped, and A2 is the oscillation frequency when it is running. , and A2, and if the oscillation frequency of the ultrasonic transmitter (8b) when the vehicle is stopped is at, and the oscillation frequency when the vehicle is running is B2, it is set so that B I<82. Moreover, each oscillation frequency island mentioned above.

A2. Bl and B2 are set so that ^+ < BI < ^, <B.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to a flowchart of collision avoidance processing shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transport vehicle body (la) is the transport vehicle body (l
An emergency stop occurs when the sound wave emitted by b) is received,
At the same time, the conveyance vehicle body (1b) is brought to an emergency stop upon receiving the sound wave emitted by the conveyance vehicle body (1a). After each transport vehicle body (la) and (lb) has stopped, it compares the frequency of each received sound wave with its own excavation frequency to determine whether or not to perform evacuation processing, and if necessary, evacuation Execute processing.

That is, in step (Sl) of FIG. 4, if the transport vehicle bodies (la) and (lb) are brought to an emergency stop, in step (Sl), the received frequency and its own oscillation frequency are compared in magnitude, Determine whether evacuation processing is necessary.

Then, if evacuation processing is necessary, step (S3)
The save process is executed in . Specifically, the transport vehicle body (lb) is retreated to the nearest control mark (5a),
It is evacuated to the evacuation point control mark (5b).

When the evacuation process is completed, after waiting for a certain period of time in step (S4), the conveyance vehicle body (1b) is returned to the control mark (5a) of the evacuation point population in step (S5), and in step (S6), the conventional Restart running process.

On the other hand, in step (Sl), if it is determined that evacuation is not necessary, in step (S7), after waiting for the time considered necessary for the evacuation of the other transport vehicle (1b) to be completed, step (S8 ), the conventional driving process continues.

Therefore, the two transport vehicle bodies (la) and (lb) are
The original driving process is possible without collision. Moreover, since the conveyance vehicle body (lb) with a high priority is driven preferentially, work efficiency can be improved.

In the above embodiment, there are two transport vehicle bodies (la).

Although the case where both (lb) are running is shown, the same applies even if the latter is stopped. And in this case,
The vehicles that are evacuated are always stopped transport vehicles.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an ultrasonic signal is used as a signal to confirm the approach of another conveyance vehicle and to confirm the priority, but other signals such as a laser beam may also be used. Good too.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention receives signals from other guided vehicles approaching while traveling on the same traveling line, determines the priority between these and its own signals, and In such cases, evacuation processing is performed, so multiple guided vehicles can be serviced on the same travel line without having to perform complex route selection calculations on a computer, making each guided vehicle extremely efficient. It has the advantage of being able to operate in a controlled manner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the transport vehicle, and Fig. 3 shows a state in which two transport vehicles face each other on the same running line. The explanatory diagram, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the collision avoidance operation, and FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a conventional automatic guided vehicle. (11... Setting means, (12... Driving signal frequency storage means, (13...
stop signal frequency storage means, (14... transmitting means, (15)... receiving means, (16)... discriminating means, (17)... controlling means. Note that the same reference numerals in each figure are the same. - or a corresponding portion. Agent: Masuo Oiwa Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an automatic guided vehicle in which the guided vehicle travels on an optical mark reading type or magnetic induction type traveling line, a setting means for setting a running signal frequency and a stop signal frequency of the guided vehicle whose priorities are determined in advance; , a running signal frequency storage means for storing the set running signal frequency, a stop signal frequency storage means for storing the set stop signal frequency, and a signal frequency storage means for storing the set stop signal frequency; A transmitting means for outputting a traveling signal or a stop signal in the traveling direction, a receiving means for receiving a signal output from another guided vehicle approaching the own guided vehicle, and a transmitting means for receiving a signal output from another guided vehicle approaching the own guided vehicle a determining means that compares the signal of the guided vehicle with the signal of the own guided vehicle output from the transmitting means and determines the priority of the own guided vehicle and the other guided vehicle, and the priority of the own guided vehicle 1. An automatic guided vehicle comprising: control means for controlling the self-guided vehicle to retreat to an interference avoidance guideway when the degree of interference is low.