JPH0416392B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a traveling crane that can be directly operated by a worker's voice command, and particularly to an overhead traveling voice-controlled crane.

[Prior art]

Conventional operating methods for overhead cranes include one in which a dedicated driver operates a controller in the cabin on top of the machine, one in which the operator operates a pendant switch suspended near the floor, and one in which the operator operates a pendant switch suspended near the floor. They are roughly divided into three types, which are operated by a driver on the floor using a radio control device.

[Problems to be solved by this invention]

Since all of these devices must be operated using one or both hands, a dedicated operator is required to operate the crane. In addition, the overall work of the overhead traveling crane includes slinging, paving, and
Workers were also required to perform auxiliary work such as driving the vehicle, which caused problems in terms of labor saving and work efficiency.

Therefore, there was an idea to operate the crane by voice control, but the conventional voice input device did not have sufficient measures to prevent dangers such as runaway due to misrecognition and malfunction due to noise.

Therefore, the present invention improves the above-mentioned disadvantages of operating a conventional overhead crane, and eliminates the need for a full-time operator who only operates the crane, allowing a single operator to safely perform multiple tasks for the entire overhead crane. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a mobile voice-controlled crane that is easy to operate and can save labor.

[Structure of the invention]

The overhead traveling type voice-controlled crane according to the present invention inputs commands for operating various parts of the overhead traveling crane by voice of the commanding person from the command word input section, and registers the input command words in advance in the voice recognition section provided in the voice control section. The system compares and recognizes the matching pattern of the commanded person, uses a speech synthesizer to synthesize the same voice as the recognized command word, and outputs the synthesized voice to the mobile wireless device via the fixed wireless device. The control output corresponding to the command word answered by the dispatcher and recognized in this way is output from the output interface section to the crane control section corresponding to the plurality of drive devices of the overhead traveling crane via the control section specific to the voice control crane. It is unique in that it is configured to voice control the overhead traveling crane.

〔Example〕

The following will explain the embodiments shown in the drawings. Fig. 1 shows an example of an overhead traveling voice control crane, and Fig. 2 shows a control block diagram of the crane. This voice-controlled crane includes a mobile radio 1 equipped with a headphone microphone 11 carried by a dispatcher, a voice control panel 2 installed on the crane side, and crane drive devices 4, 5, 6 connected via the crane control panel 3. It consists of 7 and 8.

Here, the voice control panel 2 is installed on the traveling girder of the crane and is equipped with a fixed radio device 13 having an onboard antenna 12. The audio signal is output to the audio recognition device 14 of.

This voice recognition device 14 is connected to a storage device 15 in which a command word matching pattern for each commander is registered in advance, and the matching pattern is read out from the storage device 15 when performing recognition calculation processing of an input voice signal. . Further, when registering the command word of the commanding person, a verification pattern from the mobile radio device 1 with the headphone microphone 11 can be written.

A control unit unique to the voice control crane, that is, a microcomputer 17 and a speech synthesizer 16 are connected to the output side of the voice recognition device 14, and a recognition result signal is output to the microcomputer 17. In addition, the recognition result signal is also output to the speech synthesizer 16 side in the same manner as described above, and this speech synthesizer 1
6 synthesizes the same voice as the recognized voice corresponding to the input recognition result signal and outputs it to the fixed radio device 13. This synthesized voice is wirelessly transmitted from the fixed radio device 13 to the mobile radio device 1, and is answered via the headphone microphone 11 to the commander.

An output interface relay 18 is connected to the output side of the microcomputer 17, and the microcomputer 17 outputs a sequence activation signal corresponding to the recognition result signal to the interface relay 1.
Output to 8. That is, the microcomputer 17 is capable of performing inching operation, which is essential for controlling the crane by voice, simultaneous operation of two or more operations (operation in which each operation is started at the same time), and combined operation (operation in which each operation is started with a time difference). , prevention of erroneous operation,
A predetermined sequence for taking safety measures is built in, and a predetermined output is output to the output interface relay 18 in response to the voice recognition result.

The output interface relay 18 outputs a sequence signal to the crane control panel 3, and the crane control panel 3 outputs a sequence signal to each crane drive unit 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, and the crane operates according to the voice command.

Crane control panel 3 and each drive section 4, 5, 6, 7,
No. 8 is a conventional type, so its explanation will be omitted.

In the above configuration, when a command person on the ground issues a direction command to the mobile radio 1 carried by the operator, the voice signal of the operation direction command for the crane specific part from the mobile radio 1 is transmitted to the fixed radio of the voice control panel 2. 13 and input into the speech recognition device 14. Therefore, the voice recognition device 14 uses the storage device 1.
5 is read out, compared with the input audio signal, and a corresponding synthesized audio output signal is output to the audio synthesizer 16.

The speech synthesizer 16 creates a synthesized word corresponding to the synthesized sound output signal, and transmits the synthesized word from the fixed radio device 13 to the mobile radio device 1.
The message is transmitted wirelessly to the person who sent the message, and is answered back to the dispatcher via the headphone microphone 11. Then, if the direction command word that the dispatcher commanded himself and the direction command word synthesized and output from the network microphone 11 match, he issues a driving command word such as "start" to the headphone microphone, and the same goes as before. The signals are processed along the route and input to the microcomputer 17.

Here, the microcomputer 17 selects a sequence signal corresponding to the direction command word, and outputs the signal to the corresponding crane control panel 3 through the output interface relay 18, and the crane control panel 3 controls each part of the crane.

In this way, the present voice-controlled crane operates only when the voice recognition device 14 correctly recognizes both the operation direction command word and the operation command word for a specific drive part, so there is an extremely low possibility of malfunctions occurring.

In addition, when performing a jogging operation, after inputting a direction command word, by inputting a jogging operation command word such as "chiyoi", the jogging operation is performed for the time and number of times preprogrammed in the microcomputer 17. can be done.

The above has explained the case of only one operation regarding a specific drive part, but the simultaneous activation, individual, and arbitrary stopping of two or more operations, and the arbitrary starting and stopping of other operations (two or more operations) during one operation. Since the microcomputer 17 is programmed to enable inching operation during two operations, operation equivalent to manual operation is possible.

It should be noted that the microcomputer 17 is programmed to operate only with direction commands (without driving commands) for operations that require relatively quick response in security equipment such as the illumination lights 9 and alarms 10. .

Furthermore, as a safety measure, the mobile radio 1 is equipped with a power switch for cutting off the carrier wave, a tilt switch for dead man protection, and an emergency stop switch. It is configured to prevent malfunctions and accidents by having programs such as stopping when an input is entered and stopping when an input is made outside the predetermined input order.

In this way, since the voice-controlled crane can be directly operated by the commander's voice command, the operator's hands (or one hand) are freed from operating the crane. Utilizing this characteristic, we can make workers multi-skilled by performing multiple tasks such as crane operation, slinging, and auxiliary work (setting pavers, driving vehicles, etc.), thereby reducing the need for full-time operators and full-time sling workers. This can be made unnecessary and saves labor.

In addition, since it is operated using the most natural voice for humans, anyone can use it without special training, and the wireless device carried by workers is small, reducing fatigue and improving productivity of work vehicles. obtain.

In this embodiment, the voice control panel 2 is installed on the aircraft side, but it is also possible to install it on the ground side and control the crane by transmitting the command output via a conventional radio control device. be.

Further, instead of answering by the voice synthesizer 16, a command confirmation method using an indicator light or various indicator lights (LED, LCD, plasma, CRT, etc.) may be adopted.

Furthermore, in the case of an automatic crane that is controlled by a host computer, online input/output to the host computer is performed using the voice control panel's communication function with the computer. This can improve the effectiveness of automated crane operation.

In this embodiment, an overhead traveling crane has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to various types of cranes installed indoors or outdoors, or to cargo handling machines for continuous conveyance of bulk materials such as stackers, reclaimers, loaders, etc.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The embodiments of the mobile voice-controlled crane according to the present invention are as described above, and the following effects can be achieved.

There is no need for a full-time operator who only operates the crane, and voice control allows one operator to safely and easily perform multiple tasks on the entire overhead crane, saving labor and sending back commands to mobile radios. It is possible to provide a mobile voice-controlled crane that can perform operations more safely because it can be monitored.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an embodiment of the mobile voice-controlled crane according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of FIG. 1... Mobile radio, 2... Voice control panel, 3... Crane control panel, 4... Main hoisting device,
5...Auxiliary hoisting device, 6...Traversing device, 7...No.1
Traveling device, 8...No.2 traveling device, 9...Lighting light,
10...Alarm, 11...Headphone microphone, 1
2...Airborne antenna, 13...Fixed wireless device, 14
...Voice recognition device, 15...Storage device, 16...
Speech synthesizer, 17...Microcomputer, 1
8...Output interface relay.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A traveling crane having a plurality of drive devices that operate according to a predetermined sequence; a crane control unit that controls the plurality of drive devices according to a control signal input from the outside; and a commander. a mobile radio device that inputs the command words for the operation of each part of the traveling crane using the physical voice of the operator and monitors the response of the command words; a storage device in which word matching patterns of the commands of the command person are registered; and a voice output from the mobile radio device. A voice recognition unit that compares and recognizes the input command word with a pre-registered matching pattern of the dispatcher, and synthesizes the same voice as the command word recognized by the voice recognition unit, and synthesizes it into the fixed radio device. a voice synthesizer that outputs the synthesized voice, a fixed radio that outputs the synthesized voice to a mobile radio, and a control output that corresponds to the command word recognized by the voice recognition unit, which is unique to the voice control crane. A traveling voice control crane, comprising: a voice control section having an output interface section that outputs output to the crane control section via a voice control section.