JPH0431908A - Open type coaxial cable and mobile object control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain a control system at a low cost and to accurately detect the position of a mobile object by adding a bar code to an open type coaxial cable and controlling the mobile object by means of the coaxial cable. CONSTITUTION:An unmanned carrier 16 receives the electric field leaked out of an open type coaxial cable 10 via a transmission/reception antenna 16a together with the control signal outputted from a control device 17. Thus the carrier 16 can move about the areas provided with the cable 10 along this cable 10 while reading the bar codes 15. At the same time, the position information read by a bar code reader 16b is outputted through the antenna 16a and supplied to the device 17. Thus the device 17 can perform the correct remote control of the position of the carrier 16 while recognizing exactly the position of the unmanned carrier 16. Furthermore a reading error of the position information is never produced since the position information is fixed onto the surface of the cable 10 as a bar code.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to an open (leaky) type coaxial cable and a control system for a moving body using the open (leaky) type coaxial cable.

[Prior Art] For example, a movement control system for an overhead crane in a factory is configured as shown in FIG. 3(a).

■ indicates two electric MAs installed in parallel with an interval of about 30 cm (hereinafter referred to as two parallel lines), and 2 indicates approximately the same spacing as parallel -ml, but with an intersecting pitch! . 2 intersected by
This is a real electric wire (hereinafter referred to as two crossed parallel wires). In addition,
The entire section where two parallel lines 1.2 are installed2. is set to an integer multiple of the crossing pitch I2o ( , Q + = n-l
2o).

The two parallel wires 1 are connected to a control device 3, and the control device 3 includes a coupling section 3a, a transmitting section 3b, a receiving section 3c, and a CPU 3d. Transmission section 3b
outputs the control information output from the CPU 3d at a transmission frequency of f, and the receiving section 3c is parallel to two! 11, and supplies the received information to the CPU 3d. Further, the two intersecting parallel lines 2 are supplied with a constant level signal having a frequency f3 from a transmitter 4.

Reference numeral 5 indicates an overhead crane that is movable along the two parallel lines 1 in the direction of the arrow and in the direction of B. 5c, reception frequency is f
1 receiving section 5d, receiving frequency f3 receiving section 5e, CP
U5f is provided. Note that f,, f2. f3 is the frequency of the induction radio frequency band, and is set at around 150 KHz. Furthermore, the positional relationship between the frame-shaped loop antenna 5a and the two parallel lines 1 and the two crossed parallel lines 2 is shown in FIG. 3(b).
As shown in the cross-sectional view, the separation distance d is approximately 30 co+
It is said that the degree of

In the movement control system configured in this way, the control device 3 and the overhead crane 5 use two parallel wires l as a signal transmission medium, and a frame-shaped loop antenna 5a.
A two-frequency simultaneous transmission/reception line of fl and f2 with a nearly constant radio wave level is formed. Therefore, control signals are supplied from the control device 3 to the overhead crane to perform various movement controls. can be done.

In addition, the overhead crane 5 has f3 of two intersecting parallel lines 2.
By counting the level down of the signal, it is possible to obtain current position information while moving. That is, the radio wave level of the f3 wave received by the receiving section 5e is as shown in FIG.
As shown in C), the point where the two intersecting parallel lines 2 intersect is thick (decreased), so when this decrease occurs (that is, the distance β).

If the counter is incremented by the CPU 5 f for each movement of 12 + = n - β. From this relationship, the relative position of the overhead crane can be detected. Note that the relative position can be similarly detected by arranging light sources at appropriate intervals within the moving section and detecting the light sources with a light receiving element.

For example, it is conventionally known to configure such a movement control system to control the movement of a moving object such as an overhead crane or an unmanned carrier within a predetermined area.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such a control method for a moving body has the following problems.

First, since the frequency of the guided radio frequency band (around 150 KHz) is used, the amount of information that can be transmitted and received as a control signal is limited, and only simple control can be executed. In addition, a lot of noise is generated in the control signal component, which may cause malfunction.

Second, two parallel wires are required as a medium for control signals, and two cross-parallel wires are required to detect the position of a moving object, which makes the circuit complicated and difficult to conduct wiring work, as well as increasing the cost. There is also the problem of being expensive. Further, even if position confirmation is performed by providing a predetermined number of position detection light sources without providing two intersecting parallel lines, the problem of simplification of facility construction and cost cannot be solved.

Thirdly, since moving position is detected by radio wave level detection or light reception detection, it is difficult to accurately detect the position due to level fluctuations, etc., and errors inevitably occur in the detected position information. There is.

[Means for Solving the Problems 1] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and uses an open coaxial cable as a control signal medium to
In addition to transmitting control signals using the HF band or UHF band, a barcode containing location information is attached to a predetermined position of the open coaxial cable so that the barcode information can be read by the mobile object. By doing so, the position of the moving body can be detected.

[Function] Since an open coaxial cable can radiate a nearly uniform leakage electric field around the cable, a control signal transmission system is formed by configuring the moving object to receive this leakage electric field. Furthermore, since the moving object is equipped with a barcode reader, the moving position of the moving object can be accurately detected when the moving object moves along the open coaxial cable.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the open coaxial cable 1o of the present invention, in which 11 is an inner conductor disposed at the center, and 12 is an outer conductor. An insulating layer 13 usually made of polyethylene or the like is provided between the inner conductor 11 and the outer conductor 12, and when a high frequency signal is supplied to the inner conductor 11, an electromagnetic field is generated along the cable with the insulating layer 13 as an electric field. proceed. Therefore, the slit 14 is formed in the outer conductor 12.
By providing a leakage electric field, a leakage electric field can be obtained, and by using this, for example, a control signal can be sent to a moving object moving along the open coaxial cable. In addition,
The slit 14 may not be formed in a spiral shape, but may be formed in a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the cable, for example. Alternatively, a leaky coaxial cable may be used in which openings are provided at predetermined intervals.

Reference numeral 15 denotes barcodes added at predetermined intervals on the outer circumferential surface of the outer sheath 10A of the open coaxial cable 10, and the positional information of each part of the open coaxial cable 1o is recorded.

A control system for a moving body using this open coaxial cable 1o will be explained with reference to FIG. 2(a). Let us take an example of an unmanned transport vehicle as a moving object.

The open coaxial cable 10 is attached to an area where an unmanned carrier moves in a factory, warehouse, or the like.

Reference numeral 16 denotes an unmanned carrier that is movable in directions A and B along the open coaxial cable 1o, and includes a transmitting/receiving antenna 16a for receiving leakage electric fields from the open coaxial cable IO and transmitting various information. A barcode reader 16b for reading the barcode 15 added to the open coaxial cable 10 is also provided. As shown in FIG. 2(b), the information input from the transmitting/receiving antenna 16a is transmitted to C via the receiving section 16c.
Based on this input information, the CPU 16e controls the drive of the unmanned carrier vehicle 16 and the reading operation of the barcode reader 16b, and also outputs predetermined information to the transmitter 16d to transmit and receive the antenna. 16a. Further, the information optically read from the barcode 15 of the open coaxial cable 10 by the barcode reader 16b is converted into an electrical digital signal by the converter 16f and inputted to the CPU 16e.
16e detects the current position.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a control device for controlling the operation of the unmanned guided vehicle, which includes a coupling section 17a, a transmitting section 17b, a receiving section 17c, a CPU
7d, transmits a movement control signal to the moving body 16 via the open coaxial cable 10 (leakage electric field of the open coaxial cable 10), and also transmits various types of position information etc. transmitted from the moving body 16. It is possible to receive information. However, the signal frequency for transmission and reception is VHF band (around 150MHz) or UHF band (80MHz).
A frequency of around 0 MHz) is used.

By configuring the control method of the mobile object in this way, the unmanned guided vehicle 16 receives the control signal output from the control device 17 by receiving the leakage electric field of the open coaxial cable 10 with the transmitting/receiving antenna 16a. Based on the control information, the unmanned guided vehicle 16 can move along the open coaxial cable 10 through the attached area of the open coaxial cable 10 while reading the barcode 15 . Also,
The position information read by the barcode reader 16b is output from the transmitter 16d and the transmitter/receiver antenna 16a,
Control device 17 via open coaxial cable 10
Since the control device is supplied to the unmanned carrier vehicle 16
You can remotely control the device while accurately checking its location.

In particular, in the control method of the moving object of this embodiment, the position information itself is fixed as a bar code at a predetermined position on the surface of the open coaxial cable 10, and this is read optically, which causes a detection error in the position information. In addition to increasing accuracy, it is no longer necessary for position detection as in the past.
Since there is no need to provide two intersecting parallel lines or a plurality of light emitting sources, installation work, maintenance work, etc. are also simplified, and equipment costs are significantly reduced. Furthermore, since information can be transmitted using signals in a high frequency band, it is possible to reduce noise and further increase the amount of transmitted information.

In addition to unmanned carriers, this type of control method for moving objects also applies to
Similar effects can be achieved by applying the present invention to various types of mobile object control, such as overhead cranes and wireless guidance for cars.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, a bar code is added to an open coaxial cable, and a mobile object control system is implemented by implementing a control method for a moving object using the open coaxial cable. This has the effect that it is possible to realize this at a very low cost, and also to be able to accurately detect the moving position of a moving body without any error. Furthermore, since control signals can be transmitted using high-frequency signals, noise in the control signals can be reduced, the occurrence of malfunctions can be reduced, and the amount of transmitted information can be greatly increased.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the open coaxial cable of the present invention; FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are system configuration diagrams showing an embodiment of the movable body control method of the present invention; Figure 3 (a) (b) (c
) is an explanatory diagram of a conventional mobile body control system. 10 is an open coaxial cable, 15 is a bar code, 16 is an unmanned carrier, 16b is a bar code reader, and 17 is a control device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An open coaxial cable that can radiate a nearly uniform leakage electric field in the longitudinal direction is characterized by having barcodes added at predetermined intervals to the outermost surface for identifying positional information. Open coaxial cable. (2) Transmitting control signals from the mobile object control means through an open coaxial cable to which barcodes having position information are added at predetermined intervals, and transmitting and receiving control signals to and from the open coaxial cable. and a mobile body equipped with a barcode reader for reading a barcode attached to the open coaxial cable, the mobile body receiving control information by receiving a leakage electric field radiated from the open coaxial cable. A control system for a moving body, characterized in that position information can be obtained by reading a barcode of the open coaxial cable during movement.