JPH04370809A - Controller for unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the carrying time corresponding to a carrying request by controlling an unmanned carrier group efficiently. CONSTITUTION:When a carrying source station number is inputted from a carrying control part 6 to a carrier operation control part 4, the carrier operation control part 4 refers to route information and the stopping states of the respective carriers in a storage part to select the unmanned carrier in the stopping state at the shortest distance corresponding to the carrying requested carrying source station number, thereby issuing a carrying command. When the stop station number of the unmanned carrier is received, a stand-by control part 8 refers to the number of actual stand-by carriers and the prescribed number of stand-by carriers in the storage part to check the prescribed number of stand-by carriers and the number of actual stand-by carriers in carrying request frequency order; and the carrier operation control part 4 selects the unmanned carriers in the stop state at the shortest distance corresponding to the station number and issues a stand-by command unless the number of actual stand-by carriers reaches the prescribed number of stand-by carriers.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle control system that automatically controls automatic guided vehicle transport so as to shorten the transport time required for transporting the automatic guided vehicle.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Automated guided vehicles generally have route information for traveling, and are equipped with the ability to autonomously travel by loading cargo at a commanded station and transporting the cargo to a destination station. However, commands to the automatic guided vehicle are only possible when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at each station.

[0003] In a transport control system using such an automatic guided vehicle, the traveling route of the automatic guided vehicle is generally composed of multiple routes, and there are multiple automatic guided vehicles on the route, and there are multiple stations on the route. The cargo is transported to the destination station.

[0004] Conventional unmanned transport control in this transport control system allocates stopped automatic guided vehicles from among a plurality of automatic guided vehicles in the order in which transport requests for each station occur, and The system outputs transport commands.

However, in such conventional automatic guided vehicle control devices, automatic guided vehicles are assigned without considering the distance between the station where the transport request is made and each automatic guided vehicle, so the assigned automatic guided vehicle It requires time for the vehicle to travel with no cargo to the station where the transport request is made, and it lacks quick response to the transport request.

[0006] Furthermore, since the automated guided vehicle that has transported the cargo to the destination station is left on standby for a certain period of time, the automated guided vehicle that is waiting becomes an obstacle to the movement of the automated guided vehicle behind it, which reduces the transportation time. may increase.

[0007]Moreover, this means that in recent years, as the travel routes of automatic guided vehicles have become more complex, the number of automatic guided vehicles on the travel route has increased, or the number of stations and the frequency of transport requests has increased, transport efficiency has been decreasing. , has become a very big problem.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, the conventional automatic guided vehicle control device cannot efficiently control a group of automatic guided vehicles, and the problem is that the transportation time required for transportation becomes long. there were.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide an extremely reliable automatic guided vehicle control system that is capable of efficiently controlling a group of automatic guided vehicles and shortening the transport time in response to transport requests. It is on offer.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a traveling route storage means for storing traveling route information of automatic guided vehicles, and a stationary state and actual number of waiting vehicles for each station number. control performance storage means; standby number storage means for storing station numbers and predetermined number of standby machines for each transport request frequency; request reception means for accepting transport requests given from the outside; and transport requests received by the request reception means. a transport control means that outputs the transport source station number when input; a stop station receiving means that receives the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle; and when the stop station receiving means receives the stop station number, it outputs the number of waiting vehicles. a storage means and a standby control means for checking the actual number of waiting vehicles stored in the control performance storage means in order of transport request frequency and outputting a waiting destination station number if the actual number of waiting vehicles is less than the actual number of waiting vehicles for each station number; and the traveling route. Vehicle allocation control means that searches for a stop station number of an automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance from the transport source or standby station number by referring to the travel route information stored in the storage means and the stop state stored in the control performance storage means. When the transport source station number is input from the transport control unit and the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance from the stop station number is retrieved, the vehicle allocation control means transmits the station number to the transport control unit. When the standby station number is input from the standby control unit and the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle that is the shortest distance from the standby station number is searched, the corresponding automatic guided vehicle is sent a transport command. The station number is given to the standby control section to send a standby command to the corresponding automatic guided vehicle.

[0011]

[Operation] Therefore, in the automatic guided vehicle control device having such a configuration, when a transport request is given to the request reception unit from the outside and the transport source station number is input from the transport control unit to the vehicle allocation control unit, This vehicle allocation control unit refers to the route information in the travel route storage unit and the stop status of each guided vehicle in the control record storage unit, and selects a stopped automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance to the transport source station number requested for transport. A transport command is output to the automatic guided vehicle through the transport control unit.

On the other hand, when the stop station receiving section receives that each automatic guided vehicle has transported the cargo to the destination station, the standby control section stores the actual number of waiting vehicles in the control record storage section and the specified number of waiting vehicles in the number of waiting vehicles storage section. The specified number of waiting automatic guided vehicles and the actual number of waiting automatic guided vehicles are checked in order of the transport request frequency of each station, and if the actual number of waiting automatic guided vehicles is less than the specified number of waiting, the station number is set as the waiting destination. By giving the station number to the vehicle dispatch control unit, the vehicle dispatch control unit selects the parked automatic guided vehicle that is the shortest distance from the stopping station number, and outputs a standby command to the corresponding automatic guided vehicle via the standby control unit. Ru.

[0013] In this way, by having a predetermined number of automatic guided vehicles on standby in advance in the order of the station numbers with the highest frequency of transport requests, it is possible to have prompt response to transport requests, and furthermore, it is possible to have a predetermined number of automatic guided vehicles on standby in the order of the station numbers with the highest frequency of transport requests. This eliminates the possibility of interfering with the movement of the automatic guided vehicle at the rear, making it possible to perform highly efficient transport control.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control device for an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention. The control device for the automatic guided vehicle of this embodiment has a traveling route storage section 1 as shown in FIG.
, a control record storage section 2, a standby vehicle number storage section 3, a vehicle allocation control section 4, a request reception section 5, a transport control section 6, a stop station reception section 7, and a standby control section 8. There is.

[0016] Here, the traveling route storage section 1 is for storing traveling route information of the automatic guided vehicle. The control performance storage section 2 is for storing the stopping state and the actual number of waiting vehicles for each station number. Standby number storage unit 3
is for storing the station number and the specified number of waiting machines for each transport request frequency.

[0017] The vehicle dispatch control unit 4 also has a driving route storage unit 1.
This is used to search for the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance from the transport source given by the transport control unit 6 by referring to the route information 103 stored in the control record storage unit 2 and the stop state 104 stored in the control performance storage unit 2. It is something.

The request reception unit 5 is for accepting a transport request given from the outside and giving a transport request (transport source or destination station number) 101 to the transport control unit 6.

When the transport control unit 6 receives the transport request 101 from the request reception unit 5, it specifies the transport source station number 102 of the transport request to the vehicle dispatch control unit 4, and also specifies the stop number input from the vehicle dispatch control unit 4. Station number 105
This is for outputting a transport command 106 to the automatic guided vehicle 9 corresponding to the above.

Every time the stop station receiving section 7 receives the stop station number 108 of each automatic guided vehicle 9, it gives a stop state 109 to the control record storage section 2, and sends a start request 110 to the standby control section 8. It gives

The standby control section 8 is a stop station receiving section 7.
When a startup request 110 is input from
The specified number of waiting machines 111 stored in the control record storage unit 2 and the actual number of waiting machines 112 stored in the control performance storage unit 2 are taken in based on the control data 116 and checked in order of transport request frequency, and the actual number of waiting machines for each station number is determined by the specified number. If the number of waiting stations is not reached, the station number is input to the vehicle allocation control unit 4 as the waiting station number 113, and the automatic guided vehicle stopping station located at the shortest distance from the waiting station number searched by the vehicle allocation control unit 4 is selected. number 1
14 and outputs a standby command 115 to the corresponding automatic guided vehicle 9. Next, the operation of the automatic guided vehicle control device configured as described above will be described.

In FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 2, in the travel route storage unit 1, for each station number, the automatic guided vehicle travels from the travel source station number to the travel destination station number, and the distance therebetween is written for each branch destination number. It is assumed that the detailed travel route information has been set in advance. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the control record storage section 2 stores the stopping state and the actual number of waiting vehicles for each station number, and the waiting vehicle number storage section 3 stores the number of waiting vehicles for each transport request frequency as shown in FIG. It is assumed that the station number and the specified number of waiting machines are written.

[0023] In such a state, the request reception unit 5
When a transport request (transport source or transport destination station number) is given from the outside, the request reception section 5 notifies the transport control section 6 of the received transport request 101 . Then,
The transport control unit 6 notifies the vehicle allocation control unit 4 of the transport source station number 102 of the notified transport request. When the vehicle dispatch control unit 4 receives the transport source station number 102, the route information 103 written in the travel route storage unit 1 is
and the stop state 104 for each transport source station number written in the control performance storage unit 2, and determine the station number that is in the stop state at the shortest distance to the transport source station number 102 notified from the transport control unit 6. A search is performed, and the stop station number 105 thus searched is provided to the transport control section 6. In this case, the stop state for each station number in the control performance storage unit 2 indicates whether the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at the station or not.

Stop station number 10 in the transport control unit 6
5 is given, this transport control unit 6 outputs a transport command (transfer source/transfer destination station) 106 for the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the stop station number 105, and controls the control data 107 between it and the control performance storage unit 2. The stopped state and the number of actual standby vehicles in the control record storage section 2 are updated by this.

[0025] At this time, the stopping state corresponding to the stopping station number 105 is updated to zero, and the actual number of waiting cars corresponding to the stopping station number 105 is subtracted by one, and the request is made. The actual number of waiting machines corresponding to the transport destination station number of the transport request 101 notified from the reception unit 5 is added by one. In this case, the reason why one vehicle is added to the actual number of waiting vehicles at the transport destination station number is because the automatic guided vehicle is treated as a standby vehicle at the same station number after transport is completed.

On the other hand, when each automatic guided vehicle arrives at the instructed transport destination or destination station number and stops, the stop station number 108 is detected by the stop station receiving unit 7.
When notified, the stop station receiving unit 7 rewrites the stop state in the control performance storage unit 2 corresponding to the stop station number 108 to a yes state based on the stop state 109, and notifies the standby control unit 8 of a start request. do.

When this standby control unit 8 receives a startup request, it checks the specified number of waiting machines 111 corresponding to the frequency of transport requests in the number of waiting machines storage unit 3 and the actual number of waiting machines 112 in the control performance storage unit 2 corresponding to the station number. was carried out,
If the actual number of waiting vehicles 112 is less than the specified number of waiting vehicles 111, the waiting destination station number 113 is
will be notified. In addition, the specified number of waiting machines and the actual number of waiting machines are 11.
When checking step 2, the actual number of waiting machines is 11.
1, the station number corresponding to the next transport request frequency is checked, and the check is repeated up to the station number corresponding to the final transport request frequency, and the free standby number 112 satisfies the specified standby number 111. If there is no such waiting station number 113, the vehicle dispatch control unit 4 is notified of the waiting station number 113.

In addition, when the vehicle dispatch control section 4 is notified of the waiting station number 113 from the standby control section 8, the vehicle allocation control section 4 also records the route information 103 in the travel route storage section 1 and the stop state for each station number in the control record storage section 2 each time. 104 is referred to, a search is made for the station number that is at the shortest distance from the standby destination station number 113 notified from the standby control unit 8, and the stop station number 114 searched here is notified to the standby control unit 8. be done. Then, the standby control unit 8 selects the notified stop station number 114.
is the standby destination station number, and a standby command (stop/standby station number) 115 is output to the automatic guided vehicle having the same standby destination number, and the control data 116 updates the stopping state and the actual number of waiting vehicles in the control performance storage unit 2. be exposed.

In this case, the control performance storage section 2 is updated when the stop state is updated in the same way as described above.
The stopped state corresponding to 14 is set to zero, and when updating the actual number of waiting cars, the actual waiting logarithm corresponding to the stopping station number 114 is subtracted by 1, and the actual waiting number corresponding to the waiting station number is 1 car. will be added.

[0030] In this way, the automatic guided vehicle that has the shortest distance to the transport source station number from which the transport request was made or the waiting destination station number of the automatic guided vehicle is selected from among the plurality of automatic guided vehicles, so that the immediate response is improved. Moreover, since the station number with a higher frequency of transportation requests is selected as the waiting destination station number of the automatic guided vehicle, it is possible to eliminate running obstacles of the automatic guided vehicle and efficiently control the automatic guided vehicle group 9. be able to.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a transport request is given from the outside, the unmanned guided vehicle that is stopped at the shortest distance from the transport source station number from among a plurality of unmanned guided vehicles to which the transport request was made is When a guided vehicle is selected and each automated guided vehicle transports the cargo to the destination station, the specified number of automated guided vehicles on standby and the actual number of automated guided vehicles are checked in order of the transport request frequency of each station, and the actual number of automated guided vehicles is checked. If the number of waiting vehicles is less than the specified number of waiting vehicles, the automatic guided vehicle parked at the station number closest to the station will be selected.
Since the standby command is output, it is possible to efficiently control the guided vehicle group, shorten the transportation time in response to a transportation request, and provide an extremely reliable automatic guided vehicle control device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of file contents of driving route information in a driving route storage unit in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of file contents of the stopping state and the number of actual standby vehicles for each station number in the control performance storage unit in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of file contents of station numbers and specified number of standby machines for each transport request frequency in a standby machine number storage unit in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols] 1...Traveling route storage unit, 2...Control record storage unit, 3...Standby vehicle number storage unit, 4...Vehicle allocation control unit, 5...Request reception unit, 6...Transportation control unit, 7...Stop station reception Section 8...Standby control section 9...Automated guided vehicle group.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Travel route storage means for storing travel route information of automatic guided vehicles; control performance storage means for storing stop status and actual number of waiting vehicles for each station number; and station number and stipulation for each transport request frequency. A standby number storage means for storing the number of standby machines; a request reception means for accepting a transport request given from the outside; and a transport control means for outputting a transport source station number when the transport request accepted by the request reception means is input. , a stop station receiving means for receiving the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle; and when the stop station number is received by the stop station receiving means, the actual number of standby vehicles stored in the standby number storage means and the control result storage means; a standby control means that checks the number of vehicles in order of transport request frequency and outputs a waiting station number if the actual number of standby machines for each station number is not reached; and travel route information stored in the travel route storage means and the control result storage means. vehicle dispatch control means for searching the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance from the transport source or standby station number by referring to the stop state stored in the transport controller; When the transport source station number is input and the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance from the stop station number is retrieved, the station number is given to the transport control unit to send a transport command to the corresponding automatic guided vehicle, Further, when the standby station number is input from the standby control unit and the stop station number of the automatic guided vehicle located at the shortest distance from the standby station number is retrieved, the station number is given to the standby control unit and the corresponding automatic guided vehicle is searched. A control device for an unmanned guided vehicle, characterized in that a standby command is sent to the driver.