JPH0661045B2 - Driving control method for unmanned vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to traveling control of an unmanned vehicle that is self-propelled along a guide line laid on a traveling road surface, and more specifically, a track where an unmanned vehicle is present. The present invention relates to traveling control when moving from a line to another track line.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, for example, an unmanned vehicle such as an automatic guided vehicle is designed to travel along the same track while detecting the track line laid on the traveling road surface, The operation instruction point, which is composed of a plurality of mark plates for instructing the contents of the next operation to be performed, is read by a sensor provided in the automatic guided vehicle. Then, the control device provided in the automatic guided vehicle discriminates the operation content read by the sensor, selects a traveling program based on the content, and controls the traveling of the automatic guided vehicle according to the program.

This traveling program includes various traveling programs. Among them, as shown in FIG. 3, the automated guided vehicle 11 travels in an arc shape from the current running line L1 to other running lines. To move to L2 (hereinafter referred to as program steer) or to spin the unmanned guided vehicle 11 at a position where the guide lines L1 and L2 intersect as shown in FIG. 5 to move to another track line L2. There was a running program.

The traveling program for traveling the unmanned guided vehicle 11 in an arc shape and placing it on the other guide line L2 is that the unmanned guided vehicle 11 is moved from the position of the operation instruction point P in FIG. This is a program for controlling the rotational speeds of the right and left steered wheels of the automatic guided vehicle 11 so that the unmanned guided vehicle 11 travels. At this time, when the control device of the automated guided vehicle 11 determines whether the automated guided vehicle 11 traveling off the guide line L1 has definitely arrived on another guide line L2,
Since the arrival time is known in advance when the vehicle is driven by the rotation control of the steering wheels, the timer is operated after starting the operation instruction point P with this as a reference time, and another guide line L2 is set.
I was deciding whether or not I had arrived. When it is determined that the vehicle has not arrived within the reference time, it is determined that the traveling control is abnormal, and all the controls are stopped to stop the automatic guided vehicle 11 on the spot.

The same was true when the unmanned guided vehicle 11 was spun and transferred to another rail line L2.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, when there is an obstacle ahead of the unmanned guided vehicle provided with the obstacle sensor, the control device immediately causes the unmanned guided vehicle 11 to operate based on the detection signal from the sensor. It is supposed to stop. Then, when traveling based on the traveling control, the vehicle is stopped both when there is an obstacle ahead and the traveling control is temporarily suspended until the obstacle is removed. At this time, the timer keeps timing even while the automatic guided vehicle 11 is stopped due to an obstacle, so that the reference time is reached and the time is up, and it is determined that the traveling control is abnormal.

Therefore, if the obstacle is removed, the traveling control can be performed again, but it is determined that the traveling control is abnormal. Therefore, there is a problem that a very complicated and time-consuming restoration inspection work must be performed.

In order to solve the above problems, the object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and in traveling control that travels away from the existing guide line toward another guide line, when the obstacle is removed, the operation of the drive control and the timer starts from that point. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable and reliable traveling control method for an unmanned vehicle by restarting the vehicle so as to eliminate useless restoration and inspection work as in the conventional case.

Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention allows an unmanned vehicle to run from a current guideline toward another guideline without using a guideline, The timer is activated at the same time that the vehicle starts running. When the obstacle sensor provided in the unmanned vehicle detects an obstacle while the vehicle is traveling, the unmanned vehicle is stopped and the timer is suspended. Next, when the obstacle is removed and the obstacle sensor no longer detects the obstacle, the unmanned vehicle is controlled to run again, and the timer is restarted from the time when the timer is stopped, and the reference time based on the timer counts. Whether or not there is an abnormality in the traveling control is determined based on

(Operation) When an unmanned vehicle detects an obstacle, the timer that starts counting at the same time as running starts is temporarily stopped without clearing the time counted so far. Then, when the obstacle is removed, the timer starts counting again from the time when the counting is stopped, that is, without counting the loss time due to the stop of the unmanned vehicle based on the obstacle. Then, when the timer counts up a predetermined reference time and times up, the position of the unmanned vehicle is the position of the unmanned vehicle when the traveling control is normally executed and the vehicle travels without obstacles, that is, Match the position on the other track.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an automated guided vehicle will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automated guided vehicle 11. Casters 12a and 12b are provided at the center bottoms of the front and rear sides, and steering wheels 13a and 13b are provided at the center bottoms of the left and right sides. Driving motors 14a and 14b are provided on the left and right steering wheels 13a and 13b, respectively.
It is driven to rotate forward and backward by 14b. Therefore, when both motors 14a and 14b rotate in the forward direction at the same rotation speed, the automated guided vehicle 11 moves forward, and when it rotates in the reverse direction at the same rotation speed, it moves backward. When the rotation directions are the same but the rotation speeds are different, the unmanned vehicle 11 travels in a curve in the direction of the smaller rotation speed. Further, when the two motors 14a and 14b rotate in different directions at the same rotation speed, the automatic guided vehicle 11
Makes a spin turn. In addition, each drive motor 14a, 1
4b is provided with electromagnetic brakes 15a and 15b, and brakes the drive shafts of the motors 14a and 14b, respectively.

Obstacle sensors 16a, 16 are provided on both front sides of the automated guided vehicle 11.
b is provided and the obstacle 17 in the range shown by the dashed line in FIG. 3 is detected. In addition, a plurality of mark plates 1 arranged on the traveling road surface of the unmanned vehicle 11 are provided on the bottom surface of the unmanned guided vehicle 11.
A point detection sensor 19 configured to detect the operation instruction point P of 8 is provided. Further, a pair of left and right pickup coils 20 are provided on the front side of the bottom surface of the automatic guided vehicle 11 to detect the guide lines L1 and L2 laid on the traveling road surface.

The microcomputer 21 mounted on the automatic guided vehicle 11 inputs the detection signal from the point detection sensor 19,
The detection signal is analyzed to determine the next operation command to be executed, for example, commands such as acceleration, deceleration, program steer, and spin turn, and a running program based on these commands is selected and executed. The drive controller 22 controls the rotations of the drive motors 14a and 14b according to a control signal based on a running program selected by the microcomputer 21.

The steering controller 23 is the pickup coil 2
In addition to inputting the signal from 0, a steer check timer is also built in. The timer 24 selects the running program of the program steer by the microcomputer 21, and the drive controller 22 drives the drive motors 14a and 14b for the program steer. When is driven, the operation is started to count a predetermined reference time t. The reference time t is set in advance and is a time required for the automated guided vehicle 11 to travel on the trajectory R from the guide line L1 and reach the guide line L2.

When the reference time t is reached, that is, when the timer 24 times out, the drive controller 22
Outputs a time-up signal to the microcomputer 21. When the pickup coil 20 detects the guide line L2 by the signal from the steering controller 23 before the timer 24 times out, the unmanned guided vehicle 11 completely detects the guide line L2.
When it is determined that the vehicle has moved to, the traveling of the program steer is ended and the vehicle travels along the same guide line L2. On the contrary, the guide wire L to which the pickup coil 20 moves until the time is up
When 2 is not detected, the microcomputer 21 determines that the program steering is abnormal, and the electromagnetic brake 15
The a and 15b are operated to stop the automatic guided vehicle 11 and the program steer is ended.

Further, when the obstacle sensors 16a and 16b detect obstacles and output a warning signal, the microcomputer 21 responds to this signal by electromagnetic brakes 15a, 16b to suspend the program steer currently being executed. 15b is actuated to stop the unmanned vehicle on the spot, and the counting operation of the timer 24 of the steering controller 23 is stopped. When the obstacle is removed and the obstacle sensors 16a and 16b stop outputting the warning signal, the microcomputer 21 causes the electromagnetic brake 15 to operate.
The program steering of the automatic guided vehicle 11 is restarted by releasing a and 15b, and the counting operation of the timer 24 is restarted.

Next, the operation of the automatic guided vehicle 11 configured as described above will be described.

Now, when the automatic guided vehicle 11 travels to the position shown by the dashed line in FIG. 3, the program steer at that position is executed and the other guide line L2 is moved from the present guide line L1 to the other guide line L2. When the microcomputer 21 analyzes the operation instruction point P having the contents, the microcomputer 21 selects the traveling program of the program steer and starts the execution of the program processing (step 1).

In the same processing operation, the microcomputer 21 controls the driving wheels 13a and 13b, that is, the driving motors 14a and 14b so that the automatic guided vehicle 11 travels along the locus R.
The rotation speeds of the two motors 1 are indexed through the drive controller 22 based on a predetermined program.
4a and 14b are respectively driven and controlled, and the count operation of the timer 24 of the steering controller 23 is started (step 2). Therefore, the automated guided vehicle 11 starts traveling along the locus R from this point.

Then, during traveling, the microcomputer 21 checks whether the obstacle 17 is in front through the obstacle sensors 16a and 16b, and determines whether or not there is a time-up signal from the timer 24, and before the time-up, It is checked whether or not the pickup coil 20 detects the guide wire L2 (steps 3 to 5).

When the pickup coil 20 detects the guide line L2 within the reference time t, the microcomputer 21 determines that the automated guided vehicle 11 has reached the guide line L2 along the trajectory R and travels for program steering. And the control for traveling on the next rail line L2 is started.
In addition, the pickup coil 20 moves the guide wire L within the reference time t.
When 2 cannot be detected and the timer 24 times out, the microcomputer 21 determines that the automated guided vehicle 11 is stopped for some reason or strays off the track R (program steer abnormality). (Judgment) and the processing for that is executed (step 6), and the program steering is immediately terminated.

Now, while traveling on the locus R, the obstacle sensors 16a and 16b detect the obstacle 17 in the forward direction, and the microcomputer 21
When a warning signal is output to the microcomputer 21,
Judges that there is an obstacle ahead (step 3), and immediately activates the electromagnetic brakes 15a and 15b, and the automatic guided vehicle 1
1 is stopped and the counting operation of the timer 24 is stopped to keep this state until the obstacle 17 is completely removed (steps 7 and 8). Therefore, the automatic guided vehicle 11 remains stopped until the obstacle 17 is removed, and the timer 24 also waits while holding the time counted so far. Since the counting operation of the timer 24 is stopped, the reference time t does not elapse while the automatic guided vehicle 11 is stopped, and the timer 24 is not timed up.

When the obstacle 17 is removed, the microcomputer 21
Releases the electromagnetic brakes 15a and 15b to drive the drive motor 14
a and 14b are rotated again by the drive control based on the program steer to drive the automatic guided vehicle 11, and
The counting operation of the timer 24 is restarted (step 9). Therefore, the automatic guided vehicle 11 starts traveling along the locus R again. Then, the same processing operation (steps 3 to 5) as described above is executed until reaching the rail line L2.

As described above, in this embodiment, the unmanned guided vehicle 11 stopped by the obstacle 17 in the course of traveling away from the guide line L1 toward the other guide line L2 starts traveling again by removing the obstacle 17. However, since the timer 24 does not count the stopped time (loss time), the timer 24 is stopped only because there is an obstacle 17, or the timer is started while the vehicle is running and the vehicle is running. There is no possibility that 24 will be timed out and it will be determined that the vehicle is running abnormally. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary restoration inspection work and the like due to the time-out of the timer being determined to be abnormal as in the conventional case, and it is possible to perform reliable and reliable traveling control of the automatic guided vehicle.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be applied to the case where a spin turn is performed to shift from the guide line L1 to the guide line L2 as shown in FIG. 5, for example. In this case, the steering controller 23 is provided with a timer for counting the time required for the automated guided vehicle 11 to move from the guide line L1 to the guide line L2, that is, to make a 90 degree spin turn. Then, the same timer starts counting at the same time as the start of the spin turn, and the obstacle sensor 16a,
When 16b detects an obstacle, the timer is stopped, and when the obstacle is removed, the counting operation is performed again.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the timer 24 is provided in the steering controller 23, but a timer built in the microcomputer 21 may be used. Further, it may be applied to other unmanned vehicles other than the unmanned guided vehicle, such as an unmanned forklift having a different steering mechanism.

Effect of the Invention As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in the traveling control that leaves the current guide line and travels toward another guide line, the time is stopped without considering the time when the vehicle is stopped due to the obstacle detection. Since the time required for traveling is counted, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary recovery inspection work and the like as in the past and to perform traveling control of an unmanned vehicle with reliability and reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automated guided vehicle embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is an electric block circuit diagram of a traveling control device for the automated guided vehicle, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a traveling locus of a program steer. FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the traveling control device, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining the spin turn. In the figure, 11 is an automated guided vehicle, 13a and 13b are driving wheels,
14a and 14b are drive motors, 15a and 15b are electromagnetic brakes, 16a and 16b are obstacle sensors, 18 is an operation instruction point, 19 is a plate detection sensor, 20 is a pickup coil, 21 is a microcomputer, 22 is a drive controller, and 23. Is a steering controller, and 24 is a timer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An unmanned vehicle is made to travel from an existing guide line to another guide line without using a guide line, and a timer is operated at the same time as the start of the run, within a predetermined reference time. Detects whether or not the vehicle is on another railroad track, and when it is on the same railroad track, it is judged that the travel control has been performed normally, and conversely, when it is not on the railroad track, it is judged that the travel control is abnormal. In a traveling control method for an unmanned vehicle, when an obstacle sensor provided in the unmanned vehicle detects an obstacle while the vehicle is traveling, the unmanned vehicle is stopped and the timer is paused to remove the obstacle. When the sensor no longer detects an obstacle, the unmanned vehicle is controlled to run again, and the timer is restarted from the time when it was stopped to run based on the reference time based on the count of the timer. A traveling control method for an unmanned vehicle, which determines whether or not there is a line control abnormality.