JPH069010B2 - Driving method of self-propelled cart - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a traveling method of a self-propelled carriage that optically travels a traveling path arranged on a floor by a pair of traveling path detection devices. .

[Prior Art] For example, in the moving vehicle disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-100810, a light ray reflection sheet detected by a reflective photoelectric sensor attached to the moving vehicle is attached to a specific position on an automatic traveling road. A target control signal is read out based on the detected light reflection sheet to control the moving vehicle such as stopping and branching.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described control method, it is not possible to determine whether or not the sensor detects the sheet at the target position.

Therefore, dust on the floor may be detected as a sheet. In this case, the traveling control is switched to the next traveling data even when the moving vehicle is not moving to the predetermined target position. Therefore, the movement of the moving vehicle cannot be controlled in a desired traveling pattern.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been invented in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to reliably detect a travel switching command marker to accurately determine a travel pattern. It is an object of the present invention to provide a traveling method of a self-propelled vehicle that can be switched to control traveling of the self-propelled vehicle in a desired traveling pattern.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, according to the present invention, a pair of pairs are provided in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction at intervals substantially corresponding to the width of the traveling path arranged along the traveling route. In a self-propelled vehicle that travels while detecting the traveling path by means of the traveling path detection device, a traveling direction width of a predetermined length and high reflection are provided to the side of the traveling path corresponding to each control position of the self-propelled vehicle. A rate detector is provided, and a front detector and a rear detector formed of a light emitting member and a light receiving member are attached to the side of the self-propelled carriage opposite to the marker at an interval matching the running direction length of the marker, After the front detector detects the rear end of the marker in the traveling direction as the vehicle travels, the rear detector moves the rear end of the marker in synchronization with the transition of the front detector to the non-detection state of the marker. When detected, it outputs a marker detection signal to detect It is characterized in that the traveling data regarding the marker and the subsequent markers that have been issued is read out and the traveling of the self-propelled carriage is controlled based on the traveling data.

[Advantageous Effects of the Invention] Since the method of the present invention is configured as described above, when the self-propelled carriage travels along the traveling road to reach the desired marker while detecting the traveling road by the pair of traveling road detecting devices. The front detector transits to the marker detection state by detecting the trailing end of the marker in the traveling direction. The rear detector detects the rear end of the traveling direction of the marker in synchronization with the transition of the front detector from the marker detection state to the non-detection state as the marker passes by the front end of the traveling direction of the self-propelled vehicle. When the state shifts to the marker detection state, the self-propelled carriage determines that the marker is detected and switches the traveling data to the traveling data after the marker to control traveling.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of a traveling method of a self-propelled carriage according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a self-propelled carriage, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of various detection devices in the self-propelled carriage. A single steering shaft 5 is attached to a chassis 3 of the self-propelled carriage 1. Is rotatably supported at the front center in the traveling direction. A steering wheel 9 is rotatably supported by a holder 7 fixed to the steering shaft 5, and a drive motor 11 such as a DC motor attached to the holder 7 is connected to the steering wheel 9.
The steering shaft 5 has a DC motor fixed to the chassis 3,
A steering motor 13 such as a step motor is connected to the steering wheel 9 as the steering motor 13 is driven.
Is steering controlled. The chassis 3 has a pair of running wheels 1
5 is mounted rotatably at a rear portion in the traveling direction in the traveling orthogonal direction at a required interval.

In front of the holder 7 in the traveling direction, a pair of traveling path detecting devices 17a and 17b are provided in a traveling orthogonal direction, which will be described later.
It is installed at intervals shorter than the width of. Each of the traveling road detection devices 17a and 17b includes a light emitting member and a light receiving member (neither of which is shown). Each light emitting member emits light toward the floor surface, and each light receiving member is connected to the light emitting member. The electric signal of HIGH is output based on the light reflected from the traveling path 35 after being irradiated. A marker detection device 19 is attached to the chassis 3 at the front side in the traveling direction. The marker detecting device 19 is composed of a marker front end detecting device 19a and a marker rear end detecting device 19b which are spaced apart from each other by a required distance 1 with respect to the traveling direction. Irradiates the floor with light, and the marker front end detection device 1
The light receiving members 9a and the marker rear end detection device 19b (neither shown) output a HIGH electrical signal based on the reflected light from the marker 37, which will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of control of the self-propelled carriage 1. The CPU 21 has the traveling road detecting devices 17a, 17a.
b are connected to each other, and an electric signal is input from each light receiving member of the traveling road detection devices 17a and 17b. Also, CPU2
A marker detection device 19 is connected to 1, and an electric signal is input from each light receiving member of the marker front end detection device 19 a and the marker rear end detection device 19 b that form the marker detection device 19. A ROM 23 and a RAM 25 are connected to the CPU 21, respectively. The ROM 23 is a traveling data area 27
And the travel data detection area 17 is provided in the travel data area 27.
The driving data and the marker front end detection device 19 for driving the steering motor 13 based on the electric signal input from a.
a. Various data for determining the current position of the self-propelled carriage 1 based on the electric signal from the marker rear end detection device 19b and causing the self-propelled carriage 1 to self-propagate toward the target position are stored. The RAM 25 has a marker counter area 29, which is sequentially incremented when the marker detecting device 19 detects the marker 37 and stores data relating to the current position of the self-propelled carriage 1.

A travel drive circuit 31 is connected to the CPU 21, and the drive motor 11 is driven in the travel drive circuit 31 based on the travel data stored in the travel data area 27 to drive the self-propelled carriage 1 along the travel path. Make it self-propelled. A steering drive circuit 33 is connected to the CPU 21. The steering drive circuit 33 drives the steering motor 13 so that the traveling road detection devices 17a and 17b are always in the traveling road detection state when the self-propelled carriage 1 travels along a straight or curved traveling road. When the self-propelled vehicle 1 travels along a branching traveling road, the traveling road detecting device 17a or the traveling road detecting device 17b is in the traveling road detecting state and the other traveling road detecting device 17b or the traveling road is detected. The steering motor 13 is driven so that the detection device 17a is in the traveling road non-detection state.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the state of the traveling road and the arrangement of the markers. The traveling road 35 is attached to the floor along the traveling route of the self-propelled carriage 1 so as to be linear, branched or merge. ing. The running path 35 is made of a material having a high reflectance, such as aluminum or stainless steel. Further, a marker 37 is attached to the floor surface along the traveling path 35 so as to face the marker detection device 19 at various control positions such as a stop position, a branch position and a merge position of the self-propelled carriage 1. The marker 37 has a length 1 corresponding to the mutual distance 1 between the marker front end detecting device 19a and the marker rear end detecting device 19b with respect to the traveling direction, and is formed of aluminum, stainless steel or the like having a high reflectance. The marker 37 divides the traveling route of the self-propelled carriage 1 into a plurality of sections.

A self-propelled method of the self-propelled carriage 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

First, the normal traveling method will be described. In FIG. 5 showing a normal traveling state, the self-propelled carriage 1 is self-propelled along the traveling path 35 by the drive motor 11. At that time, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
Both 7a and 17b are located on the traveling road 35, and the light emitted from the light emitting members of these traveling road detecting devices 17a and 17b is reflected by the traveling road 35 and enters the light receiving member, and the electricity from each light receiving member is received. The steering motor 13 is drive-controlled so that the signal becomes HIGH. Therefore, when the self-propelled carriage 1 self-propels so that one of the traveling road detecting devices 17a is disengaged from the traveling road 35 as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG.
The CPU 21 is a traveling road detection device 17 which is out of the traveling road 35.
The steering shaft 5 is driven and controlled in the counterclockwise direction so that a faces the traveling path 35 and the electric signal from the light receiving member becomes HIGH. Similarly, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5, when the self-propelled vehicle 1 self-propels so that the other traveling road detection device 17b is deviated from the traveling road 35, the CPU 21 is a traveling road detection device deviated from the traveling road 35. The steering shaft 5 is driven and controlled in the clockwise direction so that 17b faces the traveling path 35 and the electric signal of the light receiving member becomes HIGH. As a result, the self-propelled carriage 1 is self-propelled along the straight or curved travel path 35.

Next, in FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B) showing the marker detection operation, when the self-propelled carriage 1 is located at the marker 37 provided at the stop position, the branch position and the merge position of the self-propelled carriage 1, first, Marker front end detection device 19 provided in front of the traveling direction
a detects the marker 37, and the electric signal from the light receiving member changes to HIGH [see FIG. 6 (A)]. When the self-propelled carriage 1 further self-propels in this state, and the marker rear end detection device 19b provided at the rear of the traveling direction is located at the marker 37, the electric signal of the light receiving member changes from LOW to HUGH. The marker 37 is detected. At this time, when the electric signal of the marker rear end detection device 19b transits to HIGH, the marker front end detection device 19a enters the marker non-detection state almost in synchronization, so that the electric signal from the light receiving member transits from HIGH to LOW. The CPU 21 is the marker front end detection device 1
9a and the transition state of the electric signal output from the marker rear end detection device 19b, that is, after the electric signal of the marker front end detection device 19a transits to HIGH, the marker rear end detection device 19
When the electric signal of b changes to HIGH, the electric signal of the marker front end detection device 19a changes from HIGH to LOW almost in synchronization.
The presence of the marker 37 is detected based on the transition to [1] [see FIG. 6 (B)]. As a result, the CPU 21 increments the marker counter area 29 by 1, determines the current traveling position of the self-propelled carriage 1 and the marker counter area 2
Based on the count value of the marker 37 by 9, the traveling data regarding the next traveling section with respect to the target position is accessed from the traveling data area 27, and the self-propelled carriage 1 is self-propelled based on the data.

Next, referring to FIG. 4 and FIG.
When the marker detection device 19 shown in the figure detects the branch marker 37, the CPU 21 accesses the travel data area 27 for travel data relating to branch travel according to the count value of the branch marker 37. Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, when branching from a straight line to the right, the CPU
21 is a marker front end detection device 19a provided in the branch direction.
Is always deviated from the traveling path 35, and the steering motor 13 is drive-controlled so that the other marker rear end detection device 19b always detects the traveling path 35. As a result, the steering shaft 5 rotates in the clockwise direction, and the self-propelled carriage 1 is branched and travels along the traveling path 35 branching to the right. Similarly, when branching to the left, the CPU 21 performs steering such that the marker rear end detection device 19b provided on the branch side is always disengaged from the travel path 35 and the other marker front end detection device 19a always detects the travel path 35. The motor 13 is drive-controlled. As a result, the steering shaft 5 rotates counterclockwise, causing the self-propelled carriage 1 to branch and travel along the travel path 35 that branches to the right.

As described above, according to the method of the present embodiment, the traveling data can be accessed from the traveling data area 27 according to the count value of the marker counter area 29 that is incremented based on the presence of the marker 37, and the self-propelled carriage 1 can be self-propelled. It is possible. At that time, the traveling data of the self-propelled carriage 1 is switched depending on the presence or absence of the marker 37. It is possible to drive it stably and accurately.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a self-propelled carriage capable of reliably detecting a marker for a traveling switching command and accurately switching traveling patterns to control traveling of the traveling vehicle in a desired traveling pattern. It is possible to provide a driving method.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a self-propelled carriage, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of various detection devices in the self-propelled carriage, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of control of the self-propelled carriage. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the road and the arrangement of the markers,
Drawing 7 thru / or Drawing 7 is an explanatory view explaining the self-propelled method of a self-propelled trolley. In the figure, 1 is a self-propelled carriage, 17a and 17b are traveling path detection devices,
Reference numeral 19 is a marker detecting device, 19a is a marker front end detecting device which constitutes the marker detecting device, 19b is a marker rear end detecting device which constitutes the marker detecting device, 27 is a traveling data area, 3
Reference numeral 5 is a traveling path, and 37 is a marker.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-157612 (JP, A) JP-A-61-82211 (JP, A) JP-A-60-63618 (JP, A) JP-A-59- 176808 (JP, A) JP 61-245214 (JP, A) JP 62-150406 (JP, A) JP 59-197906 (JP, A) JP 54-376 (JP, A) Actual opening Sho 60-100810 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 53-123395 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho 50-19125 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A traveling road is detected by a pair of traveling road detecting devices provided in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction at intervals substantially corresponding to the width of the traveling road arranged along the traveling route. On the other hand, in a self-propelled vehicle that is self-propelled, a marker with high reflectance is provided at the side of the traveling path corresponding to each control position of the self-propelled vehicle and has a predetermined width in the traveling direction and faces the marker. A front detector composed of a light emitting member and a light receiving member and a rear detector are attached to the side of the self-propelled vehicle at an interval corresponding to the length of the marker in the traveling direction, and the front detector is attached as the self-propelled vehicle travels. When the rear detector detects the rear end of the marker in the traveling direction in synchronization with the transition of the front detector to the marker non-detection state after detecting the rear end of the marker in the traveling direction, the marker detection signal is output. Driving data related to the detected marker Reading, driving method of self-propelled bogie, which comprises running control the self-propelled carriage based on the running data.