JPH07334240A - Expelling control method for automated guided vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the expelling control method for automated guided vehicle with which the amount of magnetic sensors to be fitted can be reduced. CONSTITUTION:Concerning the expelling control method for automated guided vehicle for expelling other automated guided vehicles F and G to disturb the advance of vehicle E to any area so as not to disturb it, any specified area on a conveying path D is set as a software expelling zone (S zone) 12, vehicle controller always stores the information concerning the arrangement of vehicles F and G staying inside the S zone 12 and when the vehicle E goes into the S zone 12, based on the information concerning the arrangement of vehicles F and G, the vehicle controller outputs a command for expelling the other vehicles F and G to disturb the advance of the vehicle E to go into that area to any area so as not to disturb it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned transport vehicle ejection control method suitable for use in an automated transport system for automatically transporting an object by a plurality of automated transport vehicles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of FA (Factory Automation), an unmanned transfer system has been put into practical use, which automatically transfers products assembled on a production line to a product warehouse by using multiple unmanned transfer vehicles. Has been done. In this unmanned transportation system, a plurality of unmanned transportation vehicles are controlled by a control device via communication means such as wireless communication, and move between a production line and an automated warehouse to transport products unmanned. is there.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of the layout of a conventional unmanned transportation system. In the figure,
The production line a is provided with a plurality of stations b1 to b4 for carrying in production materials or carrying out completed assembled products assembled by the production line a. On the other hand, the automated warehouse c is provided with a delivery station d1 for delivering production materials to the production line a and a delivery station d2 for receiving assembled finished products. Multiple automated guided vehicles f1 to f
A transport device 4 is controlled by a controller (not shown), and moves on the transport route e to automatically perform the above-described transport work such as supply of production materials or collection of assembled products.

In such an unmanned transport system,
An unmanned guided vehicle waiting after finishing the carrying operation may interfere with a carrying operation performed by another unmanned guided vehicle. For example,
In the figure, the automated guided vehicles f2 and f3 are the stations b1 and
When the unmanned guided vehicle f1 is waiting for each of the unmanned guided vehicles f1 and b3, the unmanned guided vehicles f2 and f3 try to be carried out by the unmanned guided vehicle f1. It interferes with the transportation work. In such a case, for each of the conventional station b1 and the station b2, zones are set in the vicinity of the transportation routes on which the unmanned guided vehicles f2 and f3 are on standby to expel the waiting unmanned guided vehicles. And the automated guided vehicle f2
When the automated guided vehicle f1 enters the zone where the
When the unmanned guided vehicle f2 is ejected in the direction in which the unmanned guided vehicle f3 is on standby, and when this unmanned guided vehicle f2 enters the zone where the unmanned guided vehicle f3 is on standby, the unmanned guided vehicle f3
Is driven toward the automatic guided vehicle f4. That is, an unmanned guided vehicle that has entered each zone is detected, and the waiting unmanned guided vehicles are sequentially driven out of each zone.

[0005]

By the way, in the unmanned transport system as described above, a sensor for detecting the entry of the unmanned transport vehicle is required for each station in order to drive out the waiting unmanned transport vehicle. Therefore, when the number of stations increases, a sensor must be installed to control the ejection of the waiting automated guided vehicle.
There is a problem that the cost of the unmanned transportation system becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ejection control method for an automatic guided vehicle, which can reduce the number of installed sensors when the number of stations increases.

[0007]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an unmanned guided vehicle ejection control method, wherein another unmanned guided vehicle that interferes with the progress of the unmanned guided vehicle is provided on the conveying path in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. In the drive-out control method for an automated guided vehicle that drives another unmanned guided vehicle into an unobstructed area while staying, a specific area on the transport path is set as a software driven-out zone and within the software driven-out zone. When the control means always stores information about the arrangement of the automatic guided vehicle staying in the vehicle, and when the automatic guided vehicle is going to enter the software eviction zone, the control means is based on the information about the arrangement of the automatic guided vehicle. , Outputting a command to displace another unmanned guided vehicle into an unobstructed area that interferes with the progress of the unmanned guided vehicle that is about to enter. To.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an unmanned guided vehicle eviction control method according to the first aspect, wherein the software eviction zone comprises: a. The transport path in the software eviction zone does not include a branch point, and b. A station equipped with a communication unit is arranged at the entrance of the software eviction zone, and the control unit is arranged to meet the conditions. It is a command to move to each automated guided vehicle via the communication means of the station.For the automated guided vehicle that is going to enter the software eviction zone, the unmanned guided vehicle is temporarily stopped at the station at the entrance of the software eviction zone, For the other automated guided vehicles that disturb the progress of the unmanned guided vehicle by transmitting a command for proceeding to the destination station through the communication means of
It is characterized by transmitting a command to move to an unobtrusive area.

[0009]

According to the ejection control method for the automatic guided vehicle according to the first aspect, the software ejection zone is preset in a specific area on the conveyance path. The control means always stores the information about the arrangement of the automatic guided vehicles staying in the software eviction zone, and when other unmanned guided vehicles try to enter the software evacuated zone, the control means stores the information about the arrangement of the automatic guided vehicles. Based on this, an instruction to eject an unmanned guided vehicle waiting in the software eviction zone is issued.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software eviction zone in which the conveyance path in the software eviction zone does not include a branch point, and the software eviction zone has an entrance to the software eviction zone. It is set up so that stations with communication means are located. Then, the control means controls the unmanned guided vehicle via the communication means of each station, temporarily stops the unmanned guided vehicle for carrying work at the station at the entrance of the software eviction zone, and unmanned via the communication means of the station. By transmitting a command to the transport vehicle to proceed to the destination station, the array of unmanned guided vehicles in the software eviction zone is stored, and the progress of the unmanned guided vehicle performing the transport work based on this array is obstructed. Outputs an instruction to move the automated guided vehicle to a non-obstructive area.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of an unmanned guided vehicle eviction control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a method for controlling the ejection of an automated guided vehicle according to the present invention. Each of A and B is a group of stations provided on the production line. The stations A and B are composed of supply stations 1a to 1j for supplying materials and the like to the production line and collection stations 2a to 2j for collecting assembled finished products and the like from the production line. C is an automated warehouse that stores production materials used in the production line and assembled finished products assembled in the production line. The automatic warehouse C is provided with a delivery station 3 for delivering materials and the like to be supplied to the production line and a receiving station 4 for receiving assembled finished products and the like collected from the production line.

The communication devices 7a to 7l are provided at the supply stations 1a to 1j of the production line and the delivery station 3 and the receiving station 4 of the automated warehouse C, respectively, and the automated guided vehicles E to H are provided with these communication devices. 7a-7
Information relating to a transfer operation is exchanged with an unmanned guided vehicle controller described later via l.

The transport route D is a loop-shaped transport route 5 connecting the automatic warehouse C and the station group A, and a loop-shaped transport route 6 connecting the automatic warehouse C and the station group B.
The automated guided vehicles E to H move along the transportation route 5 or 6 and perform the transportation work of materials and finished assembled products.

Further, as described above, in the transport route D including the transport routes 5 and 6, the automatic guided vehicles E to H are provided.
Carries out the carrying work through the carrying route 5 or the carrying route 6 according to the contents of the carrying work. Therefore, the order of arranging the automated guided vehicles E to H on the transport route D is not constant, and changes depending on the content of the transport work.

Reference numeral 12 is a software eviction zone (hereinafter referred to as S zone). When constructing an unmanned transportation system, the S zone 12 is roughly determined when the layout of the stations A and B and the transportation route D in the factory and the operating method of the unmanned transportation system are determined. Then, in order for the unmanned guided vehicle controller to grasp the order of the unmanned guided vehicles E to H in the S zone 12 by the method described later, the unmanned guided vehicles are set between the stations satisfying the following conditions. (A) The station at the entrance is equipped with a communication device for instructing the automatic guided vehicle to carry out the carrying work. (B) Between stations along a transportation route that does not branch or merge in the middle. Now, the S zone 12 is from the supply station 1a having the communication device 7a to the supply station 1f as shown in the figure.
Has been set up to.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the functional configuration of this unmanned transport system will be described. Automated guided vehicle controller 8
Is configured to store the range of the S zone 12 in advance and to store the arrangement order of the automatic guided vehicles E to G in the S zone 12 by a method described later. Further, in the automatic guided vehicle controller 8, the automatic guided vehicles E to H are the communication devices 7a to 7l.
The transfer computer 9 is informed of information related to the transfer work sent via the transfer computer 9 and
Based on an instruction from the control unit, the transfer work of the automatic guided vehicles E to H is controlled via the communication devices 7a to 7l.

When the guided work is completed, the guided vehicles E to H stand by at the station where the carried work is finished, and receive an instruction from the unmanned carrier controller 8 via the communication device of this waiting station. Perform the following transportation work.
That is, in the unmanned transport system of the present embodiment, the unmanned transport vehicles E to H do not stand by at the collection stations 2a to 2j, and the unmanned transport vehicles E to H that have completed the warehousing operation at the storage station 4 are unmanned. In order to receive the instruction of the carrier controller 8 and move to the exit station 3, the stations where the automated guided vehicles E to H can stand by are:
Supply stations 1a-1 with communication devices 7a-7l
j and the exit station 3 only.

Here, the transfer of information relating to the transfer work between the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 and the automatic guided vehicles E to H is always a station provided with the communication devices 7a to 7l, that is,
It is performed in the supply stations 1a to 1j and the delivery station 3 and the entry station 4 of the automated warehouse C. The automated guided vehicles E to H are assigned to the transport work by the automated guided vehicle controller 8 at these stations equipped with the communication devices 7a to 7l. Then, when the transfer work is completed by moving to the target station, the end of the transfer work is communicated to the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 at the station where the transfer work is completed. Wait at this finished station.

The magnetic sensors 10 are embedded along the transport route D in front of each supply station 1a and under the floor at the junctions and confluences of the transport route D, and detect the positions of the automated guided vehicles EH. To do. The transport computer 9
Automated guided vehicle E responding to the transportation request generated on the production line
Instructing the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 the allocation of the transport work performed by H. Further, the transfer computer 9 controls the loading and unloading operations of the automatic warehouse C by controlling the crane.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the method for controlling the ejection of the automatic guided vehicle according to this embodiment will be described in detail. Now, it is assumed that the automatic guided vehicle E is going to perform the supply work to the supply station 1e and has arrived at the supply station 1a located at the entrance of the S zone 12. Further, it is assumed that the automated guided vehicle F is in a standby state after completing the supply work to the supply station 1c. Further, it is assumed that the automated guided vehicle G is in a standby state after completing the supply work up to the supply station 1d. In this case, the automatic guided vehicle F waiting at the supply station 1c and the supply station 1d
Since the unmanned guided vehicle G in the standby state interferes with the transfer work of the unmanned guided vehicle E, it is necessary to drive it to a supply station that does not interfere with the unmanned guided vehicle E.

Here, when the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 is going to allocate the automatic guided vehicle E to the conveying work to the supply station 1e, the automatic guided vehicle E is set based on the setting information of the S zone 12 stored in advance. It can be known that the vehicle passes through the S zone 12. In this case, the unmanned guided vehicle controller 8 does not allocate the unmanned guided vehicle E to the carrying station 1e, which is the original destination of the feeding work, and carries the unmanned guided vehicle E to the unmanned guided vehicle E which is once located at the entrance of the S zone 12. Allocate work. As a result, as shown in the figure, the automatic guided vehicle E moves to the supply station 1a, and the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 passes through the communication device 7a.
Notifying the arrival to the automated guided vehicle controller 8
Assigns the transfer work to the supply station 1e to the automatic guided vehicle E via the communication device 7a.

By the way, when the automated guided vehicles F and G already waiting in the S zone 12 enter the S zone 12,
Similar to the method described above, the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 is notified of the entry into the S zone 12. Therefore, the automated guided vehicle controller 8 stores the order of the automated guided vehicles F and G in the S zone 12 as G → F in order from the beginning.
Then, since the automatic guided vehicle E has entered the S zone 12, the order of the automatic guided vehicles in the S zone 12 is stored again as G → F → E.

Further, the automatic guided vehicle controller 8 stores the arrangement order of the automatic guided vehicles in the S zone 12 as G → F → E, so that the automatic guided vehicle E is first arranged in order. An unmanned guided vehicle F waiting at the nearest supply station 1c is assigned a forwarding work to the unmanned guided vehicle E, for example, that does not interfere with the unmanned guided vehicle E. At this point, the automated guided vehicle controller 8 can know that the automated guided vehicle G waiting at the supply station 1d interferes with the forwarding work of the automated guided vehicle F, so that the automated guided vehicle F continues to be forwarded. Automated guided vehicle G that interferes with work
Is assigned to the feeding station 1g, for example, so as not to interfere with the forwarding work of the automatic guided vehicle F.

Allocation of the forwarding work to the automatic guided vehicle F and the automatic guided vehicle G is instantaneously performed, and as a result, the automatic guided vehicle F and the automatic guided vehicle G start moving almost at the same time. In this way, the unmanned guided vehicles F and G, which hinder the transportation work of the unmanned guided vehicle E, are driven to the supply stations 1f and 1g, which do not hinder the unmanned guided vehicle E, and the unmanned guided vehicle E transports to the feeding station 1e. You can do the work.

According to the above-mentioned method for controlling an unmanned guided vehicle, when the unmanned guided vehicle stands by at the supply station located at the entrance of the S zone, the unmanned guided vehicle that has entered using a magnetic sensor as in the conventional case is used. It detects the car and drives out the waiting automated guided vehicle. However, by setting the S zone between stations that satisfy the above conditions,
The waiting automatic guided vehicle can be driven out without detecting the entry of the automatic guided vehicle using the magnetic sensor for each individual supply station. Therefore, the number of magnetic sensors related to the unmanned transportation system is reduced, and the cost of the unmanned transportation system is reduced. Further, according to the destination of the unmanned guided vehicle that is going to carry out the carrying work, in order to determine the ejection destination of the waiting unmanned guided vehicle that interferes with the carrying work,
It is possible to suppress a reduction in the number of opportunities for allocating the transfer work due to repeated ejection operations or passing through a station where the transfer work has occurred. Further, since the S zone is stored in the program, it is easy to change the setting range of the S zone.

In this embodiment, a communication device is provided at the supply station of the production line, and the S is installed between the supply stations.
Zone was set up. However, the drive-out control method for the automatic guided vehicle of the present invention has no branching or merging in the middle of the transportation route,
By the method described above, the automated guided vehicle controller can know the order of the automated guided vehicles in the S zone, and the work station is equipped with the communication device for instructing the waiting automated guided vehicle to be ejected. Ejection control of an unmanned guided vehicle inside is possible. Therefore, not only the supply station but also the collection station or both the supply station and the collection station are provided with communication devices, and the S zone is set between the work stations having communication devices.
By performing the above-described series of controls, it is possible to drive out the waiting automatic guided vehicle.

[0028]

According to the ejection control method for the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained. (1) Since a magnetic sensor is not required for eviction control of an unmanned guided vehicle in standby, the number of magnetic sensors provided around each station for eviction control of an unmanned guided vehicle in standby can be reduced. This can reduce the cost of the unmanned transportation system. (2) Since the destination of an unmanned guided vehicle on standby is determined according to the destination of the unmanned guided vehicle that is going to carry out the carrying operation, the unmanned guided vehicle can be smoothly and efficiently ejected. (3) S zone is stored in the program that operates the automatic guided vehicle controller. Therefore, when the layout in the factory is changed, the setting of the S zone can be easily changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a drive-out control method for an automated guided vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control system diagram showing an example of an unmanned transportation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a conventional unmanned transport system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 E to H Automated guided vehicle A, B Station group D, 5, 6 Transport route 7a to 7l Communication device 8 Automated guided vehicle controller 12 Software eviction zone 1a to 1j Supply station 2a to 2j Recovery station

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for controlling an unmanned guided vehicle to be ejected to an unmanned area when another unmanned guided vehicle that interferes with the progress of the unmanned guided vehicle is staying on the conveyance path. In the above, while setting a specific area on the transport path to the software eviction zone, the control means always stores information about the arrangement of the unmanned guided vehicles staying in the software eviction zone, and the unmanned guided vehicle is set in the software eviction zone. When attempting to enter, the control means expels another unmanned guided vehicle that interferes with the progress of the unmanned guided vehicle that is about to enter into an unobstructed area based on the information regarding the arrangement of the unmanned guided vehicles. An ejection control method for an automated guided vehicle, which is characterized by outputting a command. 2. The software eviction zone comprises: a. The transport path in the software eviction zone does not include a branch point, and b. A station equipped with a communication unit is arranged at the entrance of the software eviction zone, and the control unit is arranged along the conveyance path. For instructing a movement to each automated guided vehicle via the communication means of the station, for the automated guided vehicle that is about to enter the software eviction zone, temporarily stop at the station at the entrance of the software eviction zone,
A command for transmitting the unmanned guided vehicle to the destination station through the communication means of the station, and for other unmanned guided vehicles that interfere with the progress, a command to move the unmanned guided vehicle to an unobstructed area. The method for eviction control of an automated guided vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: