JPH0772249A - Unmanned carrier vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to perform the smooth delivery of a part and to improve operating rate by stopping the operation when an obstacle is detected again after the elapse of the specified time from the time when the obstacle is detected, and continuing the running when the obstacle is not detected again. CONSTITUTION:When an obstacle sensor detects a person or an obstacle at the forward part of the running of an unmanned carrier vehicle, a voltage for operating a magnet relay M is applied on an input part. Then, a switch Ms turns ON, and a circuit to a delay magnet relay TM is closed. The operation of the obstacle sensor is temporally stopped. The relay TM is operated after the predetermined specified time, and a switch TMs is turned ON. The obstacle sensor is operated again, and the presence or absence of the obstacle is confirmed. When there is a person or the obstacle, an input signal is imparted into a control device 13. When there is no obstacle before the switch TMs is turned ON and operating voltage disappears in the input part, the relay M is not operated. The switch Ms is opened, and the signal voltage disappers in the output part. Namely, the running is continued.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery which supplies electric power to an electric motor and a component which is passed between each process while traveling along a trajectory determined by a reflection tape, a magnetic tape, an electromagnetic induction wire or software. The present invention relates to an automated guided vehicle for loading vehicles, and particularly to an automated guided vehicle that can be decelerated or stopped depending on the presence or absence of an obstacle in the traveling direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of an automatic guided vehicle in a conventional example. Conventionally, this type of automated guided vehicle, as shown in FIG. 3, receives a command wirelessly transferred from a ground control station 15 that manages an action plan, and a control device 13 that inputs an input signal of the operation unit 14, A front obstacle sensor 6a and a rear obstacle sensor 6b, which are arranged in front of and behind the vehicle body on which the battery and the parts are mounted and which detect obstacles, and a signal processing unit 12 which processes respective detection signals.
a, 12b, a travel recognition device 10 for recognizing the track 8 by the signal of the guide sensor 9 for detecting the track 8, a recognition signal of the travel recognition device 10 and a detection signal of the signal processing units 12a, 12b, and the ground control station 15. The driving device 11 is provided which inputs a command and a signal from the operation unit 14 to the control unit 13 and inputs the output of the control unit 13 to rotate the drive wheels 4.

In the normal running of this automated guided vehicle, first, a guide sensor 9 detects a track 8 such as a reflective tape or a magnetic tape attached to a road surface, and the analog information of the guide sensor 9 is run. It is digitized by the recognition device 10 and input to the control device 13. The control device 13 determines how to travel based on the input information, and sends a travel command to the drive device 11. In accordance with the drive command, the drive device 11 causes a current to flow from the battery to the motor to rotate the drive wheels 4 to drive the vehicle body.

FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are views for explaining the stopping operation of the automatic guided vehicle of FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are for explaining the stopping operation of the automatic guided vehicle of FIG. It is a flowchart for doing. Next, an operation in which the automatic guided vehicle detects an obstacle and stops the operation will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, when a worker 22 trying to cross the front enters the obstacle detection area 7 of the front obstacle sensor 6a, the obstacle sensor 6a is activated in step B of FIG. 5 (a). Then, the automated guided vehicle stops the drive wheels 4 and stops. Then, step D in FIG.
When the worker 22 moves out of the obstacle detection area 7, the process returns to step A, and the drive wheels 4 rotate and travel. If the obstacle is not a person but an article, it remains stopped unless it is removed.

Another method of this stopping operation is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication
911 21897. This method is shown in FIG.
In step E of (b), the presence or absence of an obstacle is detected by the obstacle sensor. Next, if there is an obstacle in step E, the brake horn and the warning light are turned on in step F. Subsequently, in step G, the infrared sensor determines whether the obstacle is a person or an object. If it is not a person, the operator room of the automatic guided vehicle is notified, the obstacle is removed, and the vehicle is run again at step J. If it is determined to be a person in step G, the process returns to step E and it is determined whether or not there is an obstacle.

[0006]

Normally, an automated guided vehicle travels at a speed of about 30 to 40 m / min, but the walking speed of an operator is about 60 to 120 m / min.
Further, considering that the vehicle body width of the automatic guided vehicle is about 600 mm, the worker can cross the front of the automatic guided vehicle in about 1 second. During this time, the automatic guided vehicle moves forward by about 60 cm. On the other hand, since the obstacle detection area is about 2 m in front of the automatic guided vehicle, it is easy to cross the moving automatic guided vehicle.

When the above-mentioned conventional automatic guided vehicle is applied under such a situation, it does not cause any trouble for both the operator and the automatic guided vehicle, but the automatic guided vehicle is temporarily stopped. There is a problem that the number of stoppages is increased more than necessary and not only the operating rate of the automatic guided vehicle is lowered, but also the parts are delayed in the process and smooth delivery of the parts is impossible and the operating rate of the manufacturing facility is also lowered. In addition, the number of start-ups naturally increases as the number of stoppages increases.
This causes a large current to flow to the motor each time the automated guided vehicle is started, which consumes power unnecessarily, raises the battery at an early point, and lowers the operating rate of the automated guided vehicle. .

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automated guided vehicle which can smoothly deliver parts between facilities and has a higher operating rate.

[0009]

A feature of the present invention is that it is provided with an obstacle sensor which is attached to the front and rear portions of a vehicle body and detects an obstacle in the traveling direction, and when the obstacle is detected in the traveling direction, the obstacle is detected. In an automatic guided vehicle that can reduce the traveling speed by a detection signal from a sensor or can be stopped depending on the distance to an obstacle, the obstacle is detected after a predetermined time has passed since the obstacle sensor detected the obstacle. It is an unmanned guided vehicle that stops when the object sensor detects it again and continues traveling when it does not detect it again.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining an example of the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, which is an operation for stopping depending on the presence or absence of an obstacle. First, in step A of FIG. 1, this unmanned guided vehicle travels along a track because the obstacle sensor does not detect a person or an obstacle. Next, in step B, when the obstacle sensor detects that there is a person or obstacle ahead of the vehicle, the timer is activated and the operation of the obstacle sensor is temporarily stopped. Then, in step C, the timer counts time, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, the obstacle sensor is operated again in step D to check the presence or absence of the obstacle. If it is determined whether there is a person or an obstacle, the automated guided vehicle is stopped in step E, and the obstacle is removed or a person passes by in step F. When the removal of the obstacle or the passing of the person is completed, the process returns to step A in FIG. 1 and the traveling is continued. When a person passes by in step D and the obstacle sensor does not detect it, the process returns to step A, and the automatic guided vehicle continues traveling as it is.

Here, the obstacle detection area is at least 2 m.
By providing an obstacle sensor having "1" and setting the timer in step C to about 1 second, a person can sufficiently cross within this time. This can be confirmed by determining the presence or absence of the obstacle again in step D. Therefore, if the determination of absence is obtained, the automated guided vehicle can continue traveling without stopping. In addition, even if a person falls or stops, it is determined that there is an obstacle in Step D, and it is determined that there is an obstacle, and an automated guided vehicle with a speed of about 40 m per minute must stop before hitting the human body and cause harm to the human body. There is no.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a part of sequence control in the control device for the automatic guided vehicle of FIG. It is extremely easy to implement the new operations (steps C and D) as described above. For example, as shown in FIG.
A delay magnet relay TM and a switch TMs are provided in the sequence circuit, and the delay magnet relay TM switches T
Controlling the on / off of Ms.

In the operation of this sequence circuit, first, when an obstacle is detected and a voltage for operating the magnet relay M is applied to the input section, the switch Ms is turned on and the circuit to the delay magnet relay TM is closed. Then, the delay magnet relay TM is activated after a predetermined period of time, the switch TMs is turned on, and the control unit 14 is provided with an input signal with an obstacle. Further, before the delay magnet relay TM is turned on and the switch TMs is turned on, if there is no obstacle and the operating voltage is lost in the input section, the magnet relay M does not operate, the switch Ms is opened, and the output section is The signal voltage disappears. That is, the automatic guided vehicle continues to travel.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the obstacle sensor detects again an obstacle ahead of traveling, the obstacle sensor stops when the obstacle sensor detects again, and when the obstacle sensor does not detect again. Has an operation to continue running, and even if a person passes in front of an unmanned guided vehicle that is running, the unmanned guided vehicle continues to run without harming people and the stop frequency is reduced. There is an effect that the operating rate of the automatic guided vehicle can be improved and the parts can be smoothly delivered between processes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an operation of stopping depending on the presence or absence of an obstacle for explaining an example of the automatic guided vehicle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a part of sequence control in the control device for the automated guided vehicle of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an automatic guided vehicle in a conventional example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a stop operation of the automated guided vehicle of FIG.

5 is a flowchart for explaining a stop operation of the automatic guided vehicle of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Drive Wheel 6a Front Obstacle Sensor 6b Rear Obstacle Sensor 7 Obstacle Detection Area 8 Orbit 9 Guide Sensor 10 Travel Recognition Device 11 Drive Devices 12a, 12b Signal Processing Unit 13 Control Device 14 Operation Unit 15 Ground Control Station 22 Worker

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An obstacle sensor that is attached to the front and rear of a vehicle body and detects an obstacle in the traveling direction. When an obstacle is detected in the traveling direction, the traveling speed is reduced by a detection signal from the obstacle sensor. In an automatic guided vehicle that can be stopped depending on the distance to an obstacle or where there is an obstacle, when the obstacle sensor detects the obstacle again after a lapse of a predetermined time after the obstacle sensor detects the obstacle, it stops. , An automated guided vehicle characterized by continuing traveling when it is not detected again.