JPH0834349A - Operation control method of transport vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize the optimum operation simply out of combinations of plural transport requests and transport vehicles by selecting the transport request, vehicle allotment and travel order of a combination in which the sum total of the travel time of transport vehicles at the respective combinations of transport requests becomes minimum. CONSTITUTION:When plural transport requests are generated, first, the selection of transport requests enough for a usable transport vehicle number is conducted, and transport request combination is sought, afterwards, when all transport requests have been attained, a section between loading/unloading points where transport vehicles V1-V5 pass most frequently is sought, and the combination of transport requests is sought in order so that loading/unloading points P1-P20 may not be concentrated at either alone of the section front and rear. Next, on the basis of the present positions of respective transport vehicles V1-V5, the transport vehicles V1-V5 are alloted in order every each combination sought, and in addition the order of operation is set, and a combination in which the sum total of the travel time of the transport vehicles V1-V5 is minimum is selected out of the combinations of selected transport requests, vehicle allotments and travel orders.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control method which is suitable for use in a rolling steel sheet coil transport vehicle in a hot rolling mill.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An operation control method used in a hot rolling mill or the like for setting a plurality of loading / unloading points on a predetermined loop route and operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction on the route. In the first prior art, in the order in which the transportation request is generated, the transportation vehicles in front of the loading / unloading point of the transportation request are sequentially allocated.

However, in such a prior art, no consideration is given to the mutual interference between the transport vehicles that can travel only in the predetermined direction, and therefore, for example, transport requests are generated at two loading / unloading points. If
When a transport request is made earlier at the loading / unloading point on the front side,
Of the two transport vehicles in front of that point, the preceding transport vehicle is first allocated for the loading / unloading point on the front side of the request, and the destination corresponding to the subsequent transport request. Interference will occur that will block the route of the transport vehicle on the front side that should go to the loading / unloading point. As described above, the first prior art does not consider the interference between the transport vehicles.
There is a problem that it is not possible to determine an optimal vehicle allocation and driving schedule.

On the other hand, in order to solve such a problem,
A so-called expert system, which performs optimal operation control by inference processing using artificial intelligence, has come to be used. However, this expert system is difficult to evaluate quantitatively. For this reason, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-252364, which is the second conventional technique, the operation plan determined by the expert system is simulated again by a computer and corrected.

Further, in the expert system, it takes a long time to infer the optimum vehicle allocation pattern from the vehicle allocation patterns existing only in the combination of the vehicles waiting for the transportation request. In order to select such a vehicle allocation pattern that dramatically increases as the number of transport vehicles increases, a third prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-228710, has been proposed.

[0006]

In the second conventional technique, it is necessary to provide a simulation device before the actual operation plan is prepared, which is a large scale. Further, in the third conventional technique, since the know-how based on the experience of the operator is used to extract the optimum pattern from the possible vehicle allocation patterns, the optimum vehicle allocation pattern can always be selected when the know-how is scarcely accumulated. However, there is a problem of lacking versatility.

An object of the present invention is to provide an operation control method for a transportation vehicle that can easily and optimally operate from among a plurality of combinations of transportation requests and transportation vehicles.

[0008]

The present invention provides a control method for operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction while a plurality of loading / unloading points are set on a predetermined loop route. When multiple transportation requests occur, find the section between the loading and unloading points where the most vehicles will pass when all the transportation requests are achieved, and place the loading point only in either one of the sections before and after the section. In order to prevent the concentration of traffic, the combination of transport requests for the number of transport vehicles that can be used is sequentially calculated, and the transport vehicles for each transport request are calculated for each combination based on the current position of each transport vehicle. Sequential allocation, for each combination, determine the traveling order of the allocated transportation vehicles, and select the transportation request, vehicle allocation, and traveling order of the combination that minimizes the total traveling time of the transportation vehicles in each combination. thing A operation control method of the transport vehicle, characterized.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of loading / unloading points are set on a predetermined loop route, and a plurality of transport requests are transmitted in a control method for operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction. When they occur, the combination of transport requests to be executed for the number of usable transport vehicles is sequentially determined based on a predetermined criterion, and it is determined whether or not interference occurs between the transport requests within each of the determined combinations. However, only when interference does not occur, the transport vehicles for each transport request are sequentially allocated for each combination obtained based on the current position of each transport vehicle, and each allocation is assigned for each combination. A transport vehicle operation control method, characterized in that the transport order of transport vehicles is determined, and the transport request, vehicle allocation, and travel order of a combination that minimizes the total travel time of transport vehicles in each combination are selected. .

Further, the interference of the present invention is characterized in that another transportation request including all the traveling routes exists in the traveling route of a certain transportation request.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of loading / unloading points are set on a predetermined loop route, and in a control method for operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction, a plurality of transport requests are issued. When it occurs, a combination of transport requests to be executed for the number of usable transport vehicles is sequentially obtained based on a predetermined criterion, and based on the current position of each transport vehicle,
Transport vehicles for each transport request are sequentially allocated for each combination obtained, and when a preceding vehicle exists between the loading / unloading points according to the transport request to which the transport vehicle is allocated, the preceding vehicle can run. Even if a request to transport the preceding vehicle has not been issued, the transport order of the transport vehicle to be traveled is determined, including the evacuation travel of the subsequent transport vehicle beyond the unloading point due to the transport request, and transport in each combination is performed. A transport vehicle operation control method, characterized in that a transport request, a vehicle allocation, and a traveling order of a combination that minimizes the total traveling time of the vehicles are selected.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a plurality of transport vehicles travel in a predetermined direction on a predetermined loop route and selectively load or unload at a plurality of unloading points determined on the route. In order to carry the luggage by carrying out the operation, when creating the operation schedule such as the dispatch and traveling schedule, when a plurality of transportation requests occur, first select the transportation requests for the number of usable transportation vehicles. . Therefore, when the number of transport requests is n and the number of usable transport vehicles is m, nCm combinations of transport requests are required. After that, the section between the loading and unloading points at which the largest number of transport vehicles pass when all the transport requests are achieved is obtained. Next, the combination of transport requests is sequentially obtained so that the loading points are not concentrated on only one of the front and rear of the section.

Next, based on the current position of each transport vehicle, the transport vehicles for each transport request are sequentially assigned for each combination obtained, and the traveling order of the assigned transport vehicles is determined. From the combination of the transport request, the vehicle allocation, and the traveling order selected in this way, a combination that minimizes the total traveling time of the transport vehicle in each combination is selected.

Therefore, for each combination of the transport requests obtained by nCm ways, it can be further considered that the loading points are not concentrated in either one before or after the most congested section. It is possible to obtain the vehicle allocation and the driving order, evaluate them quantitatively, and make an optimum selection. As a result, complicated steps such as simulation are unnecessary, and it is possible to create an optimal operation schedule for a wide range of applications, simply, and without depending on the experience of the operator.

Further, according to the present invention, when the operation schedule is created, for example, as described above, a combination of the transport requests to be executed for the number of transport vehicles which can be used from a plurality of transport requests based on a predetermined criterion is set. Once determined, it is then determined whether or not interference will occur between transport requests within each determined combination. For example, whether the operating routes of the transport vehicle assigned to a certain transport request include all the operating routes of the transport vehicle assigned to another transport request, and thus the loading point of the certain transport request. The loading point and the unloading point of the other transport request both exist between the unloading point and the unloading point, and the traveling of the transport vehicle for the certain transport request is blocked by the transport vehicle for the other transport request. Or not.

Only when such interference does not occur, the allocation of the transport vehicles for the transport request is performed for each combination obtained based on the current position of each transport vehicle. After that, the traveling order of the transportation vehicles assigned to each combination is determined, and the transportation request, vehicle allocation, and traveling order are selected from the total traveling time.
This also makes it possible to always create an optimal operation schedule for a wide range of applications without the need for complicated steps such as simulation and the like, and without depending on the experience of the operator.

Further, according to the present invention, in preparing the operation schedule, after the respective combinations of the transportation requests and the allocation of the transportation vehicles corresponding thereto are obtained as described above, the transportation vehicles are allocated. When there is an empty or unloading preceding vehicle between the loading / unloading points of the transportation request, if the unloading is completed and the preceding vehicle can travel, the transportation request for the preceding vehicle is not generated. However, the traveling order of the transportation vehicle to be traveled is determined by the subsequent transportation request including the evacuation traveling beyond the unloading point of the transportation vehicle to be traveled.

Further, after that, the total sum of the traveling times of the transportation vehicles by the respective combinations thus obtained is evaluated, and the transportation request, the vehicle allocation and the traveling order are selected. Further, also by this, complicated steps such as simulation are unnecessary, and it is possible to always create an optimal operation schedule for a wide range of applications, simply and without depending on the experience of the operator.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a carrying device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This carrier device 1 is used in a coil yard of an iron mill for cooling and storing rolled coil steel sheets. This transfer device 1 is generally composed of a transfer path 2 which is a loop-shaped track laid in the coil yard, and a plurality of transfer paths which travel on the transfer path 2 in a predetermined traveling direction indicated by reference numeral 3. Vehicles V1 to V5 (generally referred to as reference numeral V below) and an operation command device 4 for the transport vehicle V are configured.

A plurality of loading and unloading points P1 to P20 are provided on the transfer path 2 and have a crane or the like, and the transfer vehicle V is stopped to load and unload coils (hereinafter collectively referred to by reference numeral P). ) Is provided. The transport path 2 is
Between these loading / unloading points P1 to P20 are closed sections L1 to L2.
It is set to 0 (generally referred to by a reference symbol L), and only one transport vehicle V can enter the block section L or the loading / unloading point P by the operation command device 4.

Further, it is known to the operation command device 4 which closed section L or loading / unloading point P each transport vehicle V is in, for example, from the short-circuit situation of the track or the operating situation of the crane. Furthermore, the operation command signal from the operation command device 4 is transmitted to each transport vehicle V by way of a track or wirelessly, and the transport vehicle V travels in response to the operation command signal.

The operation command device 4 is a tracking device 5.
And an operation schedule determination device 6 and a control device 7. The tracking device 5 monitors the operation status of the crane at each loading / unloading point P and the status of each closed section L, etc., and when the state of the transport vehicle V changes such as the completion of loading / unloading work of the coil, or a new coil is added. When a conveyance request is generated due to the generation of the operation schedule or the like, the operation schedule determination device 6 outputs the operation schedule creation request.

The operation schedule determination device 6 is composed of a processing device for editing the information collected by the tracking device 5, a language conversion device for converting the description language of the information into a language of an expert system, and an expert system. It is configured to include a processor based on artificial intelligence. The operation schedule determination device 6 determines the operation schedule as described later and outputs the determined content to the control device 7. The control device 7 controls the traveling state of the transport vehicle V according to the operation schedule.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the schematic structure of the procedure for determining the operation schedule in the operation command device 4 of the carrier device 1 configured as described above. However, it is assumed that the loading and unloading times of the coils on the respective transport vehicles V are the same, the total length of the transport route 2 is, for example, 400 m, and the speed of the transport vehicle V is 200 m / min. It is assumed that the transport vehicle V is longer than one round of the transport route 2.

In step k1, among the generated transportation requests, the transportation requests for the number of the transportation vehicles V in the standby state where the coils are not loaded are selected. In step k2, it is determined whether or not the selected transport request satisfies a constraint condition described later, and if not, it is determined in step k3 whether or not another selection is possible. Then the step k
Return to 1. In this way, when a transport request satisfying the constraint conditions is selected in steps k1 to k3, the process proceeds to step k4.

At step k4, the waiting conveyance vehicle V is allocated to each of the selected conveyance requests, as will be described later, and at step k5, the vehicle allocation pattern does not cause inter-vehicle interference as described later. It is determined whether or not a constraint condition such as is satisfied, and if not, the process proceeds to step k6, whether or not there is another vehicle allocation pattern is examined, and if so, the process returns to step k4. When the vehicle allocation that satisfies the constraint conditions is completed in this way, step k7
Move on to.

At step k7, the traveling schedule of each of the delivered transport vehicles V is determined. In step k8, it is determined whether or not the travel schedule satisfies a constraint condition such as interference as described later, and if not, it is determined in step k9 whether another travel schedule is required. If so, the process returns to step k7. In this way, when the travel schedule satisfying the constraint conditions is obtained, the process proceeds to step k10, and the solution candidate for the travel schedule is selected.

When the solution candidate is determined in step k10, the process proceeds to step k9, and it is determined whether another travel schedule can be obtained. If so, the process returns to step k7, and if not, further. Step k6
Then, it is determined whether or not the vehicle can be allocated in another vehicle allocation pattern, and if so, the process returns to step k4, and if not, the process proceeds to step k3. In step k3, it is determined whether or not another transport request can be selected. If not, that is, for each transport request selected to satisfy the constraint condition in step k2, step k
In the vehicle allocation pattern satisfying the constraint condition of No. 5, all the operation schedule plans satisfying the constraint condition of step k8 are set as the solution candidates, and the best solution is obtained from these solution candidates by the evaluation function as described later in step k11. The best solution is output to the control device 7 as an operation schedule, and the operation ends.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the transport request selecting operation in steps k1 and k2. For simplification of explanation, the number of transport requests is 5, and the number of waiting transport vehicles is 3 here. Transport requests RQ1 to RQ generated for the closed sections L1, L2 ... Shown in FIG.
5 is respectively shown in FIGS. 3 (1) to 3 (5),
First, the usage status of each closed section L when all the transportation requests are achieved is totaled as shown in FIG. This figure 3
In the example shown by, the conveyance request R has four closed sections L4 and L5.
It overlaps with Q1 to RQ4. Therefore, in order to prevent the loading points from concentrating only on one of the front and rear of the closed sections L4 and L5, a combination of transport requests for the number of transport vehicles is sequentially obtained. Therefore, in this embodiment, the transport request R
Q2 is always included, and two arbitrary transport requests are selected from the remaining transport requests RQ1 to RQ4, and are selected as transport request candidates satisfying the constraint condition.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of FIG. 3 described above. In step s1, the largest number of transport vehicles V is reached when all of the generated transport requests are achieved.
Is searched for. In step s2, when the number of transport requests is n and the number of available transport vehicles in standby is m, a combination of transport requests is selected from nCm combinations. Ie, for example,
As described above, when n = 5 and m = 3, nCm =
5 × 4 × 3 / (3 × 2 × 1) = 10 combinations of conveyance requests are selected.

In step s3, it is judged whether or not the loading points in the selected transport request are both concentrated before or after the closed section, and if so, the process returns to step s2, and sequentially. It is determined whether or not the combination of the transport requests that has been selected as a result satisfies the constraint condition.

When the constraint condition is satisfied in step s3, the process proceeds to step s4, and the combination of the transportation requests is selected as one of the solution candidates, and the operation is finished. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 3 described above, the transport request RQ5
A combination of transport requests, including RQ1-RQ2-R
Q5, RQ1-RQ3-RQ5, RQ1-RQ4-RQ
5, RQ2-RQ3-RQ5, RQ2-RQ4-RQ
5, 6 combinations of RQ3-RQ4-RQ5 are selected as solution candidates.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the vehicle allocation method in steps k4 and k5 of FIG. Figure 5 (1)
As shown by, the two transfer vehicles V1 and V2 are in a usable state, and the transfer vehicles V1 and V2 are in the traveling direction 3
On the other hand, it is assumed that the transport vehicle V1 is located on the front side. 2 behind the two transport vehicles V1 and V2
It is assumed that two transport requests RQ1 and RQ2 are generated. The loading point P4 of the transport request RQ1 and the unloading point P15 are
The loading point P2 and the unloading point P of the transport request RQ2, respectively.
It is assumed to be on the front side with 11.

When the transport vehicle V1 is dispatched in response to the transport request RQ1 and the transport vehicle V2 is dispatched in response to the transport request RQ2 under these conditions, the loading point P2 of the transport vehicle V2 is set.
During the loading, the movement of the transport vehicle V1 to the loading point P4 is hindered, resulting in interference. On the contrary,
Distribute the transport vehicle V2 to the transport request RQ1, and send the transport request RQ.
When the transport vehicle V1 is allocated to the transport vehicle V2, the transport vehicles V1 and V2 travel to the respective loading points P2 and P4 without causing the above-mentioned interference, and after loading, the unloading point P1.
It is possible to travel to P1 and P15 without causing interference. Therefore, such interference is a constraint condition, and the vehicle allocation is performed so that the interference does not occur.

As shown in FIG. 5 (2), one of the two transport vehicles V1 and V2 that can be used is one transport request RQ.
Transport vehicle V1 on the near side with only 2 occurring
When the vehicle is dispatched, the transport vehicle V2 on the rear side needs to be forwarded to the rear side in the transport direction 3 with respect to the unloading point P11 corresponding to the transport request RQ1, and the vehicle dispatch efficiency is reduced. Therefore, a vehicle allocation pattern that requires such unnecessary forwarding is also a constraint condition.

In the present invention, the above-described vehicle allocation processing is processed not by using algebraic processing but by knowledge engineering using symbol processing. That is, taking the case of FIG. 5A as an example, the transport vehicle V1 is at the loading / unloading point P1, and the transport vehicle V2 is
Is located at the loading / unloading point P2, when the transport vehicle V2 is assigned to the transport request RQ1 and the transport vehicle V1 is assigned to the transport request RQ2, the relationship between the travel routes of the transport vehicles V1 and V2 is shown in FIG. 6 (1). Like

On the other hand, when the transport request RQ1 is transmitted to the transport vehicle V
The relationship of the travel routes when 1 is assigned and the transport vehicle V2 is assigned to the transport request RQ2 is as shown in FIG. 6 (2). Therefore, as is clear by comparing FIGS. 6 (1) and 6 (2), interference occurs when the traveling route of one of the transport vehicles includes all the traveling routes of the other transport vehicle. Become. In the present invention, the vehicle is dispatched by simply determining the presence or absence of such interference by the symbol processing.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the vehicle allocation method of FIGS. 5 and 6. At step t1,
For a certain transport request, m usable transport vehicles are allocated. At step t2, it is determined whether or not the assigned transport vehicle is interfered with by another transport vehicle. If yes, the process returns to step t1. If not, the process goes to step t3 to select a vehicle distribution pattern solution candidate. Then, the operation ends.

By repeating the operation shown in FIG. 7, the transport vehicles are sequentially allocated from the available m transport vehicles so as not to cause interference.

When the selection of the transportation request is completed and the vehicle allocation pattern is determined in this way, the traveling schedule is determined as shown in FIG. That is, the generated transport request RQ2
At the point P4 on the moving route from the loading point P2 of the transport vehicle V1 assigned to the above to the unloading point P11, the preceding transport vehicle V2 performing the unloading operation interferes with the transport vehicle V1. In such a case, the transport vehicle V2
Is to be moved before the unloading point P11 of the transport vehicle V1 after the unloading work is completed,
When this constraint condition is satisfied, as shown in step n10, the selected transport request, vehicle allocation, and travel schedule become candidate solutions for the operation schedule.

Each of the above-mentioned constraint conditions requires geometrical judgment and is difficult to formulate. For this reason, in the present invention, the constraint conditions are described using a constraint logic programming language that uses signal processing, stored as a knowledge base in the travel schedule determination device 6.

When there are a plurality of solution candidates obtained in this way, the sum of the traveling times of the transport vehicles V is minimized, that is, the traveling distance is the shortest among the solution candidates. The search for the best solution is performed. For example, in a state in which five transport requests RQ1 to RQ5 as shown in Table 1 are selected as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the initial standby positions of the five transport vehicles V1 to V5 are displayed. Two
In Table 3, the transport request which is the best solution assigned to each of the transport vehicles V1 to V5 is as shown in Table 3.

[0043]

[Table 1]

[0044]

[Table 2]

[0045]

[Table 3]

The tables 2 and 3 are illustrated in FIG. As is apparent from these, each of the transport vehicles V1 to V5 is shown from the respective initial positions in FIGS. 5 to 7 so that the subsequent transport vehicles do not interfere with each other at the loading position. Are dispatched in this way. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the transport vehicle V1 whose unloading position is the unloading point P5 is forwarded to the unloading point P8 after unloading so as not to interfere with the subsequent transport vehicle V3. Furthermore, the transport vehicle V2 also ends the unloading at the unloading point P1 and is then forwarded to the unloading point P6 to eliminate interference with the transport vehicle V3.

On the other hand, the transport request R shown in Table 1 above
When the transport vehicles V1 to V5 are in the initial positions shown in Table 4 with respect to Q1 to RQ5, and the transport vehicle V1 is being unloaded, the search result of the best solution is shown in Table 5 and FIG. Will be indicated by.

[0048]

[Table 4]

[0049]

[Table 5]

As is clear from these Tables 4 and 5 and FIG. 10, the transport vehicle V1 which is unloading at the unloading point P10 has the transport requests RQ1 to RQ3 whose loading positions are the unloading positions P18, P15 and P19. Cannot allocate a transport vehicle, and in such a case, the best solution cannot be searched for, and the state of each transport vehicle V is changed such that the unloading of the transport vehicle V1 is completed or a new transport is performed. It will wait until a request is made.

By carrying out the operation control with the best solution obtained as described above, according to the experiment by the inventor of the present invention, the transfer efficiency can be improved by almost 20%. Therefore,
The number of vehicles to be transported can be reduced to reduce the construction cost, and at the same time, the power consumption can be reduced and the labor can be saved.

As described above, in the carrier device 1 according to the present invention,
In deciding the operation schedule such as the allocation and running schedule of the transport vehicle V, first, the most congested block section is searched from a large number of transport requests, and the loading position is not concentrated in either of the front and rear of the block section. Since the transfer request is selected as described above, the optimum transfer request can be efficiently searched from a combination of many transfer requests.

Further, when allocating the transport vehicles V1 to V5 to the searched transport requests, constraint conditions are set so that the transport vehicles do not interfere with each other, and the transport vehicles V are assigned to the respective transport requests. , The dispatch efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, when deciding the travel schedule, when the preceding vehicle under unloading interferes with the subsequent transport vehicle, after unloading is completed, it is evacuated to a point where it does not interfere, so the search range for the best solution for the scheduled operation is expanded. be able to. Also, from among the solution candidates searched, the best solution is finally selected using the total sum of the traveling times as the evaluation function.
The best solution can be easily obtained without simulation.

In addition to the traveling time, other parameters such as the traveling distance may be used as the evaluation function. Further, the transport path 2 may have a branch path or a retreat path, and the traveling direction 3 may not be defined.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, in order to transport a package on a predetermined loop route using a plurality of transport vehicles, an operation schedule such as a vehicle dispatch and a travel schedule is created. , When multiple transportation schedules occur, find the section between the loading and unloading points where the most vehicles will pass when all the transportation requests are achieved, and load only on one of the sections before and after that section. The combination of transport requests is sequentially calculated so that the points are not concentrated, and the combination of vehicle allocation and driving order corresponding to each combination obtained is quantitatively evaluated to make the optimum selection, so that complicated simulations are required. It is possible to always create an optimal operation schedule for a wide range of applications without requiring simple steps and without depending on the experience of the operator.

Further, according to the present invention, when a combination of transport requests is obtained in creating the operation schedule, whether or not interference occurs between the transport requests within each of the obtained combinations, for example, When there is no such interference, it is determined whether or not the operating routes of the transport vehicle assigned to the transport request include all the transport routes of the transport vehicles assigned for other transport requests. For each of the combinations, the transport vehicles are assigned for transport requests, and the traveling order of the transport vehicles is determined. This also eliminates the need for complicated steps such as simulation, and allows a wide range of applications. Therefore, it is possible to always create an optimal operation schedule without being dependent on the experience of the operator.

Further, according to the present invention, in preparing the operation schedule, after each combination of the transportation requests and the allocation of the transportation vehicles corresponding thereto are obtained, the transportation requests to which the transportation vehicles are allocated are unloaded. If there is an empty or unloading preceding vehicle between the points, if the preceding vehicle can run, it will be beyond the unloading point of the succeeding vehicle, even if the preceding vehicle has not been requested to convey. Since the traveling order of the transport vehicle is determined, including the evacuation traveling, the complicated process such as simulation is unnecessary, and it is easy for a wide range of applications and is not dependent on the experience of the operator. , You can always create an optimal travel schedule.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a carrying device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a schematic configuration of a procedure for determining an operation schedule in an operation command device 4 of the transfer device 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a transport request selecting operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a selection operation of the transport request.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a vehicle allocation method.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining interference during vehicle allocation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the vehicle allocation method.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining a travel schedule.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the best solution for an operation schedule.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the best solution for an operation schedule has not been obtained.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 conveyance device 2 conveyance route 3 traveling direction 4 operation command device 5 tracking device 6 operation schedule determination device 7 control device L1 to L20 closed section P1 to P20 unloading point V1 to V5 conveyance vehicle

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Masato Hayashi, 1-1 Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Akashi factory (72) Kenji Ozaki 3-1-1, Higashikawasaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo 1 Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Kobe factory (72) Inventor Takashi Yoshimura 3-1-1 Higashikawasaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Prefecture Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Kobe factory (72) Inventor Miki Yoshimin, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Prefecture 3-1, 1-1 Higashikawasakicho Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Kobe factory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A control method for setting a plurality of loading / unloading points on a predetermined loop route and operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction, when a plurality of transport requests are generated, It is possible to find the section between the loading and unloading points where the most vehicles will pass when all the transfer requests are achieved, and use it so that the loading points are not concentrated in either one of the preceding and following sections. The number of transport requests for each transport request is sequentially calculated, and the transport vehicles for each transport request are sequentially allocated for each combination based on the current position of each transport vehicle. , A transport order of each assigned transport vehicle is determined, and a transport request, a vehicle assignment, and a transport order of a combination that minimizes the total traveling time of the transport vehicles in each combination are selected. Line control method. 2. A control method for setting a plurality of loading / unloading points on a predetermined loop route and operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction, when a plurality of transport requests are generated, Based on the predetermined criteria, the combinations of transport requests to be executed for the number of transport vehicles that can be used are sequentially determined, and it is determined whether or not interference will occur between the transport requests within each of the determined combinations. Only when the transport vehicle does not occur, the transport vehicles for each transport request are sequentially allocated for each combination obtained based on the current position of each transport vehicle. A transportation vehicle operation control method, comprising: determining a traveling order, and selecting a transportation request, vehicle allocation, and traveling order of a combination that minimizes the total traveling time of the transportation vehicles in each combination. 3. The operation of a transfer vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the interference is that another transfer request including all the operation routes is included in an operation route of a certain transfer request. Control method. 4. In a control method for setting a plurality of loading / unloading points on a predetermined loop route and operating a plurality of transport vehicles in a predetermined direction, a plurality of transport requests are generated, Based on the predetermined criteria, the combinations of transport requests to be executed for the number of transport vehicles that can be used are sequentially determined, and the transport for each transport request is calculated for each combination based on the current position of each transport vehicle. Vehicles are sequentially allocated, and when there is a preceding vehicle between the loading / unloading points due to the conveying request to which the conveying vehicle is allocated, if the preceding vehicle can run, even if the conveying request for the preceding vehicle has not occurred, A combination that determines the traveling order of the transportation vehicles to be traveled including the evacuation traveling of the subsequent transportation vehicles beyond the unloading point due to the transportation request, and the total sum of the traveling times of the transportation vehicles in each combination is the minimum. Conveying the request, the operation control method of the transport vehicle, characterized by selecting a vehicle allocation and running order.