JPH10154009A - Travel control method for unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the operation rate of an unmanned carrier by transmitting the identification codes of route constitution elements contained in a travel inhibition section. SOLUTION: The identification codes R1-R11 are added to the respective route constitution elements. When the travel inhibition section is generated in a part of a travel route 13, information on the travel inhibition section is transmitted to an unmanned carrier 11 from a central control part 18 with other information. Thus, the unmanned carrier 11 avoids the travel inhibition section and decides the travel route to a target station by itself. Indication data is transmitted from the central control part 18 to the unmanned carrier 11. The travel inhibition section is added to indication data in addition to the target station and transfer indication data. In such a case, data of a route R6 is added as the travel inhibition section. Thus, the unmanned carrier 11 can select a route for avoiding the section by transmitting travel inhibition section information added to travel indication data to the unmanned carrier 11 from the central control part 18.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling control method for an automatic guided vehicle traveling along a derivative of a traveling path.

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3, an automatic guided vehicle 31 travels along a running path on which a guide 32 is laid. A first station 33 and a second station 34 are provided on the traveling path, and the loading and unloading of the conveyed goods is performed at each station. The traveling path from the first station 33 to the second station 34 is composed of a first route 35 and a second route outside the first route 35. Information on the destination station and the like to the automatic guided vehicle 31 is wirelessly instructed from the central control unit 37 outside the traveling path. Under such a configuration, the automatic guided vehicle 31 has route map data to automatically travel to the travel destination station. The route map data includes a positional relationship between stations, a route shape (branch, merge, straight line, curve), and distance data for each of these shapes. The automatic guided vehicle 31 uses the route map data to automatically determine a route to a target station and travels automatically. The automatic guided vehicle 31 is processed under certain predetermined conditions for determining a traveling route, for example, conditions such as a route having the shortest traveling distance to reach a destination station. For this reason, the same route is selected each time as a route for traveling from a certain station to a certain station. The route for the automatic guided vehicle 31 to travel from the first station 33 to the second station shown in FIG.
Route 35 is selected. The instruction data 41 from the central control unit 37 to the automatic guided vehicle 31 is, as shown in FIG.

According to the above-mentioned conventional method, it is impossible to prohibit the passage of the automatic guided vehicle for a short time on a part of the route laid. if,
When the unmanned guided vehicle travels by selecting a route in the area where the traveling is prohibited, the traveling becomes impossible in that part, and the guided vehicle stops until the traveling prohibited area is released. As a result, there is a problem that the operation rate of the automatic guided vehicle is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an automatic guided vehicle traveling along a guide provided on a travel path having a plurality of stations, wherein each of the route components constituting the travel path is partitioned. Assign an identification code to each element,
When transmitting the station to which the vehicle is traveling and the travel-prohibited section on the travel path to the automatic guided vehicle, the identification code of the route component included in the travel-prohibited section is transmitted. An object of the present invention is to provide a traveling control method for an automatic guided vehicle.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An element (straight line, curve, branch, merge) constituting a route of a traveling road on which a derivative is laid is divided, and an identification code is assigned to each route component. When transmitting the station to which the vehicle travels and the travel-prohibited section on the travel path from the central control unit to the automatic guided vehicle, the identification code of the route component is transmitted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1 and the data configuration diagram shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic guided vehicle 11 travels along a traveling path 13 on which the derivative 12 is laid along the derivative 12. Runway 13
Are provided with a first station 14 and a second station 15, and transfer operations such as loading and unloading of conveyed articles are performed at each station. The traveling path 13 includes a first route 16 and a second route 17 that is longer than the first route 16 as a route from the first station 14 to the second station 15. Automatic guided vehicle 1
The instruction of the traveling station to 1 and the transfer work instruction
This is performed wirelessly from the central control unit 18 outside the traveling path 13. As described above, the traveling path 13 is
And automatically set the route of the route to the target station. In the present invention, a serial identification code is added and managed for each route component such as a straight line, a curve, a branch, and a merge that constitutes the travel path 13. That is, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1, identification codes R1 to R11 are added to the respective route components. When a no-travel zone is generated in a part of the travel path 13, the information of the no-travel zone is added together with other information to the central controller 1.
By transmitting the information from 8 to the automatic guided vehicle 11, the automatic guided vehicle 11 avoids this travel-prohibited area and determines the travel route to the destination station by itself. For example, R6 in FIG.
When the area is prohibited from traveling, the automatic guided vehicle 11 moves from the first station 14 to the second station 15,
Since the second route 17 cannot travel, the first route 16 is selected. From the central control unit 18 to the automatic guided vehicle 11, FIG.
Is transmitted as shown in FIG. The instruction data 21 includes a travel prohibited section in addition to the destination station, the transfer instruction data, and the like. In the case described above, the data of the route R6 is added as the travel prohibited section. By transmitting the travel-prohibited section information added to the travel instruction data from the central control unit 18 to the automatic guided vehicle 11, the automatic guided vehicle 11 can select a route that avoids the section.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prohibit the traveling of a part of the traveling road for a certain period of time. You can now plan.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transmission format diagram used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a transmission format for explaining a conventional technique;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Automatic guided vehicle 12 ... Derivative 13 ... Running path 14 ... 1st station 15 ... 2nd station 16 ... 1st route 17 ... 2nd route 18 ... Central control part R1-R2 ... Identification code 21 ... Instruction data

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic guided vehicle that travels along a guide provided on a travel path having a plurality of stations, is divided into route components constituting the travel path, and an identification code is assigned to each of the route components. When transmitting a travel-prohibited section on the station and the traveling road to the automatic guided vehicle, transmitting an identification code of the route component included in the travel-prohibited section. Running control method for automatic guided vehicles.