JPH1058358A - Automatic guided transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cope with the change and improvement of a system with good flexibility by informing a mobile robot of a carry-out request or a carry-in request to which information required for carrying out and in is attached, when a carry-out request or a carry-in request from the respective processes of manufacturing line are sent. SOLUTION: First, when a carry-out or carry-in request is generated in a storage 16, a contract agent 18 transmits an identification code of a transported, and an unloaded robot or a robot loaded with the transported article of all mobile robots 11-13, returns a reply to the effect that it can meet the carry-out or carry-in request to the contract agent 18. That is, there is provided the contract agent 18 having a function of informing all of mobile robots 11-13 of the effect that the request is given when a carry-in or carry-out request is given from an arbitrary storage 16, and a function of giving an instruction of performing the carry-in and carry-out operation to a mobile robot which returns the effect that it can cope with the information, so that it is possible to flexibly cope with an increase or decrease in the number of the mobile robots.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned transfer device, and more particularly, to an unmanned transfer device applied to a production line including a plurality of processes. (Also referred to as an unmanned transport vehicle).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A self-propelled robot that travels along a guide band laid on the floor of a factory, inputs parts and materials to an arbitrary process, and transfers a finished product or a semi-finished product to another process. Transport devices are used in various manufacturing fields. In this specification, parts, materials, finished products, and semi-finished products are collectively referred to as "transported goods" for simplification of description.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional unmanned transfer device. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes an upper system constituted by a host computer or the like.
Manages the entire manufacturing process, manages the stock status of the conveyed goods in all processes (also called cells) 2 to 4, and manages the loading status and current position of all self-propelled robots 5 and 6. I do. The number of cells and the number of self-propelled robots are convenience values.

[0004] Each cell is provided with a portion called storage for stocking the conveyed goods, and when the number of conveyed goods on the storage falls below (or exceeds) a predetermined reference number, a higher order from the cell is given. A carry-in request (or carry-out request) is issued to the system 1. For example, in response to the carry-in request, the host system 1 responds to the carry-in request by sending an empty self-propelled robot closest to the requesting cell (hereinafter, referred to as a mobile robot).
After specifying the empty vehicle) and the cell storing the required transported object, add necessary information (the identification code of the required transported object and the identification code of the carry-in / out cell) to the empty vehicle. A series of procedures for transmitting a transfer command is performed.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional unmanned transfer device, the stock status of the conveyed material in all processes, the load status of all self-propelled robots, and the current position are collectively managed by the host system 1. Therefore, there has been a problem that the system cannot be flexibly responded to a change or improvement of the system.

That is, the host system 1 has a management table for each process or self-propelled robot, and periodically updates the contents of all tables to always maintain the best state. If the number increases,
It is necessary to increase the number of management tables, and the upper system 1
However, maintenance work such as changing the program is required, and the system lacks flexibility.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to be able to flexibly deal with a change or improvement of a system.

[0008]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In an unmanned transfer device having a self-propelled robot that transfers a conveyed product between each process of a manufacturing line including a plurality of processes, when an unloading request or a loading request for a conveyed product is issued from the process, information necessary for unloading and loading is performed. A notification means for notifying all the self-propelled robots that there has been a carry-out request or carry-in request, and a self-propelled robot that has responded to the notice that the carry-out request or the carry-in request has been made. Commanding means for instructing to perform the following.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, when there are a plurality of self-propelled robots responding to the notification, the current position information of the self-propelled robot included in the reply information And selecting one self-propelled robot from the cargo information and instructing the one self-propelled robot to make the carry-out request or the carry-in request.

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is no need to grasp the cargo status or the current position of the self-propelled robot at all. This is because all the self-propelled robots need to be notified that there is a carry-in / out request, and wait for a response from the self-propelled robot that can respond to the notification.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 are views showing one embodiment of an unmanned transport device according to the present invention. First, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a guide band such as a magnetic guide laid on the floor. A plurality of (three for convenience) self-propelled robots 11 to 13 whose shapes are simplified are arranged on the guide zone 10 so that they can autonomously run. The transported goods of the storage 14 are transferred to the storage 16 ₁ of the first step 15 ₁ ,
(I is 1 to n) or transferred to the transport of the storage 16 _i step 15 _i to the storage 16 _{i + 1} of the i + 1 Step 15 _{i + 1,} or the conveyance of the storage 16 _n of the n step 15 _n Can be transferred to the output storage 17.

Reference numeral 18 designates all switches via a wired signal path 19.
Storage 14, 16_iAnd 17
All self-propelled robots 11 to 13 via the line signal path 20
This embodiment is called "contract agent" connected to
It is a constituent element. FIG. 2 shows self-propelled robots 11 to 13,
Arbitrary storage (first step 15 as a representative) ₁The strain of
Page 16₁) And contract agent 18
FIG. 21 is the predetermined number of goods on the storage
Request for import when the number falls below (or exceeds)
(Or a request to output), 22 is a
Detecting means for detecting an incoming request (or an unloading request);
The control unit 24 is a wireless transceiver. 26 is a transport
The memory for storing the identification code of the object
28 is a control unit, 29 is a wireless transceiver.
is there.

FIG. 3 shows a wired signal path 19 and a wireless signal path 20.
This is a communication procedure exchanged via. In this procedure, first, the loading required in the storage 16 ₁ generates, contract agent 18 transmits the identification code of the conveyed object, the unladen entity or the conveyed object of all the self-propelled robot 11 to 13 The installed device returns a response (for convenience, called a bid) to the contract agent 18 that it can respond to the carry-in request. The bid information includes the identification code and position information of the self-propelled robot, and the identification code of the robot if there is any cargo. If only one self-propelled robot participated in the bidding, the contract agent 18 transmits the identification code of the self-propelled robot and the identification code of the target storage, and the self-propelled robot having the matching identification code is directed to the target storage. To move the goods in and out. If there are multiple self-propelled robots participating in the bidding,
The contract agent 18 selects an optimal one by referring to the position information of each self-propelled robot and the identification code of the cargo, and transmits the identification code of the selected self-propelled robot and the identification code of the target storage.

FIG. 4 shows the control unit 23 of the contract agent 18.
3 is a schematic flow of a control program executed by the control program. This flow is initially waits for loading and unloading request from the storage (step 40 and 41), for example, when there is a request from the storage 16 of the _first step 15 _1, the transport to all self-propelled robot The identification code of the object is transmitted (step 44). If there are a plurality of requests, the one closer to the initial step (first step 15 _i ) is prioritized (steps 42 and 43). Then, it waits for a bid from the self-propelled robot (step 45). If there is no bid after a predetermined time (step 46), the process returns to step 40, and if there is a bid and if there is a single bid, a bid is made. (for illustrative storage 16 _first identification code) identification code and the target address of the self-propelled robot transmits a (step 52).
Or, in the case of bidding from the actual car and multiple bids,
(For illustrative storage 16 _first identification code) target address select one of the self-propelled robot closer to the (Step 5
1) Then, the identification code and the target address of the selected self-propelled robot are transmitted (step 52). Alternatively, a bid from unladen, and, in the case of multiple bids (in the case of the illustrative storage 16 _first identification code) target address select one of the self-propelled robot closer to the previous step (Step 50) Then, the identification code and the target address of the selected self-propelled robot are transmitted (step 52).

FIG. 5 shows a self-propelled robot 11 (12 or 1).
3 is a schematic flow of a control program executed by the control unit 28 of 3). In this flow, first, contract agent 1
8 (steps 60 and 61). If there is a signal, it is determined whether or not the received information includes the identification code of the conveyed article (step 62). If so, it is determined that the notification is a notification for prompting a bid, and it is determined whether the notification code matches the identification code of the conveyed goods loaded therein (step 64). Bid) is returned to the contract agent 18 (step 64). Alternatively, if the received information does not include the identification code of the conveyed object and includes the identification code of the own device (step 65), the target address is set as a transport instruction for the own device. (Step 66), and the carrying operation is executed in a predetermined sequence.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a carry-in / out request is made from an arbitrary storage, all the self-propelled robots 11 to 18 have a function of notifying that the request has been made. Since a unique "contract agent 18" having a function of instructing a self-propelled robot that has responded to the notification (participated in the bidding) to carry out the loading / unloading is provided. As described above, it is not necessary to manage the load status and the current position of all the self-propelled robots by the host system 1, and a particularly advantageous effect is obtained in that the system can flexibly cope with an increase or decrease in the number of self-propelled robots.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the self-propelled robot itself
Since it is determined whether or not it is possible to respond to the carry-in / out request, the management of the self-propelled robot in the host system becomes unnecessary. Therefore, for example, even if the number of self-propelled robots changes, there is no effect on the host system, so that it is possible to provide an extremely flexible unmanned transfer device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a communication procedure diagram of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a contract agent according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the self-propelled robot of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

15 _i : Process 11 to 13: Self-propelled robot 18: Contract agent (notification means, command means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An unmanned transfer device having a self-propelled robot for transferring a conveyed product between each process of a production line including a plurality of processes, wherein when a request for unloading or a request for conveying a conveyed product is made from said process, the unloading is performed. Notifying means for notifying all the self-propelled robots that there has been a carry-out request or carry-in request with information necessary for entry, and a self-propelled robot that has responded that it can respond to the notification. An unmanned transfer device, comprising: command means for commanding that a carry-out request or a carry-in request be made. 2. When there are a plurality of self-propelled robots responding to the notification, one self-propelled robot is selected from the current position information and the cargo information of the self-propelled robot included in the response information. 2. The unmanned transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the one self-propelled robot is instructed to make the carry-out request or the carry-in request.