JPH11202938A - Vehicle travel control system and vehicle used for the system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the total cost of the system while reducing the possibility of a collision. SOLUTION: This system has travel paths 2, an entering vehicle 6 and an opposite vehicle 8, and a ground station 10. On the travel path 2, a marker 18 is installed in front of an intersection 4 and the vehicles 6 and 8 are equipped each with radio equipment 12 and a sensor 20; and the entering vehicle 6 when detecting the marker 18 by the sensor 20 sends its detection data to the ground station 10 as an entry signal D1. The ground station 10 once receiving the data D1 sends a warning signal D2 to the opposite vehicle 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle running control system for automatically running a vehicle on a predetermined road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a plurality of optical systems are installed on a factory premises.
While a traveling path that can be detected by a magnetic method or another method is provided, a vehicle such as an automatic guided vehicle or an unmanned guided vehicle is provided with a sensor capable of detecting the traveling path according to each of the above-described methods. In the ground station as a control station, the vehicle can be automatically driven by unmanned following the running path so as not to derail from the running path, or the vehicle can be automatically driven along the rail as a rail system. 2. Description of the Related Art There is a vehicle traveling control system that can be programmed so that a plurality of vehicles can be automatically and automatically driven from one point to another point in each traveling path even at night.

[0003] In such a system, for example, when vehicles travel on each traveling road toward an intersection where two traveling roads intersect, if the traveling control at the intersection is not performed, both vehicles may collide at the intersection. There is.
Of course, it is better to program to control the transportation of each vehicle so that such collisions do not occur, but it is possible that collisions at intersections may not be calculated due to accumulation of errors in the traveling speed of each vehicle. Come out.

Therefore, in order to prevent such a collision, conventionally, a vehicle (an invading vehicle) traveling on one of the traveling roads is provided with, for example, another traveling vehicle having an intersection crossing the one traveling road. An ultrasonic or photoelectric vehicle sensor is provided so that other vehicles (oncoming vehicles) traveling on the road can be detected, and when an oncoming vehicle that enters an intersection is detected by the vehicle sensor, the oncoming vehicle is detected. When there is a possibility of collision with a vehicle, there is a vehicle in which the intrusion vehicle is urgently stopped just before the intersection or accelerated or decelerated to prevent the collision.

[0005] As another conventional technique, a magnetic vehicle sensor is provided on the other traveling road, and when this vehicle sensor detects an oncoming vehicle, the detection output is output to a ground station by wire, and the ground station outputs the detected output. In response to this detection output, the traveling control of the intruding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle is performed, and if there is a possibility of collision between the two vehicles, one of the vehicles is emergency stopped or accelerated or decelerated just before the intersection. In some cases, collisions can be prevented.

[0006]

When an ultrasonic or photoelectric vehicle sensor is provided in a vehicle, the oncoming vehicle is moving on a traveling road, and therefore, the directivity of the ultrasonic wave emitted from the vehicle sensor is high. If the emission optical axis of the light is not correctly aligned, the oncoming vehicle will not accurately reflect the ultrasonic waves and light, and therefore the oncoming vehicle will not be detected accurately and collisions may not be prevented. obtain.

In the case where a magnetic vehicle sensor is provided on a traveling road, accurate detection of an oncoming vehicle is possible, but since the vehicle is wired, the wiring cost is high. I have.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a vehicle configured to automatically travel on a traveling road is equipped with a wireless device having a function of wirelessly communicating at least data on traveling on the traveling road. A control station for controlling the running of the vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention has a function of performing a predetermined running control by wireless communication with respect to the vehicle or another vehicle. Has been resolved.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle travel control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the site of a factory which is to be operated unmanned at night by introducing this system will be described. Inside is a traveling path 2 configured for vehicle traveling
Are provided. Each of these traveling paths 2 has a plurality of intersections 4 that intersect each other. In this embodiment, a plurality of vehicles are automatically and unmannedly driven on the traveling path 2 by an intruding vehicle 6 as a first vehicle and an oncoming vehicle 8 as a second vehicle. I have. The ground station 10, which is a control station, controls the traveling of each of the vehicles 6, 8 on the traveling path 2.

Each of the vehicles 6 and 8 has a wireless communication device 12 having a communication function of wirelessly transmitting data on its own traveling state and a communication function of wirelessly receiving data from the ground station 10.
Are installed respectively.

The ground station 10 has a radio 14 and a controller 16. The wireless device 14 has a communication function of wirelessly receiving transmission data from each of the vehicles 6 and 8 and a communication function of wirelessly transmitting data to each of the vehicles 6 and 8. The control unit 16 is configured by a PLC (programmable controller) that performs program control of the system of the present embodiment. A personal computer may be used instead of the PLC.

For each vehicle 2 entering the intersection 4, a marker 18 is provided on each of the traveling paths 2 on the near side and on the rear side, respectively.
Is provided. The marker 18 includes a member that generates magnetism, a member that reflects light, and the like.

Each of the vehicles 6 and 8 has a sensor 20 capable of detecting the marker 18 in addition to the wireless device 12, and an intrusion signal indicating that the vehicle has entered the intersection 4 based on the sensor output. D1 can be transmitted to the ground station 10 by the wireless device 12. The sensor 20 includes a switch capable of detecting the magnetism, a switch capable of detecting light, and the like.

Here, upon receiving the intrusion signal D1 from the intruding vehicle 6, the ground station 10 transmits a warning signal D2 to the oncoming vehicle 8 to warn that the intruding vehicle 6 is entering the intersection 4. It has become.

Since the intruding vehicle 6 and the oncoming vehicle 8 have the same configuration, the configuration of the intruding vehicle 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

The intruding vehicle 6 includes the wireless device 12 and the sensor 2
0, and has a wheel drive unit 22 and a microcomputer 24 connected thereto. The wheel drive unit 22 controls the rotation of the front and rear wheels 26 under the control of the microcomputer 24. The microcomputer 24 is provided with program data relating to travel control on the travel path 2 transmitted from the ground station 10 via the wireless device 12, and controls the wheel drive unit 22 according to the program data to control the intruder vehicle. 6 is controlled. On the other hand, the microcomputer 24
Processes data related to the detection of the marker 18 input from the sensor 20, and controls transmission of the data to the ground station 10 via the wireless device 12.

The operation of this system will be described below with reference to FIG. In this description, a vehicle number is assigned to each of the intruding vehicle 6 and the oncoming vehicle 8, and the transmission data from each of the vehicles 6 and 8 to the ground station 10 is assigned the vehicle number. The vehicle number is also assigned to data transmitted from the ground station 10 to each of the vehicles 6 and 8. Thereby, each of the vehicles 6 and 8 can identify which vehicle the data from the ground station 10 is transmitted data to, and the ground station 10 can also identify which vehicle the received data is data from, In addition, data can be transmitted to a target vehicle.

First, in step n1, the ground station 10
In, it is determined whether or not the intrusion signal D1 is transmitted based on the transmission data from the wireless device 12 of the intruding vehicle 6. When it is determined that the intrusion signal D1 has been input,
Since the intruding vehicle 6 is traveling just before the intersection 4, the ground station 10 transmits a warning signal D2 notifying the oncoming vehicle 8 that the intruding vehicle is just before the intersection 4 in step n2. In this case, the warning signal D2 may be transmitted only to the oncoming vehicle 8;
May also be notified that there is an oncoming vehicle.

Since the collision of the vehicles 6 and 8 cannot be prevented only by transmitting the warning signal D2, the ground station 10 passes the intersection 4 at the same time as the transmission by giving priority to any one of the vehicles 6 and 8 in step n3. Calculate whether to allow In this calculation, the intruding vehicle 6 travels closer to the intersection 4 than the oncoming vehicle 8, and therefore, if the traveling speed is the same, the intruding vehicle 6 should pass through the intersection 4 as it is. However, when the oncoming vehicle 8 has a higher traveling speed than the intruding vehicle 6, the vehicle having the faster time to pass the intersection 4 is preferentially passed. If the set traveling speeds of the vehicles 6 and 8 are the same but the exact speed is unknown, the intruding vehicle 6 is closer to the intersection 4 than the oncoming vehicle 8 and the oncoming vehicle 8 is Send a signal for emergency stop. Alternatively, when the oncoming vehicle 8 receives the warning signal D2 from the ground station 10, the oncoming vehicle 8 may automatically stop at the traveling position.

Thus, for example, the ground station 10
When passing through the intersection 4 by giving priority to
The transmission permission data D3 is transmitted to the. Thereby, the intruding vehicle 6 passes through the intersection 4. Then, when the intruding vehicle 6 detects the marker 18 on the traveling path 2 after passing through the intersection 4, it transmits the fact to the ground station 10 as data D4. The ground station 10 can determine the passage of the intersection 4 from the intruding vehicle 6 by receiving the data D4. When the ground station 10 determines this passage in step n4, the ground station 10 transmits data D5 permitting the oncoming vehicle 8 to travel to the oncoming vehicle 8. I do. Thus, the oncoming vehicle 8 travels and passes through the intersection 4. In step n5, the oncoming vehicle 8 also passes through the
A signal D6 indicating the passage is transmitted.

When each of the vehicles 6 and 8 receives data from the ground station 10 by the radio 12 mounted on itself, the respective microcomputers 24 control the wheel drive unit 22 in response to the data. To control the rotation of the wheels 26.

In the above embodiment of the present invention,
The intruding vehicle 6 is equipped with a wireless device 12 having both functions of transmitting and receiving data, but may be equipped with a wireless device having a function of transmitting data wirelessly. In this case, since the ground station 10 cannot transmit a signal indicating that the intruding vehicle 6 has stopped running, the signal may be transmitted to the oncoming vehicle 8.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the ground station 10 is provided, but is not always essential. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the transmission and reception of the signal D7 for preventing collision may be performed. In such a case, the ground station 10 becomes unnecessary,
The cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment of the present invention,
A marker is provided on the road, and a sensor for detecting the marker and a wireless device for wirelessly transmitting the output of the sensor are mounted on the vehicle, but a vehicle sensor such as a proximity switch or a photoelectric switch is mounted on the road. Instead of mounting a wireless device on the vehicle, a wireless device connected to the vehicle sensor is arranged on a traveling path, and when the vehicle sensor detects the vehicle,
The detection output may be transmitted to the ground station using the wireless device. In such a case, there is no need to mount radios on the vehicle, and no matter how many vehicles there may be, only the number of radios required is required to correspond to the number of intersections, which leads to a reduction in cost. It becomes possible.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first vehicle traveling control system of the present invention, a vehicle having a function of wirelessly communicating at least data relating to traveling is mounted on a vehicle configured to automatically travel on a traveling road. Since the control station that controls the traveling of the vehicle on the traveling road has a function of performing predetermined traveling control on the vehicle or another vehicle by wireless communication, an ultrasonic wave for detecting an oncoming vehicle as in the related art is used. It is not necessary to install a vehicle sensor of the system or the photoelectric system, and the possibility of collision due to inaccurate directivity or optical axis alignment of the ultrasonic emission of the vehicle sensor is eliminated. Further, it is not necessary to wire the control station by wire on the traveling road or the like, and the cost required for the wiring can be reduced.

In the first vehicle traveling control system, a marker is provided on the traveling road before an intersection with another traveling road, and at least one vehicle traveling on the traveling road detects the marker. Equipped with a sensor capable of
When communicating with the control station via the wireless device based on the data regarding the sensor output, the installation position of the marker can be arbitrarily adjusted. It is possible to control the traveling, even if many vehicles travel on a complicated traveling road,
The possibility that these vehicles collide at an intersection can be further reduced.

In the second vehicle traveling control system according to the present invention, at least two vehicles travel toward the intersection, and at least two of the traveling roads are located on at least one of the two traveling roads. A marker is installed in front of the vehicle, and at least the vehicle traveling on the one traveling path includes a sensor capable of detecting the marker,
Since there is provided at least a wireless device having a function of wirelessly communicating data related to the detection output of the sensor with another vehicle, the control station as in the first embodiment of the present invention becomes unnecessary, and the cost is accordingly reduced. Can be reduced.

According to a third vehicle traveling control system of the present invention, in a vehicle traveling control system for automatically traveling a vehicle on a plurality of traveling roads having an intersection under the control of a control station, when the vehicle enters the intersection, Data relating to the traveling position of the vehicle is wirelessly transmitted, and the control station receives the transmitted data and wirelessly controls predetermined traveling control for the vehicle or another vehicle. Therefore, it is not necessary to install a vehicle sensor such as an ultrasonic system for detecting oncoming vehicles or a photoelectric system as in the past, and the directivity or optical axis alignment of ultrasonic emission of such vehicle sensors is inaccurate. This eliminates the possibility of collision. Further, it is not necessary to wire the control station by wire on the traveling road or the like, and the cost required for the wiring can be reduced.

According to the fourth vehicle of the present invention, the vehicle is configured to be able to automatically travel on a travel road configured for vehicle travel, and
A sensor capable of detecting a marker installed on the traveling path,
Since at least a wireless device having a function of wirelessly transmitting data related to the sensor output is provided, when applied to the above-described system, an ultrasonic system for oncoming vehicle detection or a photoelectric system is used. This eliminates the need for installing vehicle sensors, such as the directivity of ultrasonic emission of such vehicle sensors or the inaccurate alignment of the optical axis, which eliminates the possibility of collisions. This eliminates the need for wiring, and the cost required for the wiring can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle traveling control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle traveling control system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Runway 4 Intersection 6 First Vehicle (Invading Vehicle) 8 Second Vehicle (Oncoming Vehicle) 10 Ground Station (Control Station) 12 Vehicle Radio 14 Ground Station Radio 16 Ground Station Controller 18 Roadway Markers at 20 Vehicle sensors

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle configured to be able to automatically travel on a traveling road, a radio device having a function of wirelessly communicating at least data relating to traveling is mounted, and control is performed to control traveling of the vehicle on the traveling road. A vehicle travel control system, wherein the station has a function of performing a predetermined travel control on the vehicle or another vehicle by wireless communication. 2. A marker is provided on the traveling path before an intersection with another traveling path, and at least one vehicle traveling on the traveling path includes a sensor capable of detecting the marker. And communicating with the control station via the wireless device based on data on the sensor output.
The vehicle traveling control system according to claim 1. 3. In two traveling paths on which at least two vehicles each travel toward an intersection, a marker is provided in front of the intersection on at least one of the two traveling paths, The vehicle traveling on the one travel path includes a sensor capable of detecting the marker, and a wireless device having a function of wirelessly communicating at least data related to a detection output of the sensor with another vehicle. A vehicle travel control system, comprising: 4. A vehicle traveling control system for automatically traveling a vehicle on a plurality of traveling roads having an intersection under the control of a control station, wherein when a vehicle enters the intersection, data relating to the traveling position of the vehicle is wirelessly transmitted. The control station is configured to receive the transmitted data and control predetermined traveling control for the vehicle or another vehicle by wireless communication. Control system. 5. A sensor configured to be able to automatically travel on a travel path configured for vehicle travel, and capable of detecting a marker installed on the travel path, and wirelessly transmitting data relating to the sensor output. A vehicle comprising at least a wireless device having a function of performing the following.