JPS59148909A - Automatic guiding device of unmanned car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a floor suface effectively and to economize equipment by dividing a guiding line of the floor surface, forming an electromagnetic guiding line and an optical guiding line and switching these lines on the unmanned car side to operate the unmanned car automatically. CONSTITUTION:The guiding line is laid on the floor surface and the unmanned car 3 is selected and controlled so as to be travelled along the guiding line 6 to guide the unmanned car 3 automatically. Fixed ranges of the line 6, i.e. a branch line 8, a combined line 9 and a station S, are formed by the electromagnetic guiding line 4 and the other range is formed by the optical guiding line 5 using a reflective tape 5a. The unmanned car 3 is provided with a projector 18, a detector 19 for reflected light and an amplifier 20 in addition to a pickup coil 15, a deviation detecting device 16 and a steering motor 17, connected to a deviation detector 16 and automatically switched to automatic operating state, an electromagnetic type or an optical type, by an operating direction controlling means 7 to to control the operating direction. In addition, the unmanned car 3 is provided with a communication controlling means 13 to transmit a control signal in both ways between the control means 13 and a ground side control device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention mainly relates to a plurality of unmanned vehicles used for automatically transporting tools, workpieces, etc. to a desired location such as a station in a factory or the like. The vehicle is driven along the guidance line while being automatically steered.
The present invention relates to an automatic guidance system for unmanned vehicles that performs selective travel control on branching roads, mutual collision prevention control on merging roads, etc. through communication with the ground side.

Conventionally known automatic guidance devices for unmanned vehicles of this type include electromagnetic induction methods using electromagnetic induction wires such as towpath wires laid under the floor, and There are two types of optical guidance methods using optical guidance wires such as reflective tape, and in the case of the electromagnetic induction method,
In addition to signals for steering control, signals for driving control through communication with the ground side are also input to the electromagnetic guide line, and the unmanned vehicle is controlled to follow along the guide line using only the electromagnetic guide line. At the same time, the electromagnetic induction wire is used as an antenna to transmit control signals between the communication control mechanism built into the unmanned vehicle and the ground-side control device, thereby preventing rear-end collisions on branching roads, merging roads, etc. It is configured to perform communication control such as control and stop/start control at each station, but in this case, the driving line of the unmanned vehicle can be changed in response to changes in the production line in the factory. When doing so, there is a drawback that if the electromagnetic induction lines such as towpath wires buried under the floor surface are taken out and re-buried elsewhere, it would be a huge loss and would require complicated floor construction.

On the other hand, in the case of the above-mentioned optical guidance method, when changing the running line, it is only necessary to change the optical guidance line such as reflective tape pasted on the floor to another location, which is cumbersome and costly. Although it can be easily attached to the ground without floor construction, the optical guidance line cannot be used as an antenna for communication control, so antenna wires for communication control are installed separately next to the electromagnetic conductor at branching roads, merging roads, etc. This makes the equipment complicated and is disadvantageous from the standpoint of effective use of floor space in factories, etc.

In view of these circumstances, the present invention takes advantage of the flexibility of the optical guidance system in terms of line layout, such as changing the travel line, while also providing special communication lines, etc. for accurate travel control at branching and merging sections. The purpose is to provide an automatic guidance device for an unmanned vehicle that does not require installation.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an area force for performing locking control, an electromagnetic induction line, and other areas, an optical induction line force. On the other hand, the unmanned vehicle side has a steering control mechanism that can automatically switch between an electromagnetic guidance autopilot state and an optical guidance autopilot state, and a ground control system via the electromagnetic guide wire. The present invention is provided with a communication control mechanism capable of transmitting control signals between the control device and the control device.

The effects of the present invention having such a characteristic configuration are as follows.

By using electromagnetic guidance lines only in the areas where the driving of unmanned vehicles is controlled through communication with the ground side, such as pick-up, branching, and merging, and by using optical guidance lines in other areas that are much longer, the entire area is electromagnetic. Compared to a system consisting of guide lines, it is possible to sufficiently increase the freedom of line layout such as changing the travel line, and in areas where it is desirable to control travel through communication with the ground side, the electromagnetic Not only can the unmanned bogie be steered and controlled using the guide wire, but it can also run between the ground-side control device and the communication control mechanism on the bogie side by using electromagnetic guide wires. It is possible to transmit the control signal, and there is no need to install a separate communication line for driving control next to the guidance line. This made it possible to provide a guidance device.

Next, an example of the configuration of the present invention will be described.

As shown in Figure 1, tools, workpieces, etc. in the factory are
A plurality of unmanned vehicles 131 for transporting items to each station (S) where they are to be transferred are automatically run along a guidance line +61 laid out on the floor, and at the same time
The system is configured as follows to perform selective travel control at ill, mutual collision prevention control at merging road (91), stop and start control at each station (S1, etc.) through communication with the ground side. be.

In other words, one guidance line in a certain area on the side of the branching path 181 and the confluence path (91 and each station (81--) is constructed with an electromagnetic induction line extension 4 made of towpath wire (4&)), and the other areas are It is composed of an optical guide line 151 made of a reflective tape (5a), and a signal of about a number of KHz is input to the electromagnetic guide line (4) for steering control that causes the unmanned vehicle ta+- to travel along the guide line (button). Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 2, the unmanned vehicle (81... side) includes a pickup coil 061 and 061 for inputting signals for steering control from the tow path wire (4&), a deviation detection device 061, and In addition to providing an electric steering wheel *0?l, the reflective tape (
5L) and a detector al and an amplifier for sensing the reflected light from the reflective tape (5&) are connected to the deviation detection device Q@ in parallel with the pickup coil 06; When traveling on the optical guide line (61), it passes through the system of the projector am, detector (l@, amplifier), and when traveling on the electromagnetic guide line 141, the pickup coil tilt A steering control mechanism (71 is configured) that can automatically switch between an optically guided self-steering state and an electromagnetically guided self-steering state, through which signals are input to the deviation detection device a, respectively. Also, based on the detection of the lateral displacement of the unmanned vehicle 13) with respect to the guiding line 161, steering control can be performed to cause the unmanned vehicle to follow along the guiding line +61.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a ground-side control device +11 for driving control through communication with the unmanned vehicle (31) is connected to the electromagnetic induction wire (41), and the ground-side control device (凰) The multiple control signals generated in the cyclic control circuit 12
11, and is time-division multiplexed from the parallel/serial converter circuit 2 and output as a serial signal, which is then FM modulated by the frequency flci',) carrier wave in the FM modulation circuit, and power amplified by the power amplification circuit ff141. A signal of about several hundred KHz is sent to the electromagnetic induction wire (41) through the coupler G. The signal sent to the electromagnetic induction wire (4) is installed on the unmanned vehicle 13) side using the electromagnetic induction wire 14) as an antenna. Communication control mechanism a! [Since it is transmitted, sb is first picked up by the antenna coupler installed on the unmanned vehicle Lll, passed through the high frequency amplification circuit surface, amplified to the required level, and then sent to the FM demodulation circuit +1
01, converted into a parallel number by the serial/parallel conversion circuit (11), outputs a signal to the corresponding output bit of the output register z, and sends the signal to the communication control mechanism a on the unmanned vehicle 131 side.
31. Further, signal transmission from the communication control mechanism a:4 on the unmanned vehicle 131 side to the ground side control device [1] is performed in the same manner, and each part is indicated with a dash. Note that the carrier wave frequency f in this case is the same as the carrier wave frequency fx during signal transmission from the ground side control device (1) to the movable trolley side control device a31, making simultaneous bidirectional transmission possible.

In this way, @
branch road 1 in Figure 1.
81, the signal 8 is sent only to one side of both electromagnetic induction wires (41°14), and the unmanned vehicle [31
In addition, if two unmanned vehicles 131, 131 enter the convergence road (91) at the same time, it will be sensed and stopped from one of the electromagnetic a conductors (4). 18 and control them so that they do not collide with each other,
Furthermore, when the unmanned vehicle (3) reaches a station (S) where it should stop, the C& is informed of this and issues a stop signal to control the operation.

[111't41 A detected object such as a reflecting mirror is provided at the start and end of the m guide line (4), and the reflected light from the detected object is sensed by the unmanned vehicle and the ID rotation is performed. The control mechanism (7) may be configured to automatically switch between the optical guidance type self-11J control state and the electromagnetic guidance type IgIJ control state.

Further, in the above embodiment, all areas other than the travel control area by communication are constructed with optical guide wires (5), but electromagnetic guide wires (4) may be locally laid within the area. An optical guidance method using a laser beam may be adopted as the optical guidance line (6). In that case, only the straight traveling area is guided using the laser beam, and the curved route portion is guided by the electromagnetic guidance line (4). Guided by l In addition, there is a risk that the unmanned blood (3) will deviate from the normal running line without losing sight of the laser beam after traveling in a bending direction, and the electromagnetic induction wire (4) is used to make decisions that are likely to deviate. You can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the eye #J guidance device for an unmanned vehicle according to the present invention, and FIGS. 1 and 2 are overall schematic plan views, and FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a communication control mechanism. (3)...Unmanned vehicle, (4)...Electromagnetic induction wire, (5)...Optical guidance wire, (6)...
・・Guidance line, (7) ・・Steering control mechanism, +13
1...Communication control mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Among the unmanned vehicles installed on the floor fences (16), the ones communicating with the ground side such as branching and merging are unmanned, while the unmanned vehicles 181 have an electromagnetic induction type autopilot section. A control signal can be transmitted between the steering control mechanism (7), which can automatically switch between the state and the optically guided autopilot state, and the ground-side control device via the electromagnetic guide line (4). An automatic guidance device for an unmanned vehicle, which is equipped with a communication control mechanism aJ.