JPS60107113A - Guiding method of unmanned track - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the reliability of the guiding method for an unmanned truck by storing previously the drive information to the truck and reading the stored information successively the conversion points of the drive information for drive control of the truck. CONSTITUTION:The drive direction information including the straight drive, etc., the drive speed information including a high speed, a low speed, etc. and the drive stop information are properly combined to obtain the drive information. This information is previously stored to a drive information memory part 8a of an unmanned truck 3. A magnetic sensor 7 is provided to the truck 3 to detect a guide belt 1 set at the ground side for drive control. In this case, the detection elements of th sensor 7 are all turned off when the sensor 7 detects a break 12, i.e., a drive information conversion point of the belt 1. Then the drive information is read out of the part 8a of a truck controller 8 by an arithmetic device 9. A speed command is sent to a drive controller 10 and at the same time the drive direction information is sent back to the device 9 to control the right and left drive motors 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for guiding an unmanned bogie in which, when the unmanned bogie runs along a guidance zone, the running route control, speed control, stop control, etc. of the bogie are performed based on pre-stored information. It is related to.

An unmanned trolley refers to a trolley that has a power source on it and is able to run automatically.Currently, devices that enable unmanned running are used in peripheral equipment of automated warehouses, goods transport equipment on production lines, and automated trolleys. It is widely used in transportation equipment in processing lines, etc., and its feature is that it does not have dedicated rails. Not having a dedicated rail is advantageous in that it can run along the factory road t'6, allowing it to use a space shared with forklifts and people, and that it is easy to change the running route.

Conventionally, electromagnetic induction methods and optical guidance methods have been put into practical use as driving methods for unmanned trolleys.

As shown in Figure 1, the electromagnetic induction method uses a pair of sensors attached to a trolley (C) to detect the induced magnetism generated by passing current through an inductive wire (b) embedded in the floor of the running surface (a). The trolley is made to run along the guide line by detecting it with the detectors (d) and (d) and controlling the running direction so that the detection strength is the same. In other words, the running surface (α)
When a current is passed through the inductive wire (b) embedded in the
d) (d), and if the center of the detector (d) deviates in any direction from (b), Since there is a difference in detected intensities, the running direction of the trolley is controlled so that the difference becomes zero, so that the trolley can run along the guide line (+,).

In addition, in this electromagnetic induction method, in order to guide the bogie by branching and merging according to a complicated rule, the current flowing through the guide wire (b) is divided into alternating current (AC) with a different frequency for each route. There is a method of branching or merging the bogies by transmitting the frequency of the next route to the bogies from the ground at the point where they intersect.

That is, as shown in Fig. 2, when moving the trolley (c) to point A, at the branch point U), a command is given to the trolley (c) to run along the guide line (bl) of frequency F1. By giving the following information, the bogie (c) can move to point A along the guide line (bl), and the bogie traveling on the guide line (bl) can be moved to point B at the branch point (g). When moving to point B, if a command is given to the bogie to run along the guide line of frequency F2 at the branch point ((7), the bogie will follow the guide line (b2) and branch to point B.Each branch Methods for transmitting command signals to the bogies at points include transmitting signals from the ground using radio, light, or sound waves, or burying multiple coils in one place under the running road surface and energizing and de-energizing each coil. There is a method in which a certain pattern is displayed and the bogie detects this pattern to issue a Q travel command.In addition, the frequency of the guide wires is all the same, and the guide line of the route in the direction in which the bogie is traveling - ( There is also a method in which the bogie is guided while turning off the guide wire that it has been traveling on with HON on.

However, this guidance method has the following problems.

■ Because the guide wire (b) needs to be buried under the running road surface, the installation work is complicated, and the route may need to be relocated or changed.
It is difficult to find and repair the 1st guide wire (b)! It is lf.

■ The method of changing the frequency for each route requires electrical work as well as inductive power supplies with different frequencies, and the control equipment for the route the trolley travels is complicated, and it is difficult to specify the frequency at branch points of the route. In addition, in the method of turning on and off at the same frequency, the O
It is necessary to switch N and OFF at the appropriate timing.

■ The guide wire breaks due to subsidence of the running surface (a) or sudden vibration.

■1 Because the magnetic field is adversely affected by conductors near the conductor, there are many restrictions on the structure of the road surface.

For example, in the case of a reinforced concrete floor, etc., the reinforcing bars and guide wires need to be separated by at least a certain value, so it is necessary to make the distance between the running surface and the reinforcing bars larger than necessary.

■ Since there is a practical limit to the strength of the C a>M magnetic field,
The allowable deviation limit between the vehicle body and the guide wire is small.

Next, in the optical guidance method, a light reflector is installed on the floor surface of the sensory surface, and the light emitted from the trolley is reflected by this light reflector, and the relative position of the reflected light and the trolley is The trolley is guided by detecting the It is a method. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the light emitted from the light source provided on the side of the trolley (c) is reflected by the reflector (i) on the running surface (a), and the light receiving section detects the reflected light. Depending on the position of (j), the trolley (C)
) and the reflector (j), and the running direction of the truck is controlled according to the relative relationship between the reflector (j) and the reflector (j). (/,,
) are running wheels.

In this method, for example, as shown in FIG.
) is detected by the left side of the light receiving part (, 7), the truck (c) has slipped to the right of the reflector ($), so the traveling direction must be corrected according to the amount of slippage. A command is given to the cart (c), and the trajectory is corrected so that the cart (c) moves to the left.

Other optical methods include a method in which the amount of reflection from a reflector is detected by a pair of light receiving sections, and the positions are controlled so that the amounts of reflection are the same.

When the trolley (C) is branched or merged along a complicated route using such an optical guidance method, there are various methods such as providing a dedicated light receiving section for left and right branching and for straight running. As a command signal to the bogie at each branch point, there is a method of transmitting the signal by radio, light, sound wave, etc. from the rough running point, or a method of installing another reflecting section near the guiding reflection and transmitting the reflected light to the light receiving section. There is a method of receiving light and detecting the pattern to issue a driving command.

However, these optical guidance methods have the following problems.

It is necessary to communicate the designation for going straight and turning left and right at the junction.

2) Reflection of light is likely to be inhibited by dirt etc. sticking to the derivative.

(1) Anti-Q・1 of light is easily inhibited by damage to the surface of the dielectric.

4) When the running surface has many irregularities, it is difficult to install the reflector, and even if it is installed poorly, it is likely to peel off.

As mentioned above, both the conventional electromagnetic induction method and the optical induction method have many problems, and both methods have problems with the durability of the inductor, ease of relocation, and stability of its function. However, the method for installing the dielectric is complicated.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily control the running direction of a bogie and to improve reliability. Route control, running speed control, and stop + h control are performed using information stored on the trolley side, eliminating the need to send and receive signals by radio, light, sound waves, etc., improving reliability. This is what I did.

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

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a magnetic guidance band (1) that extends in the direction in which the unmanned trolley is intended to run is laid on the running surface (2), while the unmanned trolley ．． (31
The left and right running drives @ (4) are provided at the center fXIs of the drive unit so as to be driven by independent running drive motors (5), respectively.
It also has front and rear left and right driven @ (6), and a trolley (3
) Attach magnetic detection sensors (7) as induction sensors to both the front and rear ends of the lower surface of ) to create a running information memory that stores running information (truck running direction control, speed control, stop 1, control, etc.) A bogie control device (8) comprising a part (8a)
) is provided on the cart (3), and further includes a calculation device ri (9) connected to the magnetic detection sensor (force), and a running drive system based on the deviation in calculated by the calculation device (9) and speed information. The travel drive control device i'i (10), which issues a command to control the rotation of the motor (5), and other batteries, etc. are mounted on the trolley (3) (7). !(Enables people to drive while correcting direction.)

The magnetic detection sensor (7) includes a large number of magnetic detection elements (
7a), and each magnetic detection element (7a) is composed of a magnetic field (Ill (7th
(see Fig. and Fig. 8).
f i〆L and at a predetermined pitch in the left and right direction of the trolley (3), and each magnetic detection element (7α) is
It is connected to the device (9) and displayed as an address and I in the arithmetic device (9), and when any magnetic detection element (7a) detects (B), the element (7a ), and the distance between the displayed address and the reference position is calculated by the calculating device (9) and the trolley (3).
This allows the amount of deviation to be calculated by closing. Well, now the center of the magnetic detection sensor (7) is the induction band (1).
Based on the state in which the center of the magnetic detection element (7a) coincides with the center of As long as the center address and 17 are displayed in the arithmetic device (9), the deviation amount is counted as zero in the arithmetic device (9), so the center of the detector sensor (7) and the lead band are (1)
The cart (3) will be moved while the centers of the cart (3) are aligned, and if the cart (3) shifts to the right side while it is moving, the cart (3) will move as shown in Fig. 8. The installed magnetic detection sensor (the magnetic detection element (7rL) located to the left of the force center (q) detects the magnetism of the induction band (1). Therefore, the magnetic detection sensor ( 7) center (the distance from Q to the n1th magnetic detection element (7α) sensing magnetism is tl,
Similarly, if the distance between the magnetic detection element (7a) of the n2th cloth is t2, the distance from the center (q to the center line of the induction band (1)) of the magnetic detection sensor (7) is L = 4.
+ a, and this distance is the amount of deviation from the induction zone (1), and from the n1th to the nth
Since the magnetic detection elements (7a) up to the second magnetic detection element (7a) are detecting magnetism, the arithmetic unit (9) displays the addresses from the n1th to the n2th, and also displays the above 1-4-
Calculations of ±-4. Each speed command is sent to the travel drive motor (5), and the rotation of the drive wheels (4) is controlled to control the direction of the truck.For example, when the amount of deviation is zero, the speed command Output the value by -1 to the left and right motors (5), and if it deviates to the right, the right side is added and the left side is subtracted from the speed command value according to the amount of deviation, and the speed command is The values are output to the left and right motors (5) respectively.The above travel drive motor (5)
The speed signal is fed back to the traveling drive control system @ (10), and servo control is performed so that the related command value and the feedback value are equal. This allows the trolley (3) to be automatically guided to match the center of (1).

The feature of the present invention is that the traveling information storage section (8
The information stored in α) is transferred to the magnetic detection sensor (7).
is the guidance zone (+1 cut (
(Discontinuous part) (When approaching 121, the magnetic detection element (7
α) all meet OIi”F, the bogie control device (8) inputs the unfitting and cut information from the calculation device (9) and analyzes the information. , medium speed, and low speed speed commands to the traveling drive control device (10),
On the other hand, the forward, reverse, and running direction information is sequentially processed one after another so as to be returned to the arithmetic unit (9), thereby fully controlling the running of the bogie (3). In other words, as driving information, driving direction information (right branch, left turning, go straight), driving speed information (
(high speed, medium speed, low speed) and running stop information are appropriately combined and stored in the running information storage section (8) of the bogie (3), and the magnetic detection sensor (7) is connected to the guide belt (1).
The magnetic detection element (7c) approaches the notch (1, 2) of
When all of L) are turned off, the computing device @
(9) and the bogie control device @ (8) are electrically connected, and it runs with the bogie control device (8)! 11<Movement control device ft4: (Connected to the field, travel drive control device (10) based on speed commands (high, medium, low) from the bogie control device (8)
is controlled, and the left and right travel drive motors (5) are ;]i controlled to control the bogie (3) according to the travel information.

The method for guiding an unmanned trolley according to the present invention is carried out using the device configured as described above.

When unmanned guiding of a bogie (3) with a linear guide band (1), the magnetism of the magnetic guide band (1) is detected by the magnetic detection element (7a) of the magnetic detection sensor (7) of the bogie (3). ) is detected and the detection signal is processed by the arithmetic unit (9) shown in FIG. A running command is given to 5), which controls the rotation of the left and right drives @(4),
I drove around the trolley (3) and had lunch. In this case, if the center of the truck (3) is located at the guide band (1) J:, the center of the magnetic detection sensor (7) is aligned with the center of the guide band (1), so the As long as the magnetic detection element (7cL) in the center of the magnetic detection sensor (7) detects magnetism, and this is displayed as the central address in the arithmetic unit (9), the arithmetic unit will assume that the city is zero. Since it is calculated by (9),
The left and right drive wheels (4) are rotated to meet the stored speed command. On the other hand, the trolley (3) is in the guidance zone (1)
When it is shifted to the right or left with respect to K, the center of the magnetic detection sensor (7) (the magnetic detection element (7+z) located on the left or right side of q detects magnetism, so the magnetic detection that detected this magnetism From the address of the element (7 (L)) to the arithmetic unit (9
), a freezing control command is sent from the travel drive control system rt (lo+) to the travel drive motor (5) according to the amount of the difference, and the left and right drive wheels (
4) is controlled, and the cart (3) moves unsteadily.

In the above, for example, if you want to run the trolley (3) in the direction of the arrow X at an intersection as shown in FIG. ,
If you memorize "low speed" - "right branch, low speed" - "right branch [branch, high speed]", the starting cart (3) will initially go straight, then
Drive at low speed. When the trolley (3) approaches the intersection and the magnetic detection sensor (force) detects the notch (12) of the induction band (1), the magnetic detection element (7a) does not detect magnetism at the notch (12) and turns off. Therefore, due to this OFF, information on derailment and cut is sent from the arithmetic unit (9) to the bogie control device (8), and if the control device (8) determines that it is a cut, the bogie (3) is stopped. After switching to the next information stored in the information storage unit (8), ``right branch, low speed,'' and sending that information from the bogie control device (8) to the arithmetic device (9), the traveling drive control is performed. The traveling drive motor (5) is controlled to Hi by the device (10), and the bogie (3) is branched to the right at low speed.

Next, when the cart (3) approaches the cut (13) and the magnetic detection sensor (7) detects the cut (13), all of the magnetic detection elements (7a) are turned OFF, and the next step is performed in the same manner as above. The information is "Right branch, high speed" and the trolley (
3), and the trolley (3) is guided and run in the X direction with the running direction to the right and the running speed being high.

In this way, by storing information such as the running direction and running speed in advance in the running information storage unit (8) of the bogie (3), the cut (discontinuous part) of the guide band (1) can be detected magnetically. The trolley (3) can be guided in any direction at any speed according to the stored information detected by the sensor (7).

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above; for example, the magnetic detection sensor (7) detects the cuts (+2) (+31) of the guide band (1) and converts the travel information. Although we have shown an example of a case in which the sensor is stirred, in addition to the magnetic detection sensor (7), there is also a sensor (14) for converting driving information.
) is installed on the trolley (3) as shown in Figure 5, and a coat plate (15+'' is laid on the running surface (2), and the sensor (14
) may sequentially convert the driving information stored in the driving information storage section (8) by detecting the code plate (15).

As described above, according to the unmanned trolley guidance method of the present invention, the current 'l'l! Since the travel information is stored in advance and the travel information is converted during the travel of the truck to guide the truck, the following excellent effects can be achieved.

(]) There is no need for the unmanned trolley to transmit information such as running direction information such as branching to the left or right or running speed information such as high speed, medium speed, low speed, etc. via communication means (wireless, light, sound waves, etc.), and reliability is improved. can be improved.

(11) Induction power supply equipment with different frequencies, power supply for induction wires (
νJ mounting device; 6 is unnecessary, simplifying ground side control installation.

(ii) Installation and relocation of the guide belt is easy.

(iv)? Even if the surface of the s-conductor It'1 is damaged, it will not adversely affect the induction as long as magnetism exists.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1-4 are schematic diagrams of the conventional system, Figure 5 is a plan view of the unmanned trolley according to the present invention,
Side view 1 and Figure 7 are front view showing the combination relationship between the magnetic detection sensor and the induction band! 1. Fig. 8 is a front view showing a state in which the position of the magnetic detection sensor is shifted laterally with respect to the induction band (1. Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, and Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a device implementing the method of the present invention. It is a plan view showing an example of the method. (1) is a guide band, (3) is a trolley, (4) is a running drive wheel,
(5) is a travel drive motor, (7) is a magnetic detection sensor,
(8) is a bogie control device, (8a) is a traveling information storage unit, (
9) is an arithmetic unit, (10) is a traveling drive control device, (1,
2) (131 indicates the cut. Patent applicant Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Awa Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) In a method for guiding an unmanned trolley in which the trolley runs along a guide zone, a magnetic detection sensor that detects the magnetism of the guide strip and a traveling information storage section that records information on the traveling of the trolley are provided. In preparation for the bogie, each time the magnetic detection sensor detects a running information conversion point on the running surface side, the running information stored in the running information storage section is sequentially converted to determine the running direction of the bogie.
A method for guiding an unmanned trolley, characterized by controlling running speed.