JPS60159914A - Movement control device for self-running car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a control device without providing control devices of two systems by detecting passing of a self-running car in an intersection point of wirings placed on a floor, and executing simultaneously a track correction and the present position detection of the self-running car. CONSTITUTION:When one wheel 24 of a self-running car 22a is positioned on a specified intersection point 25a of wirings 23x, 23y, a conductive rubber material 26 inserted between both wirings is compressed by the weight of the self-running car 22a and a resistance value between both wirings is reduced. Accordingly, only the wiring 23y of the intersection point 25a shows a high voltage value, by which an (x) coordinate of the intersection point 25a is detected. In this case, an input/output switching circuit 30 is inverted, by which a (y) coordinate of the specified intersection point 25a is detected in a main controlling circuit 31. Also, by setting narrowly an interval of each wiring 23x, 23y spread all over a track sheet 21, a position shift of the present position against each track of each self- running car 22a... set in advance to a movement controlling circuit 32 can be corrected strictly.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a movement control device for a self-propelled vehicle that moves on a floor surface in a certain area, and in particular to a device for controlling the movement of a self-propelled vehicle that can accurately detect the current position of the self-propelled vehicle. The present invention relates to a vehicle movement control device.

[Technical background of the invention]

When the movement pattern of a cart for transporting goods in a goods warehouse is predetermined, a track is generally provided on the floor, and an unmanned self-propelled vehicle is run on the track. As a method for detecting the trajectory in such a movement control device for a self-propelled vehicle, for example, an electromagnetic induction method shown in FIG. 1, a light reflection guidance method shown in FIG. 2, etc. are adopted.

In the electromagnetic induction system shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic field of a magnetic body 3 made of an electromagnet or a permanent magnet placed in a groove of a track 2 on a floor 1 is applied to both wheels 5a of a self-propelled vehicle 4.

A pair of pickup coils 6a provided between pickup coils 5b.

6b, each of these pickup coils 6a
The difference in magnetic field strength detected at + 6b is detected by the deviation detection device 7, and the steering motor 8 connected to the steering wheel is controlled so that this difference becomes zero, and the center position of the self-propelled vehicle 4 is adjusted to the orbit. I'm trying to match it to 2. In addition, in the light reflection guidance system shown in Fig. 2, the track 2 on the floor 1 is coated with white paint that reflects light, and the two wheels of the self-propelled vehicle 4 are placed on the floor 1 including the track 2, with a distance of 5 m between the two wheels 5b. Light is irradiated by a horizontally long projector 9 provided. Then, the reflected light from orbit 2 is detected by a pair of photodetectors 10m' and 10b, and each amplifier 11
Each photodetector 10a, 10 amplified at h, llb
The difference in the detection signal from b is detected by the deviation detection device 7 in the same way as in FIG.
Then, the center position of the self-propelled vehicle 4 is aligned with the track 2 by applying power to the steering motor 8.

In addition, in FIG. 3, a radar device 12 is installed at each important point such as a corner of the track of the floor 1, and a laser beam output from this laser device 12 is scanned by a scanner 13 and irradiated onto the floor 1. There is.

A light receiving device 1 receives the laser beam from the self-propelled vehicle 4.
4 is attached, and the steering motor is controlled in the direction in which the amount of laser light W received by the light receiving device 14 (M) shows the maximum value.

[Problems with background technology]

However, the electromagnetic method shown in FIG. 1, the optical reflection guidance method shown in FIG. 2, and the laser guidance method shown in FIG. 3 have the following problems. That is, in each of the above-mentioned guidance methods, each self-propelled vehicle 4 can accurately travel on each track 2 set on the floor 1 and the trajectory 2 set by the laser beam, but it is possible for each self-propelled vehicle 4 to It is impossible to obtain information about where the user is currently located on the entire floor 1. Therefore, a detection device for detecting the current position of the self-propelled vehicle 4 must be provided separately. As a result, the number of devices and fixing devices mounted on the self-propelled vehicle 4 increases, resulting in the overall size of the self-propelled vehicle movement control device and the complexity of the control device. Also, complicated movement? It was difficult to set the turn. In particular, grasping the current positions of multiple self-propelled vehicles simultaneously and continuously requires large-scale equipment.
There was also the problem of increased installation costs.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to detect the trajectory of a self-propelled vehicle by detecting the passage of the self-propelled vehicle at the intersection of the wiring arranged on the floor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-propelled vehicle movement control device that can perform correction and current position detection at the same time, and can simplify the control device.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, a plurality of wires are arranged to intersect with each other on the floor surface on which the movement of the self-propelled vehicle is controlled, and when pressure is applied between the wires at each intersection of these intersecting wires by the wheels of the self-propelled vehicle, both ends A conductive material that changes the resistance between the two is inserted. Further, a pair of signal control circuits for selectively performing a signal application operation and a signal detection operation are connected to each of the plurality of mutually orthogonal wirings, and an input/output switching circuit controls the pair of The signal applying operation and the signal detecting operation in the signal control circuit are switched to different operations between the signal control circuits. Then, the main control circuit detects the intersection of the wires in which the pressurized conductive material is inserted, based on the signals output from each signal control circuit when the signal detection operation is switched. The detected intersection position is sent to a movement control circuit that controls the moving direction of the self-propelled vehicle.

[Embodiments of the invention]

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

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the wiring of the track sheet placed on the floor of the self-propelled vehicle movement control device of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing its details. In this embodiment, a track sheet 2 is laid out on the floor surface, and for example, three self-propelled vehicles 22a, 22 are controlled to move on this track sheet 21.
b + 22 c runs. The track sheet 21 has a substantially rectangular shape, and wires 23x and 23y are laid out at regular intervals in the X-axis direction and in the X-axis direction. The above-mentioned interval is set to a dimension equal to or less than the width of each wheel 24 of the self-propelled vehicles 22a, 22b, and 22c.

As shown in FIG. 5, each intersection 25 where the wiring 23x in the X-axis direction and the wiring 237 in the Y-axis intersect at right angles is a plate-shaped wiring 237 placed on the lower side and a plate-shaped wiring 237 placed on the upper side. A rectangular parallelepiped conductive rubber material 26 is inserted as a conductive material between the wiring 23x and the wiring 23x. When this conductive rubber material 26 is compressed by an external force, the resistance value between both ends in the compression direction decreases. Therefore, this intersection 5
When downward pressure is applied to the top surface of wiring 23x, wiring M2
3 The resistance between x and the wiring 237 decreases. The X-axis connection terminal 27X of each wiring 23x is attached to the side of the track sheet 21 in the X-axis direction, and the X-axis connection terminal 27X of each wiring 23x is attached to the side of the track sheet 21 in the Y-axis direction.
No. 7 Y-axis connection terminal 277 is connected.

The X-axis connection terminal 21x and the Y-axis connection terminal 27y are connected to the X-axis signal control circuit 29x+Y-axis signal control circuit 297 in FIG. 6 via connection cables 28x and 28V, respectively. Note that an insulating sheet (not shown) is attached to the upper surface of each upper wiring 23x.

In FIG. 6, the X-axis signal control circuit 29x performs a signal application operation of simultaneously applying a constant voltage to each wire 23x connected via the X-axis connection terminal 27x, and detects each voltage generated on each wire 23x. The signal detection operation is configured to be performed alternatively. The Y-axis signal control circuit 29y also has the same operational functions as the X-axis signal control circuit 29x. Switching commands for each operation in the X-axis signal control circuit 29x and Y-axis signal control circuit 297 are issued by the input/output switching circuit 3o.
Sent from This input/output switching circuit 3o is connected to each signal control circuit 29x, 2 based on a command from the main control circuit 3.
A switching command is sent to 9y to invert at regular intervals.

At this time, different switching commands are always sent to each signal control circuit 29x, 29y. That is, one is controlled so that it is in a signal application operation and the other is in a signal detection operation.

While each signal control circuit 29x, 29y is in a signal detection operation, the voltage inputted from each wiring 23x and each wiring 237 is sent to the main control circuit 31. This main control circuit 31 includes each signal control circuit 29x.

Based on the above voltage data from 29y, each self-propelled vehicle 22h
, 22b, and 22c, and sends the results to a movement control circuit 32 that controls the movement direction of each self-propelled vehicle 22a+22b*22c. Furthermore, this movement control circuit 32 transmits a movement command to each self-propelled vehicle 22a*22b+22c via a transmitter 33 by wireless communication.

In the self-propelled vehicle movement control device configured as described above, while the self-propelled vehicle 22th+22br22c is moving on the sheet 21 spread on the floor, the input/output switching circuit 30 operates based on a command from the main control circuit 31. X-axis signal control circuit 29x
Switching commands continue to be sent to the +Y-axis signal control circuit 297 at regular intervals. Therefore, a constant voltage is alternately applied to each wiring 23x and each wiring 237 at a constant period. Now, suppose that one wheel 24 of the self-propelled vehicle 22a is connected to the wiring 23.
Assuming that it is located on a specific intersection 25a of x and 23y,
The conductive rubber material 26 inserted between the wires 23xa and 23ya at this intersection 25a is compressed by the weight of the self-propelled vehicle 22th including the wheels 24. Therefore, the resistance between both ends of the conductive rubber material 26 is reduced, and the resistance between the wiring 23xa and the wiring 23ya is reduced. In this state, when the X-axis signal control circuit 29x is applying a signal, the wiring 23xth
The voltage applied to the conductive rubber material 2 with reduced resistance value
6 to the wiring 231h. Also, in this state, the Y-axis signal control circuit 297 is in the signal detection operation, so the voltage transmitted from the wire 23xa of the wire 231a passing through the specific intersection 25& is input to the Y-axis signal control circuit 29ya. . Therefore, among the voltages generated in all the wirings 237 in the Y-axis direction that are input to the main control circuit 31, only the voltage of the wiring 23ya passing through the specific intersection 25m exhibits a high value. Therefore, the X coordinate of the specific intersection 25a can be detected from the position where the wiring 237h of the main control circuit 511rl is arranged.

Next, under the same conditions, when the switching command of the input/output switching circuit 30 is reversed, the Y-axis signal control circuit 29y is no longer in the signal application operation, and the X-axis signal control circuit 29x is in the signal detection operation. In this case, a constant voltage is applied to the wiring 23ya in the Y-axis direction passing through the specific intersection 25a, and the wiring 23ya in the X-axis direction
The above voltage is transmitted to xa. Therefore, in the same manner as described above, the main control circuit 31
The y-coordinate of is detected. Therefore, the absolute position of the wheel 24 of the self-propelled vehicle 22g on the track sheet 2 is determined by the coordinates (x,
y) Demaru. In a similar manner, the absolute positions of the other three wheels 24 of the self-propelled vehicle 22m and the absolute positions of the other self-propelled vehicles 22b and 22e are determined. Note that by setting the switching frequency of the switching command sent from the input/output switching circuit 30 to each signal control circuit 29x, 29y high, each self-propelled vehicle 22a +
The absolute positions of 22b + 22c, that is, the current positions during movement, can be detected simultaneously and continuously.

Each self-propelled vehicle 22a22b detected by the main control circuit 31,
The current position of 22c is sent to the movement control circuit 32.

Based on the current position information input from the main control circuit 31, this movement control circuit 32 transmits information to each self-propelled vehicle 2 via a transmitter 33.
A movement command indicating the next movement direction is transmitted to each of the 2h*22br22c. Each self-propelled vehicle 22ar 22b + 2
2c each receives its own movement command (Th, and travels to the destination.

With the self-propelled vehicle movement control device configured in this way, no matter which position on the track sheet 2) each self-propelled vehicle 22a + 22 b r 22e is moving, its current position is continuous. detected. In addition, orbital sheet 2
By narrowly setting the intervals between each wiring 23x and each wiring 237, each self-propelled vehicle 221k + 22 b H22 set in advance in the movement control circuit 32 is set narrowly.
It is also possible to strictly correct the positional deviation of the current position with respect to each trajectory of c. Therefore, in the − group control system,
Fine trajectory correction and current position detection of each of the self-propelled vehicles 22a+22b r 22c can be performed simultaneously and easily. As a result, unlike conventional devices, there is no need to separately provide a detection device for detecting the current position, so the control device can be simplified.

In addition, self-propelled vehicles 22h and 2 that can run on the track sheet 21 are also provided.
The number of vehicles 2b and 22e can be set freely, and the track sheet 2 and each signal control circuit 29x detect the position of each self-propelled vehicle even if the number of vehicles is increased.

29y, there is no need to change the configuration of devices such as the input/output switching circuit 30.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the self-propelled vehicle movement control device of the above-described embodiment is applied to an article movement system. Is there a port for holding articles (not shown) in the self-propelled vehicle 41 used in this application example? A cut 42 is installed. A track 43 indicating the direction of movement of the self-propelled vehicle 41 is drawn on the floor. In addition, a table 44 m + 44 for placing articles transported by the self-propelled vehicle 41
The above-mentioned track sheet 45* is placed on the front floor surface of b.
45b is laid. And each track sheet 45a,
45b is connected to an operation panel 46 housing each control component shown in FIG. Then, each unit 44 is stored in the storage section of the operation panel 46.
The values obtained by converting the article loading position of m, 44b and the stopping position of the self-propelled vehicle 41 into the coordinates of each track sheet 45*, 45b are stored.

Then, by radio control from the operation panel 46, the self-propelled vehicle 41 is moved to the orbit 43 with the robot 42 holding the article.
For example, a table 44a on which an article of 45 g of track sheet is placed.
Move it to the front of. Then, it is stopped at the exact position of the track sheet 45m stored in the storage section using the above-described means. Then the mouth? The article is placed at a precise position on the stand 44a by operating the cutter 42.

Note that the same procedure is followed when placing an article on the stand 44b. By applying the self-propelled vehicle movement control device of the embodiment in this way, articles can be moved to more accurate positions.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. In Example 2, a conductive rubber material was used as the conductive material whose resistance between both ends changes when pressurized, but other materials having similar characteristics may be used.

Alternatively, the wiring may be installed directly on the floor without using a track sheet.

[Effect of the invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the floor (track sheet)
The current position of the self-propelled vehicle is determined by detecting the passage of the self-propelled vehicle at the intersections of the wires arranged in the grid. Furthermore, by setting the wiring spacing narrowly, detailed trajectory corrections for self-propelled vehicles can be performed at the same time. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide two systems of control devices, one for orbit correction and one for current position detection, the control device can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 are schematic diagrams showing a conventional self-propelled vehicle movement control device, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a track sheet of a self-propelled vehicle movement control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 6 is a control block diagram of the control device, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram in which the control device is applied to an article moving system. 21.45&, 45b--orbital sheet, 22a. 22b, 22c, 41... self-propelled vehicle, 23 x, 23
y...Wiring, 24...Wheel, 25...Intersection, 26
...Conductive rubber material, 29x...X-axis signal control circuit,
297... X-axis signal control circuit, 30... Input/output switching circuit, 31... Main control circuit, 32... Movement control circuit. Applicant's agent Takehiko E, patent attorney

Claims (1)

[Claims] A self-propelled vehicle that is controlled to move on a floor surface, a plurality of wires arranged on the floor surface that intersect with each other, and a wire that is inserted between the wires at each intersection of these wires, and that is connected to the wheels of the self-propelled vehicle. A plurality of conductive materials whose resistance between both ends changes when pressurized are respectively connected to the plurality of interconnections that intersect with each other, and selectively performs a signal application operation and a signal detection operation for each interconnection. a pair of signal control circuits for execution; an input/output switching circuit for switching the signal application operation and signal detection operation in the pair of signal control circuits to different operations between the signal control circuits; and the input/output switching circuit. Detecting the intersection of the wires in which the pressurized conductive material is inserted based on the signals output from each of the signal control circuits when the circuit switches to signal detection operation, and detecting the detected intersection A self-propelled vehicle movement control device comprising: a main control circuit that sends the position to a movement control circuit that controls the moving direction of the self-propelled vehicle.