JPS60256813A - Control equipment for optical guide type traveling truck - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display the accurate information by means of a light reflecting tape and a control indication mark regardless of the state of the drive path surface, by forming the light reflecting tape for guidance and the indication mark in parallel to each other along the lengthwise direction of each guide path in the form of parallel stripes. CONSTITUTION:A light reflecting tape 4 for guidance of traveling truck and control indication marks m1-m3 bonded to the tape 4 are put on the surface of the drive path. A steering control means is provided for automatic drive of the traveling truck along the tape 4. For the steering control means, a detection part consisting of a light emitter and an optical sensor for steering control is set at the front and rear ends of the truck respectively. For the tape 4 and marks m1-m3, the belt-shaped white parts 4a and 14a having a high light reflection factor and the belt-shaped black parts 4b and 14b of a low light reflection factor are put side by side in the lateral direction of the guide path in the form of parallel stripes.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optically guided mobile vehicle control equipment for automatically driving a mobile vehicle used for transporting goods, etc. The present invention relates to optically guided mobile vehicle control equipment that allows the vehicle to travel while detecting the taxiway using an optical sensor.

[Conventional technology]

In such control equipment, light-reflecting tape is arranged to form bifurcated or tri-furcated intersections, or light-reflecting tape is used to configure taxiways so that moving vehicles travel between multiple stations. In addition, marks will be provided to display various travel control commands, such as commands for moving vehicles to go straight or branch at intersections, and commands for automatically stopping vehicles at stations, etc. It turns out.

The mark was placed on the lateral side of the light reflective tape.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

By the way, in such control equipment, it is desirable to be able to accurately detect the light reflective tape and marks so as to be able to effectively guide moving vehicles.

Furthermore, if the control instruction mark is placed on the side of the light reflective tape as described above, there is the disadvantage that the moving vehicle must be equipped with a dedicated mark reading sensor to read the mark. However, in order to install multiple control instruction marks on the road surface, the distance from the light-reflecting tape that makes up the taxiway must be measured and placed accurately, which is a time-consuming and troublesome task. , there were also disadvantages in terms of mark placement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to enable accurate detection of light-reflecting tapes and marks without causing disadvantages in guiding moving vehicles. Another advantage is that it is possible to display travel control commands in a state that is advantageous for both the moving vehicle configuration surface and the mark installation surface.

[Means for solving problems] Features of the optically guided mobile vehicle control equipment according to the present invention.

The feature is that a moving vehicle control instruction mark is provided on the light reflective tape so as to be continuous in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway, and each of the light reflective tape and the moving vehicle control instruction mark is formed of a strip-shaped portion having a high light reflectance. and a band-shaped portion with low light reflectance, and are formed in parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the guideway, and its effects are as follows.

[For production]

In other words, by forming the light-reflecting tape and the control instruction mark into parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the taxiway, the light-reflecting tape and the control instruction mark can be formed into parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the taxiway, so that the light-reflecting tape and the control instruction mark can be used regardless of the condition of the traveling road surface, such as a colored one, or regardless of dirt such as adhesion of dust. This allows accurate information to be displayed on each of the light reflective tape and the control instruction mark.

In addition, the optical sensor that detects the steering control information for guiding the moving vehicle based on the light reflective tape can also detect the 11 travel control command information based on the control instruction mark located on the taxiway. 6.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, while accurately detecting both the light reflective tape and the mark, it is possible to properly guide the moving vehicle without any trouble.

In addition, both the steering control information and the travel control command information,
Since it can be detected by one optical sensor installed on the moving vehicle side, it is possible to make the configuration of the moving vehicle advantageous, and furthermore, the control instruction mark can be placed against the light reflective tape on the taxiway. Since the marks are provided in a continuous manner in the longitudinal direction, it is possible to install the marks by, for example, pasting the mark on the light-reflecting tape, adding the mark to the light-reflecting tape in advance, or attaching the mark to the light-reflecting tape before and after the light-reflecting tape is separated. Since this can be done by positioning the mark between the marks, the mark setting work can also be simplified.

Moreover, particularly according to the present invention, the control instruction mark is formed into parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the taxiway, so that it can be efficiently recognized based on the image of the optical sensor in a one-dimensional direction along the width direction of the taxiway. Because you can, that is,
For example, if the mark is configured to form parallel stripes along the width direction of the taxiway, it is necessary to recognize it based on two-dimensional images of the optical sensor along the length and width directions of the taxiway. , the mark can be recognized more efficiently than that, so even though the mark is positioned on the guideway, steering control can be performed as much as possible to guide the moving vehicle well. So, as a whole,
We have now achieved an optically guided moving vehicle control facility that has great practical advantages in terms of vehicle guidance, vehicle configuration, and guideway configuration.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a mobile vehicle (8) equipped with a loading platform (1) that can be driven up and down is provided, and a plurality of load transfer stations (ST) are placed beside the traveling path of the mobile vehicle. It is located at the side and is configured to allow the mobile vehicle (A) to travel between stations while transporting each load.

The mobile vehicle (8) comprises a pair of left and right propulsion wheels (
2) can be driven independently by a pair of electric motors (M), and a pair of left and right caster-type idle wheels (3) are provided at the front and rear ends of the vehicle body to drive the left and right propulsion wheels (2). The structure is such that the two electric motors (M) are operated to change speeds so as to provide a difference in rotational speed for steering.

As shown in Figures 1 and 4, a light-reflecting tape (4) for configuring a vehicle taxiway is provided on the running road surface, and the vehicle (A) is automatically guided along the light-reflecting tape (4). A steering control means is provided so that the moving vehicle (A) automatically travels between stations.

In order to constitute the steering control means, a detection section consisting of a light emitting device (5) and a light sensor (6) configured as an image sensor is provided at each of the front and rear ends of the mobile vehicle (8), A travel control device (H) equipped with a host controller (7), an image processing controller (8), and a digital servo controller (9) is provided on the mobile vehicle side, and encoders attached to both electric motors (M) are provided. (e) is connected to the digital servo controller (9), and the servo amplifiers (10) for both electric motors (M) are connected to the digital servo controller (9) via the servo amplifier driver (11). The image processing controller (8) is configured to change the speed of both electric motors (M) in order to reduce the amount of lateral deviation of the vehicle body relative to the light reflective tape (4) to zero.

It should be noted that of both the detection sections, the one on the front side is selectively used when the vehicle is moving forward, and the one on the rear side is selectively used when the vehicle is moving backward.

Also, a mark (m,) for displaying travel control commands such as the stop position of the mobile vehicle (8) with respect to the station (ST), the branching start position at the intersection, and the deceleration travel start position.
, (mz), (n+,) are attached to the reflective tape (4), and various information such as destination data and turning data is transmitted from the ground side to the moving vehicle side. In addition, in order to transmit various information such as station arrival data and intersection arrival data from the moving vehicle side to the ground side, an infrared emitter (a) and an infrared receiver (b) are installed.
The optical communication devices (12) and (13) consisting of the following are installed on the moving vehicle side, the station section on the ground side, and the intersection section, respectively, and the moving vehicle side optical communication device (12) is installed on the host controller 1-roller (7). ), and the ground-side optical communication device (13)
are connected to the central control device (v) on the ground side, respectively, and
Based on various information such as information input to the central control device (V) and information stored in advance, the moving vehicle (A) is directed to a desired station (ST) while branching at the intersection.
This allows the vehicle to run automatically.

In other words, the optical sensor (6) detects the steering control information as well as the driving control command information by reading the mark, and the image processing controller (8) transmits the mark discrimination signal to the host controller (7). transmits traveling speed information, turning information, forward/reverse information, etc. to the digital servo controller (9), and the digital servo controller (9) transmits selection information of the detection section to be used to the image processing controller (8). Furthermore, information is exchanged between the controllers (7), (8), and (9), such as transmitting information as to whether the digital servo controller (9) is running or not to the host controller (7). The driving control of the mobile vehicle (A) is performed while the vehicle (A) is running. However, each station (ST) is provided with a command information input unit for the central controller (v), and
The mobile vehicle (A) is equipped with an information input section for the host controller (7).

To further explain the travel control operation described above based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
) image capture is started, and steering control is performed in accordance with the measurement of the amount of deviation of the light reflective tape (4) from the center.Next, control instruction marks (ml), (m-), (m,
), the vehicle will diverge at intersections, decelerate near stations, and temporarily stop at stations (ST), etc. In addition, when starting image capture, if there is no light reflective tape (4) (including when there are no control instruction marks (ml), (m2), (mz)), an emergency stop will be performed to ensure safety. It is designed to increase the
The moving vehicle (A) will be driven only when there is a traffic signal).

Furthermore, to explain the above-mentioned branching, as the moving vehicle (A) arrives near the intersection, the optical communication device (1)
2), (13) changes the turning pattern to the moving vehicle (A
), and the vehicle is driven while determining the traveling speed, steering amount, etc. based on this information.

Although the explanation of the above control operation has been omitted, each moving vehicle (A) is given a car number in advance,
Each mobile vehicle (
The current position of A) is transmitted together with the car number to the central control unit (V), and the entire mass of moving vehicles (A) is monitored by the central control unit (V). Furthermore, when multiple vehicles (A) arrive at one merging intersection, the optical communication devices (12) and (13) give start/stop commands to the vehicles (A) to avoid collisions. It turns out.

Figure 2 shows the light reflective tape (4) and the control instruction marks (mI), (mz), (mz) attached to it;
(m2).

(mz), white parts (4a) and (14a) as strip-shaped parts with high light reflectance and black parts (4b) and (14b) as strip-shaped parts with low light reflectance in the taxiway width direction. They are arranged in parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the guideway. However, each mark (m,), (m2).

In order to be able to measure the tape center even while passing through the installation location of (+113), the center between the white parts (14b) located on both ends of the tape in the lateral middle direction and the lateral outer edges of (14b) coincides with the tape center. That's how it is.

That is, the image processing controller (8) selects the light-reflecting tape (4) based on the outside edge of the white part of the tape at both ends in the 11-direction direction in the captured image and the tape center stored in advance. Each mark (ml), (m2),
(mz).

[Another example]

Next, another example will be described.

In order to make the mobile vehicle (8) run automatically, the specific means of each part, such as making the signal transmission and reception between the mobile vehicle (A) and the central control unit (v) be performed by guided radio system, are determined according to the intended use. Various changes can be made depending on the location, etc.

In addition, when configuring the moving vehicle (A), the specific configuration for steering, accessory devices provided for work, etc. can be changed in various ways depending on the purpose of use.

Further, as the optical sensor (6), a CCD camera is generally used, but a sensor having other configurations may also be used. For example, a camera equipped with an image pickup tube may be used, and a scanner unit that scans a laser beam in the direction along the optical guide path and receives the reflected light, and processes signals from this scanner unit. A barcode league including a decoder section that outputs steering control information or driving control command information may be used. In this case, information for steering control is obtained by installing an angle sensor that scans the laser beam and detects the phase of the swinging or rotating mirror, and stores information in advance when the vehicle runs in the center of the guidance line. It is calculated based on the mirror angle information and the detected mirror angle information.

Control instruction mark (+nI), (m2), (
mz), in addition to those described in the above embodiments, various types of markings can be considered, such as counting marks arranged at set intervals in the direction of the traveling route in order to detect the amount of movement of the moving vehicle along the traveling route. . Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the amount of lateral deviation from the tape center can be calculated and determined from the mark reading image, that is, the case where the steering control is performed even when traveling at the mark installation location was exemplified. It may also be implemented in such a manner that no steering control is performed when the vehicle is running, and in that case, the form of the mark can be changed in various ways.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the optically guided mobile vehicle control equipment according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a partially omitted plan view of a taxiway, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of travel control, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the travel route, and FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the moving vehicle. (4)...Light reflective tape, (6)...
Optical sensor, (14a), (14b) --Striped portion, (ml), (m2), (m3)...
Control instruction mark. Representative Patent Attorney Osamu Kitamura

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An optically guided moving vehicle control equipment configured to run on a guideway constituted by a light-reflecting tape (4) while being detected by an optical sensor (6), wherein the light-reflecting tape (
4) Moving vehicle control instruction marks (ml) in a state that continues in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway. (m2), (m=), the light reflective tape (4) and the vehicle control instruction mark (m,),
(m2). (m3) is made up of strip-shaped parts (4a) and (14a) with high light reflectance and strip-shaped parts (4b) and (14b) with low light reflectance, and parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the taxiway. Optical guided mobile vehicle control equipment is formed.