JPS61105620A - Optical moving car guided path - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make easily a mark, and to suppress a wrong detection by constituting a running control mark by arranging plural kinds of mark constituting parts. CONSTITUTION:A moving car A which can drive and lift freely a load placing base 1 is provided, plural load moving and placing stations ST are provided on the side part of a moving car running path, the moving car A is run between the stations, and a carrying work of various loads is executed. Marks m1-m3 for displaying a running control command of a stop position of the moving car A to the station ST, a branch start position in a crossing point, a deceleration running start position, etc., and plural running address marks (mx) for displaying a running address are stuck to a guidance tape 4, so that various information of destination data, turning data, etc. can be transferred to the moving car side from the ground side. That is to say, an image processing controller 8 discriminates each mark m1-m3 by what is called a pattern recognition.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical moving vehicle guideway for automatically driving moving vehicles used for transporting goods, etc. The present invention relates to an optical vehicle guideway in which a light-reflecting guide tape for moving vehicles is provided, and a plurality of light-reflecting travel control marks are provided at required portions of a guide line formed by the guide tape.

[Conventional technology]

On such taxiways, guidance tapes are arranged to form bifurcated or trifurcated intersections, or guidance tapes are arranged to form a guidance line so that moving vehicles can travel between multiple stations. Marks and parts of guidance lines that display various driving control commands, such as commands for moving vehicles to go straight or branch at intersections and commands for automatically stopping vehicles at stations, etc. A travel control mark such as a travel address mark that displays the position of the vehicle as a travel address will be provided. In addition, on the taxiway to which the present invention is directed, the moving vehicle side is provided with both steering control information and travel control information.
Since it can be detected by two optical sensors, it can be advantageous for the configuration of the moving vehicle, and since both the guide tape and the mark are located on the guide line, it is easy to install the mark. This can be done, for example, by pasting the mark on the guide tape or by positioning it between the front and back divided guide tapes, which has the advantage of simplifying the mark installation work.

By the way, conventionally, when configuring a plurality of marks in different shapes, each mark was formed separately so as to have a different shape.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

If each mark is formed separately so that it has a different form as in the past, it will be necessary to produce the same number of marks with different forms as the number of mark types required, and the mark production will be slow. Not only does this have the disadvantage of being complicated, but also the shape of each mark is complicated, which makes it more likely to cause false detection.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to facilitate the production of marks and to suppress erroneous detection.
) [Means for Solving the Problems] The characteristic configuration of the optical mobile vehicle guideway according to the present invention is that the travel control mark is configured by arranging a plurality of types of mark configuration parts, and the effects thereof are as follows. The effects are as follows.

[For production]

That is, a plurality of types of marks can be formed by arranging the plurality of mark-forming portions differently. In other words, a large number of types of marks can be constructed by manufacturing a small number of mark-forming parts.

〔effect〕

Therefore, it is only necessary to manufacture a small number of mark-forming parts, making it easy to manufacture marks.Furthermore, since the form of the mark-forming parts can be simplified, the mark-forming parts can be made easily. The marks made up of these can also be simplified and false detections can be suppressed.
An optical vehicle guideway that is excellent both in terms of production and use has been achieved.

〔Example〕

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

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a mobile vehicle (A) 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 on the side, and is configured to allow the moving vehicle (A) to travel one line between stations while carrying out the work of transporting each load.

The mobile vehicle (A) includes 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 two electric motors (M) are configured to be operated to change speeds so as to provide a difference in rotational speed for steering.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a light-reflecting guide tape (4) for configuring a moving vehicle guiding line is provided on the traveling road surface, and the moving vehicle (A) is guided along the guiding tape (4). A moving vehicle (A) is provided with means for controlling it to run automatically.
It is designed to run automatically between stations. In order to constitute the control means, a detection section consisting of a light emitting device (5) and an optical sensor (6) for detecting driving information configured as an image sensor is installed at each of the front and rear ends of the mobile vehicle (A). A host controller (7), an image processing controller (8), a digital servo controller (
9) is provided on the moving vehicle side,
Furthermore, encoders (
e) to the digital servo controller (9), and connect the servo amplifier (
10) is connected to the digital servo controller (9) via the servo amplifier driver (11), and
Guide tape (4) with image processing controller (8)
Both electric motors (M
) is configured to change gears.

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 (ml) for displaying travel control commands such as a stop position of the mobile vehicle (^) with respect to the station (ST), a branch start position at an intersection, and a deceleration travel start position.
, (m3), (m3) and multiple driving address marks (mx) that display the driving address are attached to the guidance tape (4), and various information such as destination data and turning data is displayed on the ground side. so that the information can be transmitted from the vehicle to the moving vehicle, and
In order to transmit various information such as station arrival data and intersection arrival data from the moving vehicle side to the ground side, optical communication devices (12) and (13) consisting of an infrared emitter (a) and an infrared receiver (b) are used. ) are provided on the moving vehicle side, the station section on the ground side, and the intersection section, and the moving vehicle side optical communication device (12) is installed in the host controller (7).
and connect the ground-side optical communication equipment (13) to the ground-side central control device (V), respectively.
), the mobile vehicle (A) can automatically travel to a desired station (ST) while branching at intersections based on various information such as information input to the vehicle (A) and information stored in advance.

In other words, the optical sensor (6) detects steering control information as well as travel control command information by reading marks, and the image processing controller (8) transmits a mark discrimination signal to the host controller (7). but,
Traveling speed information, turning information, forward and backward movement information, etc. are transmitted to the digital servo controller (9), the digital servo controller (9) transmits selection information of the detection section to be used to the image processing controller (8), and further, The digital servo controller (9) transmits information on whether or not the moving vehicle ( A) travel control is performed. However, a command information input section for the central controller (V) is provided at each station (ST), and an information input section for the host controller (7) is provided in the mobile vehicle (A).

To further explain the travel control operation based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, when a travel command such as destination data is transmitted to the moving vehicle (A), the optical sensor (6
) image capture is started, direction control is performed as the amount of deviation from the center of the light reflective tape (4) is measured, and then travel control command marks (ml), (m2), (
Upon reading m3), the vehicle will diverge at intersections, decelerate near stations, and temporarily stop at stations (ST), etc. In addition, when starting the image capture, if there is no guide tape (4) (marks (ml), (mz), (ms), (m
x)), the mobile vehicle (A) is set to make an emergency stop to increase safety, and the mobile vehicle (A) runs only when there is a start command (power ON signal for the mobile vehicle to run). will be done.

If we add an explanation to the above branching operation, moving vehicle (A)
As it arrives near the intersection, the optical communication device (12)
(13), the turning pattern is transmitted to the mobile vehicle (A), and the vehicle (A) travels while determining the traveling speed, steering amount, etc. based on the turning pattern.

In addition, each moving vehicle (A) is given a machine number in advance, and the current position of each moving vehicle (A) detected by reading the traveling address mark (mx) is transmitted to the optical communication device (A) along with the machine number. 12) and (13) are transmitted to the central control device (V), and the central control device (V) monitors the entire seven types of moving vehicles (A).
In other words, as shown in FIG. 1, each travel address mark (mx) is composed of three travel control command marks (m, ), (mz), (+113
) are arranged side by side in different ways,
Then, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, multiple types of marks (ml), (mz
), (ms) is detected, the mark (Illx) is
'Discriminate which of the mark combinations in the table stored in OM etc., and based on the determination result, the running address (
It will be stored as the current address (□ address).

Also, 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. I will do it.

Adding an explanation to the above-mentioned stoppage, the optical sensor (front image sensor) on the moving direction side detects the deceleration mark (m3), and then the second stop mark (m3) is detected.
, ) is detected, the vehicle is stopped, and after the vehicle has stopped traveling, the light sensor (rear image sensor 3) (6) on the opposite side of the traveling direction of the moving vehicle detects the stop mark (
m,) is detected, and if it is detected, a normal stop is performed, and if it is not detected, an abnormal stop processing is performed, for example, the stop control is performed again after once reversing. It is configured to perform stop position correction control such as repeating, or alarm processing using a lamp, buzzer, etc. In other words, for one station (ST), there are two stop marks (+w,) and two deceleration marks (
ms), and by making effective use of this fact, two stop marks (IIIO) are placed on two optical sensors (6
) to check whether the moving vehicle (A) has made an open run at the predetermined position and stopped.
Judgment is made based on whether the optical sensor (rear image sensor 3) (6) on the opposite side to the moving direction of the moving vehicle detects a stop mark (mI), and abnormal stop processing is performed based on the judgment result. It is designed so that it can be

Figure 2 shows the guide tape (4) and the travel control command marks (n+3), (town), (II+,) and travel address marks (mx>) attached to it. Mark (IIIO, (a+3), (111
3) are white parts (4a) and (14a) as strip-shaped parts with high light reflectance, and black parts (4b) as strip-shaped parts with low light reflectance.

(14b) are lined up to form parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the guideway. However, each mark (ml), (m3).

(mI) so that the center of the tape can be measured even while passing through the installation point of the tape. It is designed to do so.

That is, the image processing controller (8), for example, based on the outside edge of the white part on both ends in the tape width direction in the captured image and the tape center stored in advance,
Each mark (mI), (mz) , (m
3) is determined.

[Separate implementation issue]

Next, I will explain Betsuji Zeppuru.

In order to make the mobile vehicle (A) run automatically, the specific means of each part, such as making the signal exchange between the mobile vehicle (A) and the central control unit (V) be performed by guided radio system, are as follows: Various changes can be made depending on the target 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 a picture tube may be used, and a scanner section that scans a laser beam in the width direction of the optical reading guide and receives the reflected light, and a signal from this scanner section that processes the signal. Alternatively, a barcode reader equipped with a decoder unit that outputs steering control information or traveling control command information may be used. In this case, the steering control information is obtained by installing an angle sensor that scans the laser beam and detects the phase of a swinging or rotating mirror.
The calculation is based on pre-stored mirror angle information when the vehicle is traveling along the center of the guide line and detected mirror angle information.

In the example, a travel address mark (
mx), and its running address mark (mx)
An example is given in which three travel control command marks (m, ), (mz), and (ms) as multiple types of mark configuration parts are arranged in different ways in the taxiway width direction. Travel control command mark (ml), (mz)
, (n+1) may be arranged in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway (or travel control command marks (m,), (m3)
.

(m3) With multiple types of mark composition parts different from
A travel address mark (IIIx) may be configured, in which case travel control command marks (m,), (m3),
(m3) may also be configured by the means of the present invention, such as a traveling address mark (mx), a traveling control command mark (ml), (
mg) and (+113) are collectively referred to as travel control marks. Furthermore, the number of mark-forming parts can be changed in various ways, such as not only three but also two, four or more.

Incidentally, the number of travel control marks obtained is the factorial of the number of mark constituent parts.

As mentioned above, travel control marks (m +), (mz)
, (+113).

(IIIx) arranged in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway, they may be placed close to each other and detected by one optical sensor (6), or as shown in FIG. Detection may also be performed using a sensor (6).

To explain the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the mark forming parts (mx, ), (mxz), (mx3)
are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway at an interval between a pair of front and rear optical sensors (6) provided on the moving vehicle side, thereby forming a travel stop mark and a branch travel mark.

The control operation in the case of this configuration is shown in FIG. 9, where the front sensor (6) is connected to the mark configuration part (mxl
), (mxz), (mxt) and then the second mark configuration part (mxl), (next),
When (+nxs) is detected, the rear sensor (6) also detects the mark forming parts (mx, ), (+++xt),
(Ilxs), both sensors (6),
Travel control is performed while distinguishing marks based on the detection information (6).

Although omitted in the above explanation, it is of course possible to perform travel control while providing a travel address mark in this case, and in that case, whether the travel address mark is used, the travel stop mark or It is determined in advance whether it is a branch travel mark, and the travel address storage process and travel control process are performed based on the result.

By the way, the mark composition part (mxl) + (mxz)
.

(IIIx3) arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway to form a mark, in addition to being detected by a pair of front and rear optical sensors (6), the mark structure is detected while traveling within a set distance. Part for (mxl),
Various means can be considered, such as making mark discrimination based on the stored information of (mx3) and (mx3). In this case as well, it goes without saying that the number of mark-forming portions to be arranged may be three or more.

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. The time of travel at a certain point may be determined without steering control, and in that case, the mark form may be changed to parallel stripes along the longitudinal direction of the taxiway or various other changes may be made.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the optical vehicle guideway according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a partially omitted plan view of the guideway, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the specific configuration of travel control, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the specific configuration of travel control. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the route, FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the moving vehicle, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the travel control operation, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the stop control operation, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the travel address reading control operation. FIG. 8 is a partially omitted plan view showing a guideway in another embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the travel control operation in another embodiment. (4)...Induction tape, (6)...
Optical sensor, (m,), (m3), (+113)
Or (mx,), (mxz), (mx3)
-... Mark configuration part, (mx)... Travel control mark.

Claims (1)

[Claims] [1] A light-reflecting guide tape (4) is provided for the moving vehicle (A) equipped with an optical sensor (6) for detecting driving information, and a light-reflecting driving control mark (mx) is provided. multiple pieces of
An optical mobile vehicle guideway provided in a required part of a guide line constituted by the guide tape (4), wherein the travel control mark (mx) is arranged in a plurality of types of mark forming parts (
m_1), (m_2), (m_3) or (mx_1
), (mx_2), and (mx_3) are arranged side by side. [2] The mark forming portions (m_1), (m_2),
(m_3) are arranged in the width direction of the guideway. [3] Each mark configuration portion (mx_1), (mx_
2), (mx_3) are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the taxiway. [4] Each mark configuration portion (mx_1), (mx_
2), (mx_3) are arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the guideway.