JPS63204417A - Control system for operation of unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the availability of the titled system by providing two optical communication devices with a space secured between them so that a master station central controller can recognize unmanned carriers even in case plural carriers return to a home station at one time. CONSTITUTION:A master station central controller 3 transmits the operation control information via an optical communication device 5b to an unmanned carrier 11 which returns to a home station 2a set on a guided route 2 after finishing its jobs. If another carrier 1 returns to the station 2a during transmission of said control information, the information is transferred to the second carrier 1 via an optical communication devices 5a set with a space L against the device 5b. Thus, these carriers 1 can be confirmed. Therefore, the information can be transferred between the controller 3 and the first and final carriers 1 respectively even in case all carriers 1 return to the station 2a at one time as long as the spaces L are set in response to the total number of carriers 1. In such a way, the control system is accurately controlled together with its improved availability.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] After completing the instructed work, the automatic guided vehicle returns to the home station. Even if multiple automatic guided vehicles return to the home station and are waiting, , the automated guided vehicle that has returned to the last position is also placed on standby with two optical communication devices placed at intervals to send and receive information to and from the automated guided vehicle so that the master station central control unit can check the automated guided vehicle. This system enables reliable management of unmanned guided vehicles.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an unmanned vehicle management and operation control system that manages automatic guided vehicles and provides operation control information to carry out general transportation of articles.

In factories, etc., it is necessary to transport goods between arbitrary designated locations, and for this purpose, four guided travel routes are set in advance and automatic guided vehicles are run automatically along the guided travel routes. , a system for transporting goods has been adopted. In such an unmanned guided vehicle system, there is a demand for efficient operation of the unmanned guided vehicle in which the layout of the guide route can be easily changed.

[Conventional technology]

In unmanned transportation systems, optical guidance methods, electromagnetic guidance methods, self-contained navigation methods, and the like are known in order to make automatic guided vehicles travel automatically. The optical guidance method uses a tape with a different reflectance than the floor surface to form a guidance path.
The automatic guided vehicle travels along the tape while detecting differences in reflectance. Further, in the electromagnetic induction method, a guide wire or the like is buried in the floor to form a guided travel path, and the automatic guided vehicle travels while detecting electromagnetic waves from the buried guide wire. In addition, in the self-contained navigation system, the vehicle travels along a specified route along an arbitrary travel route, and although the configuration of the travel route is simple, the control configuration of the automatic guided vehicle is complicated. Therefore, generally either an optical induction method or an electromagnetic induction method is used.

Also known is a system in which an automatic guided vehicle is moved to different floors using an automatically controlled elevator to connect guided travel paths on multiple floors. Moreover, the automatic transfer device can also automate the loading and unloading of articles onto and from automatic guided vehicles.

There are two methods of transmitting operation control information to automatic guided vehicles: one using optical signals and the other using electromagnetic waves. It can be used to convey operation control information.

In addition, the stopping point of the automatic guided vehicle is determined in advance along the guided travel path,
A method is also known in which a calling device is placed at the stopping point and the calling device calls the automated guided vehicle, but this method is for calling the automated guided vehicle to the operator's position and giving operation instructions. It wasn't something.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In factories that produce a wide variety of products in small quantities, the layout of the factory is frequently changed, and accordingly, it becomes necessary to change the guidance route of the unmanned transportation system. In that case, in the electromagnetic induction method, operation control information can be given to the automatic guided vehicle on the guided route at any position, but since the guide wire is buried, it is easy to change the layout. There are some disadvantages. On the other hand, the optical guidance method has the advantage of being able to easily deal with changes in layout because it only requires changing the route using tape.

In addition, in mass production factories, it is often possible to set the operation program of the automatic guided vehicle in advance, but when the layout is changed as mentioned above, or every time there is a need to transport goods, it is possible to set the automatic guided vehicle operation program in advance. When transporting articles by an automatic guided vehicle, it is desirable to transmit operation control information to the automatic guided vehicle as necessary. In that case,
When the transport section of goods spans multiple points and multiple automated guided vehicles are required, effective control means are a mystery.
won.

Furthermore, when the automatic guided vehicle has completed the instructed work, it is controlled to return to the home station, and when the configuration is such that the operation control information is transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle at this home station, the operation control information is being transmitted. Or, if a departure order has not yet been given and there is an automated guided vehicle waiting, this automated guided vehicle may not be able to send or receive information to or from another automated guided vehicle that has returned to its home station. This had the disadvantage that the automatic guided vehicle could not be used effectively as it would be recognized as being under work.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to reliably confirm that the automatic guided vehicle has returned to its home station upon completion of its work, thereby making effective use of the automatic guided vehicle.

[Means for solving problems]

The automatic guided vehicle management operation control system 1 of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. , a master station central control device 3 having a function of transmitting operation control information, and a function of transmitting and receiving information between the master station central control device 3 and inputting operation instructions for the automatic guided vehicle 1. , a plurality of slave station calling terminal devices 4 distributed along the guiding path 2, and two optical communication devices 5a, 5 arranged at intervals at the home station 2a.
b, so that even when a plurality of automated guided vehicles 1 return to the home station 2a, the leading automated guided vehicle and the trailing automated guided vehicle can transmit and receive information with the master station central control device 3. Then, the automatic guided vehicle 1 that has returned to the home station 2a is confirmed.

[Effect]

Even when operation control information is being transmitted from the master station central control device 3 to the automatic guided vehicle 1 that has returned to the home station 2a on the guided travel path 2 by the optical communication device 5b, the automatic guided vehicle 1 is placed at a distance from the optical communication device 5b. The arranged optical communication device 5a transmits and receives information to and from the automatic guided vehicle 1 that has returned to the Baum station 2a, thereby making it possible to confirm that the automatic guided vehicle 1 has returned to the home station 2a upon completion of the work. Therefore, the interval is selected in accordance with the number of unmanned guided vehicles 1 used in this system. For example, even if all the unmanned guided vehicles have returned to the home station 2a,
This allows information to be transmitted and received between the leading and trailing automatic guided vehicles and the master station central control device 3.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a master station central control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 21 is a processor section, 22 is a slave station control section, 2
3 is a microprocessor (MPU), 24 is a random access memory (RAM), 25 is a read-only memory (ROM), 26 is a display device, 27 is a keyboard (KB), 28 is a printer (PT), 29 is a magnetic disk device (DK), 30 is a floppy device (F
P), 31 to 33 are interface circuits (IF), 34
35 is a transmission/reception control circuit, 35 is an address decoder, 3゛6-
1 to 36-n are slave station terminal control units compatible with the slave station calling terminal device 4, 37 is a data bus control circuit, 38 is a data latch circuit, 39 is a driver (DV), and 40 is a receiver (RV).
It is. Further, 5a and 5b are optical communication devices for transmitting and receiving information to and from the automatic guided vehicle 1.

The optical communication devices 5a and 5b are arranged at intervals at the home station 2a (see FIG. 1), and this interval corresponds to the number of automatic guided vehicles 1 traveling on the guideway 2. The selection will be made based on the following criteria. That is, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 returns to the Baum station 2a, the optical communication device 5b communicates with the leading automatic guided vehicle 1, and the optical communication device 5a communicates with the last automatic guided vehicle 1. The spacing between the optical communication devices 5a and 5b is selected so that communication can be performed with the optical communication devices 5a and 5b.

The microprocessor 23 also has a read-only memory 25.
It controls each part according to the program stored in the 1' interface circuit 33, and transfers the address signal to the slave station control unit 22 via the 1' interface circuit 33 and sends the address signal to the address decoder 35.
to sequentially designate the slave station terminal controllers 36-1 to 36-n corresponding to the slave station calling terminal device 4, read input information from the slave station calling terminal device, and input information to the slave station calling terminal device. It sends out information. In that case, the data latch circuit 38 launches the transmitted and received data.

When receiving the input information from the slave station calling terminal device 4, the microprocessor 23 checks whether there is an error or not, and if there is an error, notifies the inputting slave station calling terminal device 4 of the input error. If there is no error, the magnetic disk device 29
Rff4 m stored in the read-only memory 25 or the like.
Operation control information is created according to the pattern data of the traveling route 2, a calculation program, etc., and transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle 1 via the optical communication devices 5a and 5b.

The optical communication devices 5a and 5b include a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and are configured to communicate using infrared light so as not to be affected by normal illumination light. As the format of the transfer data, various known formats can be adopted.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the slave station calling terminal device, in which 41 is an input operation section, 42 is an interface circuit (IF) for inputting data from an automatic transfer device, etc., and 43 is a receiver (
RV), 44 is a control circuit, 45 is a data launch circuit, 4
6 is a display section such as a lamp display, and 47 is a driver<DV)
It is. This slave station calling terminal device is connected to a receiver 43 and a driver 39 on the parent station side, and is connected to a driver 47 and a receiver 40 on the parent station side.

Confirm that the automatic guided vehicle 1 is ready for operation based on the display content of the display unit 46, input the section to be transported by the automatic guided vehicle using the input operation unit 41 using the station number, etc., and enter the required number of automatic guided vehicles. Enter. This input information is transferred to the data latch circuit 45 under the control of the control circuit 44.
-H is latched and displayed on the display section 46, and the slave station calling terminal device number and the like are added and sent from the driver 47 to the master station central control unit W3. Also, master station central control device 3
The check result information and the like of the input information are received by the receiver 43 and displayed on the display section 46 under the control of the control 11 circuit 44. Therefore, it is possible to confirm the display contents on the display unit 46 and arrange a desired automatic guided vehicle from any slave station calling terminal device 4.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the main parts of the automatic guided vehicle, in which 51 is an optical communication device, 52 is a microprocessor (MPU), and 53
54 is an input/output control unit, 54 is an automatic transfer device that can automatically load and unload articles, 55 is a sensor unit for an elevator when moving to a different floor is possible by an automatically controlled elevator, and 56 is a station mark detecting unit. 57 is a display unit that displays the destination specified by the operation control information, and 58 is a travel control unit that includes a storage battery, a motor, etc. It also has a rear-end collision prevention function.

The optical communication device 51 transmits and receives optical signals to and from the optical communication devices 5a and 5b of the home station 2a.
Operation control information from the master station central control device 3 is transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle 1 via the optical communication device 51 in the form of an optical signal. The microprocessor 52 controls the travel control section 58 according to the operation control information, and based on detection signals such as marks from the sensor sections 55 and 56, the vehicle travels to a designated position and loads and unloads the goods automatically or manually. Upon completion of the designated work, control is performed to return to the home station 2a.

Station marks are provided at branch points of the guiding route 2 and points where the slave station calling terminal device 4 is located, and optical communication equipment 5a at the home station 2a,
A home station mark is also provided at the location of vehicle 5b, and the sensor unit 56 detects this and determines the stop position in accordance with the operation control information.

Furthermore, the automatic guided vehicle 1 that has returned to the home station 2a stops at the position of the optical communication device 5a, communicates with the optical communication device 51 by optical signals, and transmits the number information of the automatic guided vehicle 1, etc. to the central station of the master station. It is sent to the control device 3 to notify that the work is completed. If there is space in front of the vehicle, the rear-end collision prevention function allows the driver to close the front and wait without colliding with the driver. Proceeds to the position of the optical communication device 5b, communicates with the optical communication device 5I by optical signals, sends the number information of the automatic guided vehicle 1, etc. to the master station central control device 3, and receives information from the father and child station calling terminal device 4. Operation control information corresponding to the input information is transmitted to the automatic guided vehicle 1. Then, by giving a departure command, the automatic guided vehicle 1 starts traveling.

Therefore, even if a plurality of automatic guided vehicles 1 are waiting at the home station 2a and the last one returns, the optical communication device 5a communicates with the last one and the automatic guided vehicles By reading the number information etc. of 1, the master station central control device 3 can recognize that the last one automatic guided vehicle 1 has also finished its work, and the work time management etc. can be done reliably.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, even when a plurality of automatic guided vehicles 1 return to the home station 2a after the work is completed, by arranging the two optical communication bags fi5a and 5b at intervals, The master station central control device 3 can reliably recognize the returned automatic guided vehicle 1. Therefore, even if there is a request for a plurality of automatic guided vehicles from the slave station calling terminal device 4, it is possible to arrange automatic guided vehicles corresponding to the requests. Moreover, since the work time management becomes accurate, there is an advantage that the system operation management 9 analysis can be performed effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a master station central control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a slave station calling terminal device, and Fig. 4 is an automatic guided vehicle. FIG. 1 is an automatic guided vehicle, 2 is a guided travel path, 2a is a home station, 3 is a master station central control device, and 4 is a slave station calling terminal device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An automated guided vehicle (1) that automatically travels along a guided travel path (2).
), a master station central control device (3) having a function of managing the operation of the automatic guided vehicle (1) and transmitting operation control information, and information exchange between the master station central control device (3) and the master station central control device (3). It has a function of transmitting and receiving as well as inputting operation instructions for the automatic guided vehicle (1), and includes a plurality of slave station calling terminal devices (4) distributed along the guiding route (2). In the automatic guided vehicle management operation control system, when the plurality of automatic guided vehicles (1) return to the home station (2a) on the guided travel path (2), the leading automatic guided vehicle and the trailing automatic guided vehicle Two optical communication devices (5a, 5b) are arranged at intervals to exchange information between the home station (2a) and the home station (2a). The automated guided vehicle (1) returned to
An automatic guided vehicle management operation control system that is characterized by checking the following.