JPS6339006A - Instructing device for control information on mobile car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the types of control information that can be displayed by a single mark in a simple constitution by deciding the contents of the control information according to combinations of colors detected by a color sensor and displaying those contents. CONSTITUTION:Two mark pieces m1 and m3 put at the left and the right of the front side are painted in red together wit a green mark piece m2 put at the left rear position. A mobile car runs on a line L and reads a mark (m) put at a front area of an intersecting point CR. Then the car is switched to use the detection information received from either one of two color sensors in response to the instructed branching or joining direction. Thus only a color sensor S2 or S3 of the car works to perform the steering control so that an outside color sensor S1 or S4 is kept under a non-detection state.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a mobile vehicle that automatically travels and transports various articles between loading and unloading stations in factories, warehouses, etc., for example. On the other hand, a control information indicating device for a moving vehicle is used as a means for instructing a moving vehicle various control information such as branching/merging direction at an intersection, position on a travel route, etc. The present invention relates to a control information indicating device for a moving vehicle, which is provided with a mark for displaying control information for a moving vehicle, and a mark sensor for reading the mark is provided on the moving vehicle side.

[Conventional technology]

In the above-mentioned control information indicating device for this type of mobile vehicle,
Conventionally, for example, the mark is formed in a bright and dark striped pattern to form a code corresponding to control information, and the mark sensor on the moving vehicle is configured with an image sensor to read the bright and dark striped pattern. Accordingly, multiple types of control information were read by a mark sensor on the moving vehicle side.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above conventional configuration, it is necessary to read the striped pattern formed on the mark while the vehicle is moving, so if a fine striped pattern is formed, there is a risk of misreading due to vehicle body vibration etc. Therefore, it was not possible to make the mark pattern complicated.

In addition, since the mark is read as a pattern of light and darkness received by the mark sensor, it is easily affected by external light, and in reality only a relatively simple striped pattern can be used. It is not possible to increase the types of control information that can be displayed using marks.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to display a wide variety of control information that can be displayed using a single mark without complicating the structure of the mark or the structure of the mark sensor that reads it. The objective is to be able to display images over a period of time.

[Means for solving problems]

A characteristic configuration of the control information indicating device for a moving vehicle according to the present invention is that the mark is formed to display control information based on color, and the mark sensor is a color sensor that identifies color. The functions and effects are as follows.

[For production]

That is, by forming the mark to display control information based on color, it is possible to increase the types of control information that can be displayed with one mark without complicating the mark configuration. For example, the mark may be simply colored in a color that corresponds to the control information specified. On the moving vehicle side, by using a color sensor to determine the color of the mark, the structure of the mark sensor and the processing of the detected information are not complicated, and the reflected light from the mark installation surface is not affected. The control information can be reliably read while preventing the data from being read.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, it has become possible to accurately instruct a moving vehicle to various types of control information without complicating the mark structure.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in Figure 3, the line (L) for guiding moving vehicles is
With an intersection (CR), it is provided along the travel route of the moving vehicle (A), and it also instructs the moving vehicle (^) about the branching start point, merging start point, or stopping position at the intersection (CR). Mark (m) for
L) is installed on a road surface with a horizontally tilted center. In addition, a loading/unloading station (ST) is provided at the side of the traveling route, and a crossing (CR) is provided for the moving vehicle (A).
branch/merging direction and the next station to stop at (ST
) A ground-side communication device (14) for instructing various command information such as from the central controller (MC) is provided at the station (ST).

To explain the configuration of the line (L), a line (L) for guiding moving vehicles is formed by painting a part of the road surface to a predetermined width with paint of a different color from the road surface. .

Also, to explain the mark (m), as shown in FIG. Mark piece (m,), (m=).

One piece of control information is displayed using a combination of colors (m-), (m,,). In FIG. 1, the mark (m) is shown as a mark that displays driving address information indicating the position of the line (L), and two mark pieces (m, ) on the left and right are located on the front side.

(I113) in red and the mark piece (+
a2) in green, and the mark piece located at the rear right (
m, , ) are color-coded in blue.

To explain the configuration of the moving vehicle (A), as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a steering motor (
A propulsion wheel (2) that also serves as a steering wheel is supported by a drive motor (3) so as to be able to change its direction, and a pair of left and right driven wheels (5) are provided at the rear of the vehicle body. )
, (5) is provided. As will be described in detail later, a light sensor (6) using a color sensor (S) that detects the line (L) based on the color of the received light is placed in the state where the light receiving surface faces downward. The mark shaft is provided so that the direction can be changed integrally with the propulsion wheel (2), and the mark shaft)
Mark sensors (7) for detecting marks are arranged at the lower part of the vehicle body, with their detection surfaces facing toward the road surface, and are distributed to the left, right, front, and back.

Although the details will be described later, the mark sensor (7) also includes:
Similarly to the optical sensor (6), four color sensors (S) are used to identify the mark (m) based on the color of the received light, and the detection color of each of the four color sensors (S) is The system is configured to determine the display content of the mark (m), that is, the content of the control information to be instructed, based on the combination, and it is configured to determine the display content of the mark (m), that is, the content of the instructed control information.
), the stop position, deceleration start point, and end point, etc.
It is designed to read various travel control information.

Further, a vehicle body side communication device (1b) for the ground side communication device (14) is provided on the side of the vehicle body where the station (ST) is located, and each of the sensors (6), (
7) detection information from and the communication device (l4).

(1b) and determines the information instructed via the mobile vehicle (A
) A control device (8) that also serves as a steering control means to control the running of the vehicle.
This is provided. In FIG. 4, (9) is a drive device for the traveling motor (3), and (10) is a drive device for the steering motor (4).

To explain the configuration of the optical sensor (6), as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the center of the optical sensor (6) in the width direction is located on the center of the line (L). This is how it is installed.

Then, the four color sensors (S) that output the received color information as three color signals of red, green, and blue, which constitute the three primary colors of colored light, are connected to the inner two (S), ( S3
) are located on both left and right edges of the line (L), and
The lines (Sυ, (S4)) are arranged at a predetermined interval from the center of the vehicle to the left and right so that the outer two (Sυ, (S4)) are located outside the edge of the line (L). A floodlight (11) is provided to illuminate the area L).

In other words, when the center in the width direction of the vehicle body is located above the center of the line (L), the two inner color sensors (sz) and (S3) receive reflected light from the line (L). , and two outer color sensors (Sl
) and (S4.) are arranged to receive reflected light from the road surface. Therefore, the vehicle body is aligned with the line (
As the car body deviates to the left and right with respect to line (L), one of the two color sensors (Sl) and (S4.) placed on the outside receives the reflected light from line (L), and the car body Line (L
) is detected.

The configuration of the means for detecting the color of the line (L) or mark (m) based on the detection signal from the color sensor (S) will be explained as shown in FIG. An amplifier (12) that amplifies each detection signal for each color, an A/D converter (13) that A/D converts the output voltage for each color from the amplifier (12), and the A/D conversion. Based on the voltage level for each color output from the color sensor (13), the color sensor (S) determines which of the three colors of red, green, and blue the color of the light received is. Three color signals (R) for distinguishing between
A color discrimination device (14) that outputs (G) and (B) is provided.

To explain the operation of the color discrimination device (14), for example, red corresponding to the three primary colors of light from the color sensor (S) inputted via the A/D converter (13);
The average amount of light received by the color sensor (S) is calculated based on the sum of the levels of the three green and blue signals, and the amount of light received by the color sensor (S) is calculated based on the ratio of the levels of the three signals to the average amount of light received. By configuring the color sensor (S) to discriminate the color of the light received, the color can be discriminated without being affected by fluctuations in the amount of light received by the color sensor (S).

Next, the configuration of the steering control means for controlling and steering the operation of the steering motor (4) based on the information detected by the optical sensor (6) configured as described above will be described.

For example, to explain the case where the line (L) is colored red, three pairs of color signals (R), (G), (It) are output from the color discrimination device (14) mentioned above.
Based on whether or not the color signal (R) corresponding to red among the four color sensors (Sl) to
(S4) Determine whether each of the four color sensors (S, ) to
Based on the combination of the line detection states in (S4), it is determined whether or not the vehicle body is in a state along the line (L), and when the moving vehicle (A) is caused to go straight along the line (L). The steering motor (4) is operated in forward and reverse directions and stopped so that the two color sensors (St) and (S) located inside the vehicle body maintain a state in which red is detected. It's steering.

However, when the moving vehicle (A) branches or merges at the intersection (CR), as the mark sensor (7) detects the mark (m) indicating the starting point of the merge/branch, Based on the detection information from two of the four color sensors (S,) to (S4) on either the left or right side, the left or right side of the line (L) is determined in accordance with the commanded branching/merging direction. The vehicle is steered so that it travels along one edge of the vehicle to pass through the intersection (CR).

That is, as the mark sensor (7) reads the mark (m) provided on the near side of the intersection (CR) as it approaches the intersection (CR), it corresponds to the commanded branching direction or merging direction. Then, the detection information is switched to use the detection information from the two color sensors on either the left or right side.

Then, the color sensor (Sz or S
Steering control is performed so that only the color sensor 1) maintains the line detection state, and the outer color sensor (SI or St) maintains the line non-detection state.

Then, based on the detection information by the mark sensor (7) and the information instructed via the communication devices (l4) and (lb), the moving vehicle (A) is moved to the intersection (CR).
Automatically branches/branches along the specified driving route.
While merging, the line (L) is determined based on the color detected by the optical sensor (6), and the steering control is performed to automatically travel along the line (L), thereby moving between the stations (ST). The mobile vehicle (A) is made to travel automatically throughout the period to carry out the work of transporting each rice grain.
[Another Example] In the above example, the mark (11) is composed of four mark pieces (mI), (mt), (lI+,),
(m4) The case where one piece of control information is displayed by the color combination is illustrated, but the control information may be displayed by the color combination of any number of mark pieces up to 4, or One piece of control information may be displayed using the color of one mark piece, and the number of mark pieces constituting the mark (n) and their arrangement can be changed in various ways.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the mark (+i) is
A part of the line (L) is colored in a color different from the color of this line (L), and the color sensor (S) of the optical sensor (6) that detects the line (L) is marked as a mark sensor (7). It may also be configured to be used for both.

By the way, the line (mark formed integrally with m)
) is a count mark provided every predetermined distance to determine the position of the travel route, the color of the mark (m) includes all colors that can be detected by the color sensor (S). If it is formed in white, control information is simultaneously instructed to the moving vehicle (A) without interfering with steering control for automatically traveling along the line (L) based on the information detected by the optical sensor (6). be able to.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the entire surface of the mark pieces (mI) to (m4) is colored in a single color to form the mark (m), but one mark piece may be partially colored. Alternatively, the mark (m) may be formed in a striped pattern as in the past, and control information may be displayed by a combination of the color and pattern of the striped pattern. , the specific configuration of the mark sensor (S) for reading the mark (m) can be modified in various ways.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the line (L) for guiding moving vehicles is
Although a case has been exemplified in which the running road surface is formed by painting a predetermined width in red, it may be painted in other colors. and,
For example, when displaying in a color other than the three primary colors, the detected color can be determined based on the ratio of the levels of three pairs of color signals corresponding to the three primary colors output from the color sensor (S).

Further, each traveling route where the moving vehicle (A) branches or merges may be color-coded so that each traveling route can be distinguished. Also, for example, tape colored in a predetermined color may be attached to the traveling road surface, or attached to the ceiling or wall surface along the traveling route, and the line (L) for guiding moving vehicles and the The specific configuration of the optical sensor (6), the specific configuration of each part such as the moving vehicle (A) and the traveling route, etc. are determined by the configuration to which the present invention is applied.
Various changes can be made depending on the configuration, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the control information indicating device for a mobile vehicle according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of marks, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a color sensor, and Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of guidance equipment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the schematic structure of the control system, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment. (A)...Moving vehicle, (m)...Mark, (mI), (m-), (l11.), axis,)
...Mark piece, (7) ...Mark sensor.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Control for a moving vehicle in which a mark (m) for displaying control information for the moving vehicle (V) is provided and a mark sensor (7) for reading the mark (m) is provided on the moving vehicle (A) side. An information indicating device, wherein the mark (m) is formed to display control information based on color, and
A control information indicating device for a mobile vehicle, wherein the mark sensor (7) is a color sensor that identifies colors. (2) The mark (m) has a plurality of mark pieces (m_1
), (m_2), (m_3), and (m_4) A control information indicating device for a mobile vehicle according to claim 1, which is configured to display control information in a combination of display colors. . (3) Control information for a mobile vehicle according to claim (1), wherein the mark (m) is configured to display one piece of control information in the display color of one mark piece. indicating device.