TW202230065A - Traveling vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

A traveling vehicle system (1) comprises a plurality of traveling vehicles (6), a traveling vehicle controller (40), and a relay controller (50) provided so as to be capable of communicating with both the traveling vehicle controller (40) and the traveling vehicles (6). The traveling vehicle controller (40) assigns a transport command to one traveling vehicle (6) via the relay controller (50), the traveling vehicles (6) each transmit own state information to the relay controller (50), and the relay controller (50) transmits the received own state information to at least some of the traveling vehicles (6) ready for communication, without the intervention of the traveling vehicle controller (40).

Description

Mobile car system

One aspect of the present invention relates to a traveling vehicle system.

For example, Patent Document 1 described below discloses a traveling vehicle system including a plurality of traveling vehicles and a traveling vehicle controller for controlling the traveling vehicles. The moving vehicle controller of the moving vehicle system receives information indicating the stop position from each moving vehicle, and broadcasts the received information to each moving vehicle. By using this information, the traveling vehicles can follow the traveling vehicles while preventing the traveling vehicles from interfering with each other. [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2018-97406

(The problem that the invention intends to solve)

However, in the above-mentioned conventional moving vehicle system in which the above-mentioned information transmitted from the moving vehicle is transmitted to other moving vehicles through the moving vehicle controller, the ratio of the load of the transmission processing performed by the moving vehicle controller The overall load relative to the various processes performed by the traveling vehicle controller increases. In this case, there is a possibility that it may affect other processing in the moving vehicle controller (eg, processing of distribution control of conveying instructions, etc.).

Therefore, an object of one aspect of the present invention is to provide a moving vehicle system that can transmit the status of the moving vehicle to other moving vehicles without increasing the ratio of the processing load in the moving vehicle controller. (Technical means to solve problems)

A moving vehicle system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of moving vehicles, a moving vehicle controller, and a relay controller configured to communicate with both the moving vehicle controller and the moving vehicle. The relay controller assigns the transfer instruction to a moving vehicle, the moving vehicle sends the information about the state of the vehicle to the relay controller, and the relay controller does not pass the moving vehicle controller, and the received information about the state of the vehicle is sent to the relay controller. information is sent to at least a portion of the mobile vehicle that can communicate.

In the moving vehicle system of this configuration, the information about the state of the own vehicle sent from the moving vehicle is not transmitted through the moving vehicle controller, but is sent to other moving vehicles through the relay controller. Therefore, the moving vehicle controller that executes the distribution process of the transport command does not generate a processing load for transmitting the above-mentioned information about the state of the own vehicle to other moving vehicles. That is, the moving vehicle system of an aspect of the present invention can transmit the state of the moving vehicle to other moving vehicles without increasing the ratio of the processing load of the moving vehicle controller.

In the mobile vehicle system of one aspect of the present invention, the relay controller may also transmit the received information about the state of the vehicle to the mobile vehicle that can communicate. In this configuration, the state of each traveling vehicle can be quickly and efficiently transmitted to other traveling vehicles.

In the moving vehicle system of one aspect of the present invention, the moving vehicle controller may inquire about the status of the own vehicle to each of the plurality of moving vehicles through the relay controller. When the controller inquires, it will send the information about the status of the vehicle to the relay controller, and the relay controller will send the information about the status of the vehicle received from the moving vehicle to at least the moving vehicle that can communicate. part and also sent to the moving vehicle controller. In this configuration, the moving vehicle controller can also obtain information about the state of each moving vehicle.

In the traveling vehicle system of one aspect of the present invention, the information about the state of the vehicle may be related to the position, speed, acceleration and deceleration, stop position, the presence or absence of the conveyed item, the identification code of the conveyed item, and the movement of the moving vehicle. At least one of the restricted information. In this configuration, since each moving vehicle can obtain the information on the state of other moving vehicles as described above, the information can be used, for example, to avoid a traffic jam, execute a follow-up move, or diagnose the communication state.

In the moving vehicle system of one aspect of the present invention, the relay controller may also transmit the received information about the state of the vehicle to the moving vehicle that can communicate with the moving vehicle including the transmission source. In this configuration, for example, the communication state of the own vehicle can be diagnosed based on whether or not the information about the own vehicle state is returned from the relay controller after the information about the own vehicle state is sent.

In the traveling vehicle system of one aspect of the present invention, a plurality of relay controllers may be provided in a manner of respectively governing different areas, and the traveling vehicle controller may be configured to be compatible with the plurality of relay controllers. communication, and each of the plurality of relay controllers is configured to communicate with moving vehicles located in the jurisdiction. In this configuration, since the processing of the relay controllers is distributed, it is possible to reduce the processing load of each relay controller. (Compared to the efficacy of the prior art)

According to an aspect of the present invention, it is possible to transmit the status of the moving vehicle to other moving vehicles without increasing the ratio of the processing load in the moving vehicle controller.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an aspect of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and repeated descriptions are omitted.

The carriage system 1 is a system for conveying articles 10 between the placement portions 8 and 8 using an overhead carriage 6 that can move along a rail. The article 10 includes, for example, a container for storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers, a container for storing a glass substrate, a photomask transfer box, and general parts. Here, for example, in a factory or the like, an overhead traveling vehicle 6 (hereinafter simply referred to as "the traveling vehicle 6") travels along the one-way track 4 laid on the ceiling of the factory or the like, and the traveling vehicle system 1 can be taken as an example. to explain. As shown in FIG. 1 , the traveling vehicle system 1 includes a rail 4 , a plurality of traveling vehicles 6 , a plurality of placing units 8 , a traveling vehicle controller 40 , a first relay controller 50A, and a second relay controller 50B , a third relay controller 50C, and a fourth relay controller 50D.

The track 4 is provided over a plurality of areas (the first area A1 to the fourth area A4 ). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the rail 4 is laid, for example, in the space above the head of the worker, that is, near the ceiling. The rail 4 is suspended, for example, from the ceiling. The track 4 is a predetermined travel path for the traveling vehicle 6 to travel. The rail 4 is suspended and supported by the pillars 4A, 4A.

The transport vehicle 6 moves along the rail 4 to convey the article 10 . The traveling cart 6 is configured to be able to transfer articles 10 . Mobile vehicle 6 series overhead mobile unmanned mobile vehicle. The number of traveling vehicles 6 included in the traveling vehicle system 1 is not particularly limited, and may be plural.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the traveling vehicle 6 includes a traveling portion 18 , a power receiving portion 20 , a main body frame 22 , a traverse portion 24 , a θ driver 26 , an elevating drive portion 28 , an elevating table 30 , a main body cover 33 , a control part 61 and communication part 62 .

The traveling portion 18 is a portion that allows the traveling vehicle 6 to travel along the rail 4 , and is composed of a drive portion, wheels, and the like, which are not shown. The power reception unit 20 receives power from the rail 4 side by a non-contact power supply method. The main body frame 22 is supported by the traveling portion 18 in a state of being suspended from the traveling portion 18 . The main body frame 22 supports the traverse part 24 , the θ driver 26 , the elevating driving part 28 , the elevating table 30 , the main body cover 33 , the control part 61 , and the communication part 62 .

The traverse section 24 traverses the θ driver 26 , the elevating drive section 28 , and the elevating table 30 collectively in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the rail 4 . The θ driver 26 rotates any one of the elevating drive unit 28 and the elevating table 30 in a horizontal plane and within a predetermined angle range. The raising/lowering drive part 28 raises/lowers the raising/lowering table 30 by coiling or unwinding suspension materials such as wires, ropes, and belts. The lift table 30 is provided with a chuck, and the article 10 can be held or released freely. A pair of the main body covers 33 are provided, for example, at the front and rear of the traveling direction of the traveling vehicle 6 . The main body cover 33 has claws and the like not shown in the drawing to appear and disappear, so as to prevent the falling of the article 10 during conveyance.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 , the control unit 61 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. constituted by the electronic control unit. The control unit 61 executes various processes of the transfer vehicle 6 (eg, transfer processing, transfer processing, communication processing, and the like). The communication unit 62 communicates with the first relay controller 50A to the fourth relay controller 50D using a communication line (feeder line) or a power supply line of the rail 4 , or the like.

When the control unit 61 of the present embodiment receives an inquiry from the moving vehicle controller 40 via the relay controller 50, it transmits information about the state of the vehicle to the relay controller 50 ( any one of the first relay controller 50A to the fourth relay controller 50D). Furthermore, the information about the state of the vehicle can be set to at least the information about the position, speed, acceleration/deceleration, stopable position, presence or absence of the conveyed item, identification code (intrinsic ID) of the conveyed item, and movement restriction information of the moving vehicle. one.

The placement portion 8 to be delivered between the article 10 and the traveling vehicle 6 includes a buffer area, a delivery port, and the like. The buffer zone is a placement portion on which the article 10 is temporarily placed. For example, it is suspended from the ceiling by means of suspension materials. The buffer zone can temporarily store the articles 10 when the article 10 conveyed by the transfer vehicle 6 cannot be transferred to the transfer port due to reasons such as other articles 10 being placed in the intended transfer port, for example. The transfer port is, for example, a mounting portion for transferring the article 10 to semiconductor processing apparatuses including a cleaning apparatus, a film forming apparatus, a lithography apparatus, an etching apparatus, a heat treatment apparatus, and a planarization apparatus. In addition, the processing apparatus is not specifically limited, Various apparatuses may be sufficient.

The traveling vehicle system 1 of the present embodiment moves the article 10 to a predetermined placement portion 8 or the like in accordance with a conveyance command sent from a conveyance controller (host controller) 90 outside the traveling vehicle system 1 . The conveyance controller 90 is an electronic control unit composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The conveyance controller 90 communicates with the moving vehicle controller 40 through wired or wireless communication, and transmits a conveyance command for conveying the article 10 to the moving vehicle 6 to the moving vehicle controller 40 .

The moving vehicle controller 40 assigns to one moving vehicle 6 a conveyance command that instructs so as to convey the article 10 placed on the placing portion 8 to a predetermined placing portion 8 . The traveling vehicle controller 40 is configured to be able to communicate with four (plurality) relay controllers 50 (a first relay controller 50A to a fourth relay controller 50D) which will be described in detail later. The traveling vehicle controller 40 is an electronic control unit composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The traveling vehicle controller 40 can be configured as software in which the program stored in the ROM is loaded into the RAM and executed by the CPU, for example. The traveling vehicle controller 40 may also be configured as a hardware formed of an electronic circuit or the like.

The moving vehicle controller 40 of the present embodiment periodically causes each of the plurality of moving vehicles 6 to inquire about the moving vehicle via the relay controller 50 (any one of the first relay controller 50A to the fourth relay controller 50D). 6 status (polling). In addition, the moving vehicle controller 40 manages each moving vehicle 6 by receiving the information on the state of the moving vehicle 6 sent from each moving vehicle 6 via the relay controller 50 in response to the inquiry, and storing it in a storage unit or the like. status.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , the relay controller 50 is configured to be able to communicate with the moving vehicle controller 40 and the moving vehicle 6 located in the jurisdiction area. In this embodiment, the relay controller 50 is provided with: a first relay controller 50A, which is configured to communicate with the moving vehicle 6 located in the first area A1; and a second relay controller 50B, which set to communicate with the moving vehicle 6 located in the second area A2; a third relay controller 50C set to be able to communicate with the moving vehicle 6 located in the third area A3; and a fourth relay The controller 50D is configured to communicate with the moving vehicle 6 located in the fourth area A4.

The relay controller 50 includes a control unit 51 which is constituted by a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and which is constituted as an electronic control unit; and a communication unit 52 which communicates with the moving vehicle controller 40 and is under the jurisdiction ( communication with the moving vehicle 6 under control). The control unit 51 can be configured as software in which a program stored in the ROM is loaded into the RAM and executed by the CPU, for example. The control unit 51 may also be configured as a hardware formed of an electronic circuit or the like.

When the relay controller 50 receives a status inquiry sent from the moving vehicle controller 40 to each moving vehicle 6 , the relay controller 50 sends the status inquiry to all the moving vehicles 6 under its jurisdiction. In addition, the relay controller 50 receives the information about the state of the moving vehicle 6 transmitted from the moving vehicle 6 under its jurisdiction, and transmits it to the moving vehicle controller 40 . In addition, the relay controller 50 receives the information about the state of the own vehicle sent from a moving vehicle 6 under its jurisdiction, and propagates the received information about the state of the own vehicle to the above-mentioned one moving vehicle (the one of the transmission source). moving vehicle)6 and all other moving vehicles6 under the jurisdiction.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 4 , an example of the follow-up transition performed by the propagation of the relay controller 50 according to the present embodiment will be described.

The communication unit 62 of the moving vehicle 6 transmits information indicating the stop position of the vehicle to the relay controller 50 in response to the periodic status inquiry from the moving vehicle controller 40 via the relay controller 50 (step S1 ) (step S1 ). S2). The stop position of the vehicle is the position where the vehicle can stop when the vehicle starts to decelerate at the current position. For example, the stop position of the own vehicle is the stop position when the vehicle stops suddenly from the current position. The information indicating the stop position of the vehicle is calculated by the control unit 61 of the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle, the current speed (current actual speed), and the braking capacity (deceleration during braking). Furthermore, the communication unit 62 of the moving vehicle 6 transmits not only the stopable position of the own vehicle but also information on the position of the own vehicle, the speed of the own vehicle, and the presence or absence of the conveyance of the articles for periodic status inquiries.

The communication unit 62 of the moving vehicle 6 periodically receives information indicating the stopable position of the other moving vehicle 6 (step S3). Specifically, the communication unit 62 of the moving vehicle 6 receives the information indicating the stop position of the other moving vehicle 6 by the above-mentioned propagation performed from the relay controller 50 . The stopable position of the other traveling vehicle 6 is the same as the stopable position of the own vehicle, and is the position where the other traveling vehicle 6 can be stopped when the deceleration starts from the current position.

Furthermore, the relay controller 50 may also send the information indicating the stop position from the own moving vehicle 6 to the moving vehicle controller 40 for the status inquiry (step S4 ). The traveling vehicle controller 40 may manage the state of each traveling vehicle 6 by storing the transmitted information indicating the stopable position in a storage unit or the like.

The control unit 61 periodically updates the own vehicle when the own vehicle moves along the track 4 and behind the other moving vehicles 6 in a state where there is no other moving vehicle 6 between the own vehicle and the other moving vehicles 6 the target location. In addition, the target position is the destination of the movement of the own vehicle. Specifically, every time the moving vehicle 6 receives information indicating the stopable position of the other moving vehicle 6 ahead by the communication unit 62 (step S3 ), the target position based on the information is updated by the control unit 61 . implement. The control unit 61 controls the movement of the vehicle so that the vehicle can move to the target position and stop at the target position.

Hereinafter, description will be given by taking two moving vehicles 6 and 6 located in the first area A1 as shown in FIG. 1 as an example. For the convenience of description, the traveling vehicle 6 traveling in the front is referred to as a front traveling vehicle 6A, and the traveling vehicle 6 traveling in the rear is referred to as a rear traveling vehicle 6B.

The rear traveling vehicle 6B periodically obtains the distance (vehicle distance) to the preceding traveling vehicle 6A. The distance can be obtained by a vehicle distance sensor provided in each moving vehicle 6, or it can be obtained from the position information of the own vehicle included in the status of other vehicles that is regularly received. At this time, the communication unit 62 of the preceding moving vehicle 6A periodically transmits information indicating the stop position of the preceding moving vehicle 6A to the first relay controller 50A. On the other hand, the communication unit 62 of the rear traveling vehicle 6B periodically receives the information indicating the stop position of the preceding traveling vehicle 6A by the transmission by the first relay controller 50A.

When the distance between the two moving vehicles 6 and 6 traveling in a continuous state becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value, the rear moving vehicle 6B starts to periodically update the target position, which is the moving destination of the own vehicle, and starts the forward moving vehicle 6A. follow the migration. Furthermore, the moving vehicle 6 (the preceding moving vehicle 6A) to be followed may be identified by the moving vehicle controller 40 periodically acquiring information about the position of the own vehicle from each moving vehicle 6 , or may be identified by, for example, using a camera or the like. The identification code or the like indicated on the preceding traveling vehicle 6A is obtained and specified. The control unit 61 of the rear moving vehicle 6B recognizes that the moving vehicle 6 moving ahead is the preceding moving vehicle 6A (specified as a follow object) in the continuous state, and starts the target based on the information indicating the stop position of the preceding moving vehicle 6A. Periodic updates of the location.

The control unit 61 of the rear traveling vehicle 6B determines the target position so that the rear end of the front traveling vehicle 6A is located in front of the front end of the rear traveling vehicle 6B when it stops at the stopable position, and the rear traveling vehicle 6B is located in front of the front end when the rear traveling vehicle 6B is stopped at the target position. . The control unit 61 of the rear traveling vehicle 6B periodically updates the target position of the rear traveling vehicle 6B in response to the stop position of the preceding traveling vehicle 6A being periodically updated. Thereby, the rear traveling vehicle 6B follows the front traveling vehicle 6A as long as the front traveling vehicle 6A continues to travel (that is, the rear traveling vehicle 6B does not stop and follows the front traveling vehicle 6A). In addition, the distance between the stoppable position and the target position may be determined in advance according to the size of the traveling vehicle 6 in the traveling direction. Furthermore, if the distance between the two moving vehicles 6 and 6 moving in the continuous state exceeds a predetermined value, the rear moving vehicle 6B terminates the periodic update of the target position, and ends the following movement of the preceding moving vehicle 6A.

In addition, in the above, although the example in which the follow-up movement is performed using the stop-possible position periodically transmitted from the relay controller 50 has been described, it is also possible to use the acceleration and deceleration of the preceding moving vehicle 6A. information to perform the following migration.

In the traveling vehicle system 1 of the above-described embodiment, as shown in steps S1 to S3 shown in FIG. The information about the state of the own vehicle sent to the relay controller 50 by the inquiry is sent to the moving vehicle 6 under the jurisdiction (under control) by the relay controller 50 and not via the moving vehicle controller 40 . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4(B) , the moving vehicle controller 40 directly executes periodic inquiries about the state of the own vehicle (step S11 ) for each of the moving vehicles 6 , and sends the information from the moving vehicle 6 . (Step S12 ) The conventional technique of the dissemination of the information about the state of the host vehicle (step S13 ) can reduce the load processing of the dissemination in the moving vehicle controller 40 . That is, in the traveling vehicle system 1 of the above-described embodiment, the state of the traveling vehicle 6 can be transmitted to other traveling vehicles 6 without increasing the ratio of the processing load of the traveling vehicle controller 40 .

In the traveling vehicle system 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment, since the relay controller 50 transmits the received information about the state of the own vehicle to the traveling vehicles 6 located in the jurisdiction area, it can quickly and efficiently transfer the information between the traveling vehicles to the traveling vehicle 6 . The status is transmitted to the other moving vehicles 6 .

In the traveling vehicle system 1 of the above-described embodiment, since the traveling vehicle controller 40 is set to be able to communicate with the plurality of relay controllers 50, the processing of the relay controllers 50 is distributed, and each relay can be reduced. The processing load of the controller 50 .

Although one embodiment has been described above, the aspect of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. Various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the traveling vehicle system 1 of the above-described embodiment, the example in which the follow-up travel is performed based on the dissemination of the information about the state by the relay controller 50 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, the mobile vehicle system 1 can also perform the confirmation process of the communication state according to the above-mentioned propagation. Specifically, the confirmation process of the communication state is executed by sending the information about the state of the own vehicle to the relay controller 50 as a trigger point for periodic inquiries from the moving vehicle controller 40 via the relay controller 50 . . In the traveling vehicle system 1 of the above-described embodiment, the information on the state of the own vehicle transmitted to the relay controller 50 is transmitted not only to the other traveling vehicles 6 but also to the own vehicle. The control unit 61 of the moving vehicle 6 in the moving vehicle system 1 of the modified example sends the information about the state of the vehicle to the relay controller 50, but the information about the state of the vehicle sent within a predetermined time is not controlled by the relay. When received by the controller 50 , it is determined that there is an abnormality in the communication unit 62 of the moving vehicle 6 and/or the communication unit 52 of the relay controller 50 .

Also, for example, the moving vehicle system 1 may execute the traffic jam avoidance process based on the above-mentioned propagation. For example, when the information on the status of other vehicles transmitted periodically includes information on whether or not the own vehicle is holding items, the control unit 61 of the transfer vehicle 6 executes its own non-retaining state if the own vehicle is not holding the items. Handling of position movement that would be an obstacle to other moving vehicles during conveyance. In addition, when the information about the status of other vehicles transmitted periodically is obtained when the situation of the blocking position relative to the other moving vehicles 6 is obtained, the control unit 61 of the moving vehicle 6 can make a route change so that it will not pass through the obstacle. Location.

In the above-mentioned embodiment and modification examples, although it has been mentioned that the relay controller 50 (the first relay controller 50) that communicates with the moving vehicle 6 is provided in each area (the first area A1 to the fourth area A4) 50A to the fourth relay controller 50D) are described as examples, but it is also possible to provide a relay controller 50 that collectively communicates with the moving vehicles 6 located in the first area A1 to the fourth area A4, and the relay The controller 50 executes the propagation described in the above-mentioned embodiment with respect to all the moving vehicles 6 located in the first area A1 to the fourth area A4.

In the above-mentioned embodiment and modification examples, the example in which the relay controller 50 transmits the information about the state of the own vehicle sent from each moving vehicle 6 to all the moving vehicles 6 under its jurisdiction has been described. For all the moving vehicles 6 , the information is transmitted by setting a time difference for each moving vehicle or every plural moving vehicles.

In the above-mentioned embodiment and modification examples, the example in which the relay controller 50 transmits the information about the state of the own vehicle sent from each moving vehicle 6 to all the moving vehicles 6 under its jurisdiction has been described. It is transmitted to at least a part of the moving vehicles 6 under the jurisdiction. In this case, the relay controller 50 can either transmit the information about the state of the vehicle sent from each moving vehicle 6 to at least a part of the moving vehicles 6 under its jurisdiction one at a time, or multiple stations at a time, or can also be propagated.

In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the present invention has been described as an example in which the present invention is applied to the traveling vehicle system 1 in which the traveling vehicle 6 is installed on the rail 4 of the ceiling. A traveling vehicle system that travels on tracks on the ground. In addition, the present invention can also be applied to a traveling vehicle that travels on a predetermined path on the ground, for example, without traveling on a track to be laid.

1: Mobile car system 4: Track 4A: Pillar 6: Overhead moving vehicle (moving vehicle) 6A: Front moving vehicle 6B: Rear moving vehicle 8: Loading part 10: Items 18: Ministry of Migration 20: Power Receiving Department 22: Ontology framework 24: Transverse feed section 26: Theta Drive 28: Lifting drive part 30: Lifting table 33: Body cover 40: Mobile car controller 50: Relay Controller 50A: The first relay controller 50B: Second relay controller 50C: Third relay controller 50D: Fourth relay controller 51: Control Department 52: Department of Communications 61: Control Department 62: Department of Communications 90: conveying controller (host controller) A1: The first area A2: The second area A3: The third area A4: Fourth area

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a traveling vehicle system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a traveling vehicle included in the traveling vehicle system of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the traveling vehicle system of FIG. 1 . FIG. 4(A) is a diagram illustrating propagation of the traveling vehicle system of FIG. 1 . On the other hand, FIG. 4(B) is a diagram illustrating the propagation of the conventional traveling vehicle system.

1: Mobile car system

4: Track

6: Overhead moving vehicle (moving vehicle)

6A: Front moving vehicle

6B: Rear moving vehicle

8: Loading part

40: Mobile car controller

50: Relay Controller

50A: The first relay controller

50B: Second relay controller

50C: Third relay controller

50D: Fourth relay controller

90: conveying controller (host controller)

A1: The first area

A2: The second area

A3: The third area

A4: Fourth area

Claims (6)

A mobile vehicle system, which has: a plurality of moving vehicles; moving vehicle controllers; and a relay controller configured to communicate with both the moving vehicle controller and the moving vehicle; The moving vehicle controller distributes the conveyance instruction to one of the moving vehicles via the relay controller, The above-mentioned moving vehicle sends information about the state of the vehicle to the above-mentioned relay controller, In addition, the relay controller sends the received information about the state of the vehicle to at least a part of the communication-enabled moving vehicle without passing through the moving vehicle controller. The mobile vehicle system of claim 1, wherein, The relay controller broadcasts the received information about the state of the vehicle to the moving vehicle that can communicate. A mobile vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein, The moving vehicle controller inquires each of the plurality of moving vehicles about the status of the vehicle via the relay controller, If each of the above-mentioned moving vehicles receives an inquiry from the above-mentioned moving vehicle controller, it will send the above-mentioned information about the state of the vehicle to the above-mentioned relay controller, The relay controller sends the information about the state of the vehicle received from the moving vehicle to at least a part of the moving vehicle that can communicate, and also to the moving vehicle controller. The mobile vehicle system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The above-mentioned information about the state of the vehicle is at least one of the information about the position, speed, acceleration and deceleration, stop position, presence or absence of conveyed items, identification code of conveyed items, and movement restrictions of the above-mentioned moving vehicle. The mobile vehicle system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The relay controller transmits the received information about the state of the own vehicle to the communication-enabled moving vehicle including the moving vehicle of the transmission source. The mobile vehicle system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The above-mentioned relay controllers are provided in plural in such a manner that they govern different areas, respectively. The moving vehicle controller is configured to communicate with a plurality of the relay controllers, and each of the plurality of relay controllers is configured to communicate with the moving vehicle located in the area under its jurisdiction.

Images