WO2016129045A1

WO2016129045A1 - Conveyance system, controller used in conveyance system, and conveyance method

Info

Publication number: WO2016129045A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/053562
Authority: WO
Inventors: 頼子風間; 譲加藤
Original assignee: 株式会社日立製作所
Priority date: 2015-02-09
Filing date: 2015-02-09
Publication date: 2016-08-18
Also published as: JP6310579B2; JPWO2016129045A1

Abstract

Provided is a conveyance system, comprising: a sensor (3) which measures an operator; a controller (2) which, on the basis of a present task description which is measured with respect to a present task, determines whether to dispatch a conveyance vehicle (1) to assist with the present task, reads from a storage means a next task location which is a location of a task which is scheduled to be carried out after the present task for which the dispatch is made, and calculates a goal which will be a destination of the dispatch and a movement path to the goal which is in the vicinity of the present task location and does not cross a path upon which the operator moves from the present task location to the next task location; and the conveyance vehicle (1) which moves along a notified movement path.

Description

Conveying system, controller used in conveying system, and conveying method

The present invention relates to a transport system, a controller used in the transport system, and a transport method.

In order to supply or collect the necessary parts to the place where the worker is working in the warehouse or factory, the goods may be transported by a transport vehicle as appropriate. Since the transport vehicle arrives at an appropriate time at the place where the articles are collected, the operation of the transport vehicle is controlled according to the work contents performed by the operator.

Patent Document 1 describes a system that assists an operator to perform picking work on an article and a transport vehicle to load the picked article. Here, the picking operation in the warehouse refers to an operation of taking out a desired number of articles from a place where a desired number is stored. In this system, a transport vehicle moves along a predetermined route, and collects and supplies articles at a stop in the route. By controlling the stop time at the stop according to the type of articles packed in the transport vehicle, the waiting time of the worker at the stop can be shortened.
In Patent Document 2, when a worker performs picking work, the route is determined in advance according to the distribution of work points, the number of workers, the number of both workers, and the progress of the target collection time. It is described that the transportation plan in Japan is simulated.

JP 2004-001949 A JP 2002-338015 A

In the fixed operation type vehicle control in which the transport vehicle operates along a predetermined route, it takes time for the worker to move to the stop of the route, which is a heavy burden on the worker. In the work such as picking, the worker is working in a wide area to some extent, so the movement from the work site to the stop is a burden on the worker.

Therefore, it is necessary for the worker to interrupt the work and carry the article in accordance with the stop time at the stop, and the work efficiency of the worker is lowered. Even if the worker is in time for the stoppage at the stop, if the arrival of the transport vehicle is delayed, a wasteful waiting will occur at the stop until the transport vehicle arrives. Similarly, even if the transport vehicle is in time for the stoppage at the stop, useless waiting occurs if the arrival of the worker is delayed.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the operator when working with the carrier vehicle in the carrier vehicle that supports the worker's work.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a transport system according to the present invention includes a sensor that measures data for specifying the current work position and the content of the current work performed by an operator, and a measurement for the current work. Based on the contents of the current work, a dispatching determination unit that determines whether or not a transport vehicle is to be dispatched to support the current work, and the transport vehicle determined to be dispatched are brought close to the current work position. It has a movement instruction creation unit that creates an instruction, and the transport vehicle that moves according to an instruction from the movement instruction creation unit.
Other means will be described later.

According to the present invention, in the transport vehicle that supports the work of the worker, it is possible to reduce the burden on the worker when cooperating with the transport vehicle.

Fig.1 (a) is a three-dimensional view which shows the conveyance system in a warehouse. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram when a robot picks an article in a warehouse. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram in which the operator carries the sensor. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram when the sensor is attached to the article. FIG.2 (c) is a schematic diagram in case the sensor is equipped with the conveyance vehicle. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating functions of the transport system. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the transport system of FIG. FIG. 5 is a functional diagram in a case where the role sharing between the controller and the transport vehicle in FIG. 3 is partially changed. FIG. 6A is a Gantt chart of each work performed in the warehouse. FIG. 6B is a Gantt chart with continuous work. FIG. 7A shows an example of the measurement result DB. FIG. 7B shows an example of the work instruction DB. FIG. 7C shows auxiliary data of the work instruction DB. FIG. 8A shows a plan view of a part of the warehouse. FIG. 8B shows a plan view when a plurality of workers exist in the warehouse. FIG. 9 shows a plan view when a plurality of transport vehicles exist in the warehouse.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Fig.1 (a) is a three-dimensional view which shows the conveyance system in a warehouse. The transport system includes a transport vehicle 1, a controller (computing device) 2, and a sensor 3, and these devices can communicate with each other wirelessly or by wire. In addition, although the controller 2 is comprised as a housing | casing independent of the conveyance vehicle 1, it is good also as a structure mounted in the conveyance vehicle 1. FIG.
Each device of the transport system (the transport vehicle 1, the controller 2, and the sensor 3) is configured as a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a hard disk (storage means), and a network interface. The CPU operates each processing unit by executing a program read on the memory.

There is a shelf 202 in which articles are stored in the warehouse. The worker 201 takes out (picks) the article 203 and loads it on the transport vehicle 1. The transport vehicle 1 estimates the self position and notifies the controller 2 of the estimated self position.
The sensor 3 is installed in the surrounding environment in the warehouse, and measures the state of the worker 201 (a work situation that is a combination of the worker position and the work content). The position of the worker is “the person in charge U1 exists at the coordinates (X, Y)” or the like. The work content is “the person in charge U1 picks up the article A as the picking work” or the like.
The sensor 3 is a camera provided on a wall surface, for example, and photographs the work situation of the worker 201 with the camera. The sensor 3 transmits measurement data (such as a captured image or data) to the controller 2. Note that the controller 2 performs, for example, image processing for extracting a feature amount in the image indicating the position of the worker 201 and its movement as means for extracting the work situation from the captured image.

Based on the information input from the sensor 3 and the information received from the transport vehicle 1, the controller 2 presents the latest work status that the worker is currently performing and the work content that the worker is scheduled to perform next. And ask. And the controller 2 calculates | requires the movement path | route of the conveyance vehicle 1 based on at least 1 of the calculated | required present work condition and the next work content, and notifies the movement path | route to the conveyance vehicle 1. FIG. Since the transport vehicle 1 autonomously moves along the notified moving route, for example, the map data of the warehouse is held in its own storage means.
For example, in FIG. 1A, the transfer route 223 from the current location 211 to the destination 222 (near the current work location) is notified to the transport vehicle 1. Thereby, the conveyance vehicle 1 collect | recovers the articles | goods 203 picked by the present operation | work.

Note that the travel route notified from the controller 2 to the transport vehicle 1 may include schedule information (scheduled arrival time at the destination 222, waiting time at the transport position 222, etc.). The vehicle is controlled to travel along the movement route so as to comply with the schedule information.
Here, as an example of travel control according to the schedule information, the controller 2 or the transport vehicle 1 determines the travel path length and the travel speed of the transport vehicle 1 (including the turning speed when turning at an intersection). Based on the above, the travel time required to travel on the travel route is obtained in advance. And control such as starting traveling at a time before the estimated arrival time by a traveling time is given.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram when a robot picks an article in a warehouse. In FIG. 1B, the operator 201 in FIG. Similar to the worker 201, the robot 204 picks the article 203 from the shelf 202 in the warehouse. The robot 204 has means for traveling so as to be able to move in the warehouse, like the transport vehicle 1.
Furthermore, the robot 204 also has means for measuring its own work situation and notifying the controller 2 of the measurement result (internal or external addition) as a function equivalent to the sensor 3 in FIG. Thereby, the transport vehicle 1 can support the work of the robot 204 as well as the worker 201.

FIG. 2 shows a case where the configuration of the sensor 3 is different from the transport system of FIG. Each sensor (211, 212, 213) in FIG. 2 measures the work situation similarly to the sensor 3 in FIG. 1 and notifies the controller 2 of the measurement result.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram in which the operator 211 carries the sensor 211. The sensor 211 acquires the position of the worker and notifies the controller 2 by wireless communication. The controller 2 identifies the work status based on the output data notified from the sensor 211. The sensor 211 may be able to notify the work content. For example, the work content is acquired by reading a barcode of the article 203 picked by the worker with a barcode reader possessed by the worker.
The sensor 211 may notify the work content using the relationship between the place and the work content based on the residence time at the point where the worker is located. The operation of the worker may be measured by an accelerometer as the sensor 211, and the controller 2 may estimate the work content from the acceleration information.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram when the sensor 212 is attached to the article 203. The sensor 212 is tied to the article 203. Moreover, the sensor 212 acquires the article 203 attached to itself. The sensor 212 notifies the controller 2 of the position of the article by wireless communication. The controller 2 can estimate the worker's position by determining the work status for the article from the notified article position and reading the worker in charge of the work from the work instruction DB 21. Thereby, the controller 2 can grasp | ascertain an operator's position and work content.

FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram when the sensor 213 is provided in the transport vehicle 1. The sensor 213 is a camera, for example, and can image the periphery of the transport vehicle 1 while the transport vehicle 1 moves or stops. From the input information of the sensor 213 and the position information of the transport vehicle 1 provided with the sensor 213, the worker's position is estimated, and the worker's operation is grasped by the sensor 213, thereby grasping the worker's work content. Can do.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating functions of the transport system. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the transport system of FIG. The configuration of FIG. 3 will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 as appropriate.
As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sensor 3 notifies the controller 2 of the measured work status (S11). The work measurement unit 11 accumulates the work status notified in S11 in the measurement result DB 20. Note that the work status notified in S11 may be information at a certain time (instantaneous value) or a plurality of time-series information (history values).

The work status grasping unit (work related processing unit) 12 grasps the work status using the information received from the work measuring unit 11 (S12). For example, consider a picking operation in which an operator holds an article A at coordinates (X, Y) at time t.
The work status grasping unit 12 obtains the time during which the picking work for the article A is continued from the measurement result before the time t read from the measurement result DB 20, and sets the preset time for picking the article A. It reads out from the work instruction DB 21 and compares it to grasp the progress of the picking work of the article A.

The work motion predicting unit (work related processing unit) 13 receives the work content and progress information of the worker from the work status grasping unit 12 and predicts the next motion of the worker (S13). Furthermore, the work motion prediction unit 13 predicts not only the next operation of the worker but also the timing at which the transport vehicle 1 performs an operation such as collection.
The work motion prediction unit 13 reads, for example, an instruction from the work instruction DB 21 that the worker performs the picking work of the article B at the position (Xb, Yb) after picking the article A. Predict to move to position (Xb, Yb).

The movement determination unit (vehicle allocation determination unit) 14 determines whether or not the transport vehicle 1 is allocated (moved) in the vicinity of the worker (or the work robot in FIG. 2), and this is the vehicle allocation opportunity (S14, Yes). Sometimes the process proceeds to S21. On the other hand, the process is returned before S11 until the vehicle dispatch is triggered (S14, No), and the data is continuously updated in S11 to S13.
For example, when the collection time read by the work motion prediction unit 13 is approaching the current time, the movement determination unit 14 determines that it is a dispatching opportunity of the transport vehicle 1 that collects the picked article.

In addition, when a plurality of transport vehicles 1 can be used, the movement determination unit 14 may select the transport vehicles 1 to be dispatched to the work site that is a dispatch opportunity. For example, the movement determination unit 14 has a margin for loading the collected articles on the transport vehicle 1 based on the position / operation information of the transport vehicle 1 notified from the transport vehicle 1 and is not assigned any other work. The vehicle 1 is selected as a transport vehicle 1 that can be collected (distributed). Then, the movement determination unit 14 notifies the movement instruction creation unit 15 of information for identifying the selected transport vehicle 1.

The movement instruction creating unit 15 creates, as movement instructions, a destination that is the destination of the dispatch and a travel route from the current location of the transport vehicle 1 to the destination based on the work site that is the dispatch opportunity.
As a pre-preparation, it is necessary to classify all the passages in the warehouse into a passage where the transport vehicle 1 can actually travel (travelable section) and a path where travel cannot be performed (travel prohibited section). .

First, the movement instruction creating unit 15 receives a notification of the conveyance vehicle status (including the current position of the conveyance vehicle and the operation information of the conveyance vehicle) from the conveyance vehicle status notification unit 19 of each conveyance vehicle 1 (S21). ). Among these, the current position of the transport vehicle 1 to be dispatched is used as a starting point of the travel route, and the current position of the transport vehicle 1 other than the dispatch target is used as a travel-prohibited section (obstacle).
The current position of the transport vehicle itself is expressed as coordinate information on a predetermined map. For example, there are the following methods for estimating the current position.
A method in which a marker representing a position is installed in the warehouse, and the transport vehicle 1 holds a sensor or camera that reads the marker, and the position is estimated from the read marker information.
A method in which the position of an article or the like in a warehouse is set in advance and information on the article or the like is measured by a camera or the like held by the transport vehicle 1.
A method for estimating the self-location using a positioning device such as GPS (Global Positioning System).

On the other hand, the operation information of the transport vehicle 1 is, for example, “moving” according to the travel route received from the controller 2 or “standby state” where no instruction is assigned. A supplementary explanation of the operation may be added to this operation information. The supplementary explanation is, for example, the “article load amount” of the transport vehicle 1 when the transport vehicle 1 moves for collection and the transport vehicle 1 collects the article. Thereby, the loading amount of the transport vehicle 1 can be controlled by determining whether the controller 2 continuously performs the next collection operation or whether the loaded article is lowered at a certain point.

Next, the movement instruction creating unit 15 receives notification of the work status of the worker about work different from the dispatch target (S22), and uses the worker position as a travel-prohibited section (obstacle) (FIG. 1). (Dotted arrow).
In addition, when there is only one transport vehicle 1, the setting process of the travel prohibited section (obstacle) by the other transport vehicles 1 can be omitted, and when there is only one worker, The setting process of the travel prohibition section (obstacle) can be omitted.

The movement instruction creating unit 15 integrates the travel-prohibited section (obstacle) set in S21 and S22, and the travel-prohibited section set in advance during construction to determine the travel-prohibited section in the warehouse (S23). ). That is, the movement instruction creating unit 15 sets a movement path that moves closer to the current work position without passing through the path that the worker moves from the current work position to the next work position. Note that the approach means that, for example, the transport vehicle 1 reaches within a range where the worker's hand can reach or within a few steps even if the worker moves (set such a target position). However, “approach” is appropriately set so as to improve work efficiency in accordance with various conditions such as the purpose of the work and the situation of the work place (current work position) (the situation of the worker and the situation of the transport vehicle 1). . That is, “approaching (approaching how far)” is appropriately set within the range where the effect of improving the working efficiency is achieved on the premise that the transport vehicle 1 is brought close to the worker's position. Here, the next movement planned route of the worker to go from the current work site grasped in S12 to the next work site predicted in S13 may be included in the travel prohibited section. In other words, the movement instruction creating unit 15 can prevent the transport vehicle 1 from interfering with the movement of the worker toward the next work site.

The movement instruction creating unit 15 sets the destination of the movement route in the vicinity of the current work site grasped in S12 and in the travelable section excluding the travel prohibition section in S23 (S24).
The movement instruction creation unit 15 creates a movement route for moving (approaching) from the destination of the transport vehicle 1 notified in S11 to the destination set in S24 (S25). That is, the movement route setting unit 15b creates an instruction for approaching the current work position. Here, as in S24, the movement instruction creation unit 15 creates a movement route so as not to travel (detour) in the travel prohibited section in S23, so that the transport vehicle 1 collides with an obstacle in advance. Can be avoided.

Further, the movement instruction creation unit 15 obtains movement route information to be notified to the transport vehicle 1 from the created movement route. This movement route information includes the movement route (the (X, Y) coordinate information constituting the route on the map) followed by the transport vehicle 1 created in S25. In addition, a map in the warehouse may be described by nodes and links, and link and node information may be used as the movement route information. In addition, the operation time and standby time in each node may be described. Thereby, the traveling operation of the transport vehicle 1 can be finely instructed at each point.

The movement instruction transmission unit 16 of the controller 2 notifies the movement instruction reception unit 17 of the transport vehicle 1 of the movement route information created by the movement instruction creation unit 15.
The transport vehicle control unit 18 performs control for moving the transport vehicle 1 along the travel route information received from the travel instruction receiving unit 17 (S26).

FIG. 5 is a functional diagram when the role sharing between the controller 2 and the transport vehicle 1 in FIG. 3 is partially changed. The function of the movement instruction creating unit 15 in the controller 2 in FIG. 3 is distributed to the destination setting unit 15a in the controller 2 and the movement route setting unit 15b in the transport vehicle 1.
The destination setting unit 15a executes S21 (carrier vehicle status notification process) to S24 (destination setting process) in FIG. The movement instruction transmission unit 16 transmits the destination (position information) of the movement route set in S24 to the transport vehicle 1.
Based on the received destination, the movement route setting unit 15b creates a movement route to go to the destination set in S24 in the same manner as in S25.

Here, the movement route setting unit 15 b can autonomously create a movement route by using information around the conveyance vehicle 1 by being mounted on the conveyance vehicle 1. Therefore, the transport vehicle 1 holds an in-vehicle sensor, and the transport vehicle 1 observes the surrounding state. Here, the vehicle-mounted sensor is, for example, a camera or an infrared sensor.
Then, even when the movement route setting unit 15b is moving along the previous movement route set in S25 of FIG. 4, the surroundings of the transport vehicle 1 are observed in real time by the vehicle-mounted sensor, and the observed surrounding obstacles Recalculate (reroute) the travel route to bypass Thereby, the movement according to the surrounding situation can be dynamically performed.

Alternatively, with respect to the division of roles between the controller 2 and the transport vehicle 1, the controller 2 in FIG. 3 performs the preceding stage (work measurement unit 11, work status grasping unit 12, work operation prediction unit 13, movement determination unit 14, measurement result DB 20, There may be an instruction DB 21), and the conveyance vehicle 1 may include a rear stage (movement instruction creation unit 15, conveyance vehicle control unit 18, conveyance vehicle state notification unit 19).

Hereinafter, a specific example of the determination process (S14) of the dispatch timing by the movement determination unit 14 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6A is a Gantt chart of each work performed in the warehouse. The horizontal axis of the Gantt chart indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates each work. Each of these operations A and B is registered in advance in the operation instruction DB 21 by an administrator or the like.
In the operation A, among the estimated work periods (time t0 to time t2), there are a work completed period (time t0 to time t1) and a period before work (time t1 to time t2). You can see that you are working. Then, after the work A, a period (collection A) in which the transport vehicle 1 collects an article picked by the work is provided.

Then, when the remaining time (time t2−time t1) falls below a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) as the progress status of the work A, the movement determination unit 14 triggers the collection of the work A (that is, the transport vehicle 1). As an opportunity to dispatch a vehicle). This prevents the transport vehicle 1 from interfering with the work because the transport vehicle 1 is not dispatched at a timing when work support is not required, such as collection is not required immediately after the work is started. .
Alternatively, the movement determination unit 14 determines that the progress status (for example, 85%) of the work A obtained as a ratio of the work completed period (time t0 to time t1) ÷ work period (time t0 to time t2) is a predetermined threshold ( For example, when the amount exceeds 80%), the work A may be collected as a trigger.

On the other hand, in the work B, since the current time is before the work period (from time t3) estimated in advance, all the work is before the work. And before the operation | work B, the period (supply B) in which the conveyance vehicle 1 supplies the goods scheduled to be packed by the operation | work is provided.
The dispatching timing of the transport vehicle 1 indicated by the Gantt chart is “allocation to the work place of the work A after work (after time t2)” and “pre-work (to the work place of the work B ( To be dispatched before time t3).
Thus, as a form in which the transport vehicle 1 supports the worker, the place is not limited to the inside of the warehouse, the work performed by the worker is not limited to the picking work, and the operation of the transport vehicle 1 is not limited to the collection.

Moreover, the movement determination part 14 may determine the opportunity of dispatch (collection etc.) so that it may illustrate below. Thereby, compared with the system which collects every time a part is picked, the number of times of collection can be reduced so as not to be a burden on the operator, and the moving cost of the transport vehicle 1 can be reduced.
-When there is a work in a place different from or apart from the picking work area as a work instruction, the picked article is collected.
-When the number of picked items exceeds a predetermined number, the picked items are collected.
Collect after picking up certain items.

FIG. 6B shows a case where there is a continuous operation of operation A → operation C as an example in which a plurality of workers cooperate to perform a series of operations in the same format as the Gantt chart of FIG.
The person in charge U1 performs operations A and B in order, the person in charge U2 is in charge of operation C, and the person in charge U3 performs operations D and E in order. Here, at the end time t13 of the work A, an arrow from the work A to the work C is described. This arrow indicates a continuous work indicating that the work C is performed using the article or the like performed in the work A.

For example, it is assumed that the collection after the operation D and the collection after the operation A are necessary, and there is one transport vehicle 1 capable of the collection. As the progress status of the work, work A is a work-in-progress state that has been completed up to time t12 in work period t0-t13, and work D is all of work D because work period t0-t11 has elapsed. Has been completed.
If there is no continuous work, the movement determination unit 14 dispatches the work D having the earlier work end time of the two works A and D first, and then dispatches the work A.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when there is a continuous work, the movement determination unit 14 performs the recovery A of the work A, which is the previous work in the continuous work of the two works A and D. (Priority) is dispatched, and then the work D is collected D. In FIG. 6 (b), since the U3 in charge carries the item picked in the operation D and performs the operation E, the transport vehicle 1 collects both the operations D and E at a time.
In this way, by prioritizing continuous work over discontinuous work, the waiting time for preparation of work C (providing the articles recovered by work A) by the person in charge U2 can be shortened, and work efficiency for the entire worker Can be increased.

Each diagram in FIG. 7 is a data structure for generating the Gantt chart in FIG.
FIG. 7A shows an example of the measurement result DB 20. The measurement result DB 20 stores, as data notified from the sensor 3 by the work measurement unit 11, the current position for each person in charge and the work content (work progress level, standby state, etc.) in association with each other. The work content may be expressed as information indicating the work time already performed or the remaining work time instead of the progress degree.

FIG. 7B shows an example of the work instruction DB 21. The work instruction DB 21 is data previously input to the controller 2 by the work manager as a work plan.
The work instruction DB 21 is arranged in order of work IDs indicating work assigned to the person in charge for each person in charge of the work. For example, the person in charge U1 performs the operation B on the second row after performing the operation A on the first row. Note that the work instruction DB 21 may be a single table in which a plurality of workers are grouped in the “worker” column, or may be a plurality of tables in which the records of each worker are divided by worker.
Further, in the work instruction DB 21, work items, work positions, work contents, and continuous work are associated as detailed information of each work. In the “continuous work” column, a work ID indicating the next work in the continuous work is described.

FIG. 7C shows a detailed description table of articles described in the “work content” column of FIG. 7B as auxiliary data of the work instruction DB 21. In the detailed description table, for each item ID, the size of the item, the cost when the picking operation is performed on the item (work time, etc.), and the cost when the packing operation is performed on the item (Working time, etc.) are associated with each other.
The detailed description table is, for example, as follows.
・ Determine the length of each work (length of horizontal bar) on the Gantt chart. For example, the work of “taking out 100 articles a” in the first line of the work instruction DB 21 takes a work time of pick cost (30) × quantity (100) = 3000 (seconds).
-Simplify the description of work contents in the work instruction DB 21. For example, instead of saying “take out 100 articles a”, it can be written as “take out 100 large-sized articles”.

Hereinafter, a specific example of each process (S21 to S25) related to creation of a movement instruction by the movement instruction creation unit 15 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 8A shows a plan view of a part of the warehouse. A plurality of shelves SH1 to SH6 are installed in the warehouse, and a plurality of different types of articles are stored in each shelf.
In the work instruction DB 21, a work list is registered in advance so that the worker 303 picks the article B from the slot 306 of the same shelf SH2 after picking the article A from the slot 305 of the shelf SH2. The worker 303 grasps this work list by screen output or voice output of a terminal held by the worker 303. These outputs include information indicating the articles A and B and the

front doors

305 and 306 that are storage locations thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the controller 2 receives the notification of the work status from the sensor 3 (S11), and determines that the picking at the frontage 305 of the worker 303 is completed (S12).
As a result, it is determined that the controller 2 has become a vehicle dispatching opportunity to collect the article A after the work (S14, Yes), and the transport vehicle 1 at the current location (S: Start) 301 is set as the current dispatch target. Therefore, the movement instruction creation unit 15 needs to create a movement route for moving the transport vehicle 1 at the current location 301 to the vicinity of the frontage 305.

In FIG. 8A, since there is one worker, S22 is omitted, and since there is only one transport vehicle 1, notification processing of other transport vehicle statuses in S21 is also omitted.
In S23, the movement instruction creating unit 15 sets a route from the front door 305 to the front door 306 (or a peripheral section around the front door 306) as a travel-prohibited section.
In S24, the movement instruction creating unit 15 sets a destination (G: Goal) 302 of the movement route 300 in the vicinity of the frontage 305 and in the travelable section excluding the travel prohibition section in S23. Therefore, although it is common that the position 302 and the position 307 are in the vicinity of the frontage 305, the position 307 is excluded from the destination because it is the travel prohibited section in S23.
In S25, the movement instruction creating unit 15 sets the movement route 300 from the current location 301 to the destination (G: Goal) 302 within the travelable section excluding the travel prohibited section in S23. The travel route 300 may be, for example, a route that is the shortest distance in the travelable section, or may be selected based on other criteria such as a small number of turns at an intersection.
Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately support collection after work at the frontage 305 (support for previous work) and not hinder work at the frontage 306 (support for subsequent work).

On the other hand, as another case, even when the work of the frontage 306 requires pre-work preparation (article supply) such as packing, it is necessary to obtain the movement path of the transport vehicle 1 that is scheduled to supply the goods to the frontage 306.
At that time, the movement instruction creating unit 15 sets the route from the previous work site (frontage 305) to the current work site (frontage 306) as a travel-prohibited section, and then sets the vicinity of the frontage 306 as the destination, and What is necessary is just to obtain | require the movement route which does not pass a travel prohibition area.

FIG. 8B shows a case where there are other workers 311 in addition to the worker 303 to be dispatched as compared to FIG. 8A. Hereinafter, differences from FIG. 8A will be described.
In S <b> 22, the movement instruction creation unit 15 acquires the work status of the worker 311 from the sensor 3. In S23, the movement instruction creating unit 15 also adds the peripheral section of the worker 311 to the travel prohibited section in FIG.
Therefore, the destination 302 other than the peripheral section of the worker 311 is selected (S24), and the travel route 310 toward the destination 302 is also different from the travel route 300 so as not to pass the peripheral section of the worker 311. Selected (to bypass). For route calculation that does not pass through the peripheral section of the worker 311, for example, the weight of the link located in the peripheral section of the worker 311 may be set to infinity, or the link may be deleted.
Thereby, even in an environment where a plurality of workers are present in the same warehouse, the same effect as in FIG. 8A can be obtained.

FIG. 9 shows a case where two

workers

303 and 321 and two transport vehicles 1 (positions 301 and 322) exist in the warehouse. Hereinafter, differences from FIG. 8B will be described.
In S21, the movement instruction creating unit 15 determines the state of the transport vehicle (the current position of the transport vehicle, the current position of the transport vehicle) for the other transport vehicle 1 (position 322) in addition to the current transport vehicle 1 (position 301). (Including operation information). In S23, the movement instruction creating unit 15 adds the peripheral section of the other transport vehicle 1 (position 322) to the travel prohibition section of FIG. 8A in addition to the peripheral section of the other worker 321.
Therefore, when creating the movement route 320 from the current location 301 to the destination 302 as S25, the movement instruction creating unit 15 adds the peripheral section of the other transport vehicle 1 (position 322) in addition to the peripheral section of the worker 311. The route is selected so that it does not pass through (so as to detour).
Thereby, even in an environment where a plurality of workers and a plurality of transport vehicles 1 exist in the same warehouse, an effect equivalent to that of FIG.
Furthermore, when there are no other detours such as when there are many other transport vehicles 1, the controller 2 may also instruct the other transport vehicles 1 to move in order to make a detour. .
Further, the movement instruction creating unit 15 may be provided in the transport vehicle 1.

The present invention described above relates to a transport system that controls the transport vehicle 1 that moves according to the operation of the operator. This transport system has a sensor 3 for grasping the work status of the worker, predicts the worker's state and the next work, estimates the collection position and the collection time, and conveys to the estimated position and time. The car 1 is moved. Since the transport vehicle 1 is dispatched not to the stop but to the vicinity of the worker, it is possible to perform a transport operation that does not reduce the work efficiency of the worker.

In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described.
Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment.
Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment. Each of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them with, for example, an integrated circuit.
Each of the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function by the processor.

Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function is stored in memory, a hard disk, a recording device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), an IC (Integrated Circuit) card, an SD card, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), etc. Can be placed on any recording medium.
Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

1 Transport vehicle 2 Controller (computing device)
3 Sensor 11 Work measurement part 12 Work condition grasping part (work related processing part)
13 Work motion prediction unit (work related processing unit)
14 Movement judgment part (Vehicle allocation decision part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Movement instruction | indication production | generation part 16 Movement instruction | indication transmission part 17 Movement instruction | indication reception part 18 Carrier vehicle control part 19 Carrier vehicle state notification part 20 Measurement result DB
21 Work instruction DB

Claims

A sensor for measuring data for identifying the current work position and the current work content of the current work performed by the worker;
Based on the measured current work content for the current work, a vehicle allocation determination unit that determines whether to distribute a transport vehicle to support the current job;
A movement instruction creating unit for creating an instruction to bring the transport vehicle determined to be dispatched close to the current work position;
And a transporting vehicle that moves according to an instruction from the travel instruction creating unit.
The transport system according to claim 1, wherein the instruction is a moving path along which the transport vehicle moves closer to the current work position.
The next work position, which is the position of the work scheduled to be performed next to the current work determined to dispatch the transport vehicle, is read from the storage means,
The instruction is a movement path in which the transport vehicle moves closer to the current work position without passing through a path on which the worker moves from the current work position to the next work position. The transport system according to claim 1.
In addition to the route along which the worker to be dispatched moves, the movement instruction creating unit does not pass through the position where the other worker measured by the sensor exists, The transport system according to claim 3, wherein the travel route of the transport vehicle toward the destination is calculated.
In addition to a route along which the worker to be dispatched moves, the movement instruction creating unit does not pass through a position where the transport vehicle different from the dispatch target exists, The transport system according to claim 3, wherein the travel route of the transport vehicle heading to a destination is calculated.
When there are a plurality of the workers determined to dispatch the transport vehicle, the dispatch determination unit preferentially dispatches the transport vehicle among the workers in order of the end time of the current work. The transport system according to claim 1.
When there is a continuous work in which the second work uses the result of the first work, the dispatching determination unit dispatches the transport vehicle in preference to the first work in the continuous work over the work with an earlier end time of the current work. The transport system according to claim 6.
The sensor is configured to be portable by the worker,
The transport system according to claim 1, further comprising a work-related processing unit that identifies the current work position and the current work content from an output of the sensor.
The sensor is configured to be attachable to a movable article that is a work target of the worker,
The position of the article obtained from the output of the sensor is searched from a database in which the worker, the work position, and the work content are associated in advance for each work, and the current work of the worker existing near the position of the article The transport system according to claim 1, further comprising a work-related processing unit that identifies a position and the current work content.
The sensor is configured to be attachable to the transport vehicle,
The transport system according to claim 1, further comprising: a work-related processing unit that identifies the current work position based on position information estimated by the transport vehicle to which the sensor is attached.
The transport vehicle has an in-vehicle sensor that measures its surroundings. When the in-vehicle sensor finds an obstacle around the vehicle, the travel path of the transport vehicle toward the destination is The transport system according to claim 2, wherein the route is rerouted along a detoured movement route.
The work robot performs the current work and the next work on behalf of the worker,
The transport system according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is mounted on a work robot to be measured.
The movement instruction creating unit is provided in an arithmetic device different from the transport vehicle,
The transport system according to claim 2, wherein the arithmetic device transmits the travel route to a transport vehicle in which the dispatch is determined.
When the transport vehicle receives the notification of the travel route from the arithmetic unit, the transport vehicle also receives the estimated arrival time of the destination of the travel route, and is notified in time for the estimated arrival time of the destination. The transport system according to claim 13, wherein the transport system moves along the moving path.
The transport system according to claim 1, wherein the movement instruction creating unit is provided in the transport vehicle.
Based on the current work content measured by the sensor for the current work that the worker is currently performing, decide whether or not to allocate a transport vehicle to support the current work,
Means for creating an instruction to bring the vehicle determined to be dispatched close to the current work position measured by the sensor;
And a means for moving the transport vehicle in accordance with the instruction. A controller for use in the transport system.
A transport system that controls the transport vehicle
Based on the current work content measured by the sensor for the current work that the worker is currently performing, decide whether or not to allocate a transport vehicle to support the current work,
An instruction for creating an instruction to bring the transport vehicle determined to be dispatched close to the current work position measured by the sensor and moving the transport car according to the instruction.