JP2015059389A - Control device for mechanical parking device, mechanical parking device, and control method for mechanical parking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a solution of an all-shelf confirmation test more surely.SOLUTION: A mechanical parking device includes a hanger in which, a plurality of storing shelves each of which is either a palette box storing a palette in which a vehicle is to be placed or a vacant box storing no palette, are disposed in a plane, and transports the palette from the palette box to the vacant box. In the mechanical parking device, a puzzle process of acquiring a transportation route for transporting the palette in the hanger to a hanger entrance/exit part is executed by a puzzle processing execution part 60. In the mechanical parking device, a determination part 64 determines whether or not a puzzle solution has been obtained in the case of the puzzle process for a plurality of vacant boxes. If the puzzle solution is not obtained, the vacant boxes are virtually reduced in number and the puzzle process is executed again.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for a mechanical parking device, a mechanical parking device, and a control method for the mechanical parking device.

As a mechanical parking device, a so-called puzzle-type mechanical parking device has been developed that includes a storage in which a plurality of storage shelves for storing pallets on which vehicles are placed are arranged in a planar shape. The storage shelf is one of a pallet area storing pallets (hereinafter referred to as “pallet square”) and an empty area not storing pallets (hereinafter referred to as “empty square”). And a vehicle is conveyed within a hangar because a pallet is conveyed from a pallet mass to an empty mass in the vertical and horizontal directions.
The mechanical parking device conveys the designated pallet to a loading / unloading unit that loads and unloads the vehicle by repeatedly performing such a pallet conveying operation.

As the empty mass increases, the smoothness of pallet transportation in the hangar becomes better. The smoothness means that the time until the pallet in the hangar is transported to the loading / unloading section is shortened.
Patent Documents 1 to 6 disclose a mechanical parking device in which some of the pallets on which vehicles are not placed are stored in a pallet stacker instead of a storage shelf, and the empty mass is increased.

JP 2013-32630 A JP 2011-47169 A Japanese Patent No. 4169176 Japanese Patent No. 4232931 Japanese Patent No. 4215140 Japanese Patent No. 4046169

Here, when a mechanical parking device is newly constructed, etc., all the shelves that check (verify) by calculation that all pallets can be transported to the loading / unloading section regardless of the position of the pallets in the hangar. A confirmation test is performed. The all-shelf confirmation test is a calculation process that simulates the conveyance of a pallet from a pallet mass to an empty mass by a program and conveys a designated pallet to a target position like a puzzle.
However, when the empty space increases, the number of combinations for transporting the designated pallet to the loading / unloading unit increases, so that there may be a case where no solution is obtained in the all-shelf confirmation test.

For example, when the number of empty squares is 3 for 30 storage shelves, the number of combinations is 109,602. When the number of empty squares is 10 with respect to 30 storage shelves, the number of combinations is 600, 900, 300. If the time required for deriving one combination by arithmetic processing is 1 second, for example, it takes 1.27 days to derive 109,602 combinations. On the other hand, in order to derive 600, 900, and 300 combinations, 6955 days are required, and approximately 5,000 times as many days as in the case of three empty squares are required.
When the number of empty squares is 10 with respect to 30 storage shelves, for example, it is time consuming to complete the whole shelf confirmation test before the completion of the mechanical parking device, that is, to find the solution to the whole shelf confirmation test. Difficult due to limitations.

  Further, during actual operation of the mechanical parking device, calculation processing (puzzle processing) for obtaining a transport path for transporting the pallet on which the vehicle is placed from the storage to the loading / unloading unit is executed. In this calculation process, when the number of empty squares is large, the solution of the all-shelf confirmation test is not guaranteed, and therefore the calculation process solution may not be obtained.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and mechanical parking that can more reliably obtain a solution of arithmetic processing for transporting a pallet stored in a storage shelf to a loading / unloading unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a control device for a device, a mechanical parking device, and a control method for the mechanical parking device.

  In order to solve the above problems, the control device for a mechanical parking device, the mechanical parking device, and the control method for the mechanical parking device of the present invention employ the following means.

  The control device of the mechanical parking device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a storage shelf that is one of a pallet area storing a pallet on which a vehicle is placed and an empty area not storing the pallet. A control device for a mechanical parking device comprising a plurality of storages arranged in a plane and transporting the pallet from the pallet region to the empty region, wherein the vehicle enters and exits the pallet in the storage A calculation execution unit that executes a calculation process for obtaining a conveyance path for transfer to a section; a determination unit that determines whether or not a solution has been obtained in the calculation process when there are a plurality of empty areas; and the calculation process And a re-execution instructing means for virtually reducing the free area and executing the arithmetic processing again.

  The mechanical parking apparatus according to this configuration includes a hangar in which a plurality of storage shelves for storing pallets on which vehicles are placed are arranged in a planar shape. The storage shelf is one of a pallet area storing pallets and an empty area not storing pallets. The pallet is transported to a loading / unloading unit that loads and unloads the vehicle, for example, by repeatedly transporting the pallet area to the empty area in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  Here, in the actual operation of the mechanical parking device, when the pallet on which the vehicle is placed is transported from the hangar to the loading / unloading unit, a calculation process (puzzle) for obtaining a transport route for transporting the pallet to the loading / unloading unit Processing) is executed by the calculation execution means.

  As the vacant area increases, the smoothness of the pallet transport in the hangar becomes better, while the number of combinations for transporting the designated pallet to the loading / unloading section increases. As a result, there is a case where the solution of the arithmetic processing cannot be obtained because the solution of the whole shelf confirmation test is not guaranteed.

Therefore, it is determined by the determining means whether or not a solution to the arithmetic processing has been obtained. If the solution of the arithmetic processing cannot be obtained, the re-execution instruction means virtually reduces the free area and the arithmetic processing is executed again.
As a result, the free area in the arithmetic process is reduced, so that it is easier to obtain a solution for the arithmetic process than in the case where the free area remains large.

  As described above, this configuration can more reliably obtain a solution for the arithmetic processing for transporting the pallet stored in the storage shelf to the loading / unloading unit.

  In the first aspect, the re-execution instructing unit virtually sets a part of the empty area in the palette area in order to virtually reduce the empty area.

  According to this configuration, the free space can be virtually reduced. Furthermore, since a part of the free area is handled as a pallet area, it is not necessary to change the contents of the arithmetic processing program used conventionally.

  In the first aspect, after the calculation execution means obtains a solution to the calculation process, the calculation execution means generates instruction data used to transport the specified pallet to the storage / exit section, and the instruction data And correction means for correcting the virtually set palette area as the empty area.

In the arithmetic processing, an empty area virtually set as a palette area and an actual palette area are handled without being distinguished. For this reason, the generated instruction data is obtained by treating the empty area virtually set in the pallet area as the pallet area, and is different from the actual storage shelf state.
Therefore, in this configuration, the instruction data corresponding to the actual state of the storage shelf can be obtained by performing correction on the instruction data so that the virtually set palette area is an empty area.

  In the first aspect, an all-shelf confirmation test is performed in advance to confirm by calculation that all the pallets can be conveyed to a loading / unloading unit that loads and unloads the vehicle regardless of the position of the pallet in the hangar. Storage means for storing the number of free areas for which a solution has been obtained in advance by the all-shelf confirmation test, so that the re-execution instruction means has the number of free areas stored in the storage means. A plurality of the empty areas are set as the palette area.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily and reliably obtain a solution for the arithmetic processing.

  In the first aspect, the re-execution instructing unit sets the vacant area in the pallet area so that the number of the vacant areas gradually decreases until a solution is obtained by the arithmetic processing.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily and reliably obtain a solution for the arithmetic processing. Further, the maximum value of the free space that can be obtained by the arithmetic processing is obtained.

  In the mechanical parking device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage shelf that is one of the pallet area storing the pallet on which the vehicle is placed and the empty area not storing the pallet is flat. A plurality of hangars, a loading / unloading unit for loading / unloading the vehicle, and the control device described above are provided.

  In the control method for the mechanical parking apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the storage shelf that is one of the pallet area storing the pallet on which the vehicle is placed and the empty area not storing the pallet is provided. A control method of a mechanical parking device comprising a plurality of storages arranged in a plane and transporting the pallet from the pallet region to the empty region, wherein the vehicle enters and exits the pallet in the storage A first step of executing a calculation process for obtaining a transport path for transporting to a section, a second step of determining whether or not a solution has been obtained in the calculation process when there are a plurality of empty areas, and the calculation And a third step of virtually reducing the free area and executing the arithmetic process again when a solution to the process cannot be obtained.

  According to the present invention, there is an excellent effect that it is possible to more reliably obtain a solution of arithmetic processing for transporting a pallet stored in a storage shelf to a loading / unloading unit.

It is a lineblock diagram of a mechanical parking device concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the control apparatus of the mechanical parking apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of the pallet conveyance process part which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the pallet conveyance path | route derivation | leading-out process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the recovery process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the setting method of the re-virtual palette which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the example of correction | amendment of the instruction data which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the example of correction | amendment of the instruction data which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the example of correction | amendment of the instruction data which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the other example of correction | amendment of the instruction data which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the other example of correction | amendment of the instruction data which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the other example of correction | amendment of the instruction data which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of a pallet conveyance processing part concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the recovery process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, one Embodiment of the control apparatus of the mechanical parking apparatus which concerns on this invention, a mechanical parking apparatus, and the control method of a mechanical parking apparatus is described with reference to drawings.

[First Embodiment]
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a mechanical parking apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment.

  The mechanical parking apparatus 10 has a storage shelf 18 for storing a loading / unloading section 14 (entrance floor) for loading and unloading the vehicle 12 and a pallet 16 (plate-shaped platform) on which the vehicle 12 is placed (for example, flat) (for example, A plurality of storages 20 arranged in (N rows × M columns) are provided.

The storage shelf 18 includes either one of a pallet area (hereinafter referred to as “pallet mass”) 18A that stores the pallet 16 and an empty area (hereinafter referred to as “empty square”) 18B that does not store the pallet 16. Become. The pallet 16 stored in the storage shelf 18 may be mounted with the vehicle 12 or may not be mounted with the vehicle 12.
Different numbers are added in advance to the pallets 16, and the mechanical parking device 10 identifies each pallet 16 by the added numbers.

  The mechanical parking apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment includes a pallet stacker (not shown) for storing the pallet 16 on which the vehicle 12 is not placed, and includes the number of empty squares 18B (hereinafter “empty square number”). Can be increased or decreased.

  The mechanical parking device 10 includes a lift 22 that moves the pallet 16 up and down at one corner of the hangar 20 with the loading / unloading unit 14.

The entrance / exit section 14 is provided with a door 26 and an operation panel 28.
The operation panel 28 is provided outside the loading / unloading unit 14 so that a user of the mechanical parking apparatus 10 can operate, and for example, inputs various operations (such as instructions for loading or unloading) via a switch or the like. At the same time, various information is displayed for the user by an image display device such as a liquid crystal display device.

  Further, the mechanical parking device 10 includes a control device 24 for controlling the conveyance of the pallet 16 and the movement of the lift 22 and the like.

And the pallet 16 is conveyed to the loading / unloading part 14 via the lift 22 by repeating conveyance from the pallet mass 18A to the empty mass 18B in the vertical and horizontal directions, for example.
That is, the mechanical parking apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is a puzzle-type mechanical parking apparatus that horizontally circulates the pallet 16.

The hangar 20 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and the number of storage shelves 18 and the number of pallet masses 18A and empty masses 18B are not limited, but the number of empty masses is plural.
Moreover, the mechanical parking apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an example. In FIG. 1, the storage shelf 18 of the hangar 20 has three layers, but may have one layer, two layers, or four layers or more. Moreover, although the storage 20 is arrange | positioned in the lower layer rather than the entering / exiting part 14, it is not restricted to this, The storage 20 may be arrange | positioned in the upper layer rather than the entering / exiting part 14, and it is rather than the entering / exiting part 14 It may be arranged in both the upper layer and the lower layer, and the loading / unloading unit 14 and the storage 20 may be on the same floor.
The layout of each layer of the hangar 20 (the number of storage shelves 18 and the aspect ratio) may be the same or different.
Furthermore, the arrangement position of the lift 22 is not limited to the arrangement position shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the control device 24 of the mechanical parking device 10.
The control device 24 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 40, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42 in which various programs and various parameters are stored in advance, and a RAM (Random Access) used as a work area when the CPU 40 executes various programs. Memory) 44 and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 46 as storage means for storing various programs and various information.

  Further, instead of the HDD 46, a storage element such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a flash memory, or an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) with a battery backup may be used. Depending on the type of data such as a value, a storage element may be used and stored.

  Further, the control device 24 includes a motor control unit 48 that controls a motor (not shown) for driving the pallet 16 and the lift 22 and the like, and a sensor (not shown) that detects the operation state of the pallet 16 and the lift 22 and the like. A sensor signal receiving unit 50 that receives signals and a pallet conveyance processing unit 52 that executes puzzle processing (details will be described later) are provided.

  The CPU 40, ROM 42, RAM 44, HDD 46, motor controller 48, sensor signal receiver 50, pallet transport processor 52, and operation panel 28 are electrically connected to each other via a system bus 54. Therefore, the CPU 40 accesses the ROM 42, RAM 44 and HDD 46, grasps the operation state of the operation panel 28 and displays an image, drives the motor via the motor control unit 48, pallet 16 via the sensor signal reception unit 50, and so on. The operating state of the lift 22 and the like, the processing state of the pallet conveyance processing unit 52, and the like can be grasped.

Here, during the actual operation of the mechanical parking device 10, a calculation process for obtaining a transport path for transporting the pallet 16 on which the vehicle 12 is placed from the storage 20 to the loading / unloading unit 14 is executed.
This calculation process is a computer program, simulates the conveyance of the pallet 16 from the pallet mass 18A to the empty mass 18B, and repeats the conveyance of the pallet 16 between the pallet mass 18A and the empty mass 18B. This is a puzzle process that transports the object to the target position like a puzzle. The target position is an arrangement position of the lift 22 for reaching the loading / unloading unit 14.

  Here, as the empty mass 18B increases, the smoothness of the conveyance of the pallet 16 in the storage 20 is improved, while the types of combinations for conveying the designated pallet 16 to the target position increase. As a result, a puzzle processing solution (hereinafter referred to as “puzzle solution”) may not be obtained within a predetermined time, and it may be impossible to verify whether the pallet 16 can be transported to the loading / unloading unit 14. Note that the puzzle solution specifically indicates a conveyance path of the pallet 16.

As a reason why a puzzle solution cannot be obtained by the puzzle processing, for example, the following reasons are conceivable.
Reason 1 A puzzle solution cannot be obtained due to incompatibility of the program (puzzle processing).
Reason 2 A puzzle solution cannot be obtained due to censoring due to search time and number of times.
Reason 3 The optimal solution cannot be obtained by censoring due to the search time and number of times.

  Reason 2 is a case where no puzzle solution is obtained within the set search time and number of times. Reason 3 is a case where several puzzle solutions are obtained within the search time and the set number of times, but a more optimal puzzle solution is not obtained.

  In the puzzle process, a puzzle solution is searched. Generally, if the number of empty cells is large, the search time and the number of times increase. In addition, when the number of empty cells is large, the search becomes complicated, and there may be a case where a puzzle is not found because of a local mistake (reason 1 above). The local mistake is, for example, a case where the designated pallet 16 is repeatedly conveyed along the same route (infinite loop) and does not reach the target position.

  That is, the pallet conveyance processing unit 52 according to the first embodiment solves the problem when the puzzle solution is not obtained mainly for the reason 1 and the reason 2.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the pallet conveyance processing unit 52 according to the first embodiment.

  The pallet conveyance processing unit 52 includes a puzzle process execution unit 60, an instruction data generation unit 62, a determination unit 64, a re-execution instruction unit 66, and an instruction data correction unit 68.

  The puzzle process execution part 60 performs a puzzle process.

The instruction data generation unit 62 generates instruction data when a puzzle solution is obtained by the puzzle process. The instruction data is used to actually convey the designated pallet 16 to the lift 22 for reaching the loading / unloading unit 14. More specifically, a motor is provided for each storage shelf 18 for transporting the pallet 16, but the instruction data indicates a motor that is operated to transport the pallet 16.
A plurality of instruction data may be generated to convey the designated pallet 16 to the position of the lift 22.

  The determination unit 64 determines whether or not a puzzle solution has been obtained in the puzzle process when there are a plurality of empty cells 18B.

  When the puzzle solution of the puzzle process cannot be obtained, the re-execution instructing unit 66 virtually decreases the empty cell 18B and executes the puzzle process again (recovery process).

In the HDD 46 according to the first embodiment, the number of empty squares (hereinafter referred to as “guaranteed empty square number”) for which a puzzle solution has been obtained in advance in the all-shelf confirmation test, that is, the puzzle solution is guaranteed to be obtained. I remember it.
The all-shelf confirmation test is a test for confirming (verifying) in advance by calculation that all the pallets 16 can be conveyed to the loading / unloading unit 14 for loading / unloading the vehicle 12 regardless of the position of the pallet 16 in the hangar 20. . This all-shelf confirmation test is previously performed offline by the information processing apparatus when the mechanical parking apparatus 10 is newly constructed.
If the number of empty squares is large and the solution to the all-shelf confirmation test cannot be obtained, the whole shelf confirmation test is performed by virtually reducing the empty square 18B in the same manner as the recovery process described later in detail. The cell number is obtained in advance.

  The guaranteed empty cell number is equal to or greater than the preset minimum empty cell number. The minimum number of empty squares is at least one empty square number necessary for obtaining a puzzle solution, and is determined in advance by the number of storage shelves 18 or the like.

The re-execution instructing unit 66 according to the first embodiment virtually reduces the empty cell 18B by setting the empty cell number to the guaranteed empty cell number stored in the HDD 46.
In this way, the re-execution instruction unit 66 virtually sets a part of the empty cell 18B as the palette cell 18A in order to virtually reduce the empty cell 18B.

  The instruction data correction unit 68 corrects the generated instruction data when a puzzle solution is obtained by the recovery process. Details of the correction of the instruction data will be described later.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the pallet transport route derivation process executed by the pallet transport processor 52 according to the first embodiment. The pallet transport route deriving process is started when an instruction to start transporting the pallet 16 stored in the storage shelf 18 to the loading / unloading unit 14 is input to the control device 24.

  First, in step 100, it is determined whether the number of retries is N or more (N> 1) set in advance. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 102. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 108. To do. The number of retries is stored in the RAM 44 or HDD 46 every time the pallet transport path derivation process is executed, and the number of retries at the start of the pallet transport path derivation process is zero.

  In step 102, the puzzle processing execution unit 60 executes a puzzle process for obtaining a route for transporting the target pallet 16 to the loading / unloading unit 14 (lift 22) to obtain a puzzle solution. In step 102, puzzle processing is performed without virtually setting a part of the empty cell 18B as the palette cell 18A. That is, the puzzle process corresponding to the actual empty space 18B is performed.

In the next step 104, the determination unit 64 determines whether or not a puzzle solution has been obtained. If the determination is affirmative, the instruction data generation unit 62 generates instruction data and ends the pallet transport route derivation process. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made, the routine proceeds to step 106.
Note that the pallet 16 is transported to the loading / unloading unit 14 based on the generated instruction data.

In step 106, the stored number of retries is incremented, and the process returns to step 100. That is, in the pallet transport route derivation process, the number of retries increases according to the number of times that the puzzle solution is not obtained by the puzzle process.
Then, the puzzle process is repeated at step 102 without virtually reducing the empty cell 18B until the number of retries reaches a preset N number of times. This is because a puzzle solution may not be obtained due to a problem other than the program related to the puzzle process, such as a hardware problem. In such a case, there is a possibility that a puzzle solution is obtained by performing another puzzle process.

  When the number of retries exceeds N, the process proceeds to step 108 and recovery processing is executed. When the recovery process ends, the pallet transport route derivation process ends.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of recovery processing according to the first embodiment.

  First, in step 200, a process of virtually reducing the empty cell 18B is executed as a pre-process. In the preprocessing according to the first embodiment, the guaranteed empty cell number that is guaranteed to obtain the puzzle solution is read from the HDD 46, and the number of empty cells 18B exceeding the guaranteed empty cell number is set as the pallet cell 18A.

  In the following description, the empty cell 18B set as the palette cell 18A is referred to as a virtual palette 18C.

  Next, an example of a method for setting the virtual palette 18C will be described with reference to FIG.

6A and 6B are schematic diagrams of the arrangement of the storage shelves 18. FIG. 6A shows a state before the virtual palette 18C is set, and FIG. 6B shows a state after the virtual palette 18C is set. The number and arrangement of the storage shelves 18 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B are an example.
In addition, in the schematic diagram which showed arrangement | positioning of the storage shelf 18 containing Fig.6 (a), (b), a horizontal direction (A (1) -F (6)) is an X coordinate, and the vertical direction (1-5). This is referred to as the Y coordinate. That is, the coordinates indicate the arrangement position of the storage shelf 18. The palette cell 18A is indicated by a rectangle filled with dots, the empty cell 18B is indicated by a white rectangle, and the virtual palette 18C is indicated by a rectangle surrounded by a broken line.

In the example of FIG. 6A, the number of empty squares is seven. In this example, since the guaranteed number of empty cells is 3, four empty cells 18B are set as the virtual palette 18C.
Specifically, when the empty cell 18B is set as the virtual palette 18C, the empty cell 18B is searched in ascending order of the XY coordinate values. Then, n empty cells 18B (n is a guaranteed empty cell number) searched for first are left, and another empty cell 18B is set as a virtual palette 18C.
Thereby, in the example of FIG. 6B, coordinates (B (2), 1), (E (5), 1), (A (1), 3) of the empty cells 18B are defined as empty cells 18B. The remaining coordinates (C (3), 3), (F (6), 3), (B (2), 4), (E (5), 5) are set as the virtual palette 18C.

  Note that the set number and position information of the virtual palette 18C are stored in the RAM 44 or the HDD 46.

  In the next step 202, in the state where the virtual palette 18C is set, a puzzle process is executed to obtain a puzzle solution, and instruction data is generated. In the puzzle process in the recovery process, the empty square 18B, which is the virtual palette 18C, and the actual palette mass 18A are handled without distinction. For this reason, in the puzzle process according to the first embodiment, it is not necessary to change the contents of the program that has been used conventionally, and the program can be used as it is.

  Further, since the virtual pallet 18C and the pallet mass 18A are not distinguished from each other, the generated instruction data also handles the empty cell 18B set in the virtual pallet 18C as the pallet cell 18A.

  Therefore, in the next step 204, processing for correcting the generated instruction data is executed as post-processing. In the post-processing, correction is performed on the instruction data including the coordinates set in the virtual palette 18C among the generated instruction data.

  As described above, in the instruction data generated in the recovery process, the empty cell 18B set in the virtual palette 18C is handled as the palette cell 18A. In this case, the instruction data is different from the actual state of the storage shelf 18. In this state, the motor of the storage shelf 18 that does not actually contribute to the conveyance of the pallet 16 may operate. For this reason, the instruction data is corrected so that the virtual pallet 18C becomes the empty cell 18B.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, an example of correction of instruction data when a part of empty squares 18 </ b> B is a virtual palette 18 </ b> C will be described.

7 shows the state of the storage shelf 18 before the pallet 16 is transported (FIG. 7A), the state of the storage shelf 18 after the pallet 16 is transported (FIG. 7B), and before correction. It is an example of instruction | indication data (FIG.7 (c)).
In FIG. 7, a virtual pallet 18C has already been set as shown in FIG. 8, and the top (coordinates (C (3), 3)) of the pallet 16 being conveyed is the virtual pallet 18C. That is, in FIG. 7, the pallet 16 with coordinates (A (1), 3), (B (2), 3) is transported to coordinates (D (4), 3), (E (5), 3). In addition, the coordinates (C (3), 3) which are the empty cells 18B are set in the virtual palette 18C.

  Then, the pallet 16 is conveyed as shown in FIG. 7B, so that the coordinates (A (1), 3), (B (2), 3), (C (3), 3) are empty cells 18B. The coordinates (D (4), 3), (E (5), 3), (F (6), 3) become the pallet mass 18A.

“X” and “Y” in FIG. 7C indicating the instruction data indicate the coordinates of the storage shelf 18.
“F” in FIG. 7C indicates the conveyance source of the pallet 16, and “T” indicates the conveyance destination of the pallet 16. “0” indicates a state where the pallet 16 is not placed on the storage shelf 18, and “1” indicates a state where the pallet 16 is placed on the storage shelf 18. That is, the pallet 16 is transported from the coordinates of “F” to “1” to the storage shelf 18 having the coordinates of “T” to “1”.

  The instruction data (X, Y, F, T) shown in FIG. 7C corresponds to (F (6), 3, 0, 1), (E ( 5), 3, 0, 1), (D (4), 3, 0, 1), (C (3), 3, 1, 0), (B (2), 3, 1, 0), ( A (1), 3, 1, 0).

  As described above, since the virtual pallet 18C is handled as the pallet mass 18A, the coordinates (C (3), 3) of the virtual pallet 18C are also used as the conveyance source of the pallet 16.

8 and 9 show correction of instruction data for the example of FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the pallet 16 is virtually conveyed from the coordinates (C (3), 3), which is the virtual pallet 18C, to the coordinates (F (6), 3). However, since the virtual pallet 18C is originally an empty pallet 16, the pallet 16 is not actually transported from the coordinates (C (3), 3) to the coordinates (F (6), 3).
Therefore, as shown in the instruction data in FIG. 8C, the coordinates (C (3), 3) are corrected from “1” to “0” to obtain coordinates (F (6), 3). "T" is corrected from "1" to "0".

  And the information of the coordinate which does not contribute to conveyance of the pallet 16 is unnecessary. Therefore, a search for coordinates (hereinafter referred to as “unnecessary coordinates”) that does not contribute to the conveyance of the pallet 16 (F, T) = (0, 0) is performed.

As an example, the search for unnecessary coordinates is performed from the first and last coordinates in the instruction data. The head and tail of the coordinates here are the same as the head and tail with respect to the traveling direction of the pallet 16 being conveyed.
That is, in FIG. 9C showing an example of searching for unnecessary coordinates, the search is performed from the coordinates (F (6), 3). Thereby, the information of the coordinates (F (6), 3) where (F, T) = (0, 0) is deleted from the instruction data. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 9C, the last coordinate (A (1), 3) is not deleted because it is not (F, T) = (0, 0). Also, (F, T) of coordinates (C (3), 3) is also (0, 0). However, since the next coordinate (E (5), 3) after the deleted coordinate is not (F, T) = (0, 0), the search ends, and the coordinate (C (3), 3) is not deleted.

Thus, the storage shelf 18 in which (F, T) of the first and last coordinates of the instruction data is (0, 0) does not require the operation of the motor for transporting the pallet 16.
More specifically, the storage shelf 18 that transports the pallet 16 detects that the pallet 16 has been transported to the other storage shelf 18 by a sensor provided for each storage shelf 18 and stops the motor. However, in the storage shelf 18 that does not contribute to the conveyance of the pallet 16, the sensor does not detect the movement of the pallet 16, and therefore the motor is not stopped when the motor is operated based on the instruction data.
In order to prevent this, the coordinates of the storage shelf 18 that do not contribute to the conveyance of the pallet 16 are deleted from the instruction data.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show the state of the storage shelf 18 before and after the conveyance of the pallet 16 with the virtual pallet 18C as an empty mass 18B.
The empty mass 18B before the pallet 16 is conveyed has coordinates (C (3), 3), (D (4), 3), (E (5), 3) as shown in FIG. , (F (6), 3). As the pallet 16 is transported, the coordinates (A (1), 3), (B (2), 3) become new empty cells 18B as shown in FIG. 9B. The coordinates (C (3), 3) remain the empty mass 18B of the pallet 16 conveyance path. Further, the coordinates (F (6), 3) do not contribute to the conveyance of the pallet 16 and remain as the empty mass 18B.

  10 to 12 are other examples of correction of instruction data.

In the example of FIG. 10, as shown in FIG. 10A, the last (coordinates (A (1), 3)) of the pallet 16 that is simultaneously conveyed is set in the virtual pallet 18C.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 10B, (F, T) of the coordinates (A (1), 3) is (0, 0), so the information of the coordinates (A (1), 3) is It is deleted from the instruction data by correction.

In the example of FIG. 11, the coordinates of Y = 3 are all empty cells 18B as shown in FIG. 11A, and the coordinates (A (1), 3), (B (2), 3), (C (3), 3) are set in the virtual palette 18C.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 11B, all the coordinates of Y = 3 are (F, T) = (0, 0), and thus the instruction data itself is deleted by the correction.

In the example of FIG. 12, as shown in FIG. 12A, coordinates (B (2), 3) sandwiched between pallet masses 18A are set in the virtual pallet 18C.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 12B, the coordinates (B (2), 3), (E (5), 3) (F, T) are (0, 0). However, since the first coordinate (F (6), 3) and the last coordinate (A (1), 3) in the instruction data are not (F, T) = (0, 0), the coordinate (B (2 ), 3) and (E (5), 3) are not deleted from the instruction data.

  When the coordinates indicating the virtual palette 18C are not included in the instruction data, the instruction data is not corrected.

As described above, even in the all-shelf confirmation test, when the number of empty cells 18B is large and a solution cannot be obtained within a predetermined time, the empty cells 18B are set in the virtual palette 16.
For example, in the mechanical parking device 10 in which the number of empty squares is 10, when the number of empty squares is 10, the number of days required to obtain a solution for the all-shelf confirmation test is enormous, while the number of empty squares is three. In this case, when the solution of the all-shelf confirmation test is obtained in about one day, any seven of the empty cells 18B are set in the virtual palette 16. Thereby, even if the number of empty squares is 10, a solution is obtained in the whole shelf confirmation test. This solution is stored in the HDD 46 as a guaranteed empty space number.

As described above, in the mechanical parking device 10 according to the first embodiment, the puzzle processing execution unit 60 performs the puzzle process for obtaining the transport route for transporting the pallet 16 in the storage 20 to the loading / unloading unit 14. To do. And the mechanical parking apparatus 10 which concerns on this 1st Embodiment determines with the determination part 64 whether the puzzle solution was obtained in the puzzle process in case there are two or more empty cells 18B, and a puzzle solution is not obtained. In this case, the empty square 18B is virtually reduced and the puzzle process is executed again.
Thereby, the mechanical parking apparatus 10 which concerns on this 1st Embodiment can ask | require the puzzle solution of a puzzle process more reliably.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The configuration of the mechanical parking device 10 and the configuration of the control device 24 according to the second embodiment are the same as the configuration of the mechanical parking device 10 and the configuration of the control device 24 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. Since there is, explanation is omitted.

  FIG. 13 shows a configuration of the pallet conveyance processing unit 52 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 13, the same components as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

The re-execution instruction unit 70 according to the second embodiment sets the empty square 18B in the virtual palette 18C so that the number of empty squares 18B decreases stepwise until a puzzle solution is obtained by the puzzle process.
To decrease the number of empty cells 18B in stages is to set the number of empty cells 18B one by one in the virtual palette 18C.

  The flow of the pallet transport route derivation process according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of recovery processing according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 14, the same steps as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

In the preprocessing according to the second embodiment executed in step 300, one empty cell 18B is set in the virtual palette 18C so that the number of empty cells decreases stepwise.
Specifically, when the empty cell 18B is set as the virtual palette 18C, the empty cell 18B is searched in ascending order of the XY coordinate values. Then, n empty cells 18B searched first (n is the minimum empty cell number) remain, and any of the other empty cells 18B (for example, the empty cell 18B searched last) is set as the virtual palette 18C. The

  In the preprocessing according to the second embodiment, the maximum value of the empty cells 18B that can obtain the puzzle solution by the puzzle process is obtained by decreasing the number of empty cells in stages.

  In the next step 202, the puzzle process is executed with the virtual palette 18C set in step 300.

  In the next step 302, it is determined whether or not a puzzle solution has been obtained. If the determination is affirmative, the instruction data generating unit 62 generates instruction data and the process proceeds to step 204. On the other hand, if the determination is negative, the process returns to step 300.

  In the next step 204, processing for correcting the generated instruction data is executed as post-processing.

  When returning to step 300, in step 300, the virtual palette 18C set last time is left as it is, and one of the remaining empty squares 18B is further set to the virtual palette 18C.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using said each embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various changes or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments without departing from the gist of the invention, and embodiments to which the changes or improvements are added are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the description has been given of the mode in which the instruction data that does not give the motor operation instruction to the empty mass 18B that does not contribute to the conveyance of the pallet 16 among the empty mass 18B that is the virtual pallet 18C has been described. The invention is not limited to this, and other methods that do not give an operation instruction to the motor of the empty mass 18B may be used.

  The flow of various processes described in the above embodiments is also an example, and unnecessary steps are deleted, new steps are added, and the processing order is changed within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention. May be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mechanical parking apparatus 12 Vehicle 14 Entry / exit part 16 Pallet 18 Storage shelf 18A Pallet mass 18B Empty mass 20 Storage 24 Controller 46 Memory | storage part 60 Puzzle process execution part 64 Judgment part 66 Re-execution instruction part 68 Instruction data correction part 70 Re Execution instruction section

Claims (7)

A storage unit in which a plurality of storage shelves are arranged in a planar shape, and each of the pallet region stores a pallet region in which a vehicle is placed and an empty region in which the pallet is not stored; A control device for a mechanical parking device that transports the empty space to the empty area,
Calculation execution means for executing calculation processing for obtaining a conveyance path for conveying the pallet in the hangar to a loading / unloading unit where the vehicle is loaded and unloaded;
In the calculation process in the case where there are a plurality of free areas, a determination unit that determines whether a solution has been obtained;
When the solution of the arithmetic processing cannot be obtained, re-execution instruction means for virtually reducing the free space and executing the arithmetic processing again;
A control device for a mechanical parking device.   The control device for a mechanical parking device according to claim 1, wherein the re-execution instructing unit virtually sets a part of the empty area in the pallet area in order to virtually reduce the empty area. The calculation execution means, after obtaining a solution of the calculation processing, generates instruction data used to transport the specified pallet to the loading / unloading unit,
The control device for a mechanical parking apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a correction unit configured to correct the instruction data so that the virtually set pallet area is the empty area. Regardless of the position of the pallet in the hangar, an all-shelf confirmation test is performed in advance to confirm by calculation that all the pallets can be conveyed to a loading / unloading unit that loads and unloads the vehicle. Storage means for storing the number of free areas for which a solution has been obtained in advance by
The mechanical parking device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the re-execution instructing unit sets a plurality of the empty regions in the pallet region so as to be the number of the empty regions stored in the storage unit. Control device.   The re-execution instructing unit sets the free area in the pallet area so that the number of free areas decreases stepwise until a solution is obtained by the arithmetic processing. Control device for mechanical parking equipment. A hangar in which a plurality of storage shelves arranged in a plane are arranged in any one of a pallet area storing a pallet on which a vehicle is placed and an empty area not storing the pallet;
A loading / unloading section for loading and unloading the vehicle;
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
A mechanical parking device comprising: A storage unit in which a plurality of storage shelves are arranged in a planar shape, and each of the pallet region stores a pallet region in which a vehicle is placed and an empty region in which the pallet is not stored; A method of controlling a mechanical parking device that transports the empty space to the empty area,
A first step of performing a calculation process for obtaining a transport route for transporting the pallet in the hangar to a loading / unloading unit in which the vehicle is loaded and unloaded;
A second step of determining whether or not a solution has been obtained in the arithmetic processing in the case where there are a plurality of free areas;
A third step of virtually reducing the free space and executing the arithmetic process again if a solution to the arithmetic process cannot be obtained;
Control method for mechanical parking apparatus including

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