JPH05722B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention is applicable to the case where articles such as processed products and jigs and tools are transported by an automatic guided vehicle in a production factory.
Concerning a conveyance control system.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, when goods are transported by automatic guided vehicles at a production factory, a single computer is used to allocate work to the guided vehicles and give work instructions to each guided vehicle (time of implementation, destination, source, etc.) has been decided. Each carrier is
In accordance with this instruction, a transport route (travel path on the track from the transport source to the transport destination) is determined, and the transport work is performed by starting, stopping, and speed control.

However, this method has the disadvantage of low control reliability for the following reasons. That is, if the only computer for controlling the transport described above breaks down, it becomes impossible to issue work instructions to all of the plurality of transport vehicles, and the transport work is completely stopped.

Since one of the purposes of implementing FA (Factory Automation) in production plants is to realize unmanned operation at night, it is necessary to avoid such complete suspension of transport work as much as possible.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a transport control system that improves the conventional drawbacks as described above and improves the reliability of the automatic guided vehicle control system.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the conveyance control system of the present invention includes a plurality of fixed facilities (100-1 in FIG.
~100-n), fixed equipment control devices 1-1 to 1-n provided for each of the fixed equipment, and a control device 1-1 that controls start, stop, speed, etc.
Multiple automated guided vehicles 200- equipped with ~11-m
1 to 200-m, and a transport control device 2-1 to 2-m, which is provided for each of the plurality of automatic guided vehicles and instructs the transport source fixed equipment and the transport destination fixed equipment in which the automatic guided vehicle performs transport work. , each transport control device 2-1 to 2-
m and each of the fixed equipment control devices 1-1 to 1-n, each of the fixed equipment control devices 1-1 to 1-n is Each transport control device 2-1 to 2
-m, transmits the transport request to transport control device 2-1~
When 2-m receives the transport request, the automatic guided vehicles 200-1 to 200-m under its control calculate the time at which the transport work can be executed in response to the transport request, and send data indicating the executable time. Fixed equipment control devices 1-1 to 1 that issued the transport request via the transmission device 10
-n, fixed equipment controllers 1-1 to 1-n
selects an automatic guided vehicle 200-1 to 200-m to execute the transport request based on the executable time received from each transport control device 2-1 to 2-m,
A transfer request execution instruction is transmitted to the transfer control devices 2-1 to 2-m corresponding to the selected automatic guided vehicle via the data transmission device 10, and the transfer control devices 2-1 to 2-m that have received the execution instruction m is characterized in that it instructs the automatic guided vehicle under its control as to the source fixed equipment and the destination fixed equipment in accordance with the execution instruction.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a conveyance control system in an embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a transportation system in a production factory. The transport system 1 is
Manufacturing equipment (hereinafter referred to as station) 100-
1,100-2,...100-n, automatic guided vehicle (hereinafter abbreviated as guided vehicle) 200-1,...,20
0-m, with trajectory 300.

2-1, ..., 2-m are each corresponding transport vehicle 2
This is a transport control device that controls 00-1, . . . , 200-m. Transfer control device 2-1, ..., 2-m
is structured as follows. 3-i (i=1,
..., m) is the transport control device 2-i (i=1, ...,
m) data transmitting/receiving device, each station 10
This is a device that transmits and receives data between 0-j (j=1, . . . , n). 4-i (i=1,...,
m) is a transport request response device, and is a device that calculates the executable time (estimated value) of the transport request in response to the transport request from each station 100-j (j=1,...n). . 5-i (i=1,...
..., m) is a transport work registration/deletion device. 6
-i (i=1, ..., m) is a transport schedule storage device, and transport work registration/deletion device 5-i (i=1,
..., m) is a device that stores the registered transportation schedule. 7-i (i=1,...,m) is a transport work progress management device, and a transport schedule storage device 6-i
(i=1, ..., m) and grasp the progress status of the work stored in the transport vehicle 200-i (i=1, ..., m).
. . . m) is a device that determines the next transport work to be performed when a certain transport work is completed. 8
-i (i=1,...,m) is the transport route memory
is a decision device and has two stations 100-
j, 100-j'(j≠j', j, j'=1,...,n)
and the corresponding data with orbit 300 are stored,
This is a device that determines the travel path on the track 300 of the transport vehicle 200-i (i=1, . . . , m) when the transport work is determined based on the data. 9-
i (i=1, . . . , m) is an inter-vehicle data transmitting/receiving device;
Output of work instructions (transport source/destination station names, transport route) to transport vehicle 200-i
This is a device that receives conveyance work completion data from (i=1, . . . , m).

Reference numeral 10 denotes a data transmission device, which transmits data between each station control device 1-j (j=1,...,n) and the transport control device 2-i (i=1,...,m). .

11-i (i=1, ..., m) is the transport vehicle 20
0-i (i=1, . . . , m), and the transport control device 2-i (i=1, . . . ,
This is a device that starts, stops, and controls the speed of the transport vehicle in accordance with the transport work instructions given by m).

Hereinafter, how to determine the transport work to each transport vehicle using the in-plant transport control system of the present invention will be explained.

(1) Each station 100-j (hereinafter, j=1,
..., n) is the station 100
-j, the transport request is sent to each transport controller 2-i (hereinafter i=1,
..., m). Here, we will consider a case where a transport request is to transport an object at the station issuing the request to another station. Therefore, the data content of the transport request is the name of the transport source station (the name of the station that issued the request).
and the destination station name.

(2) The transport control device 2-i of each transport vehicle receives transport request data via the data transmitting/receiving device 3-i.

(3) The data transmitting/receiving device 3-i sends the received transport request data to the transport request responding device 4-i. The transport request response device 4-i stores information about when the transport request can be executed in the transport schedule storage device 6-i.
The calculation is performed using the transport schedule data stored in the transport schedule data and the data stored in the transport route storage/determination device 8-i. That is, the scheduled time for carrying out the requested transport work is calculated.

(4) The scheduled implementation time is transmitted to the data transmitting/receiving device 3-
i is used to transmit the transport request via the data transmission device 10 to the control device of the station that issued the transport request.

(5) After receiving the scheduled execution times from all the transport control devices, the station control device that issued this transportation request executes the requested transportation task on the carrier that has responded with the earliest scheduled time among them. In order to receive the information, the carrier sends a reply to the conveyance vehicle control device.

(6) Upon receiving the answer in (5), the transport control device registers this transport request in the transport schedule of the transport schedule storage device 6-i using the transport work registration/deletion device 5-i.

Through the above steps (1) to (6), it is determined which transport vehicle will carry out the transport request from each station.

Next, an example of how the transport work instructions to each transport vehicle are determined by the in-plant transport control method of the present invention will be described.

(A) Assume that the transport vehicle 200-i has already completed the instructed transport work. At this time, the inter-vehicle data transmitting/receiving device 9-i receives a work completion signal from the conveying vehicle controller 11-i. This work completion signal can be generated, for example, by a limit switch that is turned on and off when the article is unloaded from the transport vehicle 200-i.

(B) The transport work registration/deletion device 5-i deletes the completed transport work from the transport work schedule of the transport schedule storage device 6-i.

(C) Determine the next transport operation to be performed. It is assumed that this work is the transport work registered at the earliest time in the transport schedule stored in the transport schedule storage device 6-i. That is, it is assumed that there is no difference in processing priority between the respective transport operations.

The above-mentioned transport work determination is performed by the transport work progress management device 7-i, and the flow of this process will be explained using FIG. 3.

The transport work progress management device 7-i reads the transport schedule from the transport schedule storage device 6-i (301).
From the read transportation schedule, the transportation task that is not currently being executed and has the earliest request reception time is selected (302). Then, an inquiry is made to the transport source and destination stations of the selected transport work as to whether the transport work is executable (303). If both the transport source and transport destination stations are executable, that transport work is determined as the transport work to be executed next (304, 305). If it cannot be executed at either station, the selected transport operation is set as unexecutable (304, 306), and a check is made to see if there is a transport operation in the transport schedule that is not currently being executed or is not executable, that is, there is a transport operation that can be executed. If there is a transport work that can be executed, the transport work with the earliest request reception time is selected (308), and the transport work is sent to the transport source and destination station of the transport work. Inquire whether the work can be performed.

In addition, if there are transport operations registered in the transport schedule that have not been executed yet, but all of them cannot be performed due to station circumstances, the process will be temporarily suspended and the request will be made again after a certain period of time. Starting from the transport work with the earliest acceptance time, inquiries are made to the transport source station and the transport destination station as to whether the transport work is possible.

(D) The transport route storage/determination device 8-i stores the names of the transport source and destination station of the transport work determined in step (C), and the current location of the transport vehicle 200-i (for example, the previous transport work). The traveling route of the transport work to be executed from now on is determined from the location where the transport work has been completed (that is, the location of the destination station for the work) and the transport route table stored in the transport route storage/determination device 8-i.

This result is sent to the inter-vehicle data transmitting/receiving device 9-
i to the transport vehicle controller 11-i.

(A) to (D) explained above are the functions performed by the transport vehicle control device 2-i when determining transport work instructions.

(E) Next, the transport vehicle 200-i moves to the transport source station for the instructed transport work. The transport source station control device detects that the transport vehicle 200-i has arrived at the station from a signal from a limit switch or the like installed at the station. Then, data on the contents of the transport work (for example, from which station is the request) is received from the transport vehicle controller 11-i. If the transport source station requests the work, the transport source station control device will notify the moving transport vehicle 200-i to that effect, and transfer the goods from the transport source station to the transport vehicle 200-i. Load. If the transport source station does not request the work, the transport source station control device notifies the transport vehicle 2 to that effect.
Contact 00-i. The conveyance vehicle controller 11-i of the conveyance vehicle 220-i, which has received the notification that no work is requested, informs the conveyance control device 2-i of the unrequested work (movement to a station for which no conveyance request has been issued). 2-i and receives instructions from the transport control device 2-i.

(F) The transport vehicle 200-i loaded with articles moves from the transport source station to the transport destination station. The exchange between the station control device 1-i and the transport vehicle controller 11-i at the transport destination station is the same as in step (E).

One embodiment of the present invention has been described above, and from this description it can be said that the functions of each device are as follows.

4-i: Transport request response device Calculate the executable time when the transport vehicle executes the transport work for which a transport request has been made. This calculation is
It can be done as follows. The source and destination stations of the transportation work for which the transportation request was made are respectively o and
It is expressed as d. Assume that the tasks registered in the transport work schedule are as follows.

(o ₁ , d ₁ ), (o ₂ , d ₂ )...(o _h , d _h ) The time T required to complete all of these transportation operations (including the requested transportation operations) is expressed by the following formula: can give.

T=t (p ₀ , o ₁ ) + _h 〓 ⁱ⁼¹ t (o _i , d _i ) + _h-1 〓 ⁱ⁼¹ t (d _i , o _i+1 ) + (h+1)l+(h+1) u+t(
d _h , o)+t(o, d)...(1) Here, t(x, y) is the travel time of the transport vehicle 200-i between the two points x and y. l and u are the station 100-i and the transport vehicle 200-, respectively.
Represents the loading and unloading time of items between i. p ₀ represents the current location of the transport vehicle 200-i. Therefore, t(p ₀ , o ₁ ) in equation (1) is
The time from the current point to the source station for the next transport operation (o ₁ , d ₁ ), _h 〓 ⁱ⁼¹ t(o _i ,
d _i ) is the number of transport vehicles 20 required for all the above transport operations.
The total travel time of 0−i, _h 〓 ⁱ⁼¹ t(d _i , o _i+1 ), is 1
The total time from the completion of one transport operation to the transport source station for the next transport operation, (h+1)
l is the total time required for loading goods in all transport operations, (h+1) u is the total time required for unloading goods in all transport operations, t(d _h , o)
is the time required to go to the source station for a newly requested transport operation after the last transport operation (o _h , d _h ) in the transport schedule is completed, and t (o, d) is
This is the time required for the transport vehicle 200-i to go from the transport source station to the transport destination station for a new transport operation.

The transport request response device 4-i calculates the scheduled time for carrying out the requested transport work using equation (1), and then transmits that time to the station control device 1- that has issued the transport request.
Send to i.

5-i: Transport work registration/deletion device (a) Transport work registration/deletion of the transport vehicle designated to perform the transport work requested by the station.
A function for the deletion device to register the requested transport work in the transport schedule.

Here, the contents to be registered are as follows.

Γ Transport source station name Γ Transport destination station name Γ Request reception time (b) A function to delete the transport work from the transport schedule when a transport work completion signal is received from the transport vehicle 200-i.

6-i: Transport schedule storage device A function to store a schedule of transport operations currently being carried out and to be executed in the future.

The transportation schedule has the format shown in FIG. That is, for each transport work, the transport source station, transport destination station, request reception time, and whether or not the work is currently being executed are stored.

7-i: Transport work progress management device A function of determining the transport work to be executed next when a transport work completion signal is received from the transport vehicle 200-i. The next transport operation to be performed must meet the following three conditions. That is, (a) it is not being executed, (b) the request reception time is the earliest, and (c) both the transport source station and the transport destination station are executable.

8-i: Transport route storage/determination device Transport vehicle 200-i that performs the determined transport work
is the trajectory 3 from the current location to the transport source station and from there to the transport destination station.
A function to determine the driving route on 00.

This travel route is determined based on the transport route table stored in the transport route storage/determination device 8-i.

FIG. 4a shows a transport route table. The transport route table includes travel routes corresponding to the transport source station (departure point) and transport destination station (destination),
and travel time are recorded, and the transport route storage/determination device 8-i stores this content. FIG. 4b shows each station 100-i and the orbit 30.
0 (P ₁ , P ₂ . . . P ₅₀ ).

The traveling route is determined as follows from the transport route table shown in FIG. 4a. For example, the current location is P _l (where 2<l<10), the transport source station is 100-1,
If the transport source station is 100-n, the driving route from the current location to the transport source station is P _l
...P ₂ P ₁ , and the traveling route from the transport source station to the transport destination station is P ₁ P ₂ ...P _l ...
… _P50 .

In this way, in this embodiment, each conveyance vehicle is provided with an individual conveyance control device, so even if some of the conveyance control devices fail, the remaining normal conveyance control devices and those The transport work can be continued using the transport vehicle, making the transport control system highly reliable.

Further, when adding a transport vehicle, there is no need to completely remodel the transport control device, and it is sufficient to simply add a transport control device for controlling the added transport vehicle to the transport control system. That is, the transport control system is highly expandable. Therefore, when a failed transport control device is repaired, no new processing is required due to the repair, and control for repairing the transport control system is easy.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the automatic guided vehicle control system is improved by providing a transportation control device for each guided vehicle and further providing a data transmission device that connects these devices and the station control device. High reliability can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a transport control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a transport schedule, and Fig. 3 is an example of a processing flow of a transport work progress management device. FIG. 4a is a diagram showing an example of a conveyance route table, and FIG. 4b is a diagram showing an example of correspondence between each station and a location on the orbit. 100-1 to 100-n: Station, 20
0-1 to 200-m: Transport vehicle, 1-1 to 1-n:
Station control device, 2-1 to 2-m: Transport control device, 3-1 to 3-m: Data transmission/reception device, 4
-1 to 4-m: Transport request response device, 5-1 to 5-
m: Transport work registration/deletion device, 6-1 to 6-m:
Transport schedule storage device, 7-1 to 7-m: Transport work progress management device, 8-1 to 8-m: Transport route storage/
Determination device, 9-1 to 9-m: Inter-vehicle data transmission/reception device, 10: Data transmission device, 11-1 to 11
-m: Transport vehicle controller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of fixed equipment, a fixed equipment control device provided for each of the fixed equipment, a plurality of automated guided vehicles equipped with a control device that controls start, stop, speed, etc. a transport control device that is provided for each of the plurality of automatic guided vehicles and instructs the source fixed equipment and the destination fixed equipment in which the automatic guided vehicle should carry out transport work; each of the transport control devices and the fixed equipment control device; a data transmission device that transmits data between the fixed equipment control devices, each of the fixed equipment control devices transmits a transportation request to each of the transportation control devices via the data transmission device, and the transportation control device transmits a transportation request to the transportation control device. Upon receiving the automatic guided vehicle, the automatic guided vehicle under its control calculates the time at which the transport operation can be executed in response to the transport request, and transmits the transport request at the executable time via the data transmission device. The fixed equipment controller selects an automatic guided vehicle to execute the transport request based on the executable time received from each transport controller, and transmits the transport request to the data transmitter. transmitting an instruction to execute the transfer request to a transfer control device corresponding to the selected automatic guided vehicle via the transfer control device, and receiving the execution instruction, the transfer control device
A transport control system characterized by instructing the automatic guided vehicle under its control to select a transport source fixed equipment and a transport destination fixed equipment in accordance with the execution instruction. 2. In the transport control system according to claim 1, the transport control device includes a transport request response device that calculates the scheduled execution time of the transport request, and when selected to execute the transport request, the transport control device A transport work registration/deletion device that registers a request in a transport schedule and deletes the registration of the transport work upon completion of the transport work registered in the transport schedule, and the transport work registered in the transport schedule is completed. 1. A transport control system comprising: a transport work progress management device that selects a transport work to be executed next from the transport schedule when the transport operation is performed.