JP3227986B2 - AGV traveling control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an AGV traveling control device for controlling the traveling state of an AGV used for automatic conveyance of heavy parts and the like in factories and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, many types of AGVs are used in production sites in response to demands such as labor saving.

[0003] The AGV includes a small AGV that transports a light one and a large AGV that transports a very heavy one. As an example of the large AGV, a diagram using a rail as a transport path is shown. 5 is shown.

[0004] The AGV of the type shown in the figure comprises a truck A, which is a driving truck having a driving mechanism, and a truck B, which is a driven truck connected to the truck A. Dolly A
Are provided with a motor for traveling, and these carts A and B run on the rail 10 provided by wheels that transmit the power of the motor. A positioning unit 15 for ensuring stop position accuracy is provided at a stop position serving as a stop target of the AGV. When the AGV stops at a predetermined position, the positioning unit 15 The locking member 16 of the positioning unit 15 is engaged to specify the stop position. When running the AGV, it is necessary to specify a stop position or a deceleration position for stopping the AGV accurately at the stop position. In order to recognize this position, the bogies A, B is provided with a plurality of sensors as shown. FIG.
As shown in (1), a dog for generating, for example, a stop signal or a deceleration signal for each of these sensors is arranged on the transport path. For example, the dog 21 is a dog for generating a deceleration signal, and when the above-mentioned sensor attached to the AGV recognizes the presence of this dog, A
The running speed of the GV is reduced. The dog 22 is a dog for detecting runaway, and when the above-mentioned sensor attached to the AGV recognizes the presence of this dog, A
A GV overrun is recognized.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional AGV, a signal serving as a control source of the traveling state is generated by detecting a dog arranged on a traveling route. Therefore, when the dog cannot be detected for some reason, normal control is not performed.

For example, if the deceleration dog 21 cannot be detected due to, for example, contamination on the detection surface of the sensor, a stop command is issued suddenly when the stop position is reached. Will be overrun.

When a stop point is added or moved on the traveling route and the stop position is changed, not only is the stop dog position changed, but also the deceleration dog and runaway Since the position of the detection dog or the like must be changed, this position change requires a great deal of time and effort. Further, since the adjustment of the running state of the AGV in accordance with this change often depends on the adjustment at the site, there is also a problem that it is extremely difficult to adjust the dog position for setting the acceleration / deceleration point. Furthermore, since the wiring becomes difficult, it is difficult to modularize the AGV itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and can always maintain an accurate running state without requiring a dog. It is an object of the present invention to provide an AGV traveling control device capable of flexibly responding.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a present position recognition for recognizing a current position of an AGV.
Means and travel route storage for storing the travel route of the AGV
Means and a stop position confirmation signal input provided in the AGV
Means, disposed at a stop position of the AGV,
When the stop position reaches the stop position, the stop position confirmation signal is input.
Stop position confirmation signal output means that outputs a confirmation signal to force means
And the stop position confirmation signal input means confirms the stop position.
When a confirmation signal is received from the signal output means, the current
The current position recognized by the position recognition means is the stop position.
Current position rewriting means to rewrite to the new current position
And the new location rewritten by the current position rewriting means.
Current position or recognized by the current position recognition means
And the current position stored in the travel route storage means.
Comparing with the target position on the traveling route of the AGV
Traveling state control means for controlling the traveling state of the AGV
And characterized in that:

[0010]

The confirmation signal output from the stop position confirmation signal output means is a signal unique to each AGV stop position.

[0012] Further, the current position recognizing means includes the A
A rotational speed recognizing means for recognizing the cumulative rotational speed of the driven wheels of the AGV from a reference position set as a starting point of the GV, and calculating a current position coordinate based on the cumulative rotational speed recognized by the rotational speed recognizing means. Calculation means.

[0013]

The running control device for an AGV according to the present invention thus constructed operates as follows.

The current position of the AGV is recognized by the position recognition means. The stop position confirmation signal output means is provided at the stop position of the AGV, and outputs a confirmation signal to the stop position confirmation signal input means when the AGV reaches the stop position. The stop position confirmation signal input means provided in the AGV receives a confirmation signal from the stop position confirmation signal output means. The current position is subject to accumulation of errors due to various factors, but the current position rewriting means, when the stop position confirmation signal input means receives a confirmation signal from the stop position confirmation signal output means, The current position recognized by the current position recognizing means is rewritten to the stop position to be a new current position.

For this reason, each time the AGV reaches the stop position, the current position recognized by the current position recognition means is rewritten, so that the accumulated error of the current position is corrected each time the stop position is reached, Accurate running conditions are ensured.

The travel route storage means stores the travel path of the AGV. The travel state control means stores the new current position rewritten by the current position rewrite means or the current position recognition means. The traveling state of the AGV is controlled based on the current position recognized by the vehicle and the traveling route of the AGV stored in the traveling route storage means. That is, the traveling state control means controls the traveling state of the AGV as a whole. Since the confirmation signal output from the stop position confirmation signal output means is a signal unique to each stop position of the AGV, the AGV can also recognize which stop position is in accordance with the characteristics of the confirmation signal. .

The present position recognizing means is constituted by the revolving speed recognizing means and the calculating means. The revolving speed recognizing means uses a reference wheel set as a running starting point of the AGV for a driven wheel of the AGV. Is recognized.
Then, the calculating means calculates the current position coordinates based on the cumulative rotation speed recognized by the rotation speed recognition means.

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an AGV equipped with a travel control device according to the present invention.

The AGV illustrated in this embodiment is mainly used for carrying heavy objects. This AGV is composed of a bogie A as a driving bogie and a bogie B as a driven bogie, as in the prior art. The bogie A and the bogie B are connected by a coupler 30. Both carriages A and B run on rails 10. The bogie A is provided with a positioning unit 35. The positioning unit 35 is for engaging an engaging portion (not shown) provided on the traveling path to fix the AGV at the stop position.

The control device 40 controls the running state of the AGV. The control device 40 recognizes a portion functioning as a current position recognizing means for recognizing the current running position of the AGV. A portion that functions as a current position rewriting device that rewrites the current position to a stop position in accordance with a command to make a new current position, a portion that functions as a traveling route storage device that stores an AGV traveling route, Running state control for controlling the running state of the AGV based on the rewritten new current position or the current position recognized by the current position recognition means and the running path of the AGV stored in the running path storage means It is composed of four parts, which function as means.

Although not shown, a motor for driving the driving wheels and control devices such as an inverter for controlling the operation of the motor are also provided on the cart A.

The part functioning as the current position recognition means is a part functioning as rotation number recognition means for recognizing the cumulative rotation number of the driven wheel of the AGV from the reference position set as the starting point of the AGV. And a part functioning as a calculating means for calculating the current position coordinates based on the cumulative number of rotations recognized by the rotation number recognizing means.

When the AGV runs, the parts having these functions operate in cooperation with each other.

An operation panel 45 is provided on the trolley A.
The operation panel 45 is used when an operator or the like manually drives the AGV, and is provided with various operation switches required for traveling.

Further, a transmission coupler 50A functioning as a stop position recognition signal input means is mounted on the carriage A. The transmission coupler 50A functions as a stop position recognition signal output means provided for each stop position of the AGV. The confirmation signal is input from the transmission coupler 50B. The type of the confirmation signal is changed for each stop position. The stop position can be easily recognized by the type of the signal.

The carriage B is provided with an encoder 55 as current position recognition means for detecting the number of revolutions of the driven wheel. The encoder 55 outputs a pulse signal for detecting the rotational speed of the driven wheel from a specified position determined as the AGV traveling starting point by replacing the rotational speed with the pulse number.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the control device 40 and the schematic configuration of a control system related to the control device 40. The programmable controller 41 in the figure stores a program necessary for AGV traveling control. The travel control device 42 includes a program transmitted from the programmable controller 41 and an encoder 55.
, And controls the operation of the traveling motor 44. The travel control device 42 has a function of storing the signal of the encoder 55 and a function of storing the travel path of the AGV. Therefore, AG
It is possible to recognize where in the traveling route V is traveling.

The AGV according to the present invention thus configured
The running control device controls the operation of the AGV by operating substantially as follows.

First, when an operation command is issued, a target distance to the next stop point is determined, and a target distance that is changing every moment is calculated while recognizing the current position. If the target position is farther than the set distance before the start of the constant speed operation, the AGV is accelerated to a predetermined speed and shifts to the constant speed operation. This operation is continued, and when the distance to the target position reaches the set distance before the start of the deceleration operation, the operation shifts to the deceleration operation. Then, as the vehicle approaches the stop position, the speed is reduced,
Stops at the target position, and the positioning unit 35
V is fixed. As described above, since the traveling state of the AGV is controlled while comparing the target position with the current position, accurate traveling control is performed.

When the AGV is fixed at the stop position, a confirmation signal specific to the stop position output from the transmission coupler 50B is input to the transmission coupler 50A on the carriage A, and the confirmation signal is input to the current storage. The currently set stop position is replaced with the stop position set as the current stop position. For this reason, the recognition error of the current position due to the sliding of the wheels accompanying the transport of the heavy object is eliminated for each stop position. Next, a more detailed operation of the AGV traveling control device according to the present invention will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 and with reference to the timing chart of FIG. In this embodiment, the operator operates the operation panel 45.
The case where the AGV is manually controlled by operating the switches described above will be described. First, an operator gets on the carriage A and operates a switch of the operation panel 45 to designate a next stop position.
This designation is input to the programmable controller 41, and the programmable controller 41 selects a corresponding program and outputs the selected program to the travel control device 42. As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 4, when the command to move the AGV at the PM point to the P2 point is given,
The program 2 is input from the programmable controller 41 to the travel control device 42. Specifically, 2200 pulses are given to the travel control device 42 as the target position, the travel control device 42 calculates the difference from the number of pulses recognized as the current position, and calculates the distance to the target position (S1). ).

Next, when the operator operates the operation panel 45 to give a travel command, the travel control device 42 calculates an optimum speed based on the calculated travel distance, and the inverter 43 sets a speed for realizing the optimum speed. A command is output, and after acceleration control, constant speed control is performed. During this time, a pulse accompanying the traveling is output from the encoder 55, and the traveling control device 45 grasps the current position of the AGV based on the number of outputted pulses (S2, S3). Since the vehicle enters the deceleration range from the time when 2000 pulses are input from the PM point (S2), the travel control device 42 switches the signal output to the inverter 43 to a low-speed signal, and shifts the AGV to constant-speed traveling (S4).
This traveling is continued, and when the pulse output from the encoder 55 reaches 2200, it has reached the target position (S5). Therefore, the traveling control device 42 outputs a reaching signal to the programmable controller 41, and at the same time, the inverter After the low-speed signal to 43 is switched to the stop signal to position the AGV at the target position, a positioning signal is output to the programmable controller 41, the new program number is received, the positioning unit 35 is operated, and the AGV is fixed ( S6).

When the above processing is completed, the programmable controller 41 connects to the connected transmission coupler 50A.
Receiving the confirmation signal from the transmission coupler 50B input by the control unit 4 based on the input of the confirmation signal.
2 to output a refresh signal. Travel control device 42
Receives the refresh signal and performs a process of replacing the stored current position with data taught as the current stop position. For example, if the stop position is originally 2200 pulses from the reference position and the actual current position is recognized as 2199 pulses, the refresh signal will rewrite 2199 pulses to 2200 pulses. (S7).

By performing the above-described processing, it is possible to very accurately grasp the point at which the acceleration / deceleration or stop control of the AGV is performed, and to control the traveling in a state where there is almost no recognition error of the current position of the AGV. Can be performed.

In the above-described embodiment, the recognition signal unique to each stop point is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The stop point is determined based on the cumulative input number of the recognition signal from the reference position of the AGV. May be grasped.
However, in this case, it is not possible to jump to a certain stop point and stop at another stop point. Should be a confirmation signal. That is, a different form of confirmation signal should be set for each stop point.

Although the process of exchanging the teaching value and the current value based on the refresh signal has been described as an example, the present value may be adjusted to the teaching value by rotating the wheel.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, AG
Since the current position recognized by the current position recognition means is rewritten each time V reaches the stop position, the accumulated error of the current position is corrected each time the stop position is reached, and an accurate running state is secured. You.

Further, the running state of the AGV is controlled based on the running route of the AGV stored in the running route storage means and the current position recognized by the current position recognizing means. Accurate running conditions can always be ensured, even when the situation or atmosphere is poor.

Further, for a change in the traveling route, etc.
It is possible to flexibly cope with only the operation of rewriting the data on the traveling route stored in the traveling route storage means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an AGV equipped with an AGV traveling control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system around the control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a control system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation of the control system shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional AGV.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state of a traveling route of a conventional AGV.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 rail, 15, 35 positioning unit 21, 22, dog, 40 control device, 45 operation panel, 50A, 50B transmission coupler, 55 encoder.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A current position recognizing means for recognizing a current position of an AGV, a travel route storage means for storing a travel route of the AGV, a stop position confirmation signal input means provided in the AGV, and a stop of the AGV. A stop position confirmation signal output unit that is disposed at a position and outputs a confirmation signal to the stop position confirmation signal input unit when the AGV reaches the stop position; and the stop position confirmation signal input unit determines the stop position. Current position rewriting means for rewriting the current position recognized by the current position recognizing means to the stop position to obtain a new current position when receiving a confirmation signal from the signal output means; The new current position rewritten by the rewriting means, or the current position recognized by the current position recognizing means and A stored in the traveling route storage means.
A traveling state control unit for controlling the traveling state of the AGV while comparing the traveling state with the target position on the traveling path of the GV. 2. The AGV travel control device according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation signal output from the stop position confirmation signal output means is a signal unique to each stop position of the AGV. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said current position recognizing means calculates the AGV from a reference position set as a starting point of the AGV.
Claim that the the rotational speed recognizing means for recognizing the cumulative rotational speed of the driven wheels, characterized in that it has a calculation means for calculating the current position coordinate based on the cumulative number of revolutions that is recognized by the rotational speed recognizing means 1 Or the travel control device for an AGV according to claim 2 .