JP7437181B2 - In-building conveyance system and building structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the transportation of luggage, and more particularly to a transportation system suitable for transporting luggage to the hands of an office worker in a building such as an office building, and a building structure to which this system can be applied.

In recent years, the number of packages transported has increased due to the expansion of online shopping, and the shortage of personnel responsible for transporting packages has become a problem. Therefore, proposals have been made to improve the efficiency of the last mile of home delivery (from the distribution center to the front door of your home). For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which an autonomous mobile body is run on a patrol route, and is directed to the client's house upon contact from the client, and also transports packages to the destination. Here, the autonomous mobile body is equipped with various sensors, etc., and the luggage compartment in which the luggage is loaded is equipped with a locking mechanism, and is configured to prevent the luggage from being removed during transportation, at a location other than the destination, or from being stolen. ing.

On the other hand, such transportation systems using autonomous mobile bodies transport cargo from a delivery center such as a courier company or from a client to the front door of the destination. It will take more time to reach you. Under these circumstances, Patent Document 2 describes a technology for flying drones (unmanned mobile objects) into buildings in factories, warehouses, etc., guiding autonomous mobile objects that move within the building, and supporting the transportation of cargo within the building. is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-119537 Patent No. 6628296

Indeed, if there is guidance, it may be possible for autonomous mobile objects to move within buildings. However, the building disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a place where a relatively flat environment is ensured, such as a factory or a warehouse. On the other hand, common buildings such as buildings are not built on the assumption that autonomous moving objects such as robots will operate there. For this reason, it is not possible to cope with steps such as stairs, as well as elevators and intercoms.

Furthermore, the drones used for transportation support were only made available because they were located in environments such as warehouses and factories that had relatively large spaces and few people came and went. For this reason, it is practically difficult to use a drone to transport cargo in a manned environment where people are present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transport system that can improve the efficiency of transporting cargo within a building, and a beam structure of a building to which this transport system can be applied.

A conveyance system according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a system for conveying cargo within a building, in which a floor map within the building is recorded, and current position information on the floor map is acquired. The unmanned moving body is equipped with a position information detection unit for holding and transporting the luggage, and is capable of displaying a floor map in the building, and moves the unmanned moving body to a position specified by the floor map. an operating means capable of outputting a command signal, the unmanned moving object recognizes the current position and the specified position determined via the operating means based on the recorded floor map, and determines the movement route. The present invention is characterized by a structure in which the indoor space constituting the floor and the attic space are moved back and forth via a moving body entrance and exit, and the attic space is used for movement on the floor.

Further, in the transportation system having the above-mentioned characteristics, the unmanned moving object moves with the moving object entrance located at the position closest to the specified position as a first destination, and upon arrival at the first destination, the unmanned moving object moves as a first destination. The door is opened by transmitting a signal based on the mobile object to the entrance/exit of the mobile object. With such a feature, the mobile body entrance can be opened at the timing when the unmanned mobile body comes near the mobile body entrance which is the first destination.

Furthermore, in the transport system having the above characteristics, the moving body entrance/exit is provided with a unique position specifying means, the unmanned moving body is equipped with a reading means for reading the position specifying means, and the unmanned moving body is provided with a reading means for reading the position specifying means, The signal based on arrival is characterized in that it is a signal indicating that the position specifying means has been recognized. With such features, the recognition of the position specifying means by the unmanned moving object can be used as a trigger for the opening timing of the moving object entrance.

Furthermore, the beam structure of a building to which the conveyance system according to the present invention for achieving the above object can be applied uses an unmanned moving body that moves using the attic space when conveying cargo within the building. The present invention is a beam structure for use in a conveyance system, and is characterized in that a through hole through which the unmanned moving body passes is provided in the beam of the beam.

Further, in the beam structure of a building to which the conveyance system having the above characteristics can be applied, the through hole is provided near the longitudinal center of the beam. By having such characteristics, the influence on design proof stress can be reduced.

Furthermore, in a beam structure of a building to which the conveyance system having the above characteristics can be applied, the shape of the through hole is a mansard type. With such features, it is possible to increase the opening area while maintaining structural strength.

According to the transport system having the above characteristics, it is possible to improve the efficiency of transporting luggage within a building. Moreover, according to the beam structure having the above characteristics, the conveyance system according to the invention can be applied.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a transport system according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement structure of beams in the attic space. It is a figure showing the shape (structure) of a through-hole provided in a beam. It is a figure showing an example of the attic space in a floor. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of a moving body entrance. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the structure of a moving body entrance. It is a flow for explaining an example of operation of a conveyance system concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the components comprised in the through-hole provided in a beam. It is a flow for explaining an example of operation of the through-hole conveyance system according to the embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a conveyance system of the present invention and a beam structure of a building to which the conveyance system can be applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in the transport system according to the present embodiment, it is assumed that the stage on which the cargo is transported is inside a building such as a building.

[Transport system]
First, with reference to FIG. 1, the configuration of a transport system 10 according to this embodiment will be described. The transport system 10 according to the present embodiment includes at least an unmanned moving object 12 (including flying objects such as so-called drones, as well as unmanned moving vehicles), an operating means 14, and a position information specifying means 16.

The unmanned moving body 12 is a moving body that holds and transports the luggage 50. When the unmanned mobile object 12 is a drone, in addition to the control unit for flight, it also includes a storage unit, a position information detection unit (specifically, an IMU unit (acceleration sensor) and LiDAR: both are not shown), and luggage. It is only necessary to include a holding mechanism 12a and a detection means 12b such as a camera. The control unit is an element for controlling the rotation of propellers and the like, as well as creating a flight route and making decisions when receiving various signals. The storage unit also records floor maps within the building, programs necessary for various processes, and the like. Note that the floor map recorded in the storage unit of the unmanned moving object 12 also records possible flight routes in the attic space, which will be described in detail later.

The position information detection section may be any element that can detect its own position information based on radio waves output from the position information specifying means 16, which will be described in detail later. This is because by projecting the own position information detected by the position information detection unit onto the floor map recorded in the storage unit, the own position can be recognized and autonomous movement (flight) becomes possible.

The baggage holding mechanism 12a is not limited in detail as long as it has a structure that can hold the baggage 50 to be transported. For example, a hook may be provided at the bottom of the body.

Moreover, as the detection means 12b provided in the unmanned moving body 12, in addition to a camera, an ultrasonic sensor or the like may be added to provide an obstacle avoidance function during autonomous flight.

The operating means 14 is a means for outputting an instruction to the unmanned moving body 12 to transport the luggage 50. Specifically, in addition to a personal computer, the terminal may be a high-performance mobile phone (so-called smart phone), a tablet terminal, or any other terminal equipped with a communication function, an input function, a display function, and the like.

In addition to the above-mentioned functions, the operating means 14 also includes at least a storage section, a calculation section (both not shown), and records a floor map of a building and application software for performing processing necessary for conveyance instructions. At the same time, it is possible to start application software and perform control processing according to input contents and output commands.

With the operating means 14 having such functions and configuration, it is possible to start the application software, display the floor map, and specify the position where the cargo 50 is to be transported, and to control the unmanned vehicle 12. It becomes possible to specify and output the location information of the destination.

The position information specifying means 16 determines the position of a person (an office worker: a person who operates the operating means 14) requesting transportation of the unmanned mobile object 12 or the luggage 50 in a building where it is difficult for GPS (Global Positioning System) radio waves to reach. Any element is sufficient as long as it can specify information (in the following embodiments, the position information specifying means 16 is not used to specify the position information of the unmanned moving object 12).

For example, a transmitter that outputs radio waves for short-range wireless communication, such as a beacon, may be used. By installing Beacons at a plurality of locations (at least three locations) in a building where positional information can be specified, it becomes possible to specify the position of the operating means 14 based on the principle of three-point survey.

In addition, examples of means for specifying the position information of the unmanned moving object 12 include self-position estimation by estimating the amount of movement of the An environmental map is created by measuring the distance to walls and obstacles using infrared rays from a LiDAR sensor, and position information is calculated using the SLAM method (abbreviation for Simultaneous Localization And Mapping), which estimates the self-position from the environmental map. becomes possible.

[Effect]
With the transport system 10 having such a configuration, the worker starts the application software via the operating means 14 and specifies a specific location on the floor map, and the unmanned moving object 12 moves the luggage 50 to the specified location. It becomes possible to transport.

[Beam structure]
In the transport system 10 according to the present invention, the attic space located above the indoor space constituting the floors of the building is used as a movement space for the unmanned moving body 12 on each floor. In today's buildings, where indoor spaces are increasingly column-free, the spans between columns are becoming larger, and the beams tend to be larger as well. As a result, the gap between the ceiling and the beams has become narrower. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2(A), a plurality of small beams 24 are arranged between the large beams 22 extending between the columns 20. For this reason, the attic space is generally a space in which it is difficult to secure free movement space.

In this embodiment, when applying the conveyance system 10 having the above configuration, the small beam 24 is arranged in parallel with the large beam 22 having a large span, as shown in FIG. 2(B). This is because with such a configuration, the number of small beams 24 can be reduced while maintaining strength, contributing to securing movement space.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a through hole 26 is provided in the beam to allow the unmanned moving body 12 to pass through. The through hole 26 is preferably provided near the longitudinal center of the beam. Stresses that act on beams can generally be divided into long-term stress caused by gravity, etc., and sudden (short-term) stress caused by earthquakes, wind, etc. It is said that under stress that acts over a long period of time, the bending moment acts largely on the ends and center of the beam. It is also said that the shear force is large at the ends of the beam and small at the center. On the other hand, it is said that under short-term stress, the bending moment is large at the ends of the beam and small at the center. It is also said that the shear force is uniform throughout the beam.

Here, providing the through holes 26 in the beam reduces the shear strength of the beam. Therefore, by providing the through hole 26 near the center of the beam, where the shear force due to long-term stress is considered to be small, the influence on the designed proof stress can be reduced. Note that even in the case where the through hole 26 is provided near the center of the beam, the cross-sectional structure is such that when short-term stress such as during an earthquake is applied, shear force is transmitted to the left and right sides of the beam.

The shape of the through hole 26 may be any shape that allows the unmanned vehicle 12 carrying the cargo 50 to pass through, but in order to ensure both a large opening and the maintenance of strength, it is preferable to have a mansard-type opening structure. It is desirable to do so. As shown in Figure 3, the mansard-type opening has a pentagonal opening and a reinforcing structure (reinforcing flange 28) around the opening, making it possible to effectively secure both the opening area and the strength. .

Further, in the vicinity of the through hole 26, if there are a plurality of unmanned moving bodies 12 attempting to pass through the through hole 26 from both sides, a so-called "signal" function is required to control entry and stop on the road. Therefore, the approach of the unmanned moving body 12 is detected by the moving body detection device 42 which detects that the unmanned moving body 12 approaches the vicinity of the through hole 26 . (Refer to the flowcharts in FIGS. 8 and 9) The moving object detection device 42 uses, for example, an image sensor to learn the shape of a moving object in advance, and detects that the learned shape has exceeded a certain size. In this case, processing such as determining that the unmanned moving object 12 has approached the vicinity of the through hole 26 may be performed.

In order to detect the unmanned moving object 12 by the moving object detection device 42, the time at which the unmanned moving object 12 is detected as "present" is recorded and the through-hole passing control is performed in the order of the detected times, or the unmanned moving object 12 is detected. It is sufficient to assign priorities and perform through-hole passage control in order of priority. As a result, priority control is possible even when multiple unmanned moving objects 12 are detected or when unmanned moving objects 12 are detected on both sides of the through hole 26 (large beam 22, small beam 24). Become.

When a learning shape of a certain size or more is detected as the unmanned moving object 12 "present," a signal provided on the opposite side of the through hole 26 to the moving object detection device 42 that has determined that the unmanned moving object 12 is "present." The transmitter 44 outputs a "standby" signal. A directional antenna may be used in the signal transmitting device 44 so that the output signal is not transmitted to both sides via the through hole 26.

By performing such processing, the unmanned moving body 12 approaching the opposite side of the through hole 26 stops upon receiving the "standby" signal. When stopped, it is necessary to secure a certain distance between the through hole 26 and the own body so as to secure the movement line of the unmanned mobile object 12 passing from the opposite side of the through hole 26. For this reason, it is preferable that the distance between the unmanned moving object 12 and the through hole 26 is measured by the moving object detection device 42, and a "standby" signal is output when the unmanned moving object 12 approaches a predetermined distance. Note that if the "standby" signal is not output, a marker indicating a stop line may be installed.

As a result, the unmanned moving object 12 (the unmanned moving object 12 with a high priority for passage) that was about to pass through the through hole 26 is replaced by the unmanned moving object 12 (the unmanned moving object 12 with a low priority) existing on the opposite side of the through hole 26. 12) starts to move after it enters the standby state. When the unmanned moving object 12 completes passing through the through hole 26, the moving object detection device 42 determines that the unmanned moving object 12 detected near the through hole 26 is not detected, so that the unmanned moving object 12 has completed passing through the through hole 26. , outputs a "passable" signal to the unmanned moving object 12 waiting on the opposite side of the through hole 26. Thereby, even if a plurality of unmanned moving objects 12 approach the vicinity of the same through-hole 26, the passage through the through-hole can be controlled.

Furthermore, regardless of the size of the through hole 26, even if the through hole 26 is large enough to allow multiple unmanned moving objects 12 to pass through at the same time, multiple unmanned moving objects 12 may be placed on the same side of the through hole 26. There may be cases where it exists. In such a case, the flow shown in FIG. 9 when the "number of moving objects" is "multiple" is used, and the "size of moving objects" for a plurality of unmanned moving objects 12 is detected.

Among the unmanned moving objects 12 whose sizes have been detected, for the moving object (A) whose size is determined to be the largest, a signal on the detection side is output as "passable" to (A). , the signal output by the signal transmitting device 44 on the opposite side of the through hole 26 is set as "standby". Furthermore, a "standby" signal is output from the signal transmitter 44 to the moving object group (B) other than the moving object (A) on the detection side. Thereby, even if a plurality of unmanned moving objects 12 are detected on the same side of the through hole 26, the through hole passage control becomes possible.

[Opening/closing structure of mobile entrance/exit]
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the opening used by the unmanned moving object 12 when moving back and forth between the indoor space and the attic space is the moving object entrance 30 (see the schematic configuration of the attic space shown in FIG. 4). This is because the moving body entrance/exit 30 is an element that is always provided on a floor where an attic space is provided.

In this embodiment, the structure of the moving body entrance 30 is a sliding door type as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This is because if the door is structured to open downward, there is a possibility that the door will come into contact with the person if there is a person directly under the door. As for the structure of the moving body entrance/exit 30 according to the embodiment, a pair of rails 34 are provided in parallel to each of a pair of opposing sides of the opening 32 . The length of the rail 34 in the longitudinal direction is longer than the length of the side of the opening 32, and preferably about twice the length of the side of the opening 32. This is because when the door 36 is opened, there is no overlap between the opening 32 and the door 36 in plan view, making it possible to make maximum use of the opening area of the opening 32.

It is preferable that the door 36 is provided with a slider and wheels (both not shown) on the surface facing the rail 34, so that the door 36 can be slid along the rail 34. Furthermore, the moving body entrance/exit 30 according to the embodiment is equipped with a drive communication control means 38 having a drive section, a control section, and a communication section.

By transmitting and receiving signals to and from the unmanned mobile object 12 via the communication unit, the control unit operates the drive unit and opens and closes the door 36, thereby eliminating the need for an operator to manually open and close the door 36. disappears. Further, the door 36 may be provided with a unique position specifying means 40 on the side opposite to the side facing the opening 32, that is, on the side facing the attic space.

When the unmanned moving body 12 approaches the moving body entrance/exit 30, the detection means 12b reads the position specifying means 40 and outputs a signal indicating that the position specifying means 40 has been recognized to the communication section of the drive communication control means 30. The drive unit can operate the drive unit to open the door 36. Here, the position specifying means 40 may be, for example, a pattern such as a two-dimensional code, or a tag that enables short-range wireless communication such as RFID or Beacon. When the position specifying means 40 is a short-range wireless communication tag, it is preferable that the unmanned moving object 12 is provided with a receiving means.

In the above embodiment, there is no particular limitation on the arrangement position of the position information specifying means (for example, Beacon) 16, but if there are three or more moving body entrances 30 on the floor, each moving body entrance 30 is A configuration may also be adopted in which the position information specifying means 16 is arranged. Naturally, the position information specifying means 16 may be arranged at any plurality of locations on the floor within the range where short-range wireless signals can reach.

[Transportation system operation]
When operating the transport system 10 according to the embodiment in a building having the above-described beam structure and the structure of the moving body entrance/exit 30, the flow is as shown in FIG. 7.
First, the office worker who requests transportation of the luggage 50 starts up the application software via the operating means 14 (step 10). Next, according to the instructions of the application software, a receiving position for the package 50 is designated (step 20). The receiving position can be specified on the floor map, but if the office worker is at the receiving position, the receiving position can also be specified by measuring the position information of the operating means 14. Therefore, the office worker selects which method to use to specify the receiving position (step 30).

First, when specifying a receiving position from the floor map, the office worker selects the receiving position on the floor map displayed on the operating means 14 (step 40). When the receiving position is specified, the calculation unit of the operating means 14 calculates the position of the moving body entrance 30 closest to the receiving position on the floor map, sets this moving body entrance 30 as the first destination, and starts the unmanned movement. With respect to the body 12, the position information of the moving body entrance 30 determined as the first destination (coordinate position on the floor map) and the position information of the receiving position on the floor map (coordinate position: second destination) A first destination is determined on the unmanned mobile body side (step 70).

The unmanned mobile object 12 that has received the position information of the first destination estimates its current position, compares the position information of the first destination, and determines a flight route in accordance with the flight permission rules (for example, see FIG. 4). After calculating, the vehicle autonomously flies to the first destination (step 90).

After specifying the receiving position, the operating means 14 issues a receiving marker (receiving position specifying means) as an authentication code for receiving the package 50 (step 80). When the unmanned moving object 12 reaches the vicinity of the moving object entrance 30 designated as the first destination, it reads the position specifying means 40 displayed on the door 36 and instructs the drive communication control means 38 to specify the position specifying means 40. A signal indicating recognition is output (step 100).

The moving body entrance/exit 30 that has received the recognition signal operates the drive unit to open the door 36. Thereby, the unmanned moving body 12 can move to the indoor space (step 110).

The unmanned mobile object 12 that has moved to the indoor space moves to the position designated as the receiving position (coordinate position on the floor map), and by recognizing the receiving marker displayed on the operating means 14 held by the office worker, The vehicle descends and receives the cargo (step 120).

On the other hand, if it is specified to measure the position information of the operation means 14 when specifying the receiving position, the location information on the floor map is determined by short-range wireless communication from three or more (for example, four) Beacons placed on the floor. Surveying is performed to obtain position information of the operating means 14 (step 50). When the survey using short-range wireless communication is completed, the position information of the operating means 14 on the floor map (coordinate position on the floor map) is calculated (step 60).

After the position information of the operating means 14, that is, the position information of the receiving position is obtained, the position of the moving body entrance 30 closest to the receiving position is calculated in the same way as the above-mentioned designation of the receiving position on the floor map, and this The moving body entrance 30 is set as the first destination, and the unmanned moving body 12 is provided with the position information (coordinate position on the floor map) of the mobile body entrance 30 set as the first destination and the receiving position on the floor map. The coordinate position (second destination) is transmitted (step 70).

Note that the subsequent processing related to transporting and receiving the luggage is the same as that for specifying the receiving position on the floor map described above, and will therefore be omitted.

[effect]
According to the above-described transport system 10, it is possible to transport a package to any position within a building specified by a person (an office worker), rather than to a specific position such as a mailbox or in front of a door. In addition, by using positioning technology that uses sensors such as beacons, the person requesting the transportation of a package (worker) can perform intuitive operations without being aware of his or her current location. Become. Furthermore, by making it possible to designate any location as the receiving location using the floor map, even if the person requesting transportation of the package 50 (worker) is not present at the location, the desired location can be designated as the receiving location. It is possible to request transportation of the luggage 50 to a location.

Furthermore, by flying the unmanned vehicle 12 using the space in the ceiling having the structure of the beams (large beams 22 and small beams 24) as described above, it is possible to avoid mixing transport routes in the indoor space. I can do it. Therefore, it is possible to avoid harm to people due to problems with the unmanned moving body 12.

In addition, the moving object entrance 30 is used to go back and forth between the indoor space and the attic space, and by using the moving object entrance 30 closest to the receiving position to intervene in the indoor space, the transport route in the indoor space can be changed. This allows for safe and quick transportation. Furthermore, since the opening of the moving body entrance 30 in the indoor space opens and closes automatically without the door portion protruding into the room, even when the transport system 10 is applied, there are no people passing under the moving body entrance 30. There is no feeling of pressure.

Further, by using a sliding door type opening/closing mechanism as the structure of the moving body entrance/exit 30, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the door 36 protrudes into the indoor space when opening/closing. This eliminates the possibility of causing anxiety to the person (office worker) passing under the moving body entrance/exit 30.

Further, by using a sliding door type opening/closing mechanism, it is possible to make maximum use of the size of the opening (entrance/exit opening) through which the unmanned moving body 12 comes and goes.

10...Transportation system, 12...Unmanned moving object, 12a...Luggage holding mechanism, 12b...Detection means, 14...Operation means, 16...Position information specifying means, 20...... Column, 22......Large beam, 24......Small beam, 26......Through hole, 30...Moving body entrance/exit, 32......Opening, 34...Rail, 36......Door, 38 ......Drive communication control means, 40...Position specifying means, 42...Moving object detection device, 44...Signal transmitting device, 50...Luggage.

Claims (6)

A system for transporting cargo within a building,
an unmanned mobile body that stores a floor map in the building, includes a position information detection unit for acquiring current position information on the floor map, and is responsible for holding and transporting the luggage;
an operating means capable of displaying a floor map in the building and outputting a command signal to move the unmanned mobile object to a position specified on the floor map;
The unmanned moving object determines a movement route by recognizing the current position and the specified position determined via the operating means based on the recorded floor map;
The structure is such that an indoor space constituting a floor in the building and an attic space are moved back and forth via a moving body entrance and exit, and the attic space is used for movement on the floor, and a beam existing in the movement route of the attic space is used. is provided with a through hole through which the unmanned moving body passes through the beam,
The through-hole is configured to detect the approach of the unmanned moving object to the through-hole, perform through-hole passage control for the detected unmanned moving objects in the order of detection time , and detect a plurality of unmanned moving objects detected at the same time. The present invention is characterized in that it is equipped with a moving object detection device that performs through-hole passage control in order of priority by assigning priority to unmanned moving objects and outputting command signals of "stand by" and "passable". Conveyance system. The unmanned moving object moves with the moving object entrance located at a position closest to the specified position as a first destination,
2. The transport system according to claim 1, wherein the door is opened by transmitting a signal based on arrival at the first destination to the mobile body entrance/exit. The mobile body entrance/exit is provided with a unique position specifying means,
The unmanned moving body is equipped with a reading means for reading the position specifying means,
3. The transport system according to claim 2, wherein the signal based on the arrival is a signal indicating that the position specifying means has been recognized. A beam structure when applying a transportation system using an unmanned moving object that uses the space above the ceiling to transport cargo inside a building,
Providing a through hole through which the unmanned moving body passes through the beam of the beam,
The through hole is configured to detect the approach of the unmanned moving object to the through hole, perform through hole passage control for the detected unmanned moving objects in the order of detection time , and detect a plurality of unmanned moving objects detected at the same time. The present invention is characterized in that it is equipped with a moving object detection device that performs through-hole passage control in order of priority by assigning priority to unmanned moving objects and outputting command signals of "stand by" and "passable". A beam structure of a building to which a conveyance system can be applied. The beam structure of a building to which the conveyance system according to claim 4 can be applied, wherein the through hole is provided near the longitudinal center of the beam. A beam structure of a building to which the conveyance system according to claim 4 or 5 can be applied, wherein the through hole has a mansard shape.

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