JPH0323389B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to various tools, for example, in a factory.
Regarding the control equipment for automatically running a moving vehicle such as a transport vehicle that transports workpieces etc. to a desired station, in detail, the moving vehicle is equipped with steering wheels that can freely change direction around the vertical axis. A steering sensor is provided for detecting the amount of lateral deviation with respect to a guide line for automatically traveling along the traveling route, and the vehicle is configured to automatically travel along the traveling route based on the detection information of the sensor. The present invention relates to travel control equipment for a moving vehicle, which is equipped with a steering control means for changing the direction of the steering wheels.

[Conventional technology]

In such travel control equipment for moving vehicles, a guide line is formed by a conductor that is buried below the travel path and is supplied with alternating current, a light reflective tape that is affixed to the travel road surface, etc. Since the mobile vehicle can be made to travel automatically, it has various advantages, such as being able to cause a manually driven mobile vehicle to travel across the travel path of the mobile vehicle.

Incidentally, in the past, vehicles were automatically driven while controlling the steering throughout the entire travel route based on information detected by a steering sensor.

[Problems to be solved by the present invention]

When a moving vehicle is automatically driven while controlling the steering based on the information detected by the steering sensor, for example, from the point when the steering sensor detects that the moving vehicle is lateral to the guidance line, It is unavoidable that the moving vehicle will be in a state of considerable lateral deviation with respect to the guidance line due to the so-called control action delay, which takes a certain amount of time to change the direction of the steering wheel. be.

For this reason, in order to prevent the moving vehicle from deviating from the guiding line, there is a disadvantage that the guiding line cannot be bent sharply, that is, the moving vehicle cannot run in a sharp turn. When used in the field, there was a disadvantage that the moving vehicle could not be driven close to the wall because it was necessary to avoid the moving vehicle from colliding with the wall.

In addition, when a mobile vehicle is used for transporting goods, the mobile vehicle must be stopped beside the goods transfer station and the goods must be transferred between the mobile vehicle and the station. In order to simplify the article transfer device, it is desirable to stop the moving vehicle as close to the station as possible, but as mentioned above, it is desirable to stop the moving vehicle as close as possible to the station. There was also the disadvantage that the mobile vehicle could not be stopped sufficiently close to the station since an offset condition could occur.

In short, in order for a mobile vehicle to travel automatically while controlling the steering based on the information detected by the steering sensor, sharp turns must be avoided, and the width of the travel path must be sufficiently larger than the width of the vehicle. However, if such conditions were to be met in all sections of the steering path, work efficiency would decline, the effective area within the factory would be reduced, and ancillary equipment would become complicated. This led to disadvantages, and improvements were desired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to take advantage of the advantage of automatically driving based on the detection information of the steering sensor, while also
It is an object of the present invention to provide travel control equipment for a mobile vehicle that can be used more conveniently by avoiding the disadvantages caused by this.

[Means for solving problems]

The characteristic configuration of the travel control equipment for a moving vehicle according to the present invention is that a guide rail for guiding the moving vehicle is provided in a predetermined section of the traveling path, and the guided tool guided by the guide rail is moved by the steering wheels. The steering wheel is provided so as to change direction integrally with the steering wheel so that the direction of the guide rail is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the guide rail, and a means for detecting the installation section of the guide rail is provided. The present invention is characterized in that means is provided for switching the steering wheel to a freely rotating state based on the information, and its functions and effects are as follows.

[Effect]

That is, in a predetermined section of the transition path, the vehicle automatically travels while changing the direction of the steering wheels using the guide rails. When the direction of the steering wheel is changed using the guide rail, the moving vehicle will not be significantly laterally displaced with respect to the guide rail, and furthermore, the moving vehicle will not run off the guide rail. Become.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, the portion of the traveling road where you want the moving vehicle to make sharp turns,
Guide rails are installed in predetermined sections of the travel path, such as the travel path portion where the moving vehicle runs along the wall and the travel path portion where the mobile vehicle travels along the side of the goods transfer station in the factory. If the mobile vehicle is made to travel automatically using this technology, it will be possible to make the mobile vehicle run in a sharp turn while reliably avoiding the risk of the vehicle going off the road and driving out of control.
While reliably avoiding collisions, it is possible to drive the moving vehicle close to the factory wall, and to stop the moving vehicle as close to the station as possible. Thus, we have achieved a traveling control equipment for a mobile vehicle that satisfies the above-mentioned requirements and is more convenient to use.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG.
It is configured to carry out various types of cargo transportation work. However, ST in the figure is a station for transferring goods.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the mobile vehicle A includes a pair of front and rear steering wheels that can change direction around a vertical axis and also serve as propulsion wheels that can be driven by an electric motor 1. 2 are provided so as to be located on opposite sides in the width direction of the vehicle body, and a pair of front and rear casters 3 are provided to be located laterally of the wheels 2. However, 4 in the diagram indicates wheel 2.
This is an electric motor that is gear-linked to change the direction of the wheels.

A conductor 5 to which an alternating current is supplied is buried in a large part of the moving vehicle running path as a guide line for causing the moving vehicle A to automatically travel along the running path, and a conductor 5 of the moving vehicle running path is buried. Guide rails 6 for guiding moving vehicles are provided in predetermined sections where guide rails 5 are not provided. Then, steering sensors 7 equipped with a pair of left and right pick-up coils 7a and 7b that detect the amount of lateral deviation of the moving vehicle A with respect to the conductor 5 as a voltage are attached to each of the front and rear steering wheels 2, one pair at the front and the rear. A roller 8 is provided as a guided tool and is provided so as to change direction integrally with the steering wheel 2, and is guided by the guide rail 6.
A pair of front and rear steering wheels 2 are attached to each of the front and rear steering wheels 2, and integrally with the steering wheels 2 in order to operate the steering wheels 2 so that the direction of the steering wheels 2 is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 6. It is installed so that the direction can be changed. In addition, each steering wheel 2
the pair of steering sensors 7 provided in each of the steering sensors 7;
is used selectively when moving forward and when moving backward.

Further, a first mark M1 using a magnet is provided at a location a predetermined distance away from the end of the guide rail 6, and a second mark M2 using a magnet is provided at a location corresponding to the end of the guide rail 6. A stop mark M3 using a magnet is provided at a location corresponding to the side of the station ST. Then, a mark reading sensor T is provided on the moving vehicle A, and the autonomous driving section is in front of the section where the guide rail 6 is installed, and the section is not any of these sections, that is, the section where the conductor is installed.
Also, it is configured to be able to detect that the station is located next to the station. To be more specific, for example, while traveling in the conductor installation section, the first mark M
1 is detected, it is determined that it is an autonomous driving section, and when the second mark M2 is detected while traveling in the autonomous driving section, it is determined that it is a guide rail installation section, and the guide rail installation section is determined. When the second mark M2 is detected while driving, it is determined that it is an autonomous driving section, etc.
Each section is determined based on the detection order of the second marks M1 and M2, and if the stop mark M3 is detected while traveling in any section, it is determined that the stop position is reached. It turns out.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the travel control device H includes a control calculation section and a control information storage section.
The steering sensor 7 and the mark reading sensor T are connected, and then the steering electric motor 4 is operated so that the difference in detection voltage between the left and right pair of pickup coils 7A and 7B becomes zero in the conductor installation section. In the autonomous driving section, the steering wheels 2 are locked in a straight-ahead state to perform autonomous driving control. In the section where the guide rail 6 is installed, the steering wheels 2 are set in a freely rotating state. It is configured to perform guide rail following control to switch to follow the guide rail 6, and stop control to automatically stop at the side of the station, based on commands from the traveling control device H. .

Incidentally, the rotational position of the steering electric motor 4 is detected by the encoder e, and the detected information is fed back to the motor drive operation circuit 9, so that the amount of lateral deviation with respect to the conductor 2 is determined during steering control. The electric motor 4 is rotated by an amount corresponding to the amount of rotation, and in the autonomous driving control, the electric motor 4 is rotated to a position corresponding to straight travel, and furthermore, the drive of the electric motor 4 is stopped in the guide rail following control. I will do it.

Further, numeral 10 in the figure is a drive circuit for the electric propulsion motor 1.

[Another example]

Next, another example will be described.

To configure the guidance line, a light reflective tape may be attached to the running road surface, and in that case, a light sensor may be provided as a steering sensor.In addition, the specific configuration of the guidance line may be modified in various ways. Furthermore, various types of steering sensors can be used depending on the specific configuration of the guidance line.

The specific configuration of the guide rail 6 can be changed in various ways, and various specific configurations of the guided tool 8 can also be used depending on the specific configuration of the guide rail 6.

The travel control equipment of the present invention can be used to control the travel of mobile vehicles for transporting articles, as well as for travel control of mobile vehicles for various purposes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the travel control equipment for a moving vehicle according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a moving vehicle traveling path, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the moving vehicle, and FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the moving vehicle. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the specific configuration of the travel control, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the travel control operation. 2... Steering wheel, 6... Guide rail, 7...
Steering sensor, 7A, 7B...electromagnetic wave pick-up coil, 8...guided tool.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Lateral deviation with respect to a guide line 5 for a mobile vehicle A equipped with steering wheels 2 whose direction can be freely changed around the vertical axis to cause the mobile vehicle A to automatically travel along a travel path. A steering sensor 7 for detecting the amount is provided, and the steering wheel 2 is changed in direction based on the detection information of the sensor 7 so that the moving vehicle A automatically travels along the traveling route. The traveling control equipment for a moving vehicle is equipped with a means for controlling the traveling of a moving vehicle, and includes a guide rail 6 for guiding the moving vehicle in a predetermined section of the running path, and a guided tool 8 guided by the guide rail 6. , in order to operate the direction of the steering wheel 2 so as to follow the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 6, the steering wheel 2 is provided so as to change direction integrally with the steering wheel 2, and the installation section of the guide rail 6 is detected. A running control equipment for a moving vehicle, which is provided with means and means for switching the steering wheel 2 to a free rotation state based on information from the detection means. 2. The mobile vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the induction line is a conductor 5 to which alternating current is supplied, and the steering sensor 7 is constituted by electromagnetic wave pickup coils 7A and 7B. travel control equipment.