JP2000229706A - Mobile device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a traveling device of a moving body which can detect the traveling position of the moving body with a simple configuration and with high accuracy. SOLUTION: A position detecting means PS for detecting a traveling position of a moving body MB moving on a set moving route, and moving so as to stop the moving body MB at a set stop position based on detection information of the position detecting means PS. In a traveling device of a moving body provided with traveling control means for controlling traveling driving means MD of the body MB, the position detecting means PS determines a distance between the reference position set on the set traveling path and the moving body MB. Is provided with an optical distance measuring device OS for measuring the distance between the reference position and the detection information of the distance measuring device OS.
It is configured to determine the position of B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to position detecting means for detecting a traveling position of a moving body moving on a set moving path, and stopping the moving body at a set stop position based on information detected by the position detecting means. And a travel control means for controlling the travel drive means of the movable body so as to cause the travel of the movable body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such a traveling apparatus for a moving body specifies a position of the moving body based on detection information of a position detecting means, and controls a traveling driving means of the moving body so that the moving body stops at a set stop position. Is what you do. Conventionally, as such traveling position detecting means, a rotary encoder is provided on the moving body side, and a roller installed on the ground side is attached to a rotary shaft of the rotary encoder, so that the moving amount of the moving body from a reference position on the ground side is A configuration in which the traveling position of the moving body is specified by using a rotary shaft of a rotary encoder attached to a rotating shaft that interlocks with the driving shaft of the driving motor, and the moving body is moved by a moving amount of the moving body from a reference position on the ground side. A configuration for identifying the traveling position of the vehicle has been considered. Further, in the position detection based on only the detection information of the rotary encoder as described above,
In particular, when the moving distance of the moving body is long, since the position detection accuracy is reduced due to the sliding of the roller or the like,
A detection plate for position detection is appropriately installed along the moving path of the moving body, and a detection sensor for detecting the detection plate is provided on the moving body, and the traveling position of the moving body with reference to the position of each detection plate It has been considered that the position detection accuracy can be improved by specifying.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the traveling position of the moving body cannot be detected with high accuracy. In order to improve the detection accuracy, it is necessary to install the plate to be detected. There was an inconvenience that the equipment configuration became complicated. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a traveling apparatus for a moving body that can accurately detect the traveling position of the moving body with a simple configuration.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the distance between the reference position set on the moving path of the moving object and the moving object based on the detection information of the optical distance measuring device. Is measured, and the position of the moving body is obtained from the position information of the reference position and the detection information of the distance measuring device. The traveling control means controls the traveling driving means of the moving body based on the information on the position of the moving body obtained as described above so that the moving body stops at the set stop position. Therefore, it is not always necessary to install a plurality of detection plates along the moving path of the moving object, and the optical distance measuring device can detect the distance with sufficient accuracy. It has become possible to provide a traveling device for a moving object that can detect the traveling position of the moving object.

[0005] With the above configuration, the traveling position of the traveling truck of the stacker crane provided in the so-called automatic warehouse can be obtained based on the detection information of the optical distance measuring device. In this case, an optical distance measuring device is provided on the traveling vehicle, and the distance to the light reflecting member installed at the reference position of the set moving path of the moving body is measured, so that the optical distance measuring device is provided on the ground side. As compared with the case where the vehicle is installed, the detection information of the distance measuring device can be easily transmitted to the traveling control means.

[0006] With the above configuration, the traveling position (elevation position) of the elevator of the stacker crane provided in the so-called automatic warehouse is obtained based on the detection information of the optical distance measuring device. Can be In this case, since the traveling drive means of the elevator of the stacker crane is generally provided on the traveling vehicle, an optical distance measuring device is provided on the traveling vehicle, and the distance to the elevator is measured. As compared with the case where an optical distance measuring device is installed in the vehicle, information detected by the distance measuring device can be easily transmitted to the travel control means.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention applied to an article storage facility. As shown in FIG. 1, the article storage facility FS
Are provided with two storage shelves A installed at an interval so that the article taking-out directions are opposed to each other, and a stacker crane C that automatically runs on a work passage B formed between the storage shelves A. In each of the storage shelves A, a number of article storage sections D are vertically arranged in multiple stages and side by side.

[0008] A traveling rail 1 is installed in the work passage B along the longitudinal direction of the storage shelf A, and an article loading / unloading section E provided at one end of the work passage B sends a loading / unloading command to the stacker crane C. An input controller E1 and a pair of loading tables E2 sandwiching the traveling rail 1 are provided, and the stacker crane C moves the traveling rail 1 based on a loading / unloading command.
, And is configured as a loading / unloading transport vehicle that carries out the loading / unloading of the articles F placed on the pallet P between the loading table E2 and the article storage section D.

As shown in FIG. 2, the stacker crane C includes a traveling carriage 2 traveling along a traveling rail 1.
A lifting platform 3 and a pair of front and rear lifting masts 4 for guiding and supporting the lifting platform 3 so that the lifting platform 3 can be freely moved are provided. The lifting platform 3 is provided with a fork device 5 for transferring articles.
The elevating platform 3 is suspended and supported by an elevating chain 8 connected to both left and right sides thereof. The elevating chain 8 includes a guide sprocket 9 provided on the upper frame 7 and a guide sprocket provided on one of the elevating masts 4. And a winding drum 11 mounted on one end of the traveling vehicle 2
It is connected to. Then, the winding drum 11 is driven and rotated by the electric motor M1 for raising and lowering in the normal and reverse directions, so that the lifting table 3 is driven up and down by the operation of feeding and winding the lifting chain 8.

The elevating position of the elevating table 3 is connected to the rotating shaft of the winding drum 11 as shown in FIGS.
A drive-side rotary encoder 18 for detecting the rotation amount of the motor, and an optical distance measuring device O installed on the traveling vehicle 2
It is managed based on the detection information with S. The distance measuring device OS for detecting the position of the elevating platform 3 is projected from the laser ranging device 20 for projecting a light beam for distance measurement horizontally in the moving direction of the traveling vehicle 2 and the laser ranging device 20. And a mirror 22 for bending the path of the beam light vertically upward and irradiating a reflecting plate 21 installed on the lower surface of the lift 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the detection information of the drive-side rotary encoder 18 and the laser range finder 20 is input to the elevation control unit 30 of the crane control device CC.

[0011] As shown in FIG.
Two front and rear wheels 12 that can run freely on the running rail 1 and two lower right and left position controls provided at two front and rear positions that engage with the running rail 1 so as to limit the position of the running rail 1 in the vehicle width direction. A driving roller 13 and a traveling drive device 14 including a traveling electric motor M2 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper frame 7 sandwiches the guide rail 6 from the left and right, and rolls around the vertical axis along the side surface of the stacker crane C as the stacker crane C travels. The regulating rollers 17 are provided at front and rear ends in the traveling direction. And two wheels 12
One of the wheels at one end in the vehicle front-rear direction is formed as a propulsion drive wheel 12a driven by the traveling drive device 14, and the other wheel at the other end in the vehicle front-rear direction is a free-wheeling driven wheel. 12b, the stacker crane C is configured to be free-running along the traveling rail 1 by being driven by the traveling driving device 14 while being prevented from falling down by the upper position regulating roller 17 provided on the upper frame 7. I have.

As shown in FIG. 3, the traveling position of the traveling vehicle 2 is managed based on detection information of an optical distance measuring device OS attached to the traveling vehicle 2. The distance measuring device OS for detecting the traveling position of the traveling vehicle 2 includes a laser distance meter 23 that projects a light beam for distance measurement horizontally in the moving direction of the traveling vehicle 2.
It consists of. As shown in FIG. 2, the laser range finder 23 projects a beam beam for distance measurement toward a reflecting plate 24 as a light reflecting member provided at an end of the traveling path of the traveling vehicle 2. Each of the laser rangefinders 20 and 23 projects a beam light modulated to a plurality of frequencies, and modulates the modulation phase of the projected light and the modulation phase of the reflected light reflected by the reflectors 21 and 24. The distance between the reflectors 21 and 24 is measured from the phase difference of the above, but another type of distance measuring device such as a type that measures the distance based on the round trip time of the projected light may be used.
As shown in FIG. 4, the detection information of the laser range finder 23 is input to the traveling control unit 31 of the crane control device CC.

Next, a description will be given of the lifting control of the lifting platform 3 and the traveling control of the traveling vehicle 2 by the crane control device CC. In response to the transfer command from the controller E1, the crane control device CC causes the traveling control unit 31 to position the traveling vehicle 2 at the designated traveling position, and the elevating control unit 30 causes the elevating platform 3 to designate the elevating position. And the transfer control unit 32 causes the fork device 5 to move in and out, so that the transfer of the articles F and the transfer of the articles F between the article storage units D and the like are performed.

The traveling control of the traveling vehicle 2 by the traveling control unit 31 will be schematically described with reference to FIG. 5 which is a flowchart showing a part of the control of the traveling control unit 31.
Upon receiving the transport command from the controller E1, the traveling control unit 31 sets a stop position and a deceleration start position for controlling the deceleration of the traveling vehicle 2 at a position immediately before the stop position in accordance with the position of the designated article storage unit D or the like. The travel is started after setting (step # 1). Hereinafter, the section from the deceleration start position to the stop position is referred to as a “deceleration range” for convenience.

After the start of traveling, a distance measurement command is output to the laser distance meter 23 to receive a distance measurement result (step #).
2) If the traveling position of the traveling vehicle 2 is in the “deceleration range” from the distance measurement result (step # 3), the traveling control unit 3
1 “set deceleration pattern” stored in memory 25
Is commanded to the traveling electric motor M2 (step # 4). Although not shown, the “set speed pattern” is stored in the memory 25 as a speed pattern that smoothly decreases with respect to the traveling position of the traveling vehicle 2. When the traveling vehicle 2 is decelerated as set and the traveling position reaches the “stop position”, the brake is operated to stop the traveling vehicle 2 (steps # 5 and # 6), and the transfer control unit 32 completes traveling. Send a signal.

Next, the lifting control unit 3 of the crane control unit CC
0, the elevation control unit 30
This will be schematically described with reference to FIG. 6 which is a flowchart showing a part of the control of FIG. When receiving the transport command from the controller E1, the elevating control unit 30 instructs the designated article storage unit D
The deceleration start position for controlling the deceleration of the traveling vehicle 2 is set at a stop position and a position immediately before the stop position according to the elevating position such as the above, and the ascent / descent is started (step # 10). Here, if the “stop position” is “a scooping operation” in which the movement at that time is to transfer the article F in the article storage unit D to the elevator 3 side, the article mounting surface of the fork device 5 is not If the position is set slightly lower than the article mounting surface of the product and the article F mounted on the elevator 3 is transferred to the article storage unit,
The position where the article placement surface of the fork device 5 is slightly higher than the article placement surface of the article storage unit is set. Note that, similarly to the above-described travel control, a section from the deceleration start position to the stop position is hereinafter referred to as a “deceleration range” for convenience.

After the start of vertical movement, the rotary encoder 1 on the driving side
When the travel position of the elevator 3 determined by counting the pulses output by the motor 8 reaches the “deceleration range” (step # 11), the “set deceleration pattern” stored in the memory 36 of the elevation controller 30 Is instructed to the electric motor M1 for elevation (step # 12). The “set speed pattern” has the same shape as that in the above-described travel control, although the rate of decrease in the speed with respect to the specific elevation position (travel position) is different.
When the lift 3 is decelerated within the above-mentioned allowable range and the lift position (running position) reaches the "stop position", the brake is actuated to stop the lift 3 (steps # 13, # 1).
4) The transfer control unit 32 is notified that the lifting and lowering to the “stop position” is completed.

When the transfer control unit 32 receives the elevation completion signal from the elevation control unit 30 and the traveling completion signal from the traveling control unit 31, the transfer control unit 32 switches the fork device 5 to the article storage unit D.
When the projecting operation is completed, a projecting completion signal is transmitted to the elevation control unit 30. Lift control unit 3
0 receives this protrusion completion signal (step # 1).
5) If the transfer operation at that time is a “rake operation” (step # 16), the lifting platform 3 is moved so that the article placement surface of the fork device 5 is slightly higher than the article placement surface of the article storage unit D. It is raised so as to be located at a high position, and the article F in the article storage unit D is lifted and scooped (step # 17). If the transfer operation at that time is a "unloading operation" (step ##)
16) The elevator 3 is lowered so that the article placement surface of the fork device 5 is located at a position slightly lower than the article placement surface of the article storage section D, and the article F of the fork apparatus 5 is moved to the article storage section. D (Step # 18), in any case, after completion of the lifting and lowering, a lifting and lowering completion signal is transmitted to the transfer controller 32.

The raising / lowering operation of the lifting platform 3 in the state where the fork device 5 is protrudingly operated in the “rake operation” and the “lower operation” is not the detection information of the drive side rotary encoder 18 but the information of the laser range finder 20. Determined from detection information. The laser range finder 20 is a reflector 21 mounted on the lift 3
Is measured and output, and this is corrected by the rotary encoder 18 so that the vertical position determined by the rotary encoder 18 coincides with the vertical origin position, that is, the reference position, and the vertical position (travel position) of the vertical platform 3 is determined. . Transfer control unit 32
When receiving the elevating / lowering completion signal, the fork device 5 causes the fork device 5 to retire, and transmits a retirement completion signal to the elevating / lowering control unit 30 after the retirement operation is completed. When the elevating control unit 30 receives this retirement completion signal (step # 19), the process proceeds to the next elevating control process.

The crane control device CC repeats the above-described traveling control, lifting / lowering control, and transfer control by the transfer control unit 32, and performs the loading / unloading of the articles F instructed by the controller E1. Accordingly, the traveling control unit 31 uses the traveling cart 2 of the stacker crane C as the moving object MB, and
Functions as a traveling control means MC for controlling a traveling electric motor M2, which is a traveling driving means MD for travelingly driving the vehicle, and the traveling control unit 31, the laser distance meter 23, and the reflection plate 24 detect the traveling position of the moving body MB. It functions as the position detecting means PS. The lifting control unit 30 also functions as the traveling control means MC for controlling the lifting / lowering electric motor M1, which is the traveling driving means MD for traveling and driving the moving body MB, using the lifting platform 3 of the stacker crane C as the moving body MB. , Lifting control unit 3
0, the laser range finder 20 and the reflection plate 21 function as position detection means PS for detecting the traveling position of the moving body MB.

[Other Embodiments] Hereinafter, other embodiments of the traveling device for a moving body of the present invention will be listed. In the above embodiment,
Although the traveling vehicle 2 of the stacker crane C and the elevating platform 3 of the stacker crane C are illustrated as the moving body MB, for example, an automatic guided vehicle having a moving path configured by a single straight line or a combination thereof. Optical distance measuring device OS
If the location of the moving object MB can be measured at
It is applicable to various types of mobile objects MB. In the above-described embodiment, the position detecting means PS for detecting the elevating position (running position) of the elevating platform 3 includes the mirror 22, so that the laser range finder 20 itself emits a beam for distance measurement in the horizontal direction. Although it is arranged so as to project, it prevents dust from adhering to the light projecting lens and the like of the laser range finder 20, but in an environment where there is not much dust and the like, the mirror 22 is installed vertically upward. Laser range finder 20 so as to project a beam for distance measurement
May be arranged. In the above-described embodiment, in the elevating control of the elevating table 3, the detection information of the laser range finder 20 indicates the state in which the fork device 5 is projected when the article F is transferred to the article elevating unit D or the like. , But without the drive-side rotary encoder 18 and based on the elevation position (running position) of the elevation table 3 obtained based on the detection information of the laser range finder 20. Alternatively, all the lifting / lowering control of No. 3 may be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an article storage facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a moving object according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C Stacker crane MB Moving object MC Travel control means MD Travel drive means OS Optical distance measuring device PS Position detection means 2 Traveling carriage 3 Elevating platform 24 Light reflecting member

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2F065 AA02 BB15 DD03 FF17 FF61 GG04 LL12 PP22 QQ51 3F022 EE02 FF01 JJ07 KK01 MM02 PP06 QQ13 5H301 AA02 AA09 BB06 CC03 CC10 EE02 EE12 FF06 FF11 GG08 GG11

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A position detecting means for detecting a traveling position of a moving body moving on a set moving route, and the moving body is stopped at a set stop position based on detection information of the position detecting means. A traveling control device for controlling traveling driving means of the moving body, wherein the position detecting means determines a distance between a reference position set on the set moving path and the moving body. A traveling device for a moving object, comprising: an optical distance measuring device for measurement, wherein the position of the moving object is obtained from position information of the reference position and detection information of the distance measuring device. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the moving body is formed of a traveling truck of a stacker crane, and the distance measuring device projects light onto the traveling vehicle toward a light reflecting member installed at the reference position, and The traveling device for a moving body according to claim 1, wherein the traveling device is installed so as to receive the reflected light. 3. The moving body is constituted by an elevator of a stacker crane, and the distance measuring device is provided on a traveling cart of the stacker crane.
The traveling device for a moving body according to claim 1, wherein the traveling device is installed so as to project light toward the lifting platform and receive reflected light thereof.