JP2010055444A - Robot system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To build a system for always transporting goods efficiently with flexibility even when the quantity of distributed goods varies in a transporting system handling goods in a great quantity and with greatly varying quantity of distributed goods. <P>SOLUTION: The robot system is provided with: a trolley for loading packages; a first robot for recognizing that the trolley is in a standby state for transportation; and a second robot for transporting the trolley in the transporting standby state to a set place, and the problem can be solved by running the first robot and the second robot in conjunction with each other. The first robot recognizes that the trolley is in the transporting standby state from the information from a distance sensor when the trolley loaded with the goods by a worker according to destination is placed in a transporting standby position. The second robot transports the trolley to a specified destination in conjunction with the first robot. Flexible and highly efficient transportation can be obtained while securing safety by giving the first robot a roll of mainly grasping the state of a surrounding environment and giving the second robot a roll of transporting the trolley by connection with the trolley. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer robot that moves a cart that can be loaded with goods such as products and parts from one point to another point in a factory and a distribution warehouse, and a control system therefor.

  In factories or distribution warehouses, when transporting a truck with products or parts from one area to another, the worker pushes it directly by hand to carry it to a designated area or operates a forklift to operate it. In addition, there are a method of transporting between areas using a belt conveyor and an unmanned operation such as transport by an AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) and a transport robot (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-39195).

  As a method of conveying articles together by a plurality of robots, there are methods described in JP-A-2005-46926 and JP-A-2007-111826.

JP-A-5-39195 JP 2005-46926 A JP 2007-111826

  Manned work such as transport by manual work or transport by forklift is labor intensive, and at the same time, it is difficult to always secure a certain number of workers and adjust the personnel during busy and quiet periods.

  On the other hand, belt conveyors and AGVs can be unmanned by transporting trolleys, but when these systems are introduced, fixed tracks must be installed and layout changes such as factories and distribution warehouses It is very difficult to change the trajectory from the viewpoint of cost and labor.

  In the case of the transfer robot of the known example, it is possible not only to carry the carriage to the vicinity of the target area but also to place the carriage at a designated place, and to find an empty carriage and newly load it in the area where the carriage has been carried. It is also possible to supply carts that carry However, the transport robot brings the slave unit, and the master unit waits on the spot until the slave unit finishes its work and does nothing. It is difficult to improve efficiency because only one dolly can be carried.

  Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to construct a system that can flexibly and efficiently convey a large amount of articles in a conveyance system that handles articles whose article flow rate varies greatly even if the article flow rate varies.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a robot system in which a cart carrying a load, a first robot for recognizing that the cart is in a transport standby state, and the cart in a transport standby state are set. And a second robot for transporting to a certain place, wherein the first robot and the second robot travel in conjunction with each other.

  A first robot for recognizing that there is an empty trolley parking space for placing a trolley carrying a load and a trolley without a load (hereinafter referred to as an empty trolley); and A second robot that transports the first robot to the second robot, and the first robot and the second robot travel in conjunction with each other.

  Further, a cart capable of carrying a load, a first robot for recognizing that the cart is in a transport standby state, grasping a situation around the cart and creating map information, and controlling the robot An area comprising a control means and a second robot for transporting the carriage to a set location, the first robot being able to move based on the map information created by itself or the map information sent from the control means And autonomously moves in the area in conjunction with the second robot.

  In addition, a carriage for loading a package for each shipping destination, a robot for transporting the carriage, a control means for controlling the robot, and communicating to the control means that the carriage is in a transport standby state from the loaded state of the luggage The robot is characterized in that the robot transports the cart in the transport standby state to a transport destination corresponding to each shipping destination.

  And a carriage for carrying the load, a robot for transporting the carriage from the first area to the second area, and a control means for controlling the robot. The robot recognizes that the carriage is in a transport standby state. Recognizing means, and based on the result of the recognizing means, the carriage carrying the load is transported from the first area to the second area, and the carriage in the second area not carrying the load is It has a means to convey to a 1st area, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically carry all carts loaded with packages according to shipping destinations from one point to another point by shipping destination without any human intervention. Also, it is possible to automatically carry a cart carrying a load from a certain point to another point and transporting the cart at another point not carrying the load to a certain point without human intervention. .

  In addition, since a plurality of slave units follow a single master unit and the combination changes flexibly according to the situation, relatively inexpensive and highly efficient transportation can be realized. In addition, there is an effect that the master unit can move flexibly and efficiently by autonomous movement, and when the layout of a factory, a distribution warehouse, or the like is changed, it is possible to smoothly cope with the change of the transportation route.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are a first mode for carrying out (1) transporting a shipping cart (pulling the loaded shipping cart from the work area and supplying the shipping cart to the shipping berth) in the distribution center, and (2) an empty cart. This is divided into the second mode of carrying out the above (the empty cart with nothing is pulled from the empty cart area and the empty cart is supplied to the work area). It is assumed that the products or parts to be handled are in a shape that can be loaded into a cart, or in a packed form.

  As an embodiment of the present invention, an embodiment of the robot system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows a first robot 1 (hereinafter referred to as “base unit 1”), a second robot 2 (hereinafter referred to as “slave unit 2”), and a cart 3 (hereinafter referred to as “cart 3”) that transports goods in a distribution center 5. And control means 4 (hereinafter referred to as host system 4). First, the host system 4 grasps the information of all the master units / slave units in the distribution center, the work situation in the area, etc., communicates with the master unit 1 and the slave unit 2, and the master unit 1, the slave unit 2 The machine 2 is controlled. The base unit 1 inputs information from the host system 4 to the robot control unit 13. Further, based on the distance information from the long distance sensor 11, the surrounding environment detection unit 12 detects the arrangement state of the surrounding objects (hereinafter referred to as environment information). Based on this, a map is created, and the attitude (position, direction) of the parent device 1 itself is identified. The long-distance sensor 11 is a sensor that can measure the distance to an object for each predetermined angle with respect to a range of 180 ° in the front direction. It measures distance. Thereby, a wide range map can be created. The map information is also output to the host system 4, and the host system always has the latest map information.

  Based on these pieces of information, the robot control unit 13 outputs a travel command for the base unit 1 to the travel control unit 14. The travel control unit 14 calculates the driving force and steering angle of the wheels 15 and 16 based on the travel command, and controls the travel speed and travel direction of the base unit 1. Thereby, the base unit 1 travels to the destination given from the host system 4. The robot control unit 13 of the master unit 1 communicates with the slave unit 2 and gives a slave unit control command for controlling the operation of the slave unit 2.

  On the other hand, the slave unit 2 inputs a slave unit control command from the master unit 1 through the robot control unit 23. The subunit | mobile_unit 2 has the function to hold | grip the cart 3, and can hold | grip or separate the cart 3 with the flow mentioned later. In the case of FIG. 1, the subunit | mobile_unit 2 has shown the state which hold | gripped the cart 3. FIG. In addition to the robot control unit 23, the slave unit 2 includes a short-range sensor 21, an ambient environment detection unit 22, a travel control unit 24, wheels 25, and wheels 26. As described above, the short-range sensor 21 can detect the distance to the object only in a short range as compared with the long-distance sensor 11, but it is inexpensive and can detect a surrounding situation at a short distance. The ambient environment detection unit 22 processes this information, and outputs the distance, direction to the preceding base unit 1 or the status of surrounding objects, that is, environment information to the robot control unit 23.

  The robot control unit 23 controls gripping and detaching of the cart 3 and outputs a travel command to the travel control unit 24 based on the slave unit control command from the base unit 1 and the environmental information from the surrounding state detection unit 22. To do. The traveling control unit 24 controls the traveling speed and traveling direction of the slave unit 2 and drives the wheels 25 and 26. With this configuration, the slave unit 2 can automatically run, communicate with the master unit 1, and recognize the cart to be transported. For example, the cart can be pulled by means such as lifting with a fork or connecting to the cart using a connecting device. Moreover, the subunit | mobile_unit 2 can also move autonomously by using the information of the map which the main | base station 1 created. Thereby, a cart can be grasped or arranged more flexibly.

  Next, the operation principle of the master unit 1 and the slave unit 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the carts 3, 31, 34 to 36, 38, 39 are divided into empty carts 34, 36, shipping carts 3, 31, 35, and work carts 38, 39. A shipping cart is one that has finished loading and is ready to be shipped to a shipping area. An empty cart means a cart that is in a state prior to loading. The work cart is a cart in a state where loading work is performed by an operator. Further, the cart place 92 is an empty cart, the cart place 93 is a shipping cart, the cart place 97 is a place for placing a work cart, and the place where the cart is placed is determined in advance.

  The long distance sensor 11 attached in front of the base unit 1 measures the distance to the object in the range of 180 ° ahead. The arrow in FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the distance measured by the long distance sensor 11. In an area where there is no object between the master unit 1 and the inner wall of the distribution center 5, the distance to the inner wall of the distribution center 5 is measured, and the direction in which the cart 31, the cart 34, and the cart 38 are located is the parent of them. The distance to the machine 1 is measured. Thereby, the location of the cart can be detected. Further, it can be recognized from the measurement result of the long distance sensor 11 that no objects, that is, carts are present in the cart places 92, 93 and 97. As described above, the base unit 1 travels in the distribution center 5 and measures a wide range of distances with the long-distance sensor 11, thereby creating a map and grasping the cart arrangement status. Therefore, these pieces of information are integrated as a map of the entire distribution center in the host system 4 of FIG. 1, and the operation status of the carts and robots in the entire distribution center can be constantly observed. The master unit 1 communicates with the host system 4 and recognizes that the cart is in the transport standby state.

  Moreover, in FIG. 2, the short distance sensor 21 installed in the front surface of the subunit | mobile_unit 2 measures the distance with a surrounding object. In FIG. 2, the distance and direction with respect to the master unit 1 in front of the slave unit 2 are measured, the distance between the carts 35 in the right direction of the slave unit 2, and the distribution center 5 in the left direction of the slave unit 2. It shows that the distance to the inner wall of the is being measured. In other words, the slave unit 2 connected to the cart 3 is controlled so that the distance to the master unit 1 is measured and the master unit 1 is tracked while checking the situation in the vicinity. In this way, the base unit 1 that has followed the handset 2 automatically travels to the destination and disconnects the handset 2. Further, the separated child device 2 moves the cart to a predetermined location and arranges it independently of the parent device 1. By using the map created by the master unit 1, the slave unit 2 can travel using the inexpensive short-range sensor 21, so that an inexpensive and flexible system can be realized.

  Next, a specific example of the distribution center will be described. FIG. 3 shows an assumed distribution center layout. The distribution center is roughly divided into four areas, a warehouse / inventory area 110 for storing received products / parts as stock, and a work area 111 for picking products / parts by destination and loading them into carts. There is an empty cart area 112 in which empty carts that are not loaded are placed, and a shipping area 113 in which carts are arranged for each shipping destination in order to place a cart on a transport vehicle attached to a shipping berth 114. Also, a slave unit standby area 121 that is adjacent to the work area 111, the empty cart area 112, and the shipping area 113 and that waits for the slave unit that has pulled the cart from each area or supplied the cart to each area to connect to the master unit. There is.

  The work area is divided for each ship-to party and is given a symbol. Similarly, the shipping area is divided for each shipping destination, and the same symbols are assigned to correspond to each other on a one-to-one basis.

Similarly, the empty cart area is a single block in multiple rows.
In addition, a symbol is assigned to each column in the handset standby area adjacent to the work area, the shipping area, and the empty cart area.

  A thin line arrow 131 indicates the movement of the slave when pulling and feeding the cart. The thick arrow 132 indicates the movement of the main unit and the slave unit that conducts the formation travel mainly. However, the map is obtained from the map information obtained by the parent unit by itself or the map information obtained from the host system. If the situation of the cart area is grasped and it is determined that it is possible to move more efficiently to the destination including the slaves that travel in the formation, not the movement of the arrow 132 but the movement to the destination as indicated by the arrow 133 of the bold line / dashed line Shortcuts are possible.

  4 and 5 show the business flow of the master unit and the slave unit in the first mode for transporting the shipping cart. 4 illustrates the work in the work area 111, and FIG. 5 illustrates the work in the shipping area 113. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing information transmitted when exchanging with the work of the host system 4, the parent device, and the child device in order to perform these series of operations. The following 300 numbers are shown in the control flow of FIG. In FIG. 6, “*” indicates “movement while acquiring the current position and map information” of reference numeral 321.

  In FIG. 4A, when the master unit 101 and the plurality of slave units 201 are traveling in formation, the master unit 101 retains the data while acquiring the current position and surrounding map information (321). . Among the stored data, the current position information is transmitted to the host system 4 at a constant cycle (361). Further, in FIG. 4A, the cross marks indicate the connecting and disconnecting operations of the robot.

  On the other hand, loading completion (shipping cart completion) information is sent to the host system 4 from a worker who is loading the cart in the work area through a terminal such as a handy terminal or PDA. As a result, the host system recognizes that there is a shipping cart 35 waiting to be transported in the shipping cart storage area in the work area δ of FIG. 4A (381).

  Next, the host system 4 sends the position information transmitted from the currently operating master unit, the number of slave units owned (running in formation), the status of the slave unit (whether you have a cart or other instructions) The parent device most suitable for picking up the shipping cart 35 is determined from the information on whether or not it is given (382). Then, the work area (δ) information to be taken, the shipping area (δ) information to be taken, and the shipping cart information to be conveyed are transmitted as work instruction information to the parent machine 101 (362). ).

  The master unit that has received the work instruction information from the host system 4 starts moving to the work area δ to be picked up (322).

  The base unit 101 that has moved to the vicinity of the work area δ recognizes the work area δ from the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4, and the shipping cart 35 is actually placed in a waiting state for transport. Check if it is. The shipping cart and empty cart waiting to be transported are determined in the work area, and it is determined whether or not the cart needs to be transported out / in depending on whether there is a cart at that position. After confirming the waiting for conveyance, work area (δ) information to be taken as work instruction information, shipping area (δ) information to be taken, and shipping cart information (301) to be conveyed are transmitted to the slave unit 201 for work. An instruction to leave the formation is issued to the slave unit 201 (323).

  After that, after transmitting the number of handset units excluding the handset unit 201 that has instructed the work, the state of the handset unit that is carrying the cart, and the information (363) of the handset unit that has instructed the work order to the upper system 4, FIG. As shown in b), the base unit 101 receives the next work instruction and starts moving to the destination (324).

  After receiving the work instruction (341), the slave unit 201 leaves the formation, moves to the work area δ, connects to the shipping cart 35, moves to the slave unit standby area G, and waits for a connection instruction from the master unit (342). .

  In the host system 4, the parent device to which the child device 201 waiting for the parent device (342) is connected is determined from the same information as the parent device 382 (383). Then, for the determined master unit 102, the work area (δ) information to be picked up, the slave unit standby area (G) information with the slave units, the shipping area (δ) information to be taken, the shipping cart information to be transported, the standby The child device information in the middle is transmitted as work instruction information to the parent device 102 (364).

  The base unit 102 that has received the work instruction information from the host system 4 starts moving to the slave unit standby area G to be picked up. The state is shown in FIG. The master unit 102 that has moved to the vicinity of the slave unit standby area G recognizes the slave unit standby area G from the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4, and the slave unit 201 actually stores the shipping cart 35. Check if you are connected and waiting. After the confirmation, an information transmission request (302) is made to the slave unit 201 in order to confirm whether it is a slave unit to be connected to the standby slave unit 201 (325).

  The child device 201 that has received the information transmission request (302) adds its own child device information to the work instruction information (301) received from the parent device 102 first, and transmits it to the parent device 102 (303).

  Receiving the information from the slave unit 201, the master unit 102 collates with the information obtained from the host system 4, and if they match, transmits a connection instruction (304) to the slave unit 201 (326).

  After receiving the connection instruction (304), the slave unit 201 starts moving toward the master unit 102 (343) and joins the formation (327).

  As shown in FIG. 4D, after joining the slave units, the master unit 102 transmits information (365) of the number of slave units held and the status of the slave units being transported to the cart to the host system 4, and moves to the shipping area δ. Is started (328).

  Next, operations of the parent device, the child device, and the shipping cart in the shipping area will be described. As shown in FIG. 5A, the base unit 102 that has moved to the vicinity of the shipping area δ recognizes the shipping area δ from the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4, and finds an empty space. . After confirming the empty space, the shipping area (δ) information to be taken as work instruction information and the shipping cart information to be transported (305) are transmitted to the slave unit 201 that has just joined, and an instruction to leave the formation is issued (329) ).

  Then, after transmitting the number of handset units excluding the handset unit 201 that has issued the work instruction, the state of the handset unit being transported in the cart, and the information (366) of the handset unit that has performed the work order to the upper system 4, the next work The instruction is received and movement to the destination is started (330). The transport state is shown in FIG.

  After receiving the work instruction (344), the slave unit 201 leaves the formation and moves to the shipping area δ, disconnects the shipping cart 35, moves to the slave unit standby area (S), and waits for a connection instruction from the master unit ( 345).

  In the host system 4, the parent device to which the child device 201 waiting for the parent device (345) is connected is selected from the same information as the parent device 382 (384). Then, for the determined master unit 103, the work area (δ) information to be picked up, the slave unit standby area (s) information in which the slave unit is located, the shipping cart information transported by the slave unit, and the standby slave unit information are the parent It is transmitted as work instruction information to the machine (367).

  The master unit 103 that has received the work instruction information from the host system 4 starts moving to the slave unit standby area (s) to be picked up. The master unit 103 that has moved to the vicinity of the slave unit standby area (s) recognizes the slave unit standby area (s) from the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system, and the slave unit 201 actually Check if you are waiting in the state of disconnecting. After the confirmation, an information transmission request (306) is made to the child device 201 in order to confirm whether it is a child device to be connected to the waiting child device 201 (331). FIG. 5C shows the conveyance state at that time.

  The child device 201 that has received the information transmission request (306) adds its own child device information to the work instruction information (305) received from the parent device and transmits it to the parent device 103 (307).

  The base unit 103 that has received the information from the slave unit collates with the information obtained from the host system 4, and transmits a connection instruction (308) to the slave unit 201 if they match (332).

  After receiving the connection instruction (308), the slave unit 201 starts moving toward the master unit (346) and joins the formation (333). As a result of the processing of this transport control flow, the state shown in FIG.

  After joining the slave units, the master unit 103 transmits information (368) of the number of slave units held and the status of the slave units being transported to the cart to the host system, receives the next work instruction, and starts moving to the destination ( 334).

  As described above, a plurality of parent devices and child devices can cooperate with each other so that a nearby robot can carry the shipping cart as much as possible, so that a highly efficient transfer system can be constructed. In addition, when the flow rate of the object increases or decreases, the operation rate of the robot can be constantly increased by appropriately arranging the number of robots in accordance with it, so that there is an advantage that a lean system can be realized.

  When the slave unit 201 uses a long-distance sensor instead of the short-distance sensor, it is possible not only to link the master unit and the slave unit, but also the slave unit can transport the cart to the transport destination by autonomous traveling.

  FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show the business flow of the main unit and the sub unit in the second mode for transporting the empty cart. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing information transmitted when these operations are exchanged with the work of the host system, the parent device, and the child device. The following 500 numbers are shown in the control flow of FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), when the master unit 104 and the plurality of slave units 203 and 204 are traveling in formation, the master unit holds the data while acquiring the current position and surrounding map information ( 521). Of the stored data, the current position information is transmitted to the host system 4 at a constant cycle (561).

  On the other hand, loading start (loading into an empty cart) information is sent to the host system 4 from a worker who is loading the cart in the work area, for example, by a terminal such as a handy terminal or PDA. As a result, the host system 4 recognizes that there is no empty cart in the empty cart place 94 in the work area γ of FIG. 8A (581).

  Next, the host system 4 gives the position information transmitted from the currently operating master unit, the number of slave units owned (for formation running), the status of the owned slave unit (whether you have a cart or other instructions) Based on the information or the like, the most suitable base unit for taking the empty cart to the empty cart area is determined (582). Then, empty cart area (IV) information to be taken and work area (γ) information to be taken are transmitted as work instruction information to the parent device 104 to the determined parent device 104 (562).

  The master unit 104 that has received the work instruction information from the host system 4 starts moving to the empty cart area IV to be picked up (522).

  The base unit 104 that has moved to the vicinity of the empty cart area IV recognizes the empty cart area IV based on the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4, and confirms whether an empty cart that can be transported is placed. Do. After confirmation, empty cart area (IV) information to be taken as work instruction information and work area (γ) information to be taken (γ) information (501) are transmitted to the child machine 204, and instructions to leave the formation to the child machine 204 performing the work (523).

  After that, after sending the number of handset units excluding the handset that has instructed the work, the status of the handset being transported in the cart, and the information (563) of the handset that has instructed the work to the upper system 4, the next work order is sent. And start moving to the destination (524). FIG. 7B shows the state of base unit 104 at that time.

  After receiving the work instruction (541), the slave unit 204 leaves the formation, moves to the empty cart area IV, and connects to the empty cart 42 (542). Thereafter, the slave unit 204 moves to the slave unit standby area and waits for a connection instruction from the master unit (542). FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C show the state.

  The host system 4 determines the parent device to be picked up from the information similar to 582 as the parent device to which the child device waiting for the parent device (542) is connected (583). Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, with respect to the determined master unit 105, empty cart area (IV) information to be picked up, slave unit standby area (s) information in which the slave unit is located, work area to be taken ( γ) information and standby child device information are transmitted as work instruction information to the parent device 105 (564).

  The master unit 105 that has received the work instruction information from the host system 4 starts moving to the slave unit standby area (s) to be picked up. The master unit 105 that has moved to the vicinity of the slave unit standby area (s) recognizes the slave unit standby area (s) from the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4, and the slave unit 204 actually Check if you are waiting with the cart connected. After the confirmation, an information transmission request (502) is made to the slave unit 204 in order to confirm whether it is a slave unit to be connected to the standby slave unit (525). FIG. 7C shows the operation of base unit 105.

  The child device 204 that has received the information transmission request (502) adds its own child device information to the work instruction information (501) received from the parent device 105 first and transmits it to the parent device 105 (503).

  Receiving the information from the slave unit 204, the master unit 105 collates with the information obtained from the host system 4, and if they match, transmits a connection instruction (504) to the slave unit (526).

  As shown in FIG. 7D, after receiving the connection instruction (504), the slave unit 204 starts moving toward the master unit 105 (543) and joins the formation (527).

  After joining the slave units, the master unit 105 transmits information (565) of the number of slave units held and the status of the slave units being transported to the cart to the higher system 4, and starts moving to the work area γ (528).

  Next, the base unit 105 that has moved to the vicinity of the work area (γ) shown in FIG. 8A recognizes the work area (γ) from the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4, Find empty cart space. After confirming the empty cart space, work area (γ) information (505) to be taken as work instruction information is transmitted to the slave unit 204 that has joined earlier, and an instruction to leave the formation is issued (529).

  After that, after transmitting the information (566) of the slave unit that has performed the work instruction, the master unit 105 transmits to the host system 4 the number of the slave units excluding the slave unit that has performed the work instruction, the status of the slave unit that is carrying the cart, The next work instruction is received and movement to the destination is started (530). FIG. 8B shows the arrangement of base unit 105 at that time.

  After receiving the work instruction (544), the slave unit 204 leaves the formation and moves to the shipping area (γ). The slave unit 204 having separated the empty cart 42 into the empty cart space moves to the slave unit standby area (F) and waits for a connection instruction from the master unit (545). FIG. 8C shows the slave unit 204 waiting for the master unit.

  In the host system 4, the parent device to which the child device 204 waiting for the parent device is connected to the child device 204 waiting for the parent device (545) is determined from the same information as 582 (584). Then, for the determined master unit 106, the work area (γ) information to be picked up, the slave unit standby area (F) information in which the slave unit 204 is present, and the standby slave unit information are the work instruction information to the master unit 106. (567).

  The master unit 106 in FIG. 8B that has received the work instruction information from the host system 4 starts moving to the slave unit standby area (F) to be picked up. The master unit 106 that has moved to the vicinity of the slave unit standby area (F) recognizes the slave unit standby area (F) based on the map information acquired by itself or the map information sent from the host system 4. After the master unit 106 in FIG. 8C confirms that the slave unit 204 is actually waiting with the cart disconnected, it is determined whether the slave unit 204 should be connected to the standby slave unit 204. In order to confirm, an information transmission request (506) is made to the slave unit 204 (531).

  The child device 204 that has received the information transmission request (506) adds its own child device information to the work instruction information (505) received from the parent device 106 and transmits it to the parent device 106 (507).

  Receiving the information from the slave unit 204, the master unit 106 collates with the information obtained from the host system 4, and if they match, transmits a connection instruction (508) to the slave unit 204 (532).

  After receiving the connection instruction (508), the slave unit 204 starts moving toward the master unit 106 (546), and joins the formation as shown in FIG. 8D (533).

  After joining the slave units, the master unit 106 transmits the number of owned slave units and the status of the retained slave units during cart transportation (568) to the host system 4, and then receives the next work instruction and starts moving to the destination. (534).

  In the case of the present embodiment, the empty cart can be efficiently conveyed by controlling the parent device and the child device in cooperation. The fact that a plurality of slave units move in cooperation with one master unit has the advantage that the reliability of travel can be improved.

  The above is an embodiment of the present invention, but it can be applied not only to transportation at a distribution center but also to parts transportation / product transportation in a production system, transportation at a large store, and the like. In the embodiments, the robot has a configuration using wheels, but it goes without saying that the robot can be applied in various movement modes such as a crawler type robot.

The system block diagram of Example 1 which the main | base station 1 of this invention and the subunit | mobile_unit 2 which conveys the cart 3 operate | move in cooperation is shown. The sketch which showed the state which has detected the arrangement | positioning of the cart in the distribution center of this invention by the distance sensor of a main | base station and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The layout diagram of the distribution center which shows an Example when this invention is applied is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the shipping area 113 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the shipping area 113 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the shipping area 113 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the shipping area 113 when conveying the shipping cart of this invention and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The state figure which showed the control flow which conveys the shipping cart of this invention is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the empty cart area 112 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the empty cart area 112 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the empty cart area 112 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the empty cart area 112 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The relationship figure which showed operation | movement of the main | base station in the work area 111 when conveying the empty cart of this invention, and a subunit | mobile_unit is shown. The state figure which showed the control flow which conveys the empty cart of this invention is shown.

Explanation of symbols

1, 101-106: Base unit (first robot)
2, 201-206: Slave (second robot)
3: Cart 31, 35, 40: Shipping cart 34, 36, 41, 42: Empty cart 38, 39: Working cart 4: High-order controller 5: Distribution center 11: Long distance sensor 21: Short distance sensor 12, 22 : Ambient environment detection unit 13, 23: Robot control unit 14, 24: Travel control unit 15, 16, 25, 26: Wheel 110: Warehouse / stock area 111: Work area 112: Empty cart area 113: Shipping area 114: Shipping Bath 121: Handset standby area

Claims (5)

  A first robot for recognizing that the cart is in a transport standby state, and a second robot for transporting the cart in the transport standby state to a set location, A robot system, wherein a robot and the second robot travel in conjunction with each other.   A first robot for recognizing that there is an empty trolley parking space for placing a trolley carrying luggage and a trolley that does not carry luggage (hereinafter referred to as an empty trolley), and transporting the empty trolley to the empty trolley parking space A robot system, wherein the first robot and the second robot travel in conjunction with each other.   A cart capable of carrying a load, a first robot for recognizing that the cart is in a transport standby state, grasping a situation around the cart and creating map information, and a control means for controlling the robot And a second robot for transporting the carriage to a set location, and the first robot recognizes a movable area based on the map information created by itself or the map information sent from the control means. A robot system that autonomously moves in the area in conjunction with the second robot.   A carriage for loading a package for each shipping destination, a robot for transporting the carriage, a control means for controlling the robot, and a communication for communicating with the control means that the carriage is in a transport standby state from the loaded state of the luggage And a robot system for transporting the cart in the transport standby state to a transport destination corresponding to each shipping destination.   Recognizing that the cart is loaded with a load, the robot for transporting the cart from the first area to the second area, and the control means for controlling the robot, the robot recognizes that the cart is in the transport standby state. And the carriage loaded with the load from the first area to the second area based on the result of the recognition means and the recognition means, and the cart in the second area not loaded with the load is the first A robot system comprising means for transporting to an area.

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