JPH1115529A - Operation instructing method in unmanned vehicle system, and unmanned vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously execute operation contents without the occurrence of dispersion in time between unmanned vehicles by simultaneously transmitting instruction data of the operation contents and sequentially transmitting instruction data instructing the same operation contents while reception is recognized one by one. SOLUTION: At the time of permitting all the unmanned vehicles to simultaneously execute the same operation contents, a base station simultaneously transmits instruction data instructing the operation contents without requesting the response of reception recognition to all the unmanned vehicles. Thus, all the unmanned vehicles simultaneously execute the instructed operation contents except a case that a case that reception is rarely failed. Consequently, hourly dispersion is difficult to occur in the execution of the operation contents between the unmanned vehicles. The base station sequentially transmits instruction data instructing the same operation contents requesting the response of reception recognition to the respective unmanned vehicles while reception is recognized one vehicle by one. Event if the unmanned vehicle failed in reception exists, the unmanned vehicle securely executes the operation content a little later.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation instruction method and an unmanned vehicle system in an unmanned vehicle system for issuing an instruction by communication from a base station to control the operation of a plurality of unmanned vehicles moving on a work route. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an unmanned vehicle such as an unmanned forklift travels along a predetermined route along a guide line laid on a floor surface and transports a load loaded at a loading position to a loading position. Is performed unattended. Usually, an unmanned vehicle system in which a plurality of unmanned vehicles move along a common guide line is configured. The operation of the plurality of unmanned vehicles is controlled by communication by a ground control panel (ground controller).

For example, when the same instruction content (operation content) is simultaneously executed by all unmanned vehicles, the following operation instruction method has been adopted. FIG. 6 is a protocol showing the exchange of data between the ground control panel and each unmanned vehicle over time.

[0004] When the communication is wireless, there is a concern that whether or not the instruction data is correctly received by all the vehicles because of the other radio waves in the factory. For this reason, for example, a method has been adopted in which the instruction data is individually transmitted in order from the first car and the instruction data is sequentially transmitted to the next car one by one while confirming that the instruction data has been received.

That is, first, instruction data is transmitted from the ground control panel to the first car. The first car that has received the instruction data determines the correctness of the content of the received data by a known method, and if the reception is successful, executes the instruction content. Then, a true / false response for transmitting the true / false determination result of the received content to the ground control panel is made. The ground control panel confirms that the first car was able to execute the instruction if the reception was successful based on the correct or incorrect response from the first car, and then transmits the instruction data to the second car. Then, when it is confirmed that the instruction has been executed for the second car based on the correct or incorrect response, 3
The same processing is performed up to car No., car No. N. In this way, it is confirmed whether or not the instruction data has been correctly received one by one, and if there is a car whose reception has failed, the instruction data is transmitted again to that car, so that the contents of the instruction can be reliably executed for all unmanned vehicles. I was trying to make it.

[0006]

However, there is a time lag in executing the instruction contents by a time T which is an elapsed time from when the first car receives the instruction data until the last car N receives the instruction data ( Time delay). If, for example, about 200 milliseconds are required for transmission and reception with one unmanned vehicle, a time lag of about 1 second will occur even if all the five vehicles are used. For this reason, when the instruction content is to stop the operation of all the unmanned vehicles at the same time (for example, emergency stop), a situation may occur in which the first car is stopped but the last car N is not stopped. That is, even if the first car stops, the Nth car is running for about one second after that, and when both unmanned vehicles are located close to each other, there is a possibility that a trouble such as contact may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a first object of the present invention is to reduce time variations when all unmanned vehicles simultaneously execute the same operation contents. An object of the present invention is to provide an operation instruction method and an unmanned vehicle system in an unmanned vehicle system that can be performed. The second purpose is to ensure that all unmanned vehicles are able to transmit their operation contents even if the communication from the base station to each unmanned vehicle is wireless and the communication is in a factory where there are relatively many radio waves that interfere with the communication. To run. A third object is to reduce troubles such as contact caused by a time delay between unmanned vehicles when driving or stopping driving all at once.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, instruction data is transmitted from a base station to a plurality of unmanned vehicles moving on a work route, In an operation instruction method in an unmanned vehicle system that causes all unmanned vehicles to simultaneously execute the same operation contents, the base station simultaneously transmits instruction data for instructing operation contents without requesting a response of reception confirmation to all the unmanned vehicles. And after this transmission,
The instruction data indicating the same operation content that requested the response of the reception confirmation to each unmanned vehicle is transmitted one by one while confirming the reception one by one.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an unmanned vehicle system comprising: a plurality of unmanned vehicles moving on a work route; and a base station for transmitting instruction data for controlling the operation of the unmanned vehicles by communication. When transmitting instruction data for causing all unmanned vehicles to execute the same operation content, the base station transmits simultaneously the instruction data for instructing the operation content without requesting a response for reception confirmation, and then transmits the unmanned vehicles simultaneously. Transmission means for requesting a response to the reception confirmation from the car and sequentially transmitting instruction data of the same operation contents one by one while receiving the reception confirmation,
Instruction execution means for executing the operation content specified in the respective instruction data received from the base station,
Determining means for determining whether or not the received instruction data requests a response of reception confirmation; and determining whether the reception of the instruction data is successful or unsuccessful if the instruction data requests a response of reception confirmation. Response means for responding to the station.

In order to achieve the second object, according to the invention described in claim 3, in the invention described in claim 2, communication between the base station and each of the unmanned vehicles is wireless. In order to achieve the third object, according to the invention described in claim 4, in the invention described in claim 2 or 3, the operation content in which the base station instructs all the unmanned vehicles to execute at the same time is performed. Is operation start or operation stop.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of types of movement paths can be selected as the work path on which the unmanned vehicles move so that the order between the unmanned vehicles is switched. It is provided in.

(Operation) Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when making all unmanned vehicles execute the same operation contents all at once, the base station does not request all unmanned vehicles for a response of reception confirmation. Instruction data for instructing the operation content is transmitted simultaneously.
As a result, unless there are rare cases where reception failed,
All unmanned vehicles execute the specified operation contents simultaneously.
For this reason, it is difficult for the execution of the operation content to vary in time between the unmanned vehicles. After the simultaneous transmission, the base station sequentially transmits the instruction data indicating the same operation contents which requested the response of the reception confirmation to each of the unmanned vehicles one by one while confirming the reception. For this reason, even if there is an unmanned vehicle with a reception error, the unmanned vehicle will surely execute the operation content with a slight delay.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when transmitting instruction data for causing all unmanned vehicles to execute the same operation content, the base station transmits the operation content without requesting a response of reception confirmation. The instruction data to be instructed is transmitted simultaneously by the transmitting means. Each unmanned vehicle executes the operation content indicated by the received instruction data by the instruction executing means. For this reason,
Unless there are rarely unmanned vehicles that failed to be received, all the unmanned vehicles execute their operation contents simultaneously.
Next, the base station requests a response of reception confirmation from each unmanned vehicle, and transmits the instruction data of the same operation content one by one by the transmission unit while receiving reception confirmation one by one. For this reason, even if there is an unmanned vehicle for which reception has failed, the unmanned vehicle surely executes the operation contents with a slight delay. The reception confirmation at this time is determined by the judgment means whether or not each unmanned vehicle requests the response of the reception confirmation by the instruction data. This is performed by determining whether the reception was successful or unsuccessful and responding to the base station.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the transmission of the instruction data from the base station to each of the unmanned vehicles is performed wirelessly. In a factory where unmanned vehicles work, there are relatively many radio waves that hinder communication, and each unmanned vehicle tends to fail to receive instruction data.
However, even in such an environment where reception is likely to fail, the unmanned vehicle that failed to receive at the time of the simultaneous transmission will also have to re-transmit the instruction data while confirming the reception after the simultaneous transmission. Make sure it runs.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the instruction data for executing the driving start is simultaneously transmitted from the base station to all the unmanned vehicles at the same time, most of the unmanned vehicles are almost always based on the instruction data. In this case, the operation is started simultaneously. on the other hand,
When the instruction data for executing the operation stop is simultaneously transmitted from the base station to all the unmanned vehicles at the same time, the operation of all the unmanned vehicles is generally stopped at the same time based on the instruction data. Therefore, even if there are unmanned vehicles approaching each other at the time of executing these instructions, the occurrence of troubles such as contact between the unmanned vehicles will be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, each of the unmanned vehicles working on a plurality of moving routes in which the order of the unmanned vehicles is switched has relatively many opportunities to approach each other. If the base station transmits instruction data that includes driving start and stop operation at the same time, all unmanned vehicles start or stop driving at the same time. ), The frequency of inviting contact between unmanned vehicles is reduced.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an unmanned vehicle system will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows an unmanned vehicle system 1. The factory is provided with a loading place S where the load W is loaded, and a loading place T where the transported load W is unloaded. On the floor of the factory, a guide wire 2 is laid as a working route so as to be a traveling route connecting the loading location S and the loading location T.
A plurality of (N) unmanned vehicles (unmanned forklifts) 3 travel along the guide line 2, load the load W at the loading location S on the fork 3a, and transport the load W to the loading location T. Do the work.

The guide line 2 has an outgoing route and a return route so that the unmanned vehicle 3 can travel in one direction (the direction of the arrow in the figure) between the loading location S and the loading location T. A plurality of branch routes are provided near the carry-in location S and the loading location T near the carry-in location S and the loading location T so as to return from the outward route to the return route at the position where the process is completed. In other words, although each unmanned vehicle 3 travels in a patrol, the patrol order is switched depending on the difference in the branch route that is passed back.

The unmanned vehicle 3 travels along the guide line 2 while detecting the guide line 2 with a sensor (pickup coil) (not shown). Further, the unmanned vehicle 3 detects mark plates arranged at various places on the guide line 2 by a mark sensor (neither is shown), thereby obtaining information for knowing the position of the own vehicle on the route, a branching point, and the like. Is to be obtained. A ground control panel (ground controller) 4 as a base station is installed outside the traveling range of the unmanned vehicle 3. The ground control panel 4 can perform bidirectional wireless communication with each unmanned vehicle 3, and the operation of each unmanned vehicle 3 is controlled based on instruction data transmitted from the ground control panel 4.

Next, an electrical configuration relating to communication of the unmanned vehicle system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The ground control panel 4 includes a personal computer 5. The microcomputer built in the main body 5a of the personal computer 5 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU) 6, a read-only memory (ROM) 7, a readable / writable memory (RAM) 8, and the like as transmission means. An antenna 10 is connected to the CPU 6 via a communication modem 9.

A controller C incorporated in the unmanned vehicle 3 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a central processing unit) as an instruction executing means for controlling operation (running control, cargo handling control, etc.) of the unmanned vehicle 3.
A central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as CPU) 12 dedicated to communication as a determination unit and a response unit. The operation control CPU 11 is connected to the communication-dedicated CPU 12 so that data can be exchanged with each other. An antenna 14 is connected to a CPU 12 dedicated to communication via a communication modem 13.

The CPU 12 is connected to a read-only memory (ROM) 15 storing a program for communication control and a read-write memory (RAM) 16 for storing data and the like used for communication control. The CPU 11 has a ROM 17 and a RAM 18 for storing programs and various data necessary for operation control.
Is connected.

When the CPU 6 inputs the data of the work request from the operator, the work is efficiently allocated to each unmanned vehicle 3 while grasping the operation state (current work contents and running position) of each unmanned vehicle 3. The instruction of the work content for each unmanned vehicle 3 is performed by wirelessly transmitting instruction data between the antennas 10 and 14. The ROM 7 connected to the CPU 6 stores the program data shown in FIGS.
This program data is executed when transmitting instruction data to the unmanned vehicle 3.

It is assumed that the total number of unmanned vehicles 3 is N. Each of the unmanned vehicles 3 is assigned a car number (car number) from the first car to the Nth car. The instruction data transmitted by the CPU 6 to control the operation of the unmanned vehicle 3 includes car data attached to the head of the destination unmanned vehicle 3 for specifying the unmanned vehicle 3 by the car number, and main data indicating the contents of the instruction. Data structure. In the present embodiment, car data for designating all cars is prepared so that the instruction data can be transmitted simultaneously to all unmanned vehicles 3 as a transmission destination.

In the present embodiment, there are three cases where the same operation content needs to be executed simultaneously for all the unmanned vehicles 3. That is, "emergency stop" when stopping all vehicles at the same time due to some trouble, "sleep" when finishing work of one day and turning off the power, and when activating all unmanned vehicles 3 after releasing sleep. "Start" 3
One. In the “emergency stop”, the power of the CPUs 11 and 12 is also turned off. In “sleep”, the power of the CPUs 11 and 12 is not turned off. For this reason, when the operation is started by “Start”, the work is started from the point where the operation was interrupted in “Sleep”.

When the CPU 6 inputs an abnormality detection sensor for detecting the occurrence of a trouble or an abnormality signal from each of the unmanned vehicles 3, it recognizes that "emergency stop" should be performed. When the sleep button inputs an operation signal operated by the operator, it recognizes that it is time to “sleep”. Further, the CPU 6
Recognizes that it is time to "start" when a start signal is input when the operator operates the start button while the system is in the sleep state.

At the time of an all-vehicle command for instructing any one of "emergency stop", "sleep", and "start" for all the unmanned vehicles 3, the car data for designating all the cars is used. Therefore, the main data of the instruction data to which the car data specifying all the cars is attached is an instruction content (operation content) for instructing any one of “emergency stop”, “sleep”, and “start”.

On the other hand, the ROM 15 of the unmanned vehicle 3 stores a right / wrong judgment program for judging the failure / success of data reception using a known method. When the CPU 12 receives the instruction data specifying only the own vehicle as the transmission destination based on the car data, the CPU 12 determines whether the content of the received data is correct or incorrect based on the program data. As a result of the right / wrong judgment, if there is an error in the contents of the received data, it is determined that the reception has failed. CPU1
2 responds to the CPU 6 as to whether the received data is correct or not when the result of the correctness determination is made. In addition, when the car data specifies all the cars as transmission destinations, the right / wrong judgment processing is not performed.

The ROM 17 stores program data for causing the CPU 11 to execute the instruction content indicated by the instruction data received by the CPU 12 dedicated to communication. C
The PU 11 drives and controls a traveling motor, a steering motor, various solenoid valves, and the like (all not shown) mounted on the unmanned vehicle 3 to execute the instruction content based on this program.

Next, the contents of the program data shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described. In this program, step 10 is a process for determining whether or not the command is a whole vehicle command. CPU 6 is “emergency stop”, “sleep”,
When an input signal for instructing any one of “start” (an abnormal signal from the abnormality detecting sensor or a signal when the sleep button or the start button is pressed) is input, it is regarded as a whole vehicle command.

Step 20 is a process for transmitting instruction data to all the unmanned vehicles 3. That is, the instruction data is attached with car data specifying all cars. Step 30 initializes the car number of the destination unmanned vehicle 3 (K =
This is the process 1). Step 40 is a process of designating the unmanned vehicle 3 of the car number K at that time and transmitting the instruction data. That is, the instruction data is attached with the car data specifying the car number K.

Step 50 is a process for judging whether or not the response of the judgment result of the judgment of the content of the received data from the unmanned vehicle 3 is correct. Step 60 is to calculate K
This is a process of determining whether or not the car has failed in receiving the instruction data. Step 70 is a process for storing that the reception of Car K has failed. At this time, a flag prepared for each car in the CPU 6 is set in the case of a reception failure in order to remember the car with the failed reception.

Step 80 is a process for judging whether or not the instruction data specifying the transmission destination for each car has been transmitted to all the unmanned vehicles 3. In step 90, when the individual instruction data has not been transmitted to all the unmanned vehicles 3,
This is a process of incrementing the car number K in order to perform a series of processing from step 40 to step 70 for the next car.

Step 100 is a process for judging whether or not there is an unsuccessfully received car when the individual instruction data has been transmitted to all the unmanned vehicles 3. This determination is made from the flag value of the flag prepared for each car. Step 110 is a process of transmitting the instruction data again to the reception failure car. In other words, the step 40 is performed for
-The transmission process of step 70 is performed again in order (in order of the car number of the car whose reception has failed).

Step 120 is a process for judging whether or not the number of times of unsuccessful reception of the unsuccessfully received car has reached the set number.
In other words, the car whose number of failures reaches the set number is determined to be in the trouble state (the emergency stop state of only that car), and if the number of reception failures reaches the set number, the unmanned car 3 is already stopped due to trouble etc. This is a process for judging that it is in the state and not performing any further transmission process. Here, the CPU 6 has a counter 6a for counting the number of failures for each car.
The number of failures used for this determination can be obtained from the count value of the counter 6a corresponding to the car.

Next, the processing and the operation when the CPU 6 on the ground control panel 4 inputs the input signal and transmits the instruction data will be described. First, when transmitting the instruction data, it is determined whether or not the input is an all-vehicle command based on whether or not the input is an abnormal signal or a signal for pressing a sleep button or a start button (S10). When the all-vehicle command is issued, data is exchanged between the ground control panel 4 and each of the unmanned vehicles 3 as time passes as shown in FIG. For example, a case of a stop instruction such as "emergency stop" or "sleep" will be described as an example.

First, if it is an all-vehicle command (for example, emergency stop or sleep), instruction data is transmitted to all unmanned vehicles 3 (S20). Therefore, all the unmanned vehicles 3 that have received the instruction data stop at the same time. According to the conventional operation instruction method, the unmanned vehicles stop in order, so that a time lag of up to T seconds (see FIG. 6) always occurs when all the vehicles stop, but in the present embodiment, all the vehicles stop. Almost no time variation occurs when the unmanned vehicle 3 stops. However, unmanned vehicles 3 that failed to receive due to rare interference with other radio waves in the factory
Will not stop at this point.

Next, instruction data is individually transmitted to the first car (S30, S40). The CPU 12 of the first car makes a right / wrong determination (for example, a sum check) on the received data content by a known method, and if the reception is successful, executes the instruction content indicated in the main data of the instruction data. As a result, even if the first car accidentally fails to receive the instruction when transmitting the instruction to all the first cars and does not stop, the vehicle stops when the individual instruction data is received. The first car responds by transmitting the correctness determination result to the ground control panel 4.
The contents of the instruction are executed by the CPU 11 based on the instruction data transmitted from the CPU 12.

When the CPU 6 receives a correct / incorrect response of the received content from the first car (S50), it determines whether the first car has failed or succeeded (S60). Sets a flag for the first car to store that the reception has failed. In addition, “1” is added to the count value of the counter for the first car (in this case, the reset state).
That is, when the first car fails to receive the individually transmitted instruction data, that information is stored in the ground control panel 4.

Hereinafter, the same processing is performed for the second car, the third car,..., The N car. That is, the transmission of individual instruction data from the ground control panel 4 to the unmanned vehicle 3 and the correct / incorrect response of the reception content from the unmanned vehicle 3 to the ground control panel 4 after the unmanned vehicle 3 that has received the instruction data makes a right / wrong determination. Is also performed for each car after the second car. Then, even if there is a car that has not been stopped due to the failure to receive it when the first car instruction was transmitted, the car will stop at this time when the individual instruction data is received. In most cases, all unmanned vehicles will stop, and the stop rate will be higher than at least the conventional operation instruction method. In addition, only the flag is reset for the car whose individual instruction data has been transmitted.

Even if the individual instruction data for each car fails to be received, there may be cases where the transmission of the instruction to the first car has succeeded. Therefore, there is an unmanned vehicle 3 that has not been stopped so far. Is extremely rare. However, in factories where there are many obstructive radio waves, unmanned vehicles 3
May be present, and the processing is continued in consideration of such a severe environment.

That is, when the transmission of the individual instruction data for each car is completed once for all cars, it is determined whether there is a car whose reception has failed (S100), and an instruction is again made individually for the car whose reception has failed. Send data. At this time, the same processing as in the previous steps 50 to 70 is performed, and if there is a car whose reception has failed again, a flag corresponding to the car number is set. In the same manner, this process is repeated a certain number of times. If there is a reception failure car whose number of reception failures reaches the set number, the reception failure car is regarded as being in a trouble state and the processing is terminated. This is a process performed within about one second in time. However, in most cases, the transmission of the individual instruction data for each car is completed only by making a full round of the car, so that the transmission of the instruction data is smaller than the conventional operation instruction method.
The time until the processing of PU6 is completed hardly changes. Since the CPU 6 executes the process by interruption,
During this time, other processing is also being performed.

The above description has been made with reference to an example in which the instruction for stopping the operation is given as an example of an all-vehicle command such as "emergency stop" or "sleep". The same processing is performed only when the stop of the unmanned vehicle 3 is started. Therefore, if the all-vehicle command is sleep, the instruction data is transmitted from the ground control panel 4 to all the unmanned vehicles 3 (S20), and all the unmanned vehicles 3 that have received the instruction data are activated simultaneously. In the conventional operation instruction method, since the unmanned vehicles start in order, a time lag of T seconds (see FIG. 6) always occurs when all the vehicles start. Almost no time variation occurs when the unmanned vehicle 3 starts.

[0045] Even if there is an unmanned vehicle 3 that has failed to receive due to interference with other radio waves in the factory, etc. Since the instruction data is transmitted individually while confirming reception, even if there is a car that failed to start due to failure to receive when the first instruction transmission to all cars,
It is activated at this time when individual instruction data is received. In most cases, all unmanned vehicles will be activated. Also, even in a harsh environment such as a factory where there are many radio waves that interfere with communication, instruction data is repeatedly transmitted to the car that failed to receive data. The unmanned vehicle 3 starts up reliably.

Further, even when the same instruction is given to all vehicles, three emergency stop, sleep, and start operations are performed.
If the operation content is other than one and not an all-vehicle command (that is, it is not necessary to execute all the vehicles at the same time), the process proceeds from step 10 to step 30, where the instruction data is sent to each unmanned vehicle 3 while confirming the reception one by one. Are sequentially transmitted. In this case, it goes without saying that the instruction data for all the unmanned vehicles 3 in step 20 may be transmitted.

As described in detail above, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) At the time of an all-vehicle command, the instruction data is first transmitted to all unmanned vehicles 3, so that all unmanned vehicles 3 can be stopped or activated at the same time. For this reason, in the conventional operation instruction method, it is possible to almost surely prevent a trouble such as a contact which may occur due to a temporal variation between unmanned vehicles at the time of simultaneous stopping and simultaneous starting. Further, even if there is an unmanned vehicle 3 whose driving has not been stopped or started at the time of transmitting the instruction data for the first car, the instruction data is sequentially transmitted for each car while confirming the reception individually. And followed up on the car that failed to receive, so all unmanned vehicles 3
Can surely execute the instruction contents (operation contents).

(2) Since the instruction data is repeatedly transmitted to the unsuccessfully received car, even in a harsh environment such as a factory where a lot of radio waves interfere with communication, the unmanned car 3 can be transmitted to all unmanned vehicles 3. Instruction contents (operation contents) can be surely executed.

(3) Unmanned vehicle 3 circulating along the guide line 2
Although the unmanned vehicle system 1 has a relatively large number of opportunities for the unmanned vehicles 3 to approach each other, the worries of troubles such as contact between the unmanned vehicles 3 at the time of simultaneous stop or simultaneous activation are almost eliminated. Can be.

(4) When transmitting instruction data for each car,
Regardless of the content of the reception failure / success of the correct / incorrect response, it is only necessary to remember the car that failed to receive even if a correct / incorrect response was received, and after completing the transmission of the instruction data for each car, the car Since the instruction data is retransmitted in a lump, even if all the cars fail to receive the first designated instruction data, the other unmanned vehicles 3 are driven until the unmanned vehicle 3 stops driving or starts driving. Can be relatively shortened.

The embodiment is not limited to the above, but may be implemented as follows. (N) In consideration of factories with many radio waves that interfere with communication,
The transmission of the individual instruction data is repeated up to a certain number of times for the car whose reception has failed. However, the transmission of the individual instruction data may be limited to one time. That is, the processing of S120 can be eliminated. Even once, the operation can be stopped or started simultaneously and almost all vehicles at the same time, which is more effective than the conventional operation instruction method. 1
When the number of times is limited, a trouble notification may be issued for the car whose reception has failed.

(M) In the above-described embodiment, regardless of whether the reception of the instruction data in the unmanned vehicle 3 has failed or succeeded, if there is a correct or incorrect response, the processing shifts to the transmission of the instruction data to the next car. From the result of the reception, the instruction data is repeatedly transmitted until the reception is successful up to a predetermined number of times for the car that has failed to receive, and if the reception still fails, the processing shifts to the transmission processing of the instruction data to the next car. A procedure may be taken.

(P) Unmanned vehicles are not limited to unmanned forklifts. For example, the present invention may be implemented in a tracked unmanned vehicle system that moves on rails. Further, the present invention may be implemented in an unmanned vehicle system in which the movement route (work route) is a closed loop and the order of unmanned vehicle patrol does not change.

(R) The present invention may be applied to a mobile unmanned vehicle system in which unmanned vehicles do not travel on a fixed route. For example, the present invention can be implemented in a mobile unmanned vehicle system that travels while triangulating a target position using light from three places.

(Q) The present invention may be implemented in an unmanned vehicle system that performs wired communication. The invention grasped from the embodiment and not described in the claims will be described below together with its effects.

(A) In any one of claims 2 to 5, the operation content that the base station instructs all the unmanned vehicles to execute at the same time includes an emergency stop, power-off, and interruption of operation. This is at least one of the operation interruption to be performed, and the operation return to restart the operation by turning on the power from the operation interruption. According to this configuration, the same effect as the invention according to any one of claims 2 to 5 can be obtained. In the above-described embodiment, the suspension of operation corresponds to sleep, and the return to operation corresponds to start.

(B) The base station according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the base station determines a result of reception confirmation by a response from each unmanned vehicle to transmission of instruction data to each unmanned vehicle by the transmitting means. And retransmitting means for transmitting the instruction data at least once to the unmanned vehicle for which reception has failed. According to this configuration, even if the reception of the instruction data transmitted by the transmission unit fails, the instruction data is transmitted again. Therefore, even in a severe environment where communication is easily hindered, the instruction contents can be reliably transmitted to all unmanned vehicles. Can be executed.

[0058]

As described in detail above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the base station does not request all unmanned vehicles to respond to the reception confirmation, but instructs the operation data. At the same time, and after that, the instruction data indicating the same operation contents that requested the response confirmation of each unmanned vehicle was transmitted one by one while confirming the reception one by one. The operation contents can be executed all at once without any variation in time between unmanned vehicles, and even if there are unmanned vehicles that failed to receive simultaneously during simultaneous transmission, all the unmanned vehicles will surely execute the operation contents You can do so.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in consideration of a case where there is an unmanned vehicle that failed to receive after simultaneous simultaneous transmission to all the unmanned vehicles, an instruction is given to each unmanned vehicle while confirming reception. Since the data is retransmitted in sequence, there are many radio waves that interfere with wireless communication, and even in a factory where reception mistakes are likely to occur during simultaneous simultaneous transmission, make sure that all unmanned vehicles execute the operation contents reliably Can be.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, each of the unmanned vehicles receiving the instruction data including the operation contents of starting and stopping the operation is almost always started or stopped at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the frequency of occurrence of troubles such as contact between unmanned vehicles.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there are many opportunities for unmanned vehicles to approach each other on a work route in which the order between the unmanned vehicles can be switched, and there is a concern that contact or the like may occur when driving or starting operation is performed at once. However, since all the unmanned vehicles start and stop driving at the same time, it is possible to reduce the frequency of causing contact between the unmanned vehicles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication protocol in an unmanned vehicle system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a whole vehicle command process.

FIG. 3 is also a flowchart.

FIG. 4 is an electric configuration block diagram of an unmanned vehicle system.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an unmanned vehicle system.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication protocol in a conventional unmanned vehicle system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Unmanned vehicle system 2. Guidance line as work route 3.
... unmanned vehicles, 4 ... ground control panel as base station, 6 ... CPU as transmitting means, 11 ... CP as instruction executing means
U, 12: CPU as determination means and response means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An operation instruction method in an unmanned vehicle system in which instruction data is transmitted from a base station to a plurality of unmanned vehicles moving on a work route to cause all the unmanned vehicles to simultaneously execute the same operation content. The station transmits the instruction data for instructing the operation contents all at once without requesting a response of the reception confirmation to all the unmanned vehicles, and after this transmission, instructs each unmanned vehicle the same operation contents which requested the response of the reception confirmation. An operation instruction method in an unmanned vehicle system in which instruction data is sequentially transmitted while confirming reception of each instruction data. 2. A plurality of unmanned vehicles moving on a work route,
In an unmanned vehicle system including a base station that transmits instruction data for controlling operation of unmanned vehicles by communication, the base station transmits instruction data for causing all unmanned vehicles to execute the same operation content. Sends instruction data instructing operation details all at once without requesting a response for reception confirmation, then requests a response for reception confirmation from each unmanned vehicle, and receives reception confirmation of instruction data with the same operation contents one by one. While transmitting means for sequentially transmitting, each of the unmanned vehicles, the instruction execution means for executing the operation content specified in the respective instruction data received from the base station,
Determining means for determining whether or not the received instruction data requests a response of reception confirmation; and determining whether the reception of the instruction data is successful or unsuccessful if the instruction data requests a response of reception confirmation. An unmanned vehicle system comprising a response means for responding to the station. 3. The unmanned vehicle system according to claim 2, wherein communication between the base station and each of the unmanned vehicles is wireless. 4. The unmanned vehicle system according to claim 2, wherein the operation content that the base station instructs all the unmanned vehicles to execute at the same time is operation start or operation stop. 5. The unmanned vehicle system according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of moving paths are selectable as a work route on which the unmanned vehicles move so that the order between the unmanned vehicles is switched.