JPH0579603U - Unmanned vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] An object is to provide an unmanned vehicle that has a simple structure and can be constructed at low cost. A drive unit 14 including a sensor 28 for detecting a guide band 26 provided along a running track, left and right drive wheels 18, and a motor 20 for independently rotating and driving them.
When the sensor 28 detects that the traveling vehicle has deviated to the right or left with respect to the guide belt 26, the sensor 2
The motor 20 for driving the corresponding right or left drive wheel 18 is intermittently driven in short time intervals in response to a signal from the vehicle 8 to suppress the rotation of the corresponding drive wheel 18 and to orient the traveling vehicle. The unmanned vehicle is configured to include the control unit 24 that matches the guide band 26 with the guide band 26.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an unmanned vehicle that is guided by a guide band provided along a traveling track and travels unmanned, and more particularly to an unmanned vehicle that has a simple structure and can be inexpensively constructed.

[0002]

[Background of the invention]

 Conventionally, various types of unmanned vehicles have been developed and proposed as those used for transportation in factories.

[0003] A typical traveling system is a type in which a guide band provided along a traveling track is detected by a sensor and automatically guided by the guide band.

In this type of unmanned vehicle, when the left and right drive wheels are independently driven to rotate by respective motors and the direction of the vehicle is controlled by controlling the drive of each motor, the rotation of the motors is continued. It is desirable to continuously change the rotation speed while keeping the speed of the running vehicle smooth.

However, in order to achieve this, it is necessary to control the motor by a complicated control circuit incorporating an integrating circuit, which results in high cost.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The device of the present invention has been devised to solve such a problem, and its gist is to provide a sensor for detecting a guiding zone provided along a running track, and left and right drive wheels and those. When the sensor detects that a drive unit equipped with a motor that is independently driven to rotate and the traveling vehicle is misaligned to the right or left with respect to the guidance zone, a signal from the sensor is used. , A control for controlling the rotation of the corresponding driving wheel by intermittently driving the motor for driving the corresponding right or left driving wheel at short time intervals in small increments so as to match the direction of the traveling vehicle with the direction of the guide belt. Part.

[0007]

[Action and effect of the device]

 According to the present invention, an unmanned vehicle can be easily configured by incorporating a sensor, a drive unit, and a control unit into an ordinary handcart or the like.

In addition, the present invention intermittently drives each motor that rotates the right or left drive wheel at short intervals to suppress the rotation of the corresponding drive wheel to control the direction of the traveling vehicle in the correct direction. Therefore, it does not require a complicated motor control circuit with an integrated circuit.

Therefore, according to the present invention, an unmanned vehicle can be manufactured at low cost. Moreover, the unmanned vehicle can be reliably driven along the guide band without being separated from the guide band.

[0010]

【Example】

 Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a body of an unmanned vehicle, in which rotatable wheels 12, 12 are provided at central portions in the width direction between a front end portion and a rear end portion on a lower surface side, and a middle portion in the front-rear direction. Is provided with a drive unit 14.

The drive unit 14 has a pair of right and left fixed drive wheels 18 and 18 inside the case 16, and motors 20 and 20 that rotate and drive them independently.

The drive wheels 18 are arranged at the widthwise ends of the vehicle, and the motors 20 are connected to a control unit 24 in a box 22 arranged at the rear end of the vehicle. A battery is housed in the box 22.

On the other hand, sensors 28 and 30 are arranged at the front end of the vehicle. Since the sensor 28 detects the guide band (magnetic tape) 26 laid on the floor along the running track of the vehicle, the sensor 30 has a magnetic mark 32 (see FIG. 4) provided at the entry end of the curve. Is to detect.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show control patterns of the motor 20 by the control unit 24. Of these, FIG. 3 shows a control pattern during straight traveling.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, when the straight sensor is traveling straight ahead, for example, when the left sensor 28 (referred to as B sensor) in the traveling direction is turned off (at this time, the right sensor 28 ( (A sensor) is in the on state), that is, when the vehicle direction is shifted to the left, the motor 20 (A motor) for rotating the right drive wheel 18 is rotated as shown in the time chart of FIG. 3 (B). The driving current is intermittently supplied / stopped at short time intervals (here, t ₁ = 0.07 seconds, t ₂ = 0.1 seconds).

As a result, the rotation of the right drive wheel 18 is suppressed, and the direction of the vehicle is corrected to the right.

Then, when the left B sensor 28 is turned on again, the A motor 20 is switched to normal operation. In this example, the B sensor 20 is turned on and the B motor 20 is momentarily turned off at the same time, but this is to prevent the vehicle from returning too far.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a control pattern of the motor 20 at the time of traveling on a curve. In this device, when the sensor 30 detects the magnetic mark 32 at the entry end of the curve, the vehicle travels at a low speed as described later. Switch to. In this example, the speed for traveling in a curve is set to 14 m / min, while the speed for traveling in a straight line is 27 m / min.

When, for example, the left B sensor 28 is turned off during traveling on a curve, the A motor 20 that rotates the right drive wheel 18 is intermittently operated.

This point is the same as when traveling straight ahead, but when traveling on a curve, the other B motor 20 also turns on and off after a fixed time (for example, t3 = 0.5 seconds). This is to slow down the rotation of the left wheel when driving on a curve so that the vehicle will travel along the guide belt reliably.

In addition, even when both the A motor 20 and the B motor 20 are turned on and off in this way, by making the ON operation time of the B motor 20 longer than that of the A motor 20, the direction of the vehicle Can be corrected.

As shown in FIG. 4 (B), during this curve traveling, the A motor 20 does not immediately return to the normal operation state even after the B sensor 28 is turned on, and the A motor 20 does not return to the normal operation state for a certain time. Specifically, the turning on / off operation is performed within a predetermined time (t 4 hours) set in advance after entering the curve.

This is to prevent the vehicle from being excessively bent due to inertial force when the vehicle travels from the curve running to the straight running, and is prevented from coming off the guide band 26. This t4 is set to about 8 seconds, for example.

The circuit configuration of the control unit 24 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, in this example, the transistors 38 and 40 are turned on (or turned off) by a command signal from the sequencer 34 to the control board 36, which causes a large drive circuit to the motor 20. An electric current flows and the right motor (A motor) 20 or the left motor (B motor) 20 is rotationally driven.

In this example, the resistor 42 and the relay 3 and the resistor 46 and the relay 6 are connected in parallel to each motor 20, respectively. These are for the purpose of dynamic braking of the motor 20 when the drive current to the motor 20 is cut off.

In the dynamic braking, when the drive current to the motor 20 is cut off, the electromotive force generated in the coil of the armature that continues to rotate due to inertial force is consumed by the external resistors 42 and 46, and the braking torque is reduced. The relay 3 and the relay 6 are turned on immediately when the drive current to the motor 20 is cut off to bring the braking circuit into an operating state.

FIG. 6 shows a specific circuit configuration in the control board 36. As shown in the figure, in this example, the voltage division between N and P by resistors 50, 52, 54 and 62, 64, 66 is applied as the base voltage of transistor 38 or 40 and the relay on that circuit is used. When 1 or the relay 2 is turned on by a command signal from the sequencer 34, a base current flows through the transistor 38 or 40, a drive current flows through the A motor 20 or the B motor 20, and the motor 20 rotates. .

Here, command signals to the relays 1 and 2 are input from terminals Y21 and Y22 shown in FIG. 5, and the operating time thereof is controlled by a timer in the sequencer 34.

The relays 1 and 2 are for straight traveling, and when the vehicle travels on a curve, the transistors 38 and 40 are turned on and off by the on and off operations of the relay 4 and the relay 5, thereby energizing and stopping each motor 20. Is done.

The resistances of the resistors 58 and 70 to which the relays 4 and 5 are connected are set to be larger than those of the resistors 54 and 66. Therefore, the drive current of the motor 20 when the transistors 38 and 40 are operating. Is smaller than that when traveling straight ahead.

A command signal from the sequencer 34 to the relays 4 and 5 is input through terminals Y24 and Y25, and the operation time thereof is controlled by a timer in the sequencer 34.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but this is merely an example, and the present invention can be configured in a form in which various modifications are made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of an unmanned vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control pattern of a motor by a control unit when the same unmanned vehicle travels straight ahead.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a control pattern of a motor by a control unit when the same unmanned vehicle is traveling on a curve.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a control unit.

6 is a diagram showing a specific circuit configuration of a main part of the control board in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Drive Unit 18 Drive Wheel 20 Motor 24 Control Unit 26 Induction Band 28 Sensor

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A drive unit equipped with a sensor for detecting an induction zone provided along a traveling track, left and right drive wheels, and a motor for independently rotating them to drive a traveling vehicle with respect to the induction zone. When the sensor detects that the direction has shifted to the right or left by the signal from the sensor,
A control unit for suppressing the rotation of the corresponding driving wheel by intermittently driving the motor for driving the corresponding right or left driving wheel at short time intervals so as to match the direction of the traveling vehicle with the direction of the guide band. An unmanned vehicle characterized by including and.