JPS61234408A - Safety system for optical guidance unmanned carrying system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent rear-end collision of vehicles by irradiating a guide light while sectioning it along the running route and detecting the presence of a vehicle in the irradiated section when a reply signal comes. CONSTITUTION:A guide light irradiation controller Ai irradiates the guide light fi via a slit Si to a vehicle W. The guide light fi is reflected in a reflection plate Ri, a reflected light vi is received by a photodetector Bi to generate a photodetecting signal Ri. The photodetecting signal Ri is inputted to a succeeding controller Ai+1. The controller Ai+1 uses the signal Ri to detect the presence of the vehicle W in the guide light irradiating section. When the presence of the vehicle is detected, the controller Ai+1 stops the irradiation of the guide light at the adjacent subsequent section to stop the subsequent vehicles in the subsequent adjacent section. Thus, the rear-end collision of vehicles is prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] 'The present invention relates to an unmanned transportation system in which a plurality of wheels are made to run on the same travel route using an optical guidance method, and this system is applied to I#.
This invention relates to a safety system for preventing vehicle collisions.

[IIa essentials of the invention]

This is an unmanned transportation system in which a plurality of vehicles are driven along the same travel route using a light guidance method, and guidance light is irradiated onto the vehicles in predetermined sections along the travel route, and the vehicles are guided by light. The reflected light is detected, and from the reflected light detection signal and the guidance light irradiation signal, the presence or absence of a vehicle in the bundled light irradiation section is detected, and the guidance light is detected in the subsequent adjacent section when a vehicle is present. A safety method that prevents vehicle collision by stopping the irradiation and stopping the vehicle in the following adjacent section.
Formula % [Prior art] For example, an optical guided unmanned transportation system that illuminates a vehicle with guiding light and controls the vehicle's travel in response to the detection signal is, for example,
Opening "5B-144218 Publication, JP 59-177
Various systems are known, such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 614.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the above system, if a plurality of JKSs are allowed to travel on the same travel route, there is a mechanism to prevent rear-end collisions between the vehicles. However, in the conventional optical VG4 type unmanned transportation system, an effective security system has not been established in such a case.

The idea behind this is that conventional check-in/check-out methods are known to detect the presence of vehicles in a predetermined section of a driving route, but this method involves burying detection means such as relays along the driving route. The signal transmission and reception is done using the tIB induction method, and the equipment is large and complicated. Furthermore, this method is only used to confirm the presence of a vehicle in the area, and is not intended for security purposes.Furthermore, even if this method were adopted, it would not be suitable for optical guidance systems since it would be based on electromagnetic crocodile guidance. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety system for preventing a rear-end collision of an unmanned guided vehicle in a light-guided unmanned transportation system.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides the above-mentioned system with a means for dividing the guiding light into predetermined sections along the driving route and irradiating the driving control photodetector and photoresponder on the vehicle; means for detecting response light from the photoresponder, and detecting the presence or absence of a vehicle in the guidance light irradiation section in response to the guidance light irradiation signal and the response source detection signal; The present invention is characterized by comprising means for stopping the irradiation of the guiding light in the 1M contact area and stopping the training vehicle in the following @ contact area.

[Effect]

- When the guiding light is irradiated onto a traveling vehicle in a predetermined section of the driving route, the reflected light from the photoresponse 1 on the vehicle, for example, a reflector, is detected, and the detection signal and the guidance light irradiation signal are generated. The presence or absence of a vehicle in the above section is detected based on the guidance light irradiation time signal. As a result, if the presence of a vehicle is detected, the guidance light irradiation in the following adjacent section is stopped and the following vehicle is The following adjacent section is forced to stop.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be further described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. The figures illustrate the implementation of the security system of the present invention applied to a light-guided unmanned transportation system. In the same figure,
Ai to Ai are fat guide light irradiation controllers, B.~Bi+n are light receivers, s, ~5inn are slint plates, and R, ~R, +. are reflection plates, Di to D, A are photodetectors, W are light guiding irradiation controllers for the unmanned transport vehicle, and light receivers Bi to B, +.

and slit plates Si to Si. The running route of the above-mentioned vehicle XIC1'8 is divided into a plurality of sections. The light is irradiated onto the vehicle W via Si.

A photodetector Di and a reflector R1 are provided on the vehicle W, and similar devices are provided on other vehicles (not shown). The photodetector D consists of a well-known array of photosensitive diodes, etc., and the guided light fi
When the vehicle W receives the light, it detects the left-right deviation of the vehicle W with respect to the traveling route XK, and controls the wheel drive system so that the vehicle W travels on the route Omitted. It is assumed that the vehicle W can be driven along the route X from left to right with respect to the paper by optical guidance.

In addition, a part of the #s4 light fi irradiated onto the vehicle is reflected by the reflector R,
The reflected light ri is received by a light receiver to generate a light reception signal R1.

The light reception signal R1 and the guiding light irradiation signal Fi generated by the controller Ai at the time of guiding light irradiation are the same as the guiding light irradiation signal Fi generated by the controller Ai+ in the subsequent section.
, is input.

Therefore, if the controller Ai+1 obtains an AND output of R and F using an overconfident logic circuit, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a vehicle W in the guidance light irradiation section. If the AND output is 11'', it means that the vehicle W is present in the section, and in that case, the irradiation of the guiding light by the controller Ai+1 in the subsequent adjacent section is stopped depending on the output of the AND.

(If there is a following vehicle in the Ai+x section.

Since the controller AiK causes the vehicle to stop at section 7, the same travel route XVc1! Even if several automated guided vehicles were driven by the visiting light guide.

A safe distance between each vehicle is maintained at all times, making it possible to prevent rear-end collisions.

Although a reflector is used in the above embodiment, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this, and any light-responsive device that generates (or reflects) light in response to guided light may be used.

[Effect]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve the desired safety with a relatively simple configuration, especially without requiring any floor-mounted objects, and moreover, it is similar to the light guidance system for vehicle running. Since it is a light detection method, it is a security method suitable for optically guided unmanned transportation systems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a schematic diagram of the Iksho S cage according to the present invention. A・～A,+. ...Guiding light irradiation controller, Si-S, +
. ...Temporary slit, R...Reflector, Di...Photodetector, W...Vehicle, B, %Bi+. ...Receiver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a system in which a plurality of optically guided automatic guided vehicles are made to travel on the same travel route, the guiding light is divided into predetermined sections along the travel route, and a photodetector for travel control on the vehicle and a photoresponse are detected. means for irradiating the vehicle with light, means for detecting response light from the light transponder, and detecting the presence or absence of a vehicle in the guidance light irradiation section in response to the guidance light irradiation signal and the response light detection signal; A security method for a light-guided unmanned transportation system, comprising: a means for stopping the irradiation of guiding light in a subsequent adjacent section when a vehicle is present, and stopping the vehicle in the subsequent adjacent section.