Control system and method for active collision prevention of cigarette finished product straight shuttle vehicle

Abstract

The invention discloses a control system and method for active collision prevention of a straight shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products. The system comprises a safety scanner, a walking motor and a logistics conveying PLC. The front end and the rear end of a shuttle vehicle body are each provided with one safety scanner, the safety scanners are in signal connection with the logistics conveying PLC, the logistics conveying PLC is in signal connection with the server, and the server is in signal connection with the walking motor. And the safety scanner scans obstacles in a scanning area in the advancing direction of the shuttle vehicle and sends a deceleration signal or a stop signal to the logistics conveying PLC when the obstacles are scanned, so that the logistics conveying PLC controls the walking motor to correspondingly decelerate or stop through the server. The problems that an existing shuttle vehicle lacks anti-collision recognition, and collision is likely to be caused can be solved, and the intelligence and safety of the shuttle vehicle can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cigarette logistics, and more particularly to a control system and method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products. Background Art

[0002] Cigarette factories often use straight-travel shuttles to transport materials such as cigarette pallets in finished product warehouses. These shuttles offer flexible routing for inbound and outbound transportation, high efficiency, and the ability to achieve one-to-many or many-to-many cross-regional transport between non-adjacent platforms. However, the widespread use of shuttles demands that their safety and overall operational performance be maintained at optimal levels over the long term. During operation, we discovered that due to factors such as abnormal palletizing by the robotic arm or manual cigarette rotation, the placement of cigarette cases on the pallet often shifted, resulting in a skewed stack of finished products and an unstable center of gravity. This caused several or even entire cigarette cases to collapse during shuttle transport. This collapse not only damaged the shuttle and the cigarette cases, but also occurred within the shuttle's travel rails, which are the shuttle's movement area and are not suitable for collisions with foreign objects or personnel. The shuttle lacked anti-collision features, particularly active anti-collision features, during operation. This could cause the shuttle to collide with collapsed cigarette cases, disrupting the finished product loading and unloading process and causing significant economic losses due to damage to both the cigarettes and the shuttle. Furthermore, while shuttles are required to operate in a closed aisle, in practice, especially during operation and maintenance, some individuals often neglect safety procedures and fail to strictly follow them. Consequently, personnel have been known to mistakenly enter the aisle during operation, creating a risk of personal injury. Therefore, how to perform active collision avoidance on shuttle vehicles to improve production safety is of great significance. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention provides a control system and method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products, which solves the problem that existing shuttle vehicles lack collision avoidance recognition and are prone to collision, and can improve the intelligence and safety of the shuttle vehicles.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0005] An active anti-collision control system for a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products, comprising: a safety scanner, a server, a travel motor, and a logistics conveying PLC;

[0006] A safety scanner is installed at the front and rear ends of the shuttle vehicle, the safety scanner is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal, the logistics conveying PLC is connected to the server signal, and the server is connected to the travel motor signal;

[0007] The safety scanner scans the scanning area in the shuttle's forward direction for obstacles, and when an obstacle is scanned, sends a deceleration signal or a stop signal to the logistics conveying PLC, so that the logistics conveying PLC controls the traveling motor through the servo to perform corresponding deceleration or stop.

[0008] Preferably, the security scanner comprises: a laser sensor and a scanning controller;

[0009] The scanning controller is connected to the laser sensor signal, and the scanning controller controls the laser sensor to perform sector scanning on the scanning area.

[0010] Preferably, the scanning controller is provided with a distal trigger line and a proximal trigger line for the scanning area, and is divided into a deceleration area and a stop area;

[0011] The scanning controller determines whether the obstacle is in a deceleration zone or a stop zone according to the obstacle distance detected by the laser sensor.

[0012] Preferably, the scanning controller sets the area between the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line as the deceleration area, and sets the area within the proximal trigger line as the stop area;

[0013] The scanning controller sends a deceleration signal when detecting that an obstacle is in the deceleration zone, and sends a stop signal when detecting that an obstacle is in the stop zone.

[0014] Preferably, it further comprises: an encoder;

[0015] The encoder is arranged at the rotating shaft of the traveling motor to collect the rotation speed of the traveling motor in real time;

[0016] The encoder is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal, and the logistics conveying PLC adjusts the speed of the shuttle vehicle according to the running motor speed collected by the encoder.

[0017] Preferably, it also includes: a barcode scanner;

[0018] The barcode scanner is set on the shuttle car and is connected to the logistics transportation PLC signal. The barcode scanner scans the position barcode set on the inner side of the driving guide rail to transmit the shuttle car position information to the logistics transportation PLC in real time.

[0019] Preferably, it also includes: a conveying motor, a frequency converter and a chain machine;

[0020] The shuttle car is provided with a chain conveyor, which is used to transport cigarette trays in and out of the loading platform;

[0021] The conveying motor is connected to the chain conveyor by transmission, the conveying motor is connected to the frequency converter signal, and the frequency converter is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal;

[0022] The logistics conveying PLC is connected to the warehouse management system signal, and controls the running motor and the conveying motor to run or stop according to the in-and-out scheduling instructions.

[0023] The present invention also provides a control method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products, using the above-mentioned control system, comprising:

[0024] Set the far-end trigger line and near-end trigger line of the security scanner's scanning area;

[0025] Dividing a scanning area of the safety scanner into a deceleration zone and a stop zone according to the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line;

[0026] Determine whether the obstacle is in the deceleration zone or the stop zone based on the obstacle distance detected by the safety scanner;

[0027] If the obstacle is in the deceleration zone, the shuttle is controlled to decelerate; if the obstacle is in the stop zone, the shuttle is controlled to stop.

[0028] Preferably, the dividing the scanning area of the safety scanner into a deceleration zone and a stop zone according to the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line includes:

[0029] The area between the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line is set as the deceleration zone;

[0030] The area within the proximal trigger line is set as the stop zone.

[0031] Preferably, it also includes:

[0032] The scanning area of the safety scanner is set to a fan-shaped structure, the distance between the far-end trigger line and the safety scanner is 200 cm, and the distance between the near-end trigger line and the safety scanner is 100 cm.

[0033] The present invention provides a control system and method for active collision avoidance for a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products. By installing a safety scanner at each of the front and rear ends of the shuttle vehicle, the system scans for obstacles in a designated area along the shuttle's travel direction. Upon detecting an obstacle, the system sends a deceleration or stop signal to the logistics conveying programmable logic controller (PLC), which in turn controls the travel motor to decelerate or stop. This system addresses the problem of existing shuttle vehicles lacking collision avoidance recognition and being prone to collisions, thereby improving the shuttle vehicle's intelligence and safety. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments.

[0035] Figure 1 The present invention is a schematic diagram of a control system for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products.

[0036] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a shuttle vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the scanning area provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a control method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products provided by the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and implementation methods.

[0040] In view of the problem that current shuttle vehicles lack anti-collision recognition rollers and are prone to collisions, the present invention provides a control system and method for active anti-collision of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products, which solves the problem that existing shuttle vehicles lack anti-collision recognition and are prone to collisions, and can improve the intelligence and safety of the shuttle vehicles.

[0041] like Figures 1-3 As shown, a control system for active collision avoidance for a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarettes includes: a safety scanner 1, a server, a travel motor, and a logistics and delivery programmable logic controller (PLC). A safety scanner is mounted on each of the front and rear ends of the shuttle vehicle. The safety scanner 1 is signal-connected to the logistics and delivery PLC, which is in turn signal-connected to the server, which is in signal-connected to the travel motor. The safety scanner scans the shuttle's forward scanning area for obstacles. When an obstacle is detected, it sends a deceleration or stop signal to the logistics and delivery PLC, which in turn controls the travel motor via the server to decelerate or stop accordingly.

[0042] Specifically, to ensure the shuttle's active collision avoidance during operation, a safety scanner must be installed on both the front and rear of the shuttle. These two scanners are not activated simultaneously; instead, the scanner is activated based on the direction the shuttle is traveling. Once activated, the scanner scans the ground between the parallel guide rails in front of it in real time. Upon remote detection of fallen cigarettes or personnel, the remote trigger is activated, and the scanner sends a deceleration signal to the PLC. The PLC then sends a deceleration control command to the servo controlling the shuttle's movement. The servo controls the travel motor, causing the shuttle to decelerate. In practice, the optimal deceleration is to reduce the shuttle's speed by half. This prevents the shuttle from dropping cigarettes or overturning due to excessive deceleration, while also facilitating a smooth stop. When the safety scanner detects a cigarette or person lying on the ground between the two running rails at the near end, the near-end trigger is activated. At this time, the safety scanner will also send a stop signal to the PLC. The PLC will send a stop control command to the server that controls the movement of the shuttle. The server controls the running motor to stop rotating, and the shuttle will be stopped at this time.

[0043] Furthermore, the security scanner includes: a laser sensor and a scanning controller; the scanning controller is connected to the laser sensor signal, and the scanning controller controls the laser sensor to perform sector scanning on the scanning area.

[0044] like Figure 3 As shown, the scanning controller sets a far-end trigger line and a near-end trigger line for the scanning area, and divides it into a deceleration zone and a stop zone; the scanning controller determines whether the obstacle is in the deceleration zone or the stop zone according to the obstacle distance detected by the laser sensor.

[0045] Furthermore, the scanning controller sets the area between the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line as the deceleration zone, and sets the area within the proximal trigger line as the stop zone. The scanning controller sends a deceleration signal when detecting an obstacle in the deceleration zone, and sends a stop signal when detecting an obstacle in the stop zone.

[0046] Specifically, the safety scanner needs to be parameterized through relevant software before use. Its scanning range is fan-shaped, so that the far-end trigger line just reaches the inner edge of the shuttle's parallel guide rail but does not trigger the safety scanner. It is about 200 cm away from the safety scanner; the near-end trigger line is about 100 cm away from the safety scanner.

[0047] In one embodiment, a security scanner scans the ground ahead in real time. When the far trigger line AB detects a fallen cigarette or person, the far trigger is activated, sending a deceleration signal to the PLC, causing the shuttle to slow down. When the near trigger line CD detects a fallen cigarette or person, the near trigger is activated, sending a stop signal to the PLC, causing the shuttle to stop. The distance between the far trigger line AB and the near trigger line CD from the security scanner is determined by factors such as the shuttle's operating speed. The shuttle's normal operating speed is 0.8 m / s. Upon detecting a fallen cigarette box or person, the far trigger line AB slows the shuttle's speed to approximately 0.4 m / s. Thus, the shuttle maintains a speed of 0.4 m / s between the far trigger line AB and the near trigger line CD for approximately two seconds, paving the way for a smooth stop in the next step. When the proximal trigger line (CD) detects a collapsed cigarette box or a person, the shuttle vehicle slows down from 0.4 m / s to 0 m / s. The distance between the proximal trigger line (CD) and the safety scanner is approximately 1 meter. Taking braking and inertia into account, the shuttle vehicle stops for over 2 seconds, ensuring a smooth stop. Overall, the distance between the distal trigger line and the shuttle vehicle (safety scanner) is 200 cm, which is sufficient to decelerate the shuttle vehicle to a stop within 4 seconds, avoiding sudden braking that could cause more cigarettes to fall, leading to more serious safety and quality incidents.

[0048] The system also includes: an encoder; the encoder is arranged at the rotating shaft of the running motor to collect the rotation speed of the running motor in real time; the encoder is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal, and the logistics conveying PLC adjusts the speed of the shuttle vehicle according to the running motor speed collected by the encoder.

[0049] The system also includes: a barcode scanner; the barcode scanner is set on the shuttle car and is connected to the logistics transportation PLC signal. The barcode scanner scans the position barcode set on the inner side of the driving guide rail to transmit the shuttle car position information to the logistics transportation PLC in real time.

[0050] The system also includes: a conveying motor, a frequency converter and a chain machine; a chain machine is provided on the shuttle car, and the chain machine is used to convey cigarette pallets in and out of the loading platform; the conveying motor is connected to the chain machine in a transmission manner, the conveying motor is connected to the frequency converter signal, and the frequency converter is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal; the logistics conveying PLC is connected to the warehouse management system signal, and controls the running motor and the conveying motor to start or stop according to the in and out scheduling instructions.

[0051] Specifically, if Figures 1-3As shown, the mechanical components of the straight-moving shuttle are divided into two parts: the conveying section, or chain conveyor, driven by a conveyor motor, which transports cigarette pallets in and out of the shuttle's loading platform; and the running section, supported by four rubber wheels on the lower part of the vehicle, which runs on two parallel guide rails installed on the ground within the laneway. The parallel rails have a smooth running surface, with a width of approximately 100 cm between the rails, slightly larger than the width of the rubber wheel surface. The four rubber wheels are divided into drive wheels and running wheels. The drive wheels are driven by the running motor, while the running wheels are unpowered. The shuttle is part of the finished product logistics conveying system. Under the control of the logistics conveying system's PLC, it transfers cigarette pallets between related conveying platforms. The conveying motor is controlled by a frequency converter, and the running motor is controlled by a servo. In order to achieve precise control of its movement, the negative feedback closed-loop control in the control system is used. There are two control loops, the inner loop is the speed loop, and the outer loop is the position loop. Specifically, when the shuttle is running, the encoder will transmit the shuttle speed information to the PLC in real time, and the speed loop will be used to control the speed of the shuttle. During this period, the shuttle will also use the barcode scanner to scan the position barcode pre-attached to the inside of a guide rail, and transmit the position information to the PLC in real time, and the position loop will be used to control the position of the shuttle.

[0052] As can be seen, the present invention provides an active collision avoidance control system for a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products. By installing a safety scanner at each of the front and rear ends of the shuttle vehicle, the system scans for obstacles in a designated area along the shuttle's travel direction. Upon detecting an obstacle, the system sends a deceleration or stop signal to the logistics conveying programmable logic controller (PLC), which in turn controls the travel motor to decelerate or stop. This solves the problem of existing shuttle vehicles lacking collision avoidance recognition and being prone to collisions, thereby improving the shuttle vehicle's intelligence and safety.

[0053] Accordingly, if Figure 4 As shown, the present invention also provides a control method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products, using the above-mentioned control system, comprising:

[0054] S1: Set the far-end trigger line and near-end trigger line of the security scanner's scanning area.

[0055] S2: Dividing the scanning area of the safety scanner into a deceleration zone and a stop zone according to the far-end trigger line and the near-end trigger line.

[0056] S3: Determine whether the obstacle is in a deceleration zone or a stop zone based on the obstacle distance detected by the safety scanner.

[0057] S4: If the obstacle is in the deceleration zone, the shuttle is controlled to decelerate; if the obstacle is in the stop zone, the shuttle is controlled to stop.

[0058] Furthermore, the step of dividing the scanning area of the safety scanner into a deceleration zone and a stop zone according to the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line includes:

[0059] The area between the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line is set as the deceleration zone;

[0060] The area within the proximal trigger line is set as the stop zone.

[0061] The method further includes: setting the scanning area of the security scanner into a fan-shaped structure, the distance between the far-end trigger line and the security scanner is 200 cm, and the distance between the near-end trigger line and the security scanner is 100 cm.

[0062] In one embodiment, considering that the proximal trigger line has a shorter range than the distal trigger line, potentially leading to missed detections, a delay program is implemented in the PLC to ensure the shuttle stops safely when needed. Upon receiving the deceleration signal from the safety scanner, this program triggers a delay of approximately two seconds. After the two-second delay expires, another stop signal is generated. This stop signal forms a logical OR relationship with the proximal trigger line stop signal in step 3. Whichever stop signal arrives first stops the shuttle first. This maximizes the effectiveness of the shuttle's active collision avoidance function. The two-second delay is determined based on the proximal trigger line being the brake line, which is 100 cm from the shuttle body (safety scanner). The shuttle enters the braking zone at a speed of 40 cm / s. According to the speed formula, the shuttle's speed in the braking zone decreases from 40 cm / s to 0 cm / s, which takes approximately two seconds. Therefore, the delay timer is set to 2 seconds.

[0063] As can be seen, the present invention provides an active collision avoidance control method for a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products. By installing a safety scanner at each of the front and rear ends of the shuttle vehicle, the system scans for obstacles in a designated area along the shuttle's travel direction. Upon detecting an obstacle, the system sends a deceleration or stop signal to the logistics conveying programmable logic controller (PLC), which in turn controls the travel motor to decelerate or stop. This method addresses the problem of existing shuttle vehicles lacking collision avoidance recognition and being prone to collisions, thereby improving the shuttle vehicle's intelligence and safety.

[0064] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Any ordinary technician in this industry can smoothly implement the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above. However, any equivalent changes, modifications and evolutions made by technicians familiar with this profession without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention using the technical content disclosed above are all equivalent embodiments of the present invention. At the same time, any equivalent changes, modifications and evolutions made to the above embodiments based on the essential technology of the present invention are still within the scope of protection of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control system for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished cigarette products, characterized in that: include: Safety scanner, server, travel motor and logistics conveyor PLC; A safety scanner is installed at the front and rear ends of the shuttle vehicle, the safety scanner is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal, the logistics conveying PLC is connected to the server signal, and the server is connected to the travel motor signal; The safety scanner scans the scanning area in the shuttle's forward direction for obstacles, and when an obstacle is scanned, sends a deceleration signal or a stop signal to the logistics conveying PLC, so that the logistics conveying PLC controls the traveling motor through the servo to perform corresponding deceleration or stop.

2. The active anti-collision control system for the straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The safety scanner includes: a laser sensor and a scanning controller; The scanning controller is connected to the laser sensor signal, and the scanning controller controls the laser sensor to perform sector scanning on the scanning area.

3. The control system for active collision avoidance of the straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The scanning controller sets a far-end trigger line and a near-end trigger line for the scanning area, and divides the scanning area into a deceleration area and a stop area; The scanning controller determines whether the obstacle is in a deceleration zone or a stop zone according to the obstacle distance detected by the laser sensor.

4. The active anti-collision control system for the straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The scanning controller sets the area between the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line as the deceleration area, and sets the area within the proximal trigger line as the stop area; The scanning controller sends a deceleration signal when detecting that an obstacle is in the deceleration zone, and sends a stop signal when detecting that an obstacle is in the stop zone.

5. The control system for active collision avoidance of the straight shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 4 is characterized in that: Also includes: encoder; The encoder is arranged at the rotating shaft of the traveling motor to collect the rotation speed of the traveling motor in real time; The encoder is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal, and the logistics conveying PLC adjusts the speed of the shuttle vehicle according to the running motor speed collected by the encoder.

6. The control system for active collision avoidance of the straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 5 is characterized in that: Also includes: barcode scanner; The barcode scanner is set on the shuttle car and is connected to the logistics transportation PLC signal. The barcode scanner scans the position barcode set on the inner side of the driving guide rail to transmit the shuttle car position information to the logistics transportation PLC in real time.

7. The active anti-collision control system for the straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 6 is characterized in that: Also includes: Conveyor motor, inverter and chain conveyor; The shuttle car is provided with a chain conveyor, which is used to transport cigarette trays in and out of the loading platform; The conveying motor is connected to the chain conveyor by transmission, the conveying motor is connected to the frequency converter signal, and the frequency converter is connected to the logistics conveying PLC signal; The logistics conveying PLC is connected to the warehouse management system signal, and controls the running motor and the conveying motor to run or stop according to the in-and-out scheduling instructions.

8. A control method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products, using the control system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: include: Set the far-end trigger line and near-end trigger line of the security scanner's scanning area; Dividing a scanning area of the safety scanner into a deceleration zone and a stop zone according to the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line; Determine whether the obstacle is in the deceleration zone or the stop zone based on the obstacle distance detected by the safety scanner; If the obstacle is in the deceleration zone, the shuttle is controlled to decelerate; if the obstacle is in the stop zone, the shuttle is controlled to stop.

9. The control method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 8 is characterized in that: The step of dividing the scanning area of the safety scanner into a deceleration zone and a stop zone according to the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line includes: The area between the distal trigger line and the proximal trigger line is set as the deceleration zone; The area within the proximal trigger line is set as the stop zone.

10. The control method for active collision avoidance of a straight-moving shuttle vehicle for finished tobacco products according to claim 9, characterized in that: Also includes: The scanning area of the safety scanner is set to a fan-shaped structure, the distance between the far-end trigger line and the safety scanner is 200 cm, and the distance between the near-end trigger line and the safety scanner is 100 cm.

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