Transport facility

Abstract

To realize a technology that makes it easy to grasp an actual communication state between a transport vehicle and a wireless transmission / reception unit.SOLUTION: A monitoring system 40 includes a travel data acquisition unit 43, a connection data acquisition unit 44, a display device 41, and a control unit 42. The travel data acquisition unit 43 acquires travel data 53 in which position information indicating a position of a transport vehicle and time information are associated with each other. The connection data acquisition unit 44 acquires connection data 54 in which connection destination information indicating a relationship between a vehicle-side communication unit and a wireless transmission / reception unit of a connection destination to which the vehicle-side communication unit is connected is associated with time information. Based on the travel data 53 and the connection data 54, the control unit 42 executes a display process for causing the display device 41 to display connection relation information indicating a relation between the position of the transport vehicle and the wireless transmission / reception unit of the connection destination to which the transport vehicle is connected at the position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transport facility including a transport vehicle that transports an article, a transport control device that controls the transport vehicle, and a communication system that performs communication between the transport vehicle and the transport control device. [Background technology]

[0002] An example of such a transport facility is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-166671 (Patent Document 1). In the following description of the background art, the reference numerals in Patent Document 1 are cited in parentheses. The transport facility disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a traveling vehicle (12) that transports articles, a system server (18) that controls the traveling vehicle (12), and a communication system that communicates between the traveling vehicle (12) and the system server (18). The communication system includes a plurality of access points (8) that wirelessly communicate with the traveling vehicle (12), and the plurality of access points (8) and the system server (18) are communicatively connected via a ground LAN (14). The plurality of access points (8) are distributed and arranged, and the traveling vehicle (12) travels while switching between the access points (8) to which it is connected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-166671 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, wireless communication is generally more susceptible to the influence of the surrounding environment, such as obstacles and radio interference, than wired communication. Therefore, in order to improve the wireless communication environment constructed using a plurality of wireless transceivers (access points in Patent Document 1), it is desirable to be able to grasp the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver. By grasping the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver, it is possible to maintain or improve a good wireless communication environment by, for example, restarting, changing the installation position, replacing, or adding the wireless transceiver. Note that the presence or absence and the degree of the influence of the surrounding environment on wireless communication may change depending on the layout or equipment configuration of the transport facility. Therefore, grasping the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver may be necessary not only when the transport facility is installed but also after that. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to easily grasp the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver.

[0005] Therefore, it is desirable to realize a technology that makes it possible to easily grasp the actual communication situation between a guided vehicle and a wireless transceiver unit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The transportation facility according to the present disclosure includes a transportation vehicle for transporting an object, a transportation control device for controlling the transportation vehicle by communicating with the transportation vehicle, a communication system for communicating between the transportation vehicle and the transportation control device, and a monitoring system for monitoring a state of the communication system, the communication system includes a plurality of wireless transceivers for wirelessly communicating with a vehicle-side communication unit included in the transportation vehicle, and is configured to connect the plurality of wireless transceivers to the transportation control device so as to be able to communicate with each other, the monitoring system includes a traveling data acquisition unit, a connection data acquisition unit, a display device for displaying information, and a control unit, and the traveling data acquisition unit is configured to acquire the traveling data, and the connection ... The row data acquisition unit acquires driving data, which is data in which position information indicating the position of the transport vehicle and time information indicating the time are associated, and the connection data acquisition unit acquires connection data, which is data in which connection destination information indicating the relationship between the vehicle-side communication unit and the wireless transceiver unit to which the vehicle-side communication unit is connected among the multiple wireless transceivers, and the time information are associated, and the control unit executes a display process to display, on the display device, connection relationship information indicating the relationship between the position of the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that position, based on the driving data and the connection data.

[0007] According to this configuration, the location information included in the travel data and the connection destination information included in the connection data can be associated based on time information, so that the control unit can generate connection relationship information based on the travel data and the connection data. The connection relationship information displayed on the display device by the display process of the control unit shows the relationship between the location of the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that location. Therefore, a person who sees the display device can easily understand which wireless transceiver unit the transport vehicle is connected to at which location, as the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit. In this way, according to this configuration, a technology can be realized that makes it possible to easily understand the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit.

[0008] Further features and advantages of the transport installation will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments, which are given with reference to the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a travel route of a transport vehicle; [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 shows an example of a transport vehicle. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a transport facility according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display device by display processing; [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of an image displayed on the display device by the display process. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display device by a graph display process; [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display device by the defective transmission / reception unit display process; [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display device by the radio wave intensity transition display process; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of the transport facility will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the transport facility 1 includes a transport vehicle 10, a transport control device 20, a communication system 30, and a monitoring system 40. As shown in Fig. 2, the transport vehicle 10 transports an object 2. The object 2 is, for example, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) that accommodates semiconductor wafers. In this embodiment, the transport facility 1 includes a plurality of transport vehicles 10.

[0011] A transport vehicle 10 (here, an unmanned transport vehicle) travels along a travel route 3 to transport an object 2. A control unit (not shown) provided in the transport vehicle 10 controls the operation of the transport vehicle 10 (travel operation, delivery operation of the object 2, etc.) in response to a command from a transport control device 20. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the travel route 3 is formed to pass through a processing device 5 that processes the object 2 (or the contents contained in the object 2). For example, the object 2 to be processed in the processing device 5 is carried into the processing device 5 by the transport vehicle 10, and the object 2 that has been processed in the processing device 5 is carried out of the processing device 5 by the transport vehicle 10.

[0012] The transport vehicle 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 is configured as follows. The transport vehicle 10 includes a running section 12 that runs along a travel path 3, and a main body section 14 that is connected to the running section 12. The travel path 3 is formed by rails 4 (here, a pair of rails 4 arranged at a horizontal interval). The transported object 2 is transported by the transport vehicle 10 while being accommodated in the main body section 14. The running section 12 includes running wheels 13 that roll on the running surface (here, the upper surface) of the rail 4, and the running wheels 13 are rotationally driven by a travel drive section (e.g., an electric motor such as a servo motor) not shown in the figure, whereby the running section 12 runs along the rail 4.

[0013] In the example shown in FIG. 2, the transport vehicle 10 is a ceiling transport vehicle that travels along rails 4 suspended and supported from the ceiling, but the type of the transport vehicle 10 is not limited to this. For example, the transport vehicle 10 may be a rail-guided transport vehicle that travels along rails provided on the floor surface. The transport vehicle 10 may also be a non-railed transport vehicle such as an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) or an AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot). When the transport vehicle 10 is a non-railed transport vehicle, the transport vehicle 10 travels along a virtually formed travel path 3, not a physically formed travel path 3 using rails or the like. For example, a plurality of detectable objects such as two-dimensional codes and RF (Radio Frequency) tags are installed on the floor surface, and the travel path 3 is virtually formed so as to connect the plurality of detectable objects. It is also possible to configure the transport vehicle 10 such that the detectable objects are not installed on the floor surface, and the travel path 3 is virtually formed by a route calculated based on the recognition result of the surrounding environment.

[0014] The transport control device 20 communicates with the transport vehicle 10 to control the transport vehicle 10. The transport control device 20 includes, for example, an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and peripheral circuits such as a memory. Each function of the transport control device 20 is realized, for example, by cooperation between hardware such as an arithmetic processing device and a program executed on the hardware. As shown in FIG. 3, the transport control device 20 includes a storage device 21. The storage device 21 includes a storage medium capable of storing and rewriting information. Examples of the storage device 21 and the log storage device 32 described later include a flash memory and a hard disk drive.

[0015] The transport control device 20 may be realized by a plurality of devices capable of communicating with each other, rather than a single device. For example, when the area in which the transport vehicle 10 travels is divided into a plurality of partitioned areas and managed, the transport control device 20 may include a plurality of partitioned control devices that manage different partitioned areas. In addition, the storage device 21 included in the transport control device 20 and the device other than the storage device 21 in the transport control device 20 may be separate devices. In this case, the storage device 21 is provided in, for example, a server or a cloud server that can communicate with the device other than the storage device 21 in the transport control device 20.

[0016] The communication system 30 performs communication between the transport vehicle 10 and the transport control device 20. The communication system 30 includes, for example, all components for communication between the transport vehicle 10 and the transport control device 20 (excluding the vehicle-side communication unit 11 described below). It is preferable that the transport vehicle 10, the transport control device 20, and the communication system 30 (specifically, the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 described below) have common time information by synchronizing their times.

[0017] 3, the communication system 30 includes a plurality of wireless transceivers 31 that communicate wirelessly with the vehicle-side communication unit 11 included in the transport vehicle 10, and is configured to communicatively connect the plurality of wireless transceivers 31 to the transport control device 20. That is, the communication system 30 includes the plurality of wireless transceivers 31 and a device that establishes a communication network N between the plurality of wireless transceivers 31 and the transport control device 20. The communication network N may be wired, wireless, or a combination of these. When the communication network N is established using a wired LAN (Local Area Network), the communication system 30 includes, for example, a LAN cable and a hub as a device that establishes the communication network N.

[0018] The wireless transmission / reception unit 31 relays communication between the transport vehicle 10 and the transport control device 20. The wireless transmission / reception unit 31 is a device known as an access point. The wireless transmission / reception unit 31 includes a log storage device 32 that stores a log (communication log) related to communication with the vehicle-side communication unit 11. The wireless transmission / reception unit 31 communicates with the vehicle-side communication unit 11 via radio waves. In this specification, electromagnetic waves used for wireless communication are referred to as "radio waves", and "radio waves" are not limited to electromagnetic waves of a specific frequency band. In this embodiment, as an example, the "radio waves" are electromagnetic waves of a frequency used in wireless LAN.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless transmission / reception units 31 are arranged in a distributed manner in an area where the transport vehicle 10 travels. The wireless transmission / reception units 31 are arranged so that their communication areas A partially overlap. The communication area A is an area where the radio wave intensity of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 is equal to or higher than a specified value, and in FIG. 1, the communication area A of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 is represented by a circle centered on the wireless transmission / reception unit 31. The radius of the circle representing the communication area A of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 is shorter than the maximum distance over which communication is possible between the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 and the vehicle-side communication unit 11. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6(a) to be referred to later, even outside the communication area A of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31, there may be a transport vehicle 10 connected to the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 (connected transport vehicle 10a in the figure).

[0020] The vehicle-side communication unit 11 includes a communication module capable of wireless communication with the wireless transmission / reception unit 31. This communication module is a module that performs wireless communication according to the communication standard (e.g., wireless LAN) of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31. The vehicle-side communication unit 11 functions as a wireless station that performs wireless communication with the wireless transmission / reception unit 31. The vehicle-side communication unit 11 establishes a communication link with a selected wireless transmission / reception unit 31 (e.g., a wireless transmission / reception unit 31 with the strongest radio wave intensity) to be communicatively connected to the selected wireless transmission / reception unit 31. As shown in FIG. 5 to be referred to later, as the transportation vehicle 10 travels, the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 with which the vehicle-side communication unit 11 provided in the transportation vehicle 10 establishes a communication link is switched (roamed). For example, when the reception intensity of the radio wave from the connected wireless transmission / reception unit 31 becomes equal to or lower than a specified value, roaming is performed. In this manner, the transportation vehicle 10 travels while switching the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 to which it is connected.

[0021] The transport control device 20 knows the current position of the transport vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the transport vehicle 10 is configured to recognize its own current position, and the transport control device 20 acquires information on the current position of the transport vehicle 10 from the transport vehicle 10. The transport control device 20 acquires information on the current position of the transport vehicle 10 from each transport vehicle 10, thereby acquiring the current position of each of the multiple transport vehicles 10.

[0022] The transport vehicle 10 recognizes its current position, for example, as described below. Information holders such as two-dimensional codes and RF tags are installed at multiple locations on the travel route 3. The information holders hold position information, which is information on the location where the information holders are installed. The transport vehicle 10 includes a reading device that reads the position information held by the information holders and a travel distance detection device (e.g., a rotary encoder) that detects the travel distance of the transport vehicle 10, and recognizes its current position based on the position information read by the reading device and the travel distance since the reading device read the position information. The transport vehicle 10 may also be configured to recognize its current position based on the output of a positioning device such as a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver.

[0023] The transport control device 20 assigns a task for transporting the transported object 2 to one of the transport vehicles 10. The task is generated, for example, based on a transport schedule for the transported object 2 or in response to the occurrence of a transport request for the transported object 2. The task is generated by the transport control device 20, or by another device (for example, a higher-level control device) that can communicate with the transport control device 20. An execution command for the task is transmitted from the transport control device 20 to the transport vehicle 10 to which the task is assigned.

[0024] The task is, for example, a transport task of transporting the transported object 2 from the transport origin to the transport destination, or a vehicle allocation task of placing the transport vehicle 10 at a designated location (for example, a location scheduled or predicted to be the transport origin of the transported object 2). The transport origin and the transport destination are, for example, a load port of the processing device 5, an in / out port of a storage device (not shown) that stores the transported object 2, a storage shelf (not shown) that temporarily stores the transported object 2, etc. The transport vehicle 10 assigned with the transport task travels to the transport origin designated in the transport task and receives the transported object 2, and then travels to the destination designated in the transport task and delivers the transported object 2. Also, the transport vehicle 10 assigned with the vehicle allocation task travels to a location designated in the vehicle allocation task and waits at the location.

[0025] The monitoring system 40 monitors the state of the communication system 30. The monitoring system 40 is configured by a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. The monitoring system 40 may be configured not by a single piece of hardware, but by a collection of multiple pieces of hardware (multiple separate pieces of hardware) that can communicate with each other via wired or wireless communication.

[0026] The monitoring system 40 is configured to be able to acquire information stored in the storage device 21 and the log storage device 32 (specifically, map data 51, transceiver position data 52, travel data 53, connection data 54, radio wave data 55, and connected transport vehicle data 56, which will be described later). The information acquired by the monitoring system 40 with reference to the storage device 21 and the log storage device 32 is stored, for example, in a storage device (e.g., a flash memory or a hard disk drive) (not shown) provided in the monitoring system 40. The information stored in the storage device is deleted, for example, after a certain period of time has passed. FIG. 4 illustrates an example in which the monitoring system 40 refers to the storage device 21 of the transport control device 20 and the log storage device 32 of the wireless transceiver 31 via the communication network N.

[0027] 4, the monitoring system 40 includes a display device 41 that displays information, and a control unit 42. The display device 41 is, for example, a monitor (display) of a computer that constitutes the monitoring system 40. The control unit 42 includes, for example, an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU, and peripheral circuits such as a memory. Each function of the control unit 42 is realized, for example, by cooperation between hardware such as the arithmetic processing unit and a program executed on the hardware.

[0028] The control unit 42 controls the display device 41. The control unit 42 generates a display image to be displayed on a display screen S (see Figs. 5 to 9) of the display device 41, and controls the display device 41 so that the display image is displayed on the display screen S. Examples of the display device 41 include a liquid crystal display and an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. Figs. 5 to 9 show an example in which the display screen S is provided on the outer surface of the display device 41, but the display screen S may be a screen that is projected onto a screen or the like.

[0029] The control unit 42 acquires operation information indicating the contents of an operation (e.g., a screen operation) performed by an operator or the like on an input device (not shown), and generates a display image according to the contents of the operation information. Examples of the input device include a keyboard and a pointing device (mouse, touch pad, touch panel, etc.). Note that the display device 41 may be a device integrated with an input device, such as a device in which the display screen S functions as a touch panel.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 4, the monitoring system 40 includes a travel data acquisition unit 43 and a connection data acquisition unit 44. In this embodiment, the monitoring system 40 further includes a radio wave data acquisition unit 45 and a connection transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46. These functional units (43 to 46) included in the monitoring system 40 are realized by the control unit 42 (specifically, an arithmetic processing device) executing a program. The functional units included in the monitoring system 40 are at least logically distinct, and do not necessarily need to be physically distinct.

[0031] 3 and 4 show an example in which the monitoring system 40 is provided separately from the transport control device 20, but the transport control device 20 and the monitoring system 40 may be configured by a common computer, or the monitoring system 40 may be constructed using the transport control device 20. For example, a control unit (not shown) included in the transport control device 20 may be used as a control unit 42 of the monitoring system 40, a monitor (not shown) included in the transport control device 20 may be used as a display device 41 of the monitoring system 40, and a storage device 21 included in the transport control device 20 may be used as a storage device (not shown) of the monitoring system 40.

[0032] In this manner, at least a part of the transport control device 20 may be included in the monitoring system 40. In this case, at least one of the functional units (43-46) included in the monitoring system 40 may be realized by the transport control device 20. Similarly, at least a part of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 may be included in the monitoring system 40. In this case, at least one of the functional units (43-46) included in the monitoring system 40 may be realized by the wireless transmission / reception unit 31.

[0033] The travel data acquisition unit 43 is a functional unit that acquires the travel data 53. The travel data 53 is data in which position information indicating the position of the transport vehicle 10 is associated with time information indicating the time. The time information associated with the position information indicating the position of the transport vehicle 10 indicates the time when the transport vehicle 10 was located at the position. That is, the travel data 53 is data (travel log data) in which the history of the position of the transport vehicle 10 is recorded in association with time. The travel data acquisition unit 43 acquires the travel data 53, for example, at regular intervals. In this embodiment, the transport facility 1 is equipped with multiple transport vehicles 10, and the travel data 53 is associated with transport vehicle identification information (identification information of the transport vehicle 10) that identifies the transport vehicle 10. That is, the travel data 53 is data in which the transport vehicle identification information, the position information of the transport vehicle 10, and time information are associated with each other.

[0034] In this embodiment, the transport vehicle 10 transmits its own position information (information on its current position) to the transport control device 20 successively or periodically. When the transport control device 20 acquires position information from the transport vehicle 10, the transport control device 20 stores the position information of the transport vehicle 10 in the storage device 21 in association with time information indicating the time of acquisition (in this embodiment, further associated with the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 10). Then, the travel data acquisition unit 43 acquires the travel data 53 by referring to the storage device 21. In addition to this configuration, the transport vehicle 10 may transmit its own position information to the transport control device 20 as travel data 53 in association with time information indicating the time of recognition of the position information, and the transport control device 20 may store the travel data 53 acquired from the transport vehicle 10 in the storage device 21 (in this embodiment, associated with the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 10). Note that the data transmitted from the transport vehicle 10 to the transport control device 20 may include the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 10.

[0035] The connection data acquisition unit 44 is a functional unit that acquires the connection data 54. The connection data 54 is data in which connection destination information and time information are associated with each other. The connection destination information is information indicating the relationship between the vehicle-side communication unit 11 and the connection destination wireless transmission / reception unit 31 to which the vehicle-side communication unit 11 is connected among the multiple wireless transmission / reception units 31. That is, the connection destination information includes transmission / reception unit identification information (identification information of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31) that identifies the connection destination wireless transmission / reception unit 31 to which the vehicle-side communication unit 11 is connected. The time information associated with the connection destination information indicates the time when the vehicle-side communication unit 11 connected to the connection destination wireless transmission / reception unit 31 included in the connection destination information (in other words, logged in). The time information associated with the connection destination information may further indicate the time when the connection between the vehicle-side communication unit 11 and the connection destination wireless transmission / reception unit 31 was released (in other words, logged out). The connection data acquisition unit 44 acquires the connection data 54, for example, at regular intervals. In this embodiment, the transportation facility 1 includes a plurality of transportation vehicles 10, and the connection data 54 is associated with the transportation vehicle identification information. That is, the connection data 54 is data in which the transportation vehicle identification information, the connection destination information, and the time information are associated with each other.

[0036] In this embodiment, when the transport vehicle 10 connects to the wireless transceiver 31, the wireless transceiver 31 stores time information indicating the time of the connection in the log storage device 32 in association with the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 10 (or in association with the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 10 and the transceiver unit identification information of the wireless transceiver 31). Then, the connection data acquisition unit 44 acquires connection data 54 by referring to the log storage device 32. Note that, when the data stored in the log storage device 32 is not associated with the transceiver unit identification information of the wireless transceiver 31 including the log storage device 32, the connection data acquisition unit 44 acquires the connection data 54 by associating the data acquired from the log storage device 32 with the transceiver unit identification information of the wireless transceiver 31 including the log storage device 32.

[0037] In the case where the transport vehicle 10 can recognize the wireless transceiver 31 to which the vehicle-side communication unit 11 provided in the transport vehicle 10 is connected, the transport vehicle 10 may be configured as follows. When the vehicle-side communication unit 11 provided in the transport vehicle 10 connects to the wireless transceiver 31, the transport vehicle 10 transmits time information indicating the time of the connection to the transport control device 20 in association with the transceiver identification information of the connected wireless transceiver 31. The transport control device 20 stores the connection data 54 acquired from the transport vehicle 10 in the storage device 21 in association with the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 10. Then, the connection data acquisition unit 44 acquires the connection data 54 by referring to the storage device 21.

[0038] The radio wave data acquisition unit 45 is a functional unit that acquires radio wave data 55. The radio wave data 55 is data in which time information is associated with on-connection radio wave strength information indicating the strength (radio wave strength) of communication radio waves during a connection between each of the multiple wireless transmission / reception units 31 and the vehicle-side communication unit 11. The time information associated with the on-connection radio wave strength information indicates the time when the radio wave strength related to the on-connection radio wave strength information was detected. The radio wave strength is represented, for example, by a numerical value of RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator). The radio wave data acquisition unit 45 acquires the radio wave data 55, for example, at regular intervals.

[0039] In this embodiment, the transportation facility 1 includes a plurality of transportation vehicles 10, and the radio wave data 55 is data in which time information is associated with connected radio wave strength information indicating the strength of communication radio waves during connection between each of the plurality of wireless transceivers 31 and each of the vehicle-side communication units 11 of the plurality of transportation vehicles 10. That is, the radio wave data 55 is associated with vehicle identification information for identifying the transportation vehicle 10, in other words, the radio wave data 55 is data in which the vehicle identification information, connected radio wave strength information, and time information are associated with each other. The radio wave data 55 may be associated with the transceiver unit identification information of the wireless transceiver unit 31 to which the vehicle-side communication unit 11 is connected, but even if the radio wave data 55 is not associated with the transceiver unit identification information of the wireless transceiver unit 31, the wireless transceiver unit 31 to which the vehicle-side communication unit 11 was connected when the radio wave strength related to the connected radio wave strength information was detected can be identified from the connection data 54.

[0040] In this embodiment, the radio wave strength indicated in the connected radio wave strength information is the radio wave strength of the vehicle-side communication unit 11 detected by the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 (the reception strength of radio waves from the vehicle-side communication unit 11). The wireless transmission / reception unit 31 detects the radio wave strength of the vehicle-side communication unit 11 connected to the wireless transmission / reception unit 31, for example, periodically, and stores the detected radio wave strength information (i.e., connected radio wave strength information) in the log storage device 32 in association with time information indicating the time of the detection (in this embodiment, further in association with the carrier identification information of the carrier 10 equipped with the vehicle-side communication unit 11). Then, the radio wave data acquisition unit 45 acquires the radio wave data 55 by referring to the log storage device 32.

[0041] The connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46 is a functional unit that acquires connected transport vehicle data 56. The connected transport vehicle data 56 is data in which transport vehicle identification information that identifies the transport vehicles 10 connected to each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 is associated with time information. The time information associated with the transport vehicle identification information indicates the time when the transport vehicles 10 connected to each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 were identified. The connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46 acquires the connected transport vehicle data 56, for example, at regular intervals.

[0042] In this embodiment, the connection transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46 acquires the connection transport vehicle data 56 by referring to the log storage device 32. The connection transport vehicle data 56 can be generated from the connection data 54 for each of the multiple transport vehicles 10. Therefore, the connection transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46 can be configured to acquire the connection data 54 from the log storage device 32 of each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 to generate the connection transport vehicle data 56. Also, the connection data 54 and the connection transport vehicle data 56 can be stored in the log storage device 32 as integrated data.

[0043] In this embodiment, the monitoring system 40 (specifically, the control unit 42) can refer to map data 51 indicating a map M of the travel route 3 of the transport vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the map data 51 includes information on the arrangement of each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 in addition to information on the map M of the travel route 3. Therefore, in this embodiment, the map data 51 includes transceiver position data 52 indicating the position of each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31, and the monitoring system 40 (specifically, the control unit 42) can refer to the transceiver position data 52. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a form in which the map data 51 and the transceiver position data 52 are stored in the storage device 21 is illustrated, but the map data 51 and the transceiver position data 52 may be stored in another storage device that can be referred to by the monitoring system 40.

[0044] Next, the configuration of the control unit 42 included in the monitoring system 40 will be described. The control unit 42 executes a display process for displaying the connection relationship information on the display device 41 based on the travel data 53 and the connection data 54. The connection relationship information is information indicating the relationship between the position of the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 to which the transport vehicle 10 is connected at the position. Here, "connected at the position" means a state of being "connected" at the position, and includes both a case where a communication link is established at the position (in other words, logged in) and a case where a communication link is established before arriving at the position. The control unit 42 can obtain information on the position at which the transport vehicle 10 was located at each time point from the travel data 53, and obtain information on which wireless transmission / reception unit 31 the vehicle-side communication unit 11 was connected to at each time point from the connection data 54. Thus, the control unit 42 can link the travel data 53 and the connection data 54 by time to generate connection relationship information, which is information on which wireless transmission / reception unit 31 the transport vehicle 10 was connected to at which position.

[0045] 5 and 6 each show a state in which the connection relationship information is displayed on the display screen S by the display process. In the example shown in FIG. 5, one or more specific transport vehicles 10 (here, one specific transport vehicle 10) are targeted for the display process, and the connection relationship information indicating the wireless transceiver unit 31 to which the specific transport vehicle 10 is connected is displayed on the display screen S. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 6, one or more specific wireless transceiver units 31 (here, one specific wireless transceiver unit 31) are targeted for the display process, and the connection relationship information indicating the transport vehicle 10 connected to the specific wireless transceiver unit 31 is displayed on the display screen S. Although not displayed on the display screen S in the examples shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, information on the time when the transport vehicle 10 was located at the position indicated in the connection relationship information may be displayed on the display screen S.

[0046] 5, in the present embodiment, in the display process, the control unit 42 causes the display device 41 to display a map M based on the map data 51, and also causes a transport vehicle mark M1 indicating the position of the transport vehicle 10 and a destination transceiver mark M2 indicating the destination wireless transceiver 31 to which the transport vehicle 10 is connected at the position, as connection relationship information, to be displayed on the map M. In FIG. 5, it is assumed that the layout of the travel route 3 formed by the rails 4 (see FIG. 2) is displayed as the map M, but the map M may be configured to display only the travel route 3 that the transport vehicle 10 has actually traveled.

[0047] The shapes and modes of the transport vehicle mark M1 and the destination transceiver unit mark M2 can be changed as appropriate, but in the example shown in Fig. 5, the transport vehicle mark M1 is a triangular mark, and the destination transceiver unit mark M2 is a circular mark. In this example, a circle indicating the communication area A of the destination wireless transceiver unit 31 is also displayed on the map M. In addition, in this example, a destination transceiver unit display D1 indicating the destination wireless transceiver unit 31 is displayed on the display screen S. Here, the destination transceiver unit display D1 is a display combining characters indicating that it is the wireless transceiver unit 31 (here, "AP") and numbers indicating the identification information of the destination wireless transceiver unit 31 (here, "0001", etc.).

[0048] As described above, in the example shown in Fig. 5, a specific transport vehicle 10 is targeted for display processing, and connection relationship information indicating the wireless transceiver unit 31 to which the specific transport vehicle 10 is connected is displayed on the display screen S. In Fig. 5, the position of the specific transport vehicle 10 (here, one transport vehicle 10) is indicated by a transport vehicle mark M1, and the wireless transceiver unit 31 to which the specific transport vehicle 10 is connected at that position is indicated by a destination transceiver unit mark M2. In this example, the periphery of the position of the specific transport vehicle 10 on the map M is displayed in an enlarged manner.

[0049] In Fig. 5, images displayed on the display screen S are shown in chronological order in Fig. 5(a), Fig. 5(b), and Fig. 5(c), and at the positions shown in each figure, the specific transport vehicle 10 is connected to a different wireless transceiver 31. For example, the control unit 42 may be configured to move the position of the transport vehicle mark M1 when it receives a movement operation on an input device (not shown). In this case, the destination transceiver mark M2 is displayed to indicate the destination wireless transceiver 31 to which the transport vehicle 10 is connected at the destination position of the transport vehicle mark M1.

[0050] In the example shown in FIG. 5, only a specific transport vehicle 10 (specifically, a transport vehicle mark M1 indicating the specific transport vehicle 10) and a wireless transceiver unit 31 connected to the specific transport vehicle 10 (specifically, a connection destination transceiver unit mark M2 indicating the wireless transceiver unit 31) are displayed on the display screen S to represent the connection relationship information (the correspondence relationship between the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 connected to the specific transport vehicle 10). In this example, in order to more clearly represent the connection relationship information, the correspondence relationship between the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 connected to the specific transport vehicle 10 is represented by a figure connecting the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 (here, an arrow pointing from the wireless transceiver unit 31 to the transport vehicle 10). This is not limiting, and for example, the correspondence relationship between the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 connected to the specific transport vehicle 10 can also be represented by showing the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 in a figure of the same color.

[0051] In order to visually and easily display how the destination wireless transceiver 31 has changed with the movement of the carrier 10, it is preferable that the control unit 42 executes a replay display process in the display process. Here, the replay display process is a process of moving the carrier mark M1 on the map M and changing the destination wireless transceiver 31 mark M2 according to the destination wireless transceiver 31 that changes with the movement of the carrier mark M1. In the replay display process, the carrier mark M1 is moved on the map M along the travel route 3 traveled by the carrier 10 indicated by the carrier mark M1. The control unit 42 executes the replay display process when it receives a replay display operation on an input device (not shown), such as a click operation on a button image representing "replay display". The control unit 42 may also execute the replay display process without being required to receive a replay display operation (for example, automatically).

[0052] For example, when the control unit 42 starts the playback display process while the image shown in Fig. 5(a) is displayed on the display screen S, the image shown in Fig. 5(b) and the image shown in Fig. 5(c) are displayed in order on the display screen S. In the example shown in Fig. 5, only the wireless transceiver unit 31 to which the transport vehicle 10 is connected is indicated by the destination transceiver unit mark M2, so that the destination transceiver unit mark M2 (specifically, the position of the destination transceiver unit mark M2, i.e., the wireless transceiver unit 31 indicated by the destination transceiver unit mark M2) is changed according to the destination wireless transceiver unit 31 which changes as the transport vehicle mark M1 moves.

[0053] In the reproduction and display process, the speed at which the transport vehicle mark M1 moves on the map M can be set to a speed corresponding to the travel speed at each position of the transport vehicle 10 based on the travel data 53. In this case, for example, the travel data 53 includes data in which speed information indicating the travel speed of the transport vehicle 10 is associated with time information, and the control unit 42 acquires the travel speed at each position of the transport vehicle 10 based on the travel data 53. It is also possible to configure the travel data 53 not to include speed information of the transport vehicle 10, and the control unit 42 to acquire the travel speed of the transport vehicle 10 by calculation based on the position information and time information of the transport vehicle 10 included in the travel data 53. Note that the speed at which the transport vehicle mark M1 moves on the map M in the reproduction and display process may be set to a constant speed that is unrelated to the travel speed of the transport vehicle 10.

[0054] In the example shown in FIG. 5, a distance display D2 is displayed on the display screen S. When the control unit 42 is configured to display the connection distance information on the display device 41 in addition to the connection relationship information in the display process, the distance display D2 indicating the connection distance information is displayed on the display screen S. Here, the connection distance information is information indicating the distance between the position of the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 of the connection destination to which the transport vehicle 10 is connected at that position (hereinafter referred to as "connection distance"). The control unit 42 causes the display device 41 to display the connection distance information based on the travel data 53 and the transceiver unit position data 52 (and further based on the connection data 54 as necessary). In this example, the distance display D2 is displayed by combining a character indicating the connection distance (here, "D") and a number indicating the magnitude of the connection distance (here, "10000", etc.). The distance display D2 may be a schematic figure or the like indicating the magnitude of the connection distance.

[0055] In the example shown in FIG. 5, a radio wave intensity display D3 is displayed on the display screen S. When the control unit 42 is configured to display radio wave intensity information on the display device 41 in addition to the connection relationship information in the display process, the radio wave intensity display D3 indicating the radio wave intensity information is displayed on the display screen S. Here, the radio wave intensity information is information indicating the relationship between the position of the carrier 10 and the intensity of the communication radio wave between the carrier 10 at the position and the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 of the connection destination (in this embodiment, the radio wave intensity of the vehicle-side communication unit 11 detected by the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 of the connection destination), and the control unit 42 displays the radio wave intensity information on the display device 41 based on the traveling data 53 and the radio wave data 55 (and further based on the connection data 54 as necessary). In this example, the radio wave intensity information is displayed by the carrier mark M1 indicating the position of the carrier 10 and the radio wave intensity display D3 indicating the intensity of the communication radio wave between the carrier 10 at the position and the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 of the connection destination.

[0056] The control unit 42 can obtain information on the position of the carrier 10 at each time point from the travel data 53, and can obtain information on the strength of the communication radio wave between the vehicle-side communication unit 11 and the wireless transceiver unit 31 connected to the vehicle-side communication unit 11 at each time point from the radio wave data 55. Thus, the control unit 42 can link the travel data 53 and the radio wave data 55 by time to generate radio wave strength information, which is information on the position of the carrier 10 and the strength of the radio wave. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the radio wave strength display D3 is a display combining characters indicating the radio wave strength (here, "RS") and a number indicating the magnitude of the radio wave strength (here, "50", etc.). The radio wave strength display D3 may be a schematic figure or the like indicating the magnitude of the radio wave strength.

[0057] Next, an example shown in FIG. 6 will be described. As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 6, a specific wireless transceiver 31 is set as a display processing target, and connection relationship information indicating the transport vehicle 10 connected to the specific wireless transceiver 31 is displayed on the display screen S. In FIG. 6, the position of the specific wireless transceiver 31 (here, one wireless transceiver 31) is indicated by a mark (here, a circular mark similar to the destination transceiver mark M2 shown in FIG. 5), and the position of the transport vehicle 10 is indicated by a mark (here, a triangular mark similar to the transport vehicle 10 shown in FIG. 5). Although not displayed on the display screen S in the example shown in FIG. 6, a display indicating the specific wireless transceiver 31 (for example, a display similar to the destination transceiver display D1 shown in FIG. 5) may be displayed on the display screen S. In the following, the description of the example shown in FIG. 6 will be omitted for matters common to the example shown in FIG. 5, and the description will be focused on the points different from the example shown in FIG. 5.

[0058] In the example shown in FIG. 6, all the transport vehicles 10 existing within the range of the map M displayed on the display screen S (here, the range enlarged around one specific wireless transceiver 31) are displayed. In this example, the transport vehicle 10 connected to the specific wireless transceiver 31 (hereinafter referred to as the "connected transport vehicle 10a") is displayed in a different manner from the other transport vehicles 10 to represent the connection relationship information (the correspondence between the transport vehicle 10 and the wireless transceiver 31 to which the transport vehicle 10 is connected). In this example, the connected transport vehicle 10a is displayed with a black triangular mark, and the other transport vehicles 10 are displayed with a white triangular mark, so that the connected transport vehicle 10a is displayed in an emphasized manner. As described above, the type of the figure may be changed, and the dimensions of the figure may be changed, the colors (tone, brightness, etc.) of the figure may be changed, the thickness or type of the line segments constituting the figure may be changed, or a combination of these may be used to display the connected transport vehicle 10a in a different manner from the other transport vehicles 10 (for example, in a manner more emphasized than the other transport vehicles 10).

[0059] In Fig. 6, images displayed on the display screen S are shown in chronological order in Fig. 6(a), Fig. 6(b), and Fig. 6(c). In the example shown in Fig. 6, a connected vehicle number display D4 indicating the number (logged-in number) of transport vehicles 10 (connected transport vehicles 10a) connected to a specific wireless transceiver 31 at each time point is displayed on the display screen S. In this example, the connected vehicle number display D4 is a display combining a character indicating the number of transport vehicles 10 (here, "NOV", which is the acronym for Number of Vehicles) and a number indicating the number of transport vehicles 10 (here, "5", etc.). The connected vehicle number display D4 may be a schematic figure or the like indicating the number of transport vehicles 10.

[0060] In order to visually and easily display how the number of logged-in vehicles has changed over time, it is preferable that the control unit 42 executes a replay display process in the display process. The replay display process here is a process of moving a mark representing the transport vehicle 10 on the map M and changing the mark representing the transport vehicle 10 according to the change in the connection state with the specific wireless transmission / reception unit 31 that changes accordingly. For example, when the control unit 42 starts the replay display process in a state in which the image shown in FIG. 6(a) is displayed on the display screen S, the image shown in FIG. 6(b) and the image shown in FIG. 6(c) are displayed on the display screen S in order. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the connected transport vehicle 10a and the transport vehicle 10 that is not the connected transport vehicle 10a are displayed with marks in different forms, so that the mark representing the transport vehicle 10 is changed according to the change in the connection state with the specific wireless transmission / reception unit 31.

[0061] As described above, the control unit 42 executes a display process that causes at least the connection relationship information to be displayed on the display device 41. Although not limited to such a configuration, it is preferable that the control unit 42 is configured to execute at least one of a first graph display process, a second graph display process, a defective transmitting / receiving unit display process, and a radio wave intensity transition display process, which will be described below, in addition to the display process.

[0062] The first graph display process is a process of displaying on the display device 41 a graph (hereinafter referred to as "first graph G1") showing the number of guided vehicles 10 connected to each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 during a set period. The control unit 42 executes the first graph display process based on the connected vehicle data 56. The control unit 42 acquires information on which guided vehicles 10 were connected to which wireless transceiver 31 at each time point from the connected vehicle data 56, and generates the first graph G1 (see FIG. 7). The number of guided vehicles 10 (logged-in number) shown in the first graph G1 is, for example, the number of guided vehicles 10 connected to each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 at the time when the number of guided vehicles 10 becomes maximum during the set period (i.e., the maximum number of guided vehicles 10 connected simultaneously). Without being limited thereto, the number of guided vehicles 10 (logged-in number) shown in the first graph G1 may be the cumulative value of the number of guided vehicles 10 connected to each of the multiple wireless transceivers 31 during a set period, or the like.

[0063] The second graph display process is a process of displaying on the display device 41 a graph (hereinafter referred to as "second graph G2") showing radio wave strength related to the connected radio wave strength information during a set period for each of the multiple wireless transmission / reception units 31. The control unit 42 executes the second graph display process based on the radio wave data 55. As described above, the connected radio wave strength information is information showing the strength (radio wave strength) of communication radio waves during a connection between each of the multiple wireless transmission / reception units 31 and each of the vehicle-side communication units 11 of the multiple carriers 10. The control unit 42 acquires information on the radio wave strength at each point in time for each of the multiple wireless transmission / reception units 31 from the connected radio wave strength information included in the radio wave data 55, and generates the second graph G2 (see FIG. 7). The radio wave strength shown in the second graph G2 is, for example, an average value (time average value, the same applies below) of the radio wave strength during a set period for each of the multiple wireless transmission / reception units 31. This average value is, for example, a value obtained by averaging the radio wave strength without distinguishing between the multiple carriers 10.

[0064] The display process for displaying the connection relationship information and the first graph display process may be executed by switching between them or simultaneously. When the display process for displaying the connection relationship information and the first graph display process are executed simultaneously, an image showing the connection relationship information and the first graph G1 are displayed simultaneously (for example, in different areas on the display screen S). Furthermore, the display process for displaying the connection relationship information and the second graph display process may be executed by switching between them or simultaneously. When the display process for displaying the connection relationship information and the second graph display process are executed simultaneously, an image showing the connection relationship information and the second graph G2 are displayed simultaneously (for example, in different areas on the display screen S).

[0065] The first graph display process and the second graph display process may be switched or simultaneously executed. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the first graph display process and the second graph display process are simultaneously executed, and the first graph G1 and the second graph G2 are displayed in different areas on the display screen S. In this example, in both the first graph G1 and the second graph G2, a graph in which a plurality of wireless transceivers 31 are arranged on the horizontal axis is shown, and numbers such as "0001" indicate the identification numbers of the wireless transceivers 31. In the first graph G1, the number of logged-in vehicles within a set period for each wireless transceiver 31 is shown in a bar graph, and the average value of the number of logged-in vehicles is shown in a line graph. In addition, in the second graph G2, a line graph showing the average value of the radio wave intensity within a set period for each wireless transceiver 31 and a line graph showing the average value of the average values ​​are superimposed.

[0066] The defective transmitting / receiving unit display process is a process for displaying the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a on the display device 41. The control unit 42 executes the defective transmitting / receiving unit display process by designating as the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a a wireless transmitting / receiving unit 31 for which at least one of the number of transport vehicles 10 connected within a set period and the radio wave strength related to the connected radio wave strength information within the set period is less than a predetermined determination threshold. A wireless transmitting / receiving unit 31 that is unable to continuously obtain data from the log storage device 32 (in other words, a set number of times or more) may be designated as the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a.

[0067] For example, the defective transmitting / receiving unit display process may be configured to display the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a on the first graph G1 or the second graph G2 described above (for example, to display it in a more emphasized manner than the other wireless transmitting / receiving units 31). Also, the defective transmitting / receiving unit display process may be configured to display an image as shown in Fig. 8 on the display screen S.

[0068] In the example shown in FIG. 8, a defective transmitting / receiving unit map showing the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a on a map M is displayed in the left area of ​​the display screen S, and a defective transmitting / receiving unit list showing a list of the defective transmitting / receiving units 31a is displayed in the right area of ​​the display screen S. In the defective transmitting / receiving unit map, the defective transmitting / receiving units 31a (here, two defective transmitting / receiving units 31a) and the wireless transmitting / receiving units 31 that are not the defective transmitting / receiving units 31a are displayed on the map M in different ways. Here, the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a is displayed with a black, large-diameter circular mark, and the other wireless transmitting / receiving units 31 are displayed with a white, small-diameter circular mark, so that the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a is emphasized. In addition, in the defective transmitting / receiving unit list, the identification information of each of the multiple wireless transmitting / receiving units 31 (here, written as "AP") is displayed side by side, and the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a and the wireless transmitting / receiving units 31 that are not the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a are displayed in different ways. Here, the identification information of the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a is surrounded by a frame, so that the defective transmitting / receiving unit 31a is emphasized.

[0069] The signal strength transition display process is a process for displaying a graph (hereinafter referred to as “third graph G3”) showing a transition of signal strength related to connected signal strength information for one or more specific wireless transceiver units 31 (here, one specific wireless transceiver unit 31) on the display device 41. The control unit 42 executes the signal strength transition display process based on the radio wave data 55.

[0070] In the example shown in FIG. 9, the third graph G3 is shown with time on the horizontal axis for the wireless transceiver 31 with the identification number "0001". Here, a line graph showing the transition of the average value of the radio wave strength during a set period (for example, the radio wave strength displayed in the second graph G2 described above), a line graph showing the transition of the maximum value of the radio wave strength during a set period, and a line graph showing the transition of the minimum value of the radio wave strength during a set period are shown superimposed. The control unit 42 is configured to update the display of the third graph G3 at regular intervals. FIG. 9 shows how the third graph G3 is updated as shown in FIG. 9(b) based on the newly acquired radio wave data 55 after a certain time has elapsed from the point shown in FIG. 9(a). Specifically, the graphs of the areas surrounded by the two-dot chain lines in FIG. 9(a) and FIG. 9(b) are generated based on the newly acquired radio wave data 55.

[0071] Other embodiments (1) In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the control unit 42, in the display process, causes the display device 41 to display a map M based on the map data 51, and also causes a vehicle mark M1 indicating the position of the vehicle 10 and a destination transceiver mark M2 indicating the destination wireless transceiver 31 to which the vehicle 10 is connected at that position to be displayed on the map M as connection relationship information. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and for example, the control unit 42 may also cause the display device 41 to display, as connection relationship information, a table indicating the relationship between the position of the vehicle 10 and the destination wireless transceiver 31 to which the vehicle 10 is connected at that position.

[0072] (2) In the above embodiment, the radio wave strength indicated in the connected radio wave strength information is the radio wave strength of the vehicle-side communication unit 11 detected by the wireless transmission / reception unit 31. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and the radio wave strength indicated in the connected radio wave strength information may be the radio wave strength of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 detected by the vehicle-side communication unit 11 (the reception strength of the radio wave from the wireless transmission / reception unit 31). In this case, for example, the following configuration may be used. The transportation vehicle 10 detects the radio wave strength of the wireless transmission / reception unit 31 of the connection destination, for example, periodically, and transmits information on the detected radio wave strength (i.e., connected radio wave strength information) to the transportation control device 20 in association with time information indicating the time of the detection. The transportation control device 20 stores the radio wave data 55 acquired from the transportation vehicle 10 in the storage device 21 in association with the transportation vehicle identification information of the transportation vehicle 10. Then, the radio wave data acquisition unit 45 acquires the radio wave data 55 by referring to the storage device 21. In addition, the radio wave strength indicated in the connected radio wave strength information may be configured to include both the radio wave strength of the vehicle-side communication unit 11 detected by the wireless transceiver unit 31 and the radio wave strength of the wireless transceiver unit 31 detected by the vehicle-side communication unit 11.

[0073] (3) In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the monitoring system 40 includes the radio wave data acquisition unit 45 and the connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and the monitoring system 40 may be configured to not include at least one of the radio wave data acquisition unit 45 and the connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit 46.

[0074] (4) Note that the configurations disclosed in each of the above-described embodiments can be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments (including combinations of the embodiments described as other embodiments) as long as no contradiction occurs. With regard to other configurations, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples in all respects. Therefore, various modifications can be made as appropriate within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0075] [Summary of this embodiment] The above-described embodiments of the conveying equipment will be summarized below.

[0076] The transportation facility includes a transportation vehicle for transporting an object, a transportation control device for controlling the transportation vehicle by communicating with the transportation vehicle, a communication system for communicating between the transportation vehicle and the transportation control device, and a monitoring system for monitoring a state of the communication system, the communication system includes a plurality of wireless transceivers for wirelessly communicating with a vehicle-side communication unit included in the transportation vehicle, and is configured to connect the plurality of wireless transceivers to the transportation control device so as to be able to communicate with each other, the monitoring system includes a traveling data acquisition unit, a connection data acquisition unit, a display device for displaying information, and a control unit, and the traveling data acquisition unit is configured to acquire the traveling data and the connection data. The data acquisition unit acquires driving data, which is data in which position information indicating the position of the transport vehicle and time information indicating the time are associated, and the connection data acquisition unit acquires connection data, which is data in which connection destination information indicating the relationship between the vehicle-side communication unit and the wireless transceiver unit to which the vehicle-side communication unit is connected among the multiple wireless transceivers, and the time information are associated, and the control unit executes a display process to display, on the display device, connection relationship information indicating the relationship between the position of the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that position, based on the driving data and the connection data.

[0077] According to this configuration, the location information included in the travel data and the connection destination information included in the connection data can be associated based on time information, so that the control unit can generate connection relationship information based on the travel data and the connection data. The connection relationship information displayed on the display device by the display process of the control unit shows the relationship between the location of the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that location. Therefore, a person who sees the display device can easily understand which wireless transceiver unit the transport vehicle is connected to at which location, as the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit. In this way, according to this configuration, a technology can be realized that makes it possible to easily understand the actual communication status between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit.

[0078] Here, the monitoring system is capable of referring to transmitter / receiver unit position data indicating the respective positions of the multiple wireless transmitter / receivers, and the control unit, in the display processing, based on the driving data and the transmitter / receiver unit position data, preferably causes the display device to display, in addition to the connection relationship information, connection distance information indicating the distance between the position of the transport vehicle and the wireless transmitter / receiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that position.

[0079] According to this configuration, the connection distance information displayed on the display device in addition to the connection relationship information by the display process of the control unit indicates the distance between the position of the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that position. Therefore, a person looking at the display device can easily grasp not only the position of the transport vehicle and which wireless transceiver unit it is connected to, but also the distance between the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which it is connected.

[0080] In addition, the monitoring system further includes a radio wave data acquisition unit that acquires radio wave data, which is data that associates connected radio wave strength information indicating the strength of communication radio waves during connection between each of the multiple wireless transceivers and the vehicle-side communication unit and the time information, and it is preferable that the control unit, in the display processing, based on the driving data and the radio wave data, in addition to the connection relationship information, display on the display device radio wave strength information indicating the relationship between the position of the transport vehicle and the strength of the communication radio waves at that position between the transport vehicle and the connected wireless transceiver unit.

[0081] According to this configuration, the radio wave strength information displayed on the display device in addition to the connection relationship information by the display process of the control unit indicates the position of the transport vehicle and the strength of the communication radio wave between the transport vehicle and the connected wireless transceiver unit at that position. Therefore, a person looking at the display device can easily grasp not only the position of the transport vehicle and which wireless transceiver unit it is connected to, but also the strength of the communication radio wave between the transport vehicle and the connected wireless transceiver unit.

[0082] In addition, the monitoring system is capable of referring to map data showing a map of the travel route of the transport vehicle, and the control unit, in the display processing, preferably causes the map based on the map data to be displayed on the display device, and also causes a transport vehicle mark indicating the position of the transport vehicle and a destination transceiver unit mark indicating the destination wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that position to be displayed on the map as the connection relationship information.

[0083] According to this configuration, the control unit can perform display processing to display on the display device in a visually easy-to-understand manner which wireless transceiver unit the transport vehicle is connected to and at which position.

[0084] As described above, in a configuration in which the control unit displays the transport vehicle mark and the destination transmission / reception unit mark on the map as the connection relationship information in the display process, it is preferable that the control unit executes a playback display process in which the control unit moves the transport vehicle mark on the map in the display process and changes the destination transmission / reception unit mark in accordance with the destination wireless transmission / reception unit that changes as the transport vehicle mark moves.

[0085] According to this configuration, the control unit can perform a playback display process to display on the display device in a visually easy-to-understand manner how the connected wireless transceiver unit has changed as the transport vehicle moves.

[0086] In each of the above-mentioned configurations of the conveying equipment, the conveying equipment is provided with a plurality of the conveying vehicles, and the monitoring system further includes a connected conveying vehicle data acquisition unit that acquires connected conveying vehicle data, which is data in which conveying vehicle identification information that identifies the conveying vehicles connected to each of the plurality of wireless transceivers is associated with the time information, and it is preferable that the control unit executes a first graph display process that causes the display device to display a graph showing the number of conveying vehicles connected to each of the plurality of wireless transceivers within a set period based on the connected conveying vehicle data.

[0087] According to this configuration, the graph displayed on the display device by the first graph display process by the control unit shows the number of vehicles connected to each of the multiple wireless transceivers within a set period. Therefore, a person looking at the display device can easily understand the presence or absence and the degree of imbalance in the number of vehicles connected among the multiple wireless transceivers.

[0088] Further, it is preferable that the monitoring system includes a plurality of the transport vehicles, and further includes a radio wave data acquisition unit that acquires radio wave data, which is data that associates the time information with connected radio wave strength information indicating the strength of communication radio waves during connection between each of the plurality of wireless transceivers and the vehicle-side communication unit of each of the plurality of transport vehicles, and the control unit executes a second graph display process that causes the display device to display a graph indicating the radio wave strength related to the connected radio wave strength information within a set period for each of the plurality of wireless transceivers based on the radio wave data.

[0089] According to this configuration, the graph displayed on the display device by the second graph display process by the control unit shows the radio wave strength during the set period for each of the multiple wireless transceivers, so that a person looking at the display device can easily grasp the presence or absence and the degree of bias in the radio wave strength among the multiple wireless transceivers.

[0090] Further, it is preferable that the monitoring system includes a plurality of the transport vehicles, and further includes a connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit and a radio wave data acquisition unit, wherein the connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit acquires connected transport vehicle data, which is data in which transport vehicle identification information identifying the transport vehicle connected to each of the plurality of wireless transceivers is associated with the time information, and the radio wave data acquisition unit acquires radio wave data, which is data in which connected radio wave strength information indicating the strength of communication radio waves during connection between each of the plurality of wireless transceivers and each of the vehicle-side communication units of the plurality of transport vehicles, is associated with the time information, and the control unit executes a defective transceiver unit display process to display on the display device the number of the transport vehicles connected within a set period and the wireless transceiver units for which at least one of the radio wave strengths related to the connected radio wave strength information within the set period is less than a predetermined judgment threshold.

[0091] According to this configuration, when there is a wireless transceiver unit (hereinafter referred to as a "faulty transceiver unit") in which at least one of the number of connected transport vehicles and the radio wave strength is less than the judgment threshold, the faulty transceiver unit can be displayed on the display device by the faulty transceiver unit display process by the control unit. Therefore, a person who sees the display device can easily grasp the presence of the faulty transceiver unit, and it becomes possible to quickly take measures against the faulty transceiver unit, such as restarting the transceiver unit.

[0092] It is sufficient for the transport facility according to the present disclosure to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned effects. [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 1:Transportation equipment 2: Transported goods 3: Route 10: Transport vehicle 11: Vehicle side communication department 20: Transport control device 30:Communication Systems 31: Radio transmitter / receiver 40: Surveillance system 41:Display device 42: Control unit 43: Driving data acquisition unit 44: Connection data acquisition unit 45: Radio data acquisition unit 46: Connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit 51: Map data 52: Transmitter / receiver position data 53: Driving data 54: Connection data 55: Radio wave data 56: Connected transport vehicle data G1: Graph 1 (graph showing the number of transport vehicles connected within a set period) G2: 2nd graph (graph showing signal strength related to connected signal strength information during the set period) M: Map M1: Transport vehicle mark M2: Connection transmitter / receiver mark

Claims

1. A transportation facility including a transportation vehicle for transporting an object, a transportation control device for controlling the transportation vehicle by communicating with the transportation vehicle, a communication system for communicating between the transportation vehicle and the transportation control device, and a monitoring system for monitoring a state of the communication system, The communication system is configured to include a plurality of wireless transceivers that wirelessly communicate with a vehicle-side communication unit included in the transport vehicle, and to communicably connect the plurality of wireless transceivers to the transport control device; The monitoring system includes a traveling data acquisition unit, a connection data acquisition unit, a display device that displays information, and a control unit. The travel data acquisition unit acquires travel data that is data in which position information indicating a position of the transportation vehicle and time information indicating a time are associated with each other, the connection data acquisition unit acquires connection data that is data in which connection destination information indicating a relationship between the vehicle-side communication unit and a wireless transceiver unit to which the vehicle-side communication unit is connected among the plurality of wireless transceivers is associated with the time information; The control unit executes a display process to display, on the display device, connection relationship information indicating the relationship between the position of the transport vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at the position, based on the driving data and the connection data.

2. the monitoring system is capable of referring to transceiver unit location data indicating the locations of each of the plurality of wireless transceivers; The conveying facility according to claim 1, wherein, in the display process, the control unit causes the display device to display, in addition to the connection relationship information, connection distance information indicating the distance between the position of the conveying vehicle and the wireless transceiver unit to which the conveying vehicle is connected at that position, based on the driving data and the transceiver unit position data.

3. the monitoring system further includes a radio wave data acquisition unit that acquires radio wave data that is data in which connected radio wave intensity information indicating an intensity of a communication radio wave during a connection between each of the plurality of wireless transmission / reception units and the vehicle-side communication unit is associated with the time information, The transportation facility described in claim 1 or 2, wherein, in the display processing, the control unit, based on the driving data and the radio wave data, causes the display device to display, in addition to the connection relationship information, radio wave strength information indicating the relationship between the position of the transport vehicle and the strength of the communication radio wave between the transport vehicle at that position and the wireless transceiver unit to which it is connected.

4. the monitoring system is capable of referring to map data showing a map of a travel route of the transport vehicle; The control unit, in the display processing, causes the display device to display the map based on the map data, and also causes the map to be displayed as the connection relationship information, including a transport vehicle mark indicating the position of the transport vehicle and a destination transceiver unit mark indicating the wireless transceiver unit to which the transport vehicle is connected at that position.

5. The transportation facility according to claim 4, wherein the control unit, in the display process, executes a playback display process in which the transport vehicle mark is moved on the map and the destination transceiver unit mark is changed in accordance with the destination wireless transceiver unit which changes in accordance with the movement of the transport vehicle mark.

6. A plurality of the transport vehicles are provided, The monitoring system further includes a connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit that acquires connected transport vehicle data, which is data in which transport vehicle identification information that identifies the transport vehicles connected to each of the plurality of wireless transceivers is associated with the time information, The transportation facility according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit executes a first graph display process that causes the display device to display a graph showing the number of transport vehicles connected within a set period for each of the multiple wireless transceivers based on the connected transport vehicle data.

7. A plurality of the transport vehicles are provided, the monitoring system further includes a radio wave data acquisition unit that acquires radio wave data that is data in which time information and radio wave intensity information indicating an intensity of a communication radio wave during a connection between each of the plurality of wireless transmission / reception units and each of the vehicle-side communication units of the plurality of transport vehicles are associated with each other, The transportation facility according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit executes a second graph display process that causes the display device to display a graph showing the radio wave strength related to the connected radio wave strength information within a set period for each of the multiple wireless transceivers based on the radio wave data.

8. A plurality of the transport vehicles are provided, The monitoring system further includes a connection vehicle data acquisition unit and a radio wave data acquisition unit, the connected transport vehicle data acquisition unit acquires connected transport vehicle data, which is data in which transport vehicle identification information that identifies the transport vehicles connected to each of the plurality of wireless transceivers is associated with the time information; the radio wave data acquisition unit acquires radio wave data that is data in which connection radio wave strength information indicating the strength of communication radio waves during a connection between each of the plurality of wireless transmission / reception units and each of the vehicle-side communication units of the plurality of transport vehicles is associated with the time information; The transportation facility according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit executes a defective transmission / reception unit display process that causes the display device to display the wireless transmission / reception units for which at least one of the number of the transportation vehicles connected within a set period and the radio wave strength related to the connected radio wave strength information within the set period is less than a predetermined judgment threshold.

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