Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of quantitatively evaluating the appropriateness of facility layout design in a waste treatment plant.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a control unit which simulates the behavior of a moving body in a predetermined facility and searches for a facility layout. The control unit is configured to: acquire location information for a weighing place where a moving body is weighed and an unloading place where loads are delivered, which are installed in the predetermined facility, passage information indicative of the status of routes selectively connecting the entrance and exit used for entering and exiting the facility and the weighing and unloading places, information on the number of incoming moving bodies entering the facility, delivery route information indicative of the order in which the moving bodies pass through at least one of the weighing or unloading places, vehicle information including movement speed information of the moving body, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance during stopping, and work time information at the weighing and unloading places; derive at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the length of the queue in the passage; and search for a facility layout in the predetermined facility on the basis of at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the length of the queue.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program, and is suitable for application to a design support tool for assisting in layout design within a facility, particularly a design support tool for arranging equipment on an incoming route in a cleaning factory.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, methods for automatically determining the arrangement of equipment and devices within a factory have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a design support system for optimizing the arrangement of plant facilities based on evaluation criteria set for the arrangement. Also, Patent Document 2 discloses a method for optimizing the arrangement within a plant using a genetic algorithm.

[0003] Among factories, a cleaning factory is generally a facility that processes waste (hereinafter referred to as "waste") carried in from outside the site by treatment equipment within the cleaning factory, such as by incineration. The general incoming route of waste in a cleaning factory is as follows. That is, first, a vehicle that has entered the cleaning factory (hereinafter referred to as an "incoming vehicle") moves to a weighing building that measures the weight of the vehicle. Next, the incoming vehicle moves to an incoming location for putting the incoming waste (hereinafter referred to as "incoming waste") into treatment equipment such as a storage pit. The incoming location generally varies depending on the type and amount of the incoming waste. Therefore, when a plurality of incoming vehicles carry in incoming waste, it is unlikely that all incoming vehicles will follow the same route. After the incoming vehicle puts the incoming waste into the treatment equipment at the incoming location, it moves to the weighing building and its weight is measured. By calculating the difference between the weight measured when the incoming vehicle entered the site and the weight measured when it left the site, the weight of the incoming waste carried into the cleaning factory by the incoming vehicle is calculated. After deriving a waste treatment fee according to the calculated weight of the incoming waste and charging as necessary, the incoming vehicle exits the cleaning factory from the exit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the basic planning stage of designing the above-described cleaning factory, layout design is required to determine the placement within the site of each facility necessary in a predetermined facility such as a cleaning factory. In the layout design, it is important to design an efficient route for what is called the loading route, which is the route that a moving object such as a loading vehicle passes through from when it enters a predetermined facility until it exits the predetermined facility after loading the loaded goods into the facility to be processed.

[0006] However, in the layout design of a predetermined facility according to the prior art, qualitative evaluations have been made regarding the number of assumed moving objects and the required time to stay within the predetermined facility, such as the extent to which moving objects requiring waiting are generated. Therefore, when a vehicle requiring waiting occurs, it is difficult to estimate the size of the waiting area to be secured, such as the road length from the entrance of the predetermined facility to the weighing location, and it has often been designed to be larger than necessary as the size of the waiting area to ensure safety. Therefore, there has been a demand for a technology that enables quantitative evaluation of the number of waiting moving objects and waiting time, and that can quantitatively evaluate the quality of the layout design of the facilities within a predetermined facility.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that can quantitatively evaluate the quality of the layout design of facilities in a predetermined facility.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus including a control unit that performs calculations related to the movement and stop of a moving body moving in a predetermined facility and searches for the arrangement of facilities in the predetermined facility. The control unit acquires position information of at least one weighing location provided in the predetermined facility where the moving body can be weighed, and at least one loading location where the moving body loads a predetermined load, an entrance for entering the predetermined facility, an exit for exiting the predetermined facility, passage information indicating the state of a passage that selectively connects the weighing location, the loading location, the number of incoming moving bodies entering the predetermined facility (incoming number information), loading route information indicating the order when the moving body passes through at least one of the weighing location and the loading location, vehicle information including information on the moving speed of the moving body, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance when stopped, and working time information at the weighing location and the loading location. Based on the acquired information, at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving bodies waiting in the passage related to the moving body is derived, and based on at least one of the derived number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length, the arrangement of the facilities in the predetermined facility is searched for.

[0009] In the information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, the control unit determines whether at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving bodies in the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage provided in the predetermined facility is within a target range of the comparable number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length. When it is outside the target range, the arrangement conditions regarding the position or number of at least one of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility are changed, and based on the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage of the predetermined facility in the state where the arrangement conditions are changed, the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length are derived. The arrangement conditions are changed until it is determined that at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving bodies is within the target range of the comparable number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length, or it is determined that the arrangement conditions cannot be changed.

[0010] In one aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the control unit acquires arrangement constraint conditions including conditions under which the arrangement of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility is possible, and when the arrangement conditions that satisfy the arrangement constraint conditions and in which the number of waiting vehicles and the length of the waiting queue are within the target range cannot be obtained by search, it determines that the arrangement conditions cannot be changed.

[0011] In one aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the target range of the number of waiting vehicles is set to be equal to or less than the maximum value of the number of vehicles that can wait on the passage based on the passage length of the passage in the predetermined facility, the vehicle length of the moving body, and the inter-vehicle distance of the moving body.

[0012] In one aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the target range of the length of the waiting queue is set to be equal to or less than the shortest passage length among the passage lengths of the passages in the predetermined facility where the moving body can wait.

[0013] In one aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the predetermined facility is a cleaning factory, the goods to be carried in are waste materials carried into the cleaning factory, and at least one of the loading locations of the moving body is a loading location for the waste materials in the cleaning factory.

[0014] In one aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the control unit derives the position coordinates of the moving body for each predetermined time step by calculating the movement and stop of the moving body for each predetermined time step, generates time series data of the moving body based on the position coordinates of the moving body for each time step, and is configured to generate and output a simulation video by superimposing a moving image of the moving body based on the time series data and an image showing the arrangement of facilities in the cleaning factory.

[0015] An information processing method according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing method executed by a control unit that performs calculations related to the movement and stop of a moving body moving in a predetermined facility to search for the arrangement of facilities in the predetermined facility. The control unit includes position information of at least one weighing location provided in the predetermined facility where the moving body can be weighed, and at least one loading location where the moving body loads a predetermined load, an entrance for entering the predetermined facility, an exit for exiting the predetermined facility, passage information indicating the state of a passage that selectively connects the weighing location, the loading location, the number of incoming vehicles of the number of moving bodies entering the predetermined facility, incoming route information indicating the order when the moving body passes through at least one of the weighing location and the loading location, vehicle information including information on the moving speed of the moving body, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance when stopped, and work time information at the weighing location and the loading location. Based on the acquired information, at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length of the moving body waiting in the passage related to the moving body is derived, and based on at least one of the derived number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length, the arrangement of the facilities in the predetermined facility is searched.

[0016] An information processing method according to one aspect of the present invention is, in the above invention, the control unit determines whether at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length of the moving body in the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage provided in the predetermined facility is within a target range of the comparable number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length. When it is outside the target range, the arrangement conditions regarding the position or number of at least one of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility are changed, and based on the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage of the predetermined facility in the state where the arrangement conditions are changed, the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length are derived. The arrangement conditions are changed until it is determined that at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length of the moving body is within the target range of the comparable number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length, or it is determined that the arrangement conditions cannot be changed.

[0017] An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention is, in the above invention, the control unit acquires arrangement constraint conditions including conditions under which the arrangement of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility is possible, and when the arrangement conditions that satisfy the arrangement constraint conditions and in which the number of waiting vehicles and the length of the waiting queue are within the target range cannot be obtained by search, it is determined that the arrangement conditions cannot be changed.

[0018] An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention is, in the above invention, the target range of the number of waiting vehicles is derived based on the passage length of the passage in the predetermined facility, the vehicle length of the moving body, and the inter-vehicle distance of the moving body, and is not more than the maximum value of the number of vehicles that can wait within the site of the predetermined facility.

[0019] An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention is, in the above invention, the target range of the length of the waiting queue is set to be not more than the shortest passage length among the passage lengths of the passages where the moving body can wait in the predetermined facility.

[0020] An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention is, in the above invention, the predetermined facility is a cleaning factory, the carried-in object is waste carried into the cleaning factory, and at least one of the loading locations of the moving body is the loading location of the waste in the cleaning factory.

[0021] An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention is, in the above invention, the control unit derives the position coordinates of the moving body for each predetermined time step by calculating the movement and stop of the moving body for each predetermined time step, generates time-series data of the moving body based on the position coordinates of the moving body for each time step, and superimposes and displays a moving image of the moving body based on the time-series data and an image showing the arrangement of facilities in the cleaning factory to generate and output a simulation video.

[0022] A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program that causes a control unit having hardware to perform calculations related to the movement and stop of a moving body moving in a predetermined facility, and to search for the layout of the facilities in the predetermined facility. The program causes the control unit to obtain position information of at least one weighing location provided in the predetermined facility for weighing the moving body, and at least one loading location where the moving body loads a predetermined load, an entrance for entering the predetermined facility, an exit for leaving the predetermined facility, passage information indicating the state of a passage that selectively connects the weighing location, the loading location, loading quantity information of the number of moving bodies entering the predetermined facility, loading route information indicating the order when the moving body passes through at least one of the weighing location and the loading location, vehicle information including information on the moving speed of the moving body, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance when stopped, and working time information at the weighing location and the loading location. Based on the obtained information, at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving bodies waiting in the passage related to the moving body is derived, and based on at least one of the derived number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length, the layout of the facilities in the predetermined facility is searched and executed.

[0023] A program according to one aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, causes the control unit to determine whether at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving bodies in the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage provided in the predetermined facility is within a target range of the comparable number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length. When it is outside the target range, the layout conditions regarding the position or number of at least one of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility are changed, and based on the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage of the predetermined facility in the state where the layout conditions are changed, the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length are derived. The layout conditions are changed until it is determined that at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving body is within the target range of the comparable number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length, or it is determined that the layout conditions cannot be changed.

Advantages of the Invention

[0024] According to the information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program according to the present invention, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate the quality of the layout design of facilities in a predetermined facility.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0025]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0026] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings of the following embodiment, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below.

[0027] First, in describing the embodiment of the present invention, the problems found by the present inventor and the intensive studies conducted to solve the problems will be described.

[0028] That is, the inventor of the present invention examined the problems related to the design of a waste treatment plant. A waste treatment plant is a predetermined facility that generally processes waste (hereinafter referred to as "waste"), which is an incoming material brought in from outside the site, by incineration or the like using processing equipment within the waste treatment plant. The incoming route of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "incoming vehicle") as a moving body for bringing in the waste that has entered the waste treatment plant is, as described above, from the entrance of the waste treatment plant, to a weighing building that measures the weight of the incoming vehicle, an incoming location for inputting the incoming waste (hereinafter referred to as "incoming waste") into processing equipment such as a storage pit, a weighing building that measures the weight of the incoming vehicle in a state where no waste is loaded, and the route to the exit of the waste treatment plant.

[0029] Here, whether the incoming vehicle can smoothly carry in the waste is determined by how the incoming route is designed. That is, in a waste treatment plant, there are often multiple incoming locations, and when the incoming route branches or intersects, a specific incoming vehicle may have a waiting time by waiting for the passage of other incoming vehicles, or a contact risk between the incoming vehicles may occur. Therefore, a design of the incoming route is required such that waiting and contact risks of the incoming vehicle do not occur.

[0030] In addition, the number of incoming vehicles entering the waste treatment plant varies greatly depending on the season, day of the week, and time zone. Therefore, in a time zone when the number of incoming vehicles is extremely large, operations by the incoming vehicles such as measuring the weight at the weighing building and inputting the waste into the incoming location become congested, and it becomes necessary to make the subsequent incoming vehicles wait. In this case, the incoming vehicle needs to wait on the incoming route, but when the number of waiting vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "waiting vehicles") increases, it becomes impossible to make the incoming vehicle wait within the site of the waste treatment plant, and the possibility of a situation where the waiting vehicles overflow outside the site increases. Generally, the outside of the site of the waste treatment plant is a public road. Therefore, when the waiting vehicles overflow outside the site, the incoming vehicle has to wait on the public road, which obstructs the passage of passing vehicles other than the incoming vehicle and causes traffic congestion near the waste treatment plant. The traffic congestion near the waste treatment plant is troublesome not only for the passing vehicles but also for the neighborhood, so it is necessary to avoid a situation where waiting vehicles occur outside the site of the waste treatment plant.

[0031] In order to avoid congestion of incoming vehicles outside the site of the cleaning factory, it is conceivable to widely secure a waiting place where waiting vehicles can wait inside the cleaning factory. However, if a waiting place is secured more than necessary, useless space will be generated inside the site of the cleaning factory. In addition, since there are also cleaning factories with no margin in the site area, it is desirable to design the waiting place to the minimum necessary.

[0032] On the other hand, at the basic planning stage of the cleaning factory, layout design is required to determine how to arrange each facility inside the cleaning factory within the site. As described above, it is important in the operation of the cleaning factory to design the incoming route of the incoming vehicle as an efficient route. However, when considering the layout of facilities in a cleaning factory according to the prior art, regarding the number of incoming vehicles assumed and the required time to stay inside the cleaning factory, the evaluation of how many waiting vehicles are generated has remained at a qualitative level. Therefore, it has been difficult to estimate the area of the waiting place to be secured when waiting vehicles occur, generally the road length from the entrance of the cleaning factory to the weighing building.

[0033] Note that the consideration of the layout of facilities inside the cleaning factory is the basic design carried out at the initial stage in the design of the facility. Therefore, if the layout of the facilities is changed, the impact on the overall design of the cleaning factory will be significant. Therefore, it is desirable to determine the layout of facilities inside the cleaning factory at the earliest possible stage. If the evaluation of congestion of incoming vehicles is insufficient at the basic design stage, in the middle to final detailed design stage of the design, a situation may occur where the facility layout has to be changed due to concerns about congestion of incoming vehicles, or change work such as design drawings and equipment specifications may occur due to significant design changes or corrections. From these facts, it is desirable to complete the evaluation regarding the number of waiting incoming vehicles at the basic design stage.

[0034] In considering how to minimize the area of the waiting area in a cleaning factory, the inventor examined a method of increasing the number of facilities such as weighing areas and loading areas in order to reduce the number of waiting vehicles. However, if a design is made to increase the number of facilities in a cleaning factory, the construction cost of the facility will increase, so the number of facilities should be as small as possible. On the other hand, since it is difficult to appropriately estimate the number of facilities at the design stage of a cleaning factory, a design will be made to install more weighing areas and loading areas than necessary to ensure safety, resulting in an increase in the construction cost of the facility. Therefore, it is preferable to keep the number of waiting vehicles within an acceptable range and then minimize the number of necessary facilities.

[0035] According to the findings of the inventor, whether waiting vehicles will occur or not can be estimated from the number of incoming vehicles per unit time assumed and the time required for weight measurement at the weighing area and waste input at the loading area. Thus, when the inventor further examined, if the time required for weight measurement of incoming vehicles and waste input is shorter than the average incoming interval derived from the number of incoming vehicles per unit time, the probability of waiting occurring decreases. Conversely, if the required time is longer than the average incoming interval, the probability of waiting occurring increases. However, when it is desired to conduct a detailed examination and evaluation such as a quantitative estimate of how many waiting vehicles will occur and consideration of branch points in the incoming route and waiting areas, it is necessary to set complex conditions.

[0036] From such examinations, the inventor has come to find, as a problem of the prior art, that a design has to be made to ensure a waiting area larger than necessary for safety. In other words, in the layout design of a cleaning factory, it is required to appropriately design the layout of the weighing building, loading areas, and incoming routes according to the number of waiting vehicles expected from the number of incoming vehicles and working hours. On the other hand, in a state where the number of waiting vehicles cannot be quantitatively predicted, the judgment as to whether the layout of the facilities in the cleaning factory is an appropriate layout has been largely left to the experience and sense of the designer.

[0037] From the above considerations, the present inventor has found that if the number of waiting vehicles can be quantitatively evaluated, it is possible to achieve both a reduction in the number of waiting vehicles and a reduction in the number of facilities in the cleaning factory. Therefore, the present inventor has intensively studied a method for quantitatively evaluating the number of waiting vehicles in the cleaning factory. The present inventor has focused on the fact that the layout of the facilities in the cleaning factory has a high degree of freedom and there are an extremely large number of layout patterns, while there is a limit to the number of layout patterns that can be considered by the designer. Here, the present inventor has conducted studies and has come up with the idea that in order to increase the number of layout patterns to be considered, it is effective to repeat the cycle of layout design, the design of the flow line for loading, and the evaluation of traffic jams of the loading vehicles as quickly as possible.

[0038] The present inventor has studied an evaluation program for quantitatively evaluating the number of waiting vehicles, and has come up with a simulation program for quantitatively evaluating the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting time with respect to the assumed number of loading vehicles and the required time. Furthermore, the present inventor has studied a method for searching for layout conditions until the number of waiting vehicles obtained as a result of derivation by the simulation program becomes equal to or less than the target number of waiting vehicles, and has come up with a layout design support program capable of searching for layout conditions.

[0039] Specifically, the inventor has developed a program for calculating the movement of incoming vehicles in a cleaning factory, which takes as input conditions the layout information including the location information of the weighing area and the incoming area inside the cleaning factory, the incoming route information including the information of the passages connecting the entrance and exit of the cleaning factory, the weighing area, and the incoming area, the incoming vehicle flow information indicating the number of incoming vehicles per time period and the order in which the incoming vehicles pass through the weighing area and the incoming area, and the vehicle information including the moving speed, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance when stopped of the incoming vehicles, and has a simulation function for calculating the movement and stop of the incoming vehicles every predetermined time to update the vehicle positions, and outputs as simulation results the vehicle positions every predetermined time, the weighing area and the incoming area in the cleaning factory, and the number of waiting incoming vehicles and the waiting time in the passages. Further, a program has also been developed for generating a simulation video in which images of the incoming vehicles are continuously displayed on a background image showing the layout of the cleaning factory based on the vehicle positions at each predetermined time. The following embodiment described below is devised based on the intensive study of the above-mentioned inventor.

[0040] (Information Processing Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 100 is a simulation apparatus having the above-described simulation function. The information processing apparatus 100 has a configuration of a general computer that can communicate via a network. The information processing apparatus 100 includes a control unit 110, a storage unit 130, an input unit 140, an output unit 150, and a communication unit 160.

[0041] Specifically, the control unit 110 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) that has hardware, and a main memory unit (not shown in the figure) such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The control unit 110 loads the program stored in the storage unit 130 into the working area of the main memory unit and executes it, and by controlling each component through the execution of the program, it can realize a function that meets a predetermined purpose. In this embodiment, the control unit 110 executes the functions of the loading vehicle simulation unit 111, the loading route data generation unit 112, the placement information setting unit 113, the loading flow line information setting unit 114, the loading condition setting unit 115, the general condition setting unit 116, the optimal placement search unit 117, the simulation result output unit 118, the simulation video generation unit 119, and the target determination unit 120 by executing the program stored in the storage unit 130. Details of various functions by the control unit 110 will be described later.

[0042] The storage unit 130 is composed of a storage medium selected from a volatile memory such as a RAM, a non-volatile memory such as a ROM, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), and a removable medium. The removable medium is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a disk recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a BD (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc). Also, the storage unit 130 may be configured using a computer-readable recording medium such as a memory card that can be externally attached.

[0043] The storage unit 130 can store an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, various databases, etc., for executing the operations of the information processing apparatus 100. The various programs include information processing programs for realizing processing based on models such as learning models and learned models. These various programs can also be recorded on computer-readable recording media such as hard disks, flash memories, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and flexible disks and widely distributed.

[0044] The storage unit 130 has an image database 131, a time-series information database 132, a simulation result information database 133, and a condition database 134. The image database 131 is a database for storing image data input from the outside. The time-series information database 132 is a database for storing time-series data of the position of the incoming vehicle. The simulation result information database 133 is a database for storing the results of simulations as information. The condition database 134 is a database for storing various conditions used in simulations and the like as information. Note that the database (DB) in the present embodiment is constructed by a program of a database management system (DBMS) executed by the above-described processor managing the data stored in the storage unit 130. The image database 131, the time-series information database 132, the simulation result information database 133, and the condition database 134 are each, for example, a relational database (RDB). Note that the databases stored in the storage unit 130 are not limited to the above databases. Also, the storage unit 130 may be provided in another server that can communicate via various networks.

[0045] The input unit 140 as an input means is configured to be able to acquire information input from the outside through the communication unit 160 described later and information stored in the storage unit 130, and input the acquired information to the control unit 110. Further, the input unit 140 includes those configured using a user interface such as a keyboard, input buttons, levers, a touch panel for manual input provided superimposed on a display such as a liquid crystal, or a microphone for voice recognition. By operating the input unit 140 by a user or the like, it is configured to be able to input predetermined information to the control unit 110.

[0046] The output unit 150 as an output means, in accordance with the control by the control unit 110, displays a predetermined image or the like on a display monitor composed of, for example, an organic EL panel or a liquid crystal display panel, displays characters, figures, etc. on the screen of a touch panel display, or outputs voice from a speaker. Note that the input unit 140 and the output unit 150 may be integrally configured.

[0047] The communication unit 160 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface board or a wireless communication circuit for wireless communication. The LAN interface board and the wireless communication circuit are configured to be connectable to a network (not shown) such as the Internet which is a public communication network. The communication unit 160 is configured to be able to communicate data, information, etc. with an external device or server by connecting to the network. Note that the network is composed of an Internet line network, a mobile phone line network, etc. The network may include, for example, a public communication network such as the Internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone, or other communication networks such as a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi.

[0048] (Configuration Search Processing Method) Next, a traffic jam simulation and a layout design support processing method, which are information processing methods executed by the information processing apparatus 100 configured as described above, will be described. FIGS. 2 and 3 are a flowchart and a diagram of a carry-in route for explaining the layout search processing method according to the present embodiment, respectively. FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are respectively plan views schematically showing design examples of a cleaning factory according to the present embodiment. In steps ST1 to ST5 in FIG. 2, a traffic jam simulation is executed, and in steps ST6 to ST14, a layout design support process is executed. In the following description, FIG. 1 will also be referred to as appropriate.

[0049] (Traffic Jam Simulation) As shown in FIG. 2, first, in step ST1, input of initial layout conditions is performed from the input unit 140. That is, information on the position of the weighing location (weighing machine) in the cleaning factory (weighing machine position information) and information on the position of the carry-in location (carry-in location position information) are input from the input unit 140 as initial layout conditions. The weighing machine position information and the carry-in location position information are input to the layout information setting unit 113 of the control unit 110. Here, the weighing machine position information and the carry-in location position information are represented by two-dimensional coordinates (x, y) or three-dimensional coordinates (x, y, z). The position information also includes information on the number of weighing machines, weighing locations, and carry-in locations. For example, as the weighing machine position information, when three sets of position coordinates (x 1 , y 1 ), (x 2 , y 2 ), (x 3 , y 3 ) are input, it means that information on the existence of three weighing locations is included.

[0050] As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 4, an example is given where the cleaning factory 10 includes a factory building 20 and a platform 30. Here, the cleaning factory 10 is provided with an entrance / exit 11, an entrance weighing machine 12, an exit weighing machine 13, and roads 14, 15, 16, 17 around the factory building 20 and the platform 30. Note that it is desirable that the number of roads 14 to 17 connected to one weighing machine 12, 13 be one lane each on the entrance side and the exit side. The platform 30 is set with a first loading location 31 composed of a plurality of first loading locations 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d, and a second loading location 32. The factory building 20 includes a storage pit (not shown) for storing waste. As the initial arrangement conditions, weighing machine position information regarding the entrance weighing machine 12 and the exit weighing machine 13 provided in the cleaning factory 10, the first loading location 31 (31a to 31d), and loading location position information regarding the second loading location 32 such as a stockyard are input. Note that the example of the arrangement and the loading flow line within the cleaning factory 10 shown in FIG. 4 is merely an example, and the positions of the entrance / exit 11, the entrance weighing machine 12, the exit weighing machine 13, and the loading locations 31, 32 vary widely depending on the cleaning factory 10.

[0051] Accordingly, the position information of the length (lane length L) and the installation position of each of the roads 14 to 17 is also input or derived as passage information. Specifically, as the lane length L of each of the roads 14 to 17, as shown in FIG. 3, the lane length L from the entrance / exit 11 as the entrance to the entrance weighing machine 12 1 , j , the lane length L from the entrance weighing machine 12 to the loading locations 31, 32 2 , j , the lane length L from the loading locations 31, 32 to the exit weighing machine 13 3 , j , the lane length L from the exit weighing machine 13 to the entrance / exit 11 as the exit 4 , jis input or derived. Here, in the present embodiment, regarding the subscript, "1" represents the road 14 from the entrance / exit 11 to the entrance weighing machine 12 (12a, 12b), "2" represents the road 15 from the entrance weighing machine 12 to the loading locations 31, 32, "3" represents the road 16 from the loading locations 31, 32 to the exit weighing machine 13, and "4" represents the road 17 from the exit weighing machine 13 to the entrance / exit 11 as the exit. When the number of facilities that the incoming vehicle 40 passes through in the incoming route increases, the subscript may further increase. Also, "j (j = 1, 2,..., number of lanes)" in the subscript indicates the distinction of the lanes in parallel in the same section. In the example shown in FIG. 3, for the sake of explanation, unlike FIG. 4, the cleaning factory 10 is assumed to be equipped with a first entrance weighing machine 12a and a second entrance weighing machine 12b as the entrance weighing machine 12.

[0052] Furthermore, from the input unit 140, the vehicle classification of the incoming vehicle 40 (incoming vehicle classification) and the order via the weighing location and the loading location (incoming route) are input. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, an incoming vehicle 40 (hereinafter, a planned collection vehicle) that collects waste systematically, such as a packer vehicle (garbage collection vehicle), an incoming vehicle 40 (hereinafter, a general delivery vehicle) that delivers waste such as bulky waste to the cleaning factory by an individual, and other classified incoming vehicles 40 are input to the incoming traffic line information setting unit 114 as different incoming vehicle classifications. The incoming vehicle classification and the incoming route are input to the incoming traffic line information setting unit 114 of the control unit 110.

[0053] As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the planned collection vehicles are classified into the first vehicle category, and the general brought-in vehicles are classified into the second vehicle category, etc., and are input from the input unit 140 to the incoming flow information setting unit 114. In FIG. 3, for example, the incoming vehicle 40 classified into the first vehicle category enters from the entrance of the cleaning factory, and exits from the exit via the first entrance weighing machine 12a, the first incoming location 31, and the exit weighing machine 13. In this case, the incoming route of the incoming vehicle 40 in the first vehicle category is input to the incoming flow information setting unit 114 in the order of the entrance (entrance / exit 11), the first entrance weighing machine 12a, the first incoming location 31, the exit weighing machine 13, and the exit (entrance / exit 11). The incoming routes of the incoming vehicles 40 classified into the second vehicle category and the third vehicle category are input to the incoming flow information setting unit 114 in the order of the entrance (entrance / exit 11), the second entrance weighing machine 12b, the second incoming location 32, the exit weighing machine 13, and the exit (entrance / exit 11).

[0054] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, from the input unit 140, the incoming number information of the number of incoming vehicles (incoming number) for each time zone of the incoming vehicle 40, and the work time information of the time required for the work for each location in the cleaning factory (work time), and vehicle information including the moving speed (intra-factory moving speed) of the incoming vehicle 40, the length of the incoming vehicle 40 (vehicle length), and the inter-vehicle distance when stopped (inter-vehicle distance) are input. The incoming number and the work time are input to the incoming condition setting unit 115 of the control unit 110. The intra-factory moving speed, the vehicle length, and the inter-vehicle distance are input to the general condition setting unit 116 as the vehicle information of the incoming vehicle 40.

[0055] As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 3, from the entrance, the number of incoming vehicles 40 in the first vehicle category is N 1 (units), the number of incoming vehicles 40 in the second vehicle category is N 2 (units), the number of incoming vehicles 40 in the third vehicle category is N 3 (units), etc. enter the factory. Here, the incoming number N 1 ~N 3The number of incoming vehicles is input at predetermined time steps such as, for example, every hour, but it is not necessarily limited to one hour, and various time intervals such as every 30 minutes or every two hours can be adopted, which does not affect the execution of the traffic jam simulation. Also, the number of incoming vehicles can often be estimated based on the performance of existing cleaning factories, etc.

[0056] In addition, the number of incoming vehicles 40, the in-facility moving speed, the vehicle length, and the inter-vehicle distance of the incoming vehicle 40 have at least one pattern, and it is also possible to calculate them separately in multiple patterns. For example, when there are multiple patterns such as the first vehicle category, the second vehicle category, and the third vehicle category for the vehicle category of the incoming vehicle 40 as shown in FIG. 3, here there are 3 patterns, the number of incoming vehicles, the in-facility moving speed, the vehicle length, and the inter-vehicle distance are also input separately for each pattern, and various arithmetic processes are executed based on the conditions of each vehicle category. Also, the moving speed of the incoming vehicle 40 can be not only a fixed value but also a variable value. For example, even if the input value of the in-facility moving speed of the incoming vehicle 40 is 20 km / h, it is also possible to perform calculations so that it moves at a speed of 0 to 20 km / h according to the acceleration and deceleration when the incoming vehicle 40 stops and starts.

[0057] Also, at the first entrance weighing machine 12a and the second entrance weighing machine 12b, a predetermined working time t w1 , k is required. At the first loading location 31 and the second loading location 32, a predetermined working time t w2 , k is required. At the exit weighing machine 13, a predetermined working time t w3 , k is required. Regarding the subscript, w1 means the entrance weighing machine 12, w2 means the loading locations 31, 32, and w3 means the exit weighing machine 13, and "k (k = 1, 2,..., number of installations)" means the distinction for each position of the weighing machine and the loading location. Note that the working times at the weighing machines 12a, 12b and the loading locations 31, 32 can be estimated from the performance of existing cleaning factories, etc., and based on this performance, etc., the predetermined working times t w1 , k , t w2 , k , t w3 ,k It can be derived and set as work time information.

[0058] Next, in step ST2 shown in FIG. 2, the target value and constraint conditions are input from the input unit 140. That is, the constraint conditions (layout constraint conditions) regarding the layout of the facilities in the cleaning factory are input from the input unit 140, and the target values of the number of waiting stations and the length of the queue of waiting vehicles are input. The layout constraint conditions are input to the optimal layout search unit 117 and stored in the condition database 134. The constraint conditions input to the optimal layout search unit 117 of the information processing apparatus 100 include the size of the site of the cleaning factory, the maximum value of the road length, the maximum number of weighing locations and loading locations, etc. The layout constraint conditions are set as values based on the actually constructible road length, the number of weighing locations, and the number of loading locations. Without these layout constraint conditions, there would be an infinite number of layout patterns for the facilities in the cleaning factory. Therefore, it is necessary to execute the layout design support process after setting the layout constraint conditions.

[0059] The target value of the number of waiting stations or the length of the queue of waiting vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the waiting queue length) is stored in the condition database 134 and then read by the target determination unit 120 as needed. The input processes of steps ST1 and ST2 can be executed independently of each other, and can be executed in parallel or in reverse order. Here, the target value used as the target range of the number of waiting stations is derived based on the road length from the entrance and exit 11, which is the entrance of the cleaning factory 10, to the entrance weighing machine 12, and the vehicle length and the distance between vehicles of the incoming vehicle 40, and is set to be less than or equal to the maximum number of vehicles that the incoming vehicle 40 can wait within the site of the cleaning factory 10. Also, the target range of the waiting queue length is less than or equal to the passage length of the road 14 from the entrance and exit 11, which is the entrance of the cleaning factory 10, to the entrance weighing machine 12. When the road 14 from the entrance and exit 11 to the entrance weighing machine 12 consists of a plurality of passages, it is set to be less than or equal to the shortest passage length among the passage lengths of the plurality of passages.

[0060] Next, when shifting to step ST3, the search is started by the carrier vehicle simulation unit 111 of the control unit 110. That is, the arrangement information setting unit 113 sets arrangement information based on the input weighing machine position information and the carrier-in location position information, and outputs the set arrangement information to the carrier route data generation unit 112. Also, the carrier flow line information setting unit 114 sets carrier flow line information based on the input carrier vehicle classification and the information of the carrier route, and outputs the set carrier flow line information to the carrier route data generation unit 112. The carrier route data generation unit 112 generates carrier route data based on the input arrangement information and the carrier flow line information, and outputs the generated carrier route data to the carrier vehicle simulation unit 111.

[0061] Furthermore, the carrier-in condition setting unit 115 sets carrier-in conditions based on the input information of the number of carriers-in and the working time, and outputs the set carrier-in conditions to the carrier vehicle simulation unit 111. Also, the general condition setting unit 116 sets general conditions based on the input state transition time, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance, and outputs the set general conditions to the carrier vehicle simulation unit 111.

[0062] Next, when shifting to step ST4, the carrier vehicle simulation unit 111 executes a congestion simulation process in the cleaning factory. That is, for example, every predetermined time (time step) of about 1 second, the movement and stop (parking) of the carrier vehicle 40 are calculated to sequentially update the position of the carrier vehicle 40. Here, regarding the time step in the congestion simulation process, if the time step is large, the calculation error regarding the movement and parking time of the carrier vehicle 40 increases. Therefore, it is desirable that the time step be a small value such that the calculation error is within the allowable range. However, in many cases, no practical problems occur even if the time step becomes longer. Since the required calculation accuracy also varies depending on the use of the simulation, it is desirable to select the time step according to the desired calculation error.

[0063] For any movement or stop of the predetermined incoming vehicle 40, it is determined based on whether the first entrance weighing machine 12a, the second entrance weighing machine 12b, the loading locations 31, 32, and the exit weighing machine 13 are available, or whether another incoming vehicle 40 located in front of the predetermined incoming vehicle 40 is moving or stopped, etc. In other words, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 derives and sequentially updates the existence positions of the plurality of incoming vehicles 40 at each predetermined time so that a plurality of incoming vehicles 40 do not exist simultaneously in the existence positions (the existence areas of the incoming vehicles 40 including the inter-vehicle distance) of the incoming vehicles 40 based on the entrance weighing machines 12 (12a, 12b), the exit weighing machine 13, the loading locations 31, 32, and the inter-vehicle distance.

[0064] The incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 outputs, as simulation result information, the position information of the incoming vehicle 40 for each time step, as well as the information on the number of waiting incoming vehicles 40, the queue length, the required time, and the waiting time of the incoming vehicle 40 on the roads 14 to 17, together with the weighing machine position information and the loading location position information in the cleaning factory 10. The output simulation result information is stored in a searchable manner in the simulation result information database 133.

[0065] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111, from the respective lane lengths L 1 , j , L 2 , j , L 3 , j , L 4 , j and the in-factory moving speed for each incoming vehicle 40, can derive the moving times t d1 , i , t d2 , i , t d3 , i , t d4 , i for each incoming vehicle 40 on each of the roads 14 to 17. Here, in the present embodiment, with respect to the subscript, "i (i = 1, 2,..., the number of incoming vehicles)" indicates each incoming vehicle 40.

[0066] In addition, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 further uses the respective working times t w1 , k , t w2 , k , t w3 , k as parameters, and in each of the roads 14 to 16, the number of waiting vehicles M 1 , i , M 2 , i , M 3 , i of the incoming vehicles 40 (waiting vehicles) waiting for the use of the equipment can be derived respectively. Here, the subscripts "1" to "3" correspond to the above-mentioned roads 14 to 16. At the same time, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 can derive the length of the queue of waiting vehicles based on the inter-vehicle distance between the incoming vehicles 40. From these pieces of information, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 can derive the time-series data of the position coordinates indicating the positions of the incoming vehicles 40. The incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 stores the derived time-series data of the position coordinates of the incoming vehicles 40 in the time-series information database 132 in the storage unit 130.

[0067] Furthermore, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 outputs at least the time-series data of the position coordinates of the incoming vehicles 40 among the derived simulation result information to the simulation video generation unit 119. Note that the simulation video generation unit 119 may read and obtain the time-series data from the time-series information database 132 in the storage unit 130. On the other hand, the simulation video generation unit 119 reads out a plan view image of the cleaning factory 10 as shown in, for example, FIG. 4 from the image database 131. The simulation video generation unit 119 superimposes the position information of the incoming vehicle 40 for each time step included in the input simulation result on the read plan view image and outputs it to the output unit 150. That is, the simulation video generation unit 119 uses the plan view image of the cleaning factory 10 as a background image, superimposes and displays the position of the incoming vehicle 40 at predetermined time steps to form a moving image, thereby generating a simulation video of the incoming vehicle 40 moving inside the cleaning factory 10 and displaying it on the output unit 150.

[0068] Thereafter, it proceeds to step ST5 shown in FIG. 2, and the loading vehicle simulation unit 111 calculates the required time Ts of the loading vehicle 40 i by the following formula (1). Further, the loading vehicle simulation unit 111 calculates the waiting time T w , i for each loading vehicle 40 to wait in the cleaning factory 10 i from the required time Ts of each loading vehicle 40 by the following formula (2). s,i Required time T 2 , i = Departure time T 1 , i …(1) Waiting time T w , i = Required time T s , i - Operation time Σt w , k - Movement time Σt d , i …(2)

[0069] Based on the required time T s , i and the waiting time T w , i derived as above, the loading vehicle simulation unit 111 derives at least one of the maximum number of waiting vehicles (maximum waiting number) and the maximum waiting queue length (maximum waiting queue length) that can wait in the cleaning factory 10. Information on the maximum waiting number and the maximum waiting queue length is stored in the simulation result information database 133 as simulation result information. Further, the loading vehicle simulation unit 111 outputs simulation result information including at least the number of waiting vehicles M i , the queue length of the waiting vehicles, and the required time for each time step, derived for each loading vehicle 40, to the optimal arrangement search unit 117 and the simulation result output unit 118. Note that the optimal arrangement search unit 117 and the simulation result output unit 118 may read and obtain the simulation result information from the simulation result information database 133 of the storage unit 130.

[0070] (Configuration Design Support Process) Next, when shifting to step ST6, the optimal placement search unit 117 executes a configuration design support process. That is, first, the optimal placement search unit 117 reads out the target value of the number of waiting stations or the waiting queue length from the condition database 134 and outputs it to the target determination unit 120. The target determination unit 120 compares the input target value of the number of waiting stations or the waiting queue length with the maximum number of waiting stations or the maximum waiting queue length derived in step ST5.

[0071] After that, in step ST7, the target determination unit 120 determines whether the maximum number of waiting stations or the maximum waiting queue length is less than or equal to the target value. Here, the processing after the determination by the target determination unit 120 in step ST7 will be specifically described below.

[0072] That is, the positions of the inlet weighing machine 12 and the outlet weighing machine 13, which are facilities arranged in the cleaning factory 10 based on the initial placement conditions, are set as shown in FIG. 4. In this state, when the incoming vehicles 40A and 40B enter the cleaning factory 10, the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 derives the incoming routes of the incoming vehicles 40 (40A, 40B). Here, the incoming vehicle 40A is a general incoming vehicle, and the incoming vehicle 40B is a planned collection vehicle.

[0073] The incoming vehicles 40A and 40B enter the factory sequentially from the entrance / exit 11, and then move along the road 14 to the inlet weighing machine 12 for weighing. After that, the incoming vehicle 40A, which is a general incoming vehicle, moves along the road 15, enters the platform 30, and then moves to the second loading location 32 to unload the waste. Also, the incoming vehicle 40B, which is a planned collection vehicle, moves along the road 15, enters the platform 30, and then moves to one of the first loading locations 31, for example, the first loading location 31b, to unload the waste.

[0074] Thereafter, the incoming vehicles 40A and 40B each leave the platform 30 and move along the road 16 to the exit weighing machine 13 to perform weighing again. After the weighing at the exit weighing machine 13 is completed, the incoming vehicles 40A and 40B each move along the road 17 to the entrance / exit 11 and leave the cleaning factory 10.

[0075] Here, as the initial arrangement condition, assuming the road length of the road 14 from the entrance / exit 11 to the entrance weighing machine 12 is L (m), from the vehicle lengths and inter-vehicle distances of the above-described incoming vehicles 40, the maximum number of incoming vehicles 40 that can wait on the road 14 (hereinafter, the maximum allowable number) can be derived. Therefore, the optimal arrangement search unit 117 can set the number of vehicles less than or equal to the maximum allowable number as the target value (target waiting number) of the waiting number. Here, let the target value of the waiting number less than or equal to the maximum allowable number be N (vehicles). Also, the road length L (m) becomes the upper limit of the queue length of the incoming vehicles 40 that can wait on the road 14 (hereinafter, the maximum allowable queue length). Therefore, the optimal arrangement search unit 117 can set the queue length less than or equal to the maximum allowable queue length L (m) as the target value of the waiting queue length by the incoming vehicles 40. Let the target value of the waiting queue length of the waiting vehicles less than or equal to the maximum allowable queue length be L 1 (m). In the following description, the determination is made based on the waiting number, but it is also possible to adopt the waiting queue length instead of the waiting number and replace the waiting number with the waiting queue length for the same processing.

[0076] If the maximum waiting number derived by the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 in step ST5 is greater than N (vehicles), that is, if the target determination unit 120 determines in step ST7 that the maximum waiting number is greater than the target value N (vehicles) of the waiting number (step ST7: No), the process proceeds to step ST9.

[0077] In step ST9, the target determination unit 120 outputs information indicating that the maximum number of waiting vehicles is greater than the target value N (vehicles) of the number of waiting vehicles to the arrangement information setting unit 113. In the arrangement information setting unit 113, the parameter to be changed is selected. In the present embodiment, the weighing machine position information and the loading location position information are selected as the change parameters. Note that the user may be allowed to select the change parameters.

[0078] Next, the process proceeds to step ST10, and the arrangement information setting unit 113 selects the changed value of the parameter to be changed and inputs it from the input unit 140. In the present embodiment, the changed weighing machine position information and loading location position information are input from the input unit 140.

[0079] Next, the process proceeds to step ST11, and the optimal arrangement search unit 117 reads the arrangement constraint conditions from the condition database 134 and determines whether the changed value of the change parameter input from the input unit 140 satisfies the arrangement constraint conditions.

[0080] Specifically, for example, it is assumed that the maximum number of waiting vehicles on the road 14 in the cleaning factory 10 derived by the loading vehicle simulation unit 111 in step ST5 is, for example, N + 10 (vehicles). In this case, as the change parameter, the position of the entrance weighing machine 12 is changed, and as shown in FIG. 5, the road length L of the road 14 is extended within the range of the arrangement constraint conditions. Here, on the road 14, in order to enable, for example, N + 10 (vehicles) of loading vehicles 40, which is the maximum number of waiting vehicles, to be in a waiting state, the required road length is L + ΔL (m), and the achievable road length of the road 14 based on the arrangement constraint conditions is L max (m). Then, since the required road length L + ΔL is greater than the road length L based on the arrangement conditions, it is outside the range of the arrangement constraint conditions. In this case, in step ST11, the optimal arrangement search unit 117 determines that the changed value of the change parameter does not satisfy the arrangement constraint conditions (step ST11: No) and proceeds to step ST13. max

[0081] ​In step ST13, the optimal layout search unit 117 determines whether there are any changeable parameters regarding other layouts. When the optimal layout search unit 117 determines that there are no remaining changeable parameters and the layout conditions cannot be changed (step ST13: No), it proceeds to step ST14. In step ST14, the optimal layout search unit 117 determines that there is no optimal layout for the facilities within the cleaning factory 10 and ends the layout design support process. In this case, the basic design for the cleaning factory 10 is redone.

[0082] On the other hand, when in step ST13 the optimal layout search unit 117 determines that there are remaining changeable parameters and they exist (step ST13: Yes), it returns to step ST9 and executes steps ST9 to ST11 again. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the number of inlet weighing machines 12 is selected as a changeable parameter (step ST9), and the layout conditions are selected and changed such that the inlet weighing machine 12 is composed of two units, the inlet weighing machines 12a and 12b (step ST10). In this case, since it is desirable that one road is connected to each inlet of the inlet weighing machines 12a and 12b, the road 14 is also composed of two roads 14a and 14b. Note that the road 15 for moving from the inlet weighing machines 12a and 12b to the platform 30 is also composed of two roads 15a and 15b. Here, when the layout constraint condition for the number of inlet weighing machines 12 is the condition of "two or less", it is within the range of the layout constraint conditions. In this case, in step ST11, the optimal layout search unit 117 determines that the changed value of the change parameter satisfies the layout constraint condition (step ST11: Yes) and proceeds to step ST12.

[0083] In step ST12, the optimal layout search unit 117 sets the changed parameters as new layout conditions and outputs them to the layout information setting unit 113. Specifically, for example, the position information of the above-described inlet weighing machines 12a and 12b (weighing machine position information) and the position information of the roads 14a, 14b, 15a, and 15b are output to the layout information setting unit 113. Then, the process proceeds to step ST4, and the congestion simulation is executed by the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111.

[0084] Here, specifically, for example, assume that in step ST5, the maximum number of waiting vehicles in the roads 14 (14a, 14b) in the cleaning factory 10 derived by the incoming vehicle simulation unit 111 based on the new layout conditions is, for example, N - 10 (vehicles). In this case, the maximum number of waiting vehicles in the cleaning factory 10 becomes equal to or less than the target value N (vehicles) of the number of waiting vehicles (step ST6). In this case, the target determination unit 120 determines that the maximum number of waiting vehicles is equal to or less than the target value N (vehicles) of the number of waiting vehicles (step ST7: Yes) and proceeds to step ST8.

[0085] In step ST8, the target determination unit 120 determines that the facilities such as the roads 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b, 16, 17, the inlet weighing machines 12a, 12b, and the outlet weighing machine 13 arranged in the cleaning factory 10 are optimally arranged, and ends the layout design support process.

[0086] As described above, by repeating steps ST4 to ST13 until the number of waiting vehicles or the length of the waiting queue in the simulation result becomes equal to or less than the target value, it becomes possible to search for the desired layout of the facilities inside the cleaning factory 10. Further, when searching for the layout conditions of the facilities by the program that executes the layout design support process, the layout constraint conditions in the layout of the facilities are considered. Since the layout constraint conditions are the conditions that restrict the layout of the facilities that can be realistically constructed, it is possible to exclude the layout of the facilities outside the range of the layout constraint conditions from the search range and search within the layout conditions that can be realistically established.

[0087] According to the above-described embodiment, it becomes possible to quantitatively evaluate the number of waiting carrier vehicles 40 and the waiting time, and it becomes possible to design an efficient facility layout that secures the minimum necessary number of weighing machines, the number of loading locations, and the space for the waiting locations. Further, since a program that executes the layout design support process can automatically search for layout conditions that satisfy the target number of waiting carrier vehicles 40, it becomes possible to reduce the time and labor costs required for considering the layout design. Furthermore, the possibility of deriving optimal layout conditions can be improved by increasing the number of consideration patterns.

[0088] Also, according to the above-described embodiment, in the basic planning stage of the cleaning factory, by performing a congestion simulation that calculates the movement and stop of the carrier vehicle 40 in the cleaning factory and a layout design support process, the number of waiting carrier vehicles 40 and the waiting time can be derived, and it becomes possible to consider an efficient facility layout with the minimum necessary weighing and the number of loading locations and the size of the waiting locations.

[0089] (Recording medium) In the above-described embodiment, a program capable of executing the information processing method by the information processing apparatus 100 can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium of a computer or other machines and devices (hereinafter referred to as a computer or the like). By causing the computer or the like to read and execute the program of the recording medium, the computer functions as the information processing apparatus 100. Here, a computer-readable recording medium refers to a non-transitory recording medium that accumulates information such as data and programs by an electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action and can be read by a computer or the like. Among such recording media, removable ones from a computer or the like include, for example, flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-R / Ws, DVDs, BDs, DATs, magnetic tapes, memory cards such as flash memories, and the like. Also, fixed recording media in a computer or the like include hard disks, ROMs, and the like. Furthermore, an SSD can be used as both a removable recording medium from a computer or the like and a fixed recording medium in a computer or the like.

[0090] Also, the program to be executed by the information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network.

[0091] (Other Embodiments) Also, in the information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment, the above-described "section" can be read as "circuit" or the like. For example, the communication section can be read as a communication circuit.

[0092] Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. The broader aspects of the present invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments presented and described above. Accordingly, various changes are possible without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. For example, the numerical values and types of information given in the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and different numerical values and types of information may be used as necessary. The present invention is not limited by the descriptions and drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention according to the above-described embodiments.

[0093] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the inlet meter 12 and the outlet meter 13 are not limited to one location each, and a plurality of them may be arranged respectively. Further, the inlet meter 12 and the outlet meter 13 may be composed of a common meter, and the same measurement as the measurement in the inlet meter 12 and the outlet meter 13 may be performed by one meter. In addition, it may be determined in advance whether to move to either the first loading location 31 or the second loading location 32 depending on the vehicle classification. Furthermore, there may be three or more loading locations, such as a third loading location or a fourth loading location. Also, the loading locations 31 and 32 are not necessarily limited to being provided within the platform 30, and in some cases, a facility provided outside the platform 30 may be the loading location. Further, the roads 14 to 17 are not necessarily limited to one or two, and various numbers of lanes can be set, and the number of lanes may be changed by merging or branching in the middle of the road.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0094] 10 Cleaning factory 11 Entrance / exit 12 Inlet meter 12a First inlet meter 12b Second inlet meter 13 Outlet meter 14, 14a, 14b, 15, 15a, 15b, 16, 17 Roads 20 Factory building 30 Platform 31, 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d First loading location 32 Second loading location 40, 40A, 40B Loading vehicle 40 100 Information processing device 110 Control unit 111 Loading vehicle simulation unit 112 Loading route data generation unit 113 Placement information setting unit 114 Loading flow line information setting unit 115 Loading condition setting unit 116 General condition setting unit 117 Optimal placement search unit 118 Simulation result output unit 119 Simulation video generation unit 120 Target determination unit 130 Memory unit 131 Image database 132 Time series information database 133 Simulation result information database 134 Condition database 140 Input unit 150 Output unit 160 Communication unit

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus including a control unit that performs calculations related to the movement and stop of a moving body moving in a predetermined facility and searches for the arrangement of facilities in the predetermined facility, wherein the control unit, acquires position information of at least one weighing location provided in the predetermined facility where the moving body can be weighed and at least one loading location where the moving body loads a predetermined load, passage information indicating the state of passages that selectively connect an entrance for entering the predetermined facility, an exit for leaving the predetermined facility, the weighing location, and the loading location, loading number information on the number of moving bodies entering the predetermined facility, loading route information indicating the order when the moving body passes through at least one of the weighing location and the loading location, vehicle information including information on the moving speed of the moving body, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance during parking, and work time information at the weighing location and the loading location, derives at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving bodies waiting in the passage with respect to the moving body based on the acquired information, and searches for the arrangement of the facilities in the predetermined facility based on at least one of the derived number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length Information processing apparatus.

2. The control unit, determines whether at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving body in the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage provided in the predetermined facility is within a target range of the comparable number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length, when it is outside the target range, changes the arrangement condition regarding at least one of the position or number of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility, and based on the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage of the predetermined facility in the state where the arrangement condition is changed, derives the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length, and changes the arrangement condition until it is determined that at least one of the number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length of the moving body is within the target range of the comparable number of waiting moving bodies and the waiting queue length or it is determined that the arrangement condition cannot be changed The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1.

3. The control unit, acquires arrangement constraint conditions including conditions under which the arrangement of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility is possible, When the arrangement condition that satisfies the arrangement constraint condition and for which the number of waiting vehicles and the length of the waiting queue are within the target range cannot be obtained by search, it is determined that the arrangement condition cannot be changed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.

4. The target range of the number of waiting vehicles is set to be equal to or less than the maximum number of vehicles that can wait on the passage based on the passage length of the passage in the predetermined facility, the vehicle length of the moving body, and the inter-vehicle distance of the moving body. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.

5. The target range of the length of the waiting queue is set to be equal to or less than the shortest passage length among the passage lengths of the passages where the moving body can wait in the predetermined facility. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.

6. The predetermined facility is a cleaning factory, The item to be carried in is waste to be carried into the cleaning factory, At least one of the loading locations of the moving body is a loading location for the waste in the cleaning factory. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

7. The control unit, derives the position coordinates of the moving body for each predetermined time step by calculating the movement and stop of the moving body for each predetermined time step, generates time-series data of the moving body based on the position coordinates of the moving body for each time step, is configured to generate and output a simulation video by superimposing a moving image of the moving body based on the time-series data and an image showing the arrangement of facilities in the cleaning factory. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

8. An information processing method executed by a control unit that performs calculations related to the movement and stop of a moving body moving in a predetermined facility to search for the arrangement of facilities in the predetermined facility, The control unit, the position information of at least one weighing location provided in the predetermined facility where the moving body can be weighed and at least one loading location where the moving body loads a predetermined item to be carried in, passage information indicating the state of a passage that selectively connects an entrance for entering the predetermined facility, an exit for exiting the predetermined facility, the weighing location, and the loading location, the number-of-loaded-vehicles information of the number of moving bodies entering the predetermined facility, loading route information indicating the order when the moving body passes through at least one of the weighing location and the loading location, vehicle information including information on the moving speed of the moving body, the vehicle length, and the inter-vehicle distance when stopped, Obtain the working time information at the weighing location and the loading location, Based on the obtained information, derive at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length of the vehicle waiting in the passageway regarding the vehicle, Explore the arrangement of the equipment in the predetermined facility based on at least one of the derived number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length Information processing method.

9. The control unit, Determine whether at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length of the vehicle in the weighing location, the loading location, and the passageway provided in the predetermined facility is within the target range of the comparable number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length, When it is outside the target range, change the arrangement condition regarding at least one of the position or number of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility, and based on the weighing location, the loading location, and the passageway of the predetermined facility in the state where the arrangement condition is changed, derive the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length, Change the arrangement condition until it is determined that at least one of the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length of the vehicle is within the target range of the comparable number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length, or it is determined that the arrangement condition cannot be changed The information processing method according to claim 8.

10. The control unit, Obtain the arrangement constraint condition including the condition under which the arrangement of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility is possible, When the arrangement condition that satisfies the arrangement constraint condition and in which the number of waiting vehicles and the waiting queue length are within the target range cannot be obtained by exploration, determine that the arrangement condition cannot be changed The information processing method according to claim 9.

11. Set the target range of the number of waiting vehicles to be less than or equal to the maximum value of the number of vehicles that can wait on the road, which is derived based on the passage length of the passageway in the predetermined facility, the vehicle length of the vehicle, and the inter-vehicle distance of the vehicle. The information processing method according to claim 9.

12. Set the target range of the waiting queue length to be less than or equal to the shortest passage length among the passage lengths of the passageways where the vehicle can wait in the predetermined facility. The information processing method according to claim 9.

13. The predetermined facility is a cleaning factory, The item to be loaded is the waste to be loaded into the cleaning factory, At least one of the loading locations of the moving body is the loading location of the waste in the cleaning factory The information processing method according to claim 8

14. The control unit By calculating the movement and stop of the moving body at each predetermined time step, the position coordinates of the moving body at each predetermined time step are derived Based on the position coordinates of the moving body at each time step, time-series data of the moving body is generated A moving image of the moving body based on the time-series data and an image showing the arrangement of facilities in the cleaning factory are superimposed and displayed to generate and output a simulation video The information processing method according to claim 8

15. A program that causes a control unit having hardware to perform calculations related to the movement and stop of a moving body moving in a predetermined facility, and to search for the arrangement of facilities in the predetermined facility, wherein To the control unit Position information of at least one weighing location provided in the predetermined facility where the moving body can be weighed and at least one loading location where the moving body loads a predetermined load An entrance for entering the predetermined facility, an exit for leaving the predetermined facility, passage information indicating the state of a passage that selectively connects the weighing location, the loading location Loading quantity information of the number of moving bodies entering the predetermined facility Loading route information indicating the order when the moving body passes through at least one of the weighing location and the loading location Vehicle information including information on the moving speed of the moving body, vehicle length, and inter-vehicle distance when stopped Work time information at the weighing location and the loading location is acquired Based on the acquired information, at least one of the waiting number and the waiting queue length of the moving body waiting in the passage regarding the moving body is derived Based on at least one of the derived waiting number and the waiting queue length, the arrangement of the facilities in the predetermined facility is searched A program to be executed

16. To the control unit Determine whether at least one of the waiting number and the waiting queue length of the moving body in the weighing location, the loading location, and the passage provided in the predetermined facility is within a target range of the comparable waiting number and the waiting queue length When it is outside the target range, change the arrangement condition regarding at least one of the positions or numbers of the weighing location and the loading location in the predetermined facility, and based on the weighing location, the loading location, and the passageway of the predetermined facility in the state where the arrangement condition is changed, derive the number of waiting units and the length of the waiting queue. Change the arrangement condition until at least one of the number of waiting units and the length of the waiting queue of the moving body is determined to be within the target range of the comparable number of waiting units and the length of the waiting queue, or until it is determined that the arrangement condition cannot be changed. The program according to claim 15, which causes this to be executed.

Images