Moving object operation managing device

Abstract

To provide a moving object operation managing device with high practical utility.SOLUTION: A moving object operation managing device, which manages operations of a plurality of moving objects that move along a passage provided within an area and perform work at designated locations, is configured to determine a route that arrives at a destination point Go of a target moving object the shortest when one of a plurality of moving objects is defined as the target moving object, and determine the shortest route (the route indicated by →) for a movement of the target moving object to the destination point Go, and to direct the movement of the object along its shortest route. The moving object operation managing device is configured to perform a travel time resetting process by adding half a standby time until an exclusion area is released to a travel time between the exclusion area and each of the areas connected to the exclusion area, and determine the shortest route based on the results of that processing when the target moving object must pass through an exclusion area (shaded N2, N1) where its movement is hindered by the work of other moving objects.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for managing the operation of a plurality of moving bodies that move through passages provided in a region and perform work at designated locations.

Background Art

[0002] As a system for managing the operation of a plurality of moving bodies, there is a technique as described in the following patent document. In this technique, when an exclusive area, which is an area where movement is impossible on the shortest path of the moving body, is set, the arrival time at the destination is compared between when the moving body moves along the shortest path while waiting until the exclusive area is released and when the moving body moves along a detour path, and the moving path is determined.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the technique of the above patent document, it is difficult to say that the moving body always moves to the destination along the exact shortest path. For example, when a plurality of exclusive areas are set on the shortest path, there is a possibility that the shortest path with the earliest arrival time cannot be estimated. It can be considered that the practicality of the moving body operation management apparatus is improved by accurately grasping the shortest path even in the presence of exclusive areas. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a highly practical moving body operation management apparatus.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the moving body operation management apparatus of the present invention A mobile body operation management device that manages the operations of a plurality of mobile bodies that move through a passage provided within a region and perform work at a designated location, When one of the plurality of mobile bodies is a target mobile body, for the movement of the target mobile body to its destination point, the path that arrives at the destination point the fastest is determined as the shortest path, and it is configured to instruct movement along that shortest path. When the target mobile body has to pass through an exclusive area set as an area where its movement is inhibited by the work of other mobile bodies, it executes a movement time reset process of adding half of the waiting time until the exclusive area is released to the movement time between each of the exclusive area and the area connected to the exclusive area, and is configured to determine the shortest path based on the result of that process.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] The mobile body operation management device of the present invention determines the shortest path based on, for example, Dijkstra's algorithm in graph theory. By executing the movement time reset process as described above, it becomes possible to simply determine an accurate shortest path. Aspects of the Invention

[0007] The mobile bodies to be managed by the mobile body operation management device of the present invention (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as "management device") are not particularly limited, and include various ones such as vehicles, heavy machinery, conveying devices, drones, etc. Further, the present invention can be applied to mobile bodies that move in various regions such as warehouses, offices, streets, etc. Specifically, for example, it can be applied to vehicles that move through a partitioned street to transport people and goods, or to conveying machines that carry in and out articles in a warehouse or yard. The work performed by the mobile body at the designated location is also not particularly limited and may vary in various ways depending on the mobile body.

[0008] The passage through which the mobile body moves may be such that the mobile bodies cannot pass by each other, but in view of ease of operation management and smooth movement of the mobile bodies, it desirably has a certain width and allows passing by and overtaking of the mobile bodies.

[0009] The phrase "the movement of the target moving body is inhibited by another moving body" means, for example, a situation where the operation of a certain moving body, such as an operation that blocks a passage or an operation that protrudes into a passage, interferes with the movement of the target moving body. Briefly speaking, an operation for which an exclusive area is set can be considered as an operation that occupies a passage.

[0010] The moving body may be one that moves automatically, that is, one that is automatically driven, or it may be one that is driven by a person. When the moving body is one that is automatically driven, it may be made to move automatically based on an instruction from the management device. When the moving body is one that is driven by a person, the instruction from the management device may be displayed on a display so that it can be recognized by the driver, for example.

[0011] When the operation of another moving body inhibits the movement of the target moving body in the passage, the management device sets the area where the operation is being performed as an exclusive area. Briefly speaking, for example, when the operation starts, an exclusive area is set for that area, and when the operation ends, or when the moving body assumes a posture to move to the next destination point after finishing the operation, the setting of the exclusive area may be cancelled.

[0012] The basic concept of the present invention can be considered as a choice of either bypassing the area where the exclusive area exists or waiting until the setting of the exclusive area is cancelled. In the present invention, briefly speaking, the shortest path is determined by this choice. Incidentally, the "shortest path" does not mean a path with a short distance to the destination point, but means a path with the shortest time to reach the destination point.

[0013] The management device determines the shortest path based on the moving time between the set areas (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "inter-area moving time"), for example, according to Dijkstra's algorithm in graph theory. The management device resets the inter-area moving time when it is assumed that the target moving object passes through the set exclusive area, that is, executes the above moving time resetting process, and determines the shortest path based on the reset inter-area moving time. Specifically, in the moving time resetting process, half of the waiting time until the exclusive area is released (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "added time") is added to the inter-area moving time between each of the exclusive area and the areas connected to the exclusive area. Such a moving time resetting process is a process for adding the waiting time to the time to reach the destination regardless of which area enters the exclusive area and which area exits when passing through the exclusive area, that is, regardless of the route.

[0014] When a plurality of exclusive areas are set in the route, it is desirable to determine the shortest path in consideration of these plurality of exclusive areas. Specifically, when a plurality of exclusive areas are set in the route to the destination of the target moving object, it is desirable to execute the above moving time resetting process for each of the exclusive areas in order from the foremost exclusive area, and determine the shortest path based on the result of the process. In other words, first, execute the moving time resetting process only for the foremost exclusive area to once determine the shortest path, and then execute the moving time resetting process only for the next exclusive area existing in the shortest path, and determine the shortest path again. Repeat the process for determining such a shortest path until the exclusive areas not targeted by the moving time resetting process no longer exist in the shortest path.

[0015] Incidentally, the exclusive area is set or the setting is canceled over time. That is, when executing the above movement time reset process to determine the shortest path, depending on the time of arrival at a certain area, that area may be set as an exclusive area or the setting of the exclusive area may be canceled. Also, the size of the exclusive area, that is, its dimensions may change over time. Specifically, a plurality of adjacent areas may be set as one exclusive area, and as the work of the moving body progresses in that one exclusive area, in some of the plurality of areas, the movement of other moving bodies may no longer be inhibited. Conversely, although one or more areas are set as one exclusive area, as the work of the moving body progresses, in the areas adjacent to the one or more areas, the movement of other moving bodies may be inhibited. Thus, the length and width of the exclusive area may change over time. In the management device of the present invention, it is desirable to determine the shortest path in consideration of these things, that is, in consideration of the change in the size of the exclusive area over time.

[0016] The determination of the shortest path may be performed, for example, when at least one work assignment is made to the target moving body. That is, it may be performed when the destination of the target moving body is determined. However, the situation of the area changes moment by moment, and it is also expected that the moving body will perform irregular actions. Considering this, it is desirable that the determination of the shortest path be executed every time the target moving body moves a set distance or every time a set time elapses. That is, it is desirable to be executed repeatedly as needed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, as an embodiment for carrying out the present invention, a mobile body operation management device which is an example will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention can be implemented in various forms with various changes and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, in addition to the following examples and the forms described in the section of 〔Aspects of the Invention〕 above.

Example

[0019] [A] Vehicle Warehouse The mobile body operation management device of the example is a transporter operation management device (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a "management device") that manages the operation of a vehicle transporter (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a "transporter") as a mobile body. As shown in FIG. 1, the transporter T moves, that is, travels, within the vehicle warehouse (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a "warehouse") 10 as an area. The transporter T, which will be described in detail later, carries the vehicle C as a transported item into the warehouse 10, stores the transported vehicle C in the storage section S, takes out the vehicle C stored in the storage section S, and transports the vehicle C out of the warehouse 10.

[0020] The storage section S has a length and width that can exactly accommodate one vehicle C. Inside the warehouse 10, four storage rows L of the storage section S are provided in the length direction, and several storage blocks B in which these storage rows L are arranged in the width direction are provided. Inside the warehouse 10, a passage P for the transporter T to travel is provided so as to surround each storage block B. Specifically, a horizontal passage PL extending in the horizontal direction of the figure facing the end of the storage row L and a vertical passage PV connecting these horizontal passages PL are provided. Hereinafter, the horizontal passage PL and the vertical passage PV may be collectively referred to as the passage P. Each passage P has a width that allows two transporters T to travel side by side. In each passage P, it is possible for the transporters T to pass by each other and for one transporter T to overtake another transporter T.

[0021] The horizontal passages PL are numbered 1, 2, 3,... from the upper side in the figure. Hereinafter, each of the horizontal passages PL may be referred to as PL(1), PL(2), PL(3),... in relation to its number. Similarly, the vertical passages PV are numbered 1, 2, 3,... from the left side in the figure. Hereinafter, each of the vertical passages PV may be referred to as PV(1), PV(2), PV(3),... in relation to its number. Furthermore, the portion where the horizontal passage PL and the vertical passage PV intersect may be collectively referred to as an intersection CP. Individually, they may be referred to as CP(1,1), CP(1,2),..., CP(2,1), CP(2,2),... in association with the numbers of the horizontal passage PL and the vertical passage PV.

[0022] As shown by the dashed lines in the figure, the passage P is divided into several areas N. For these areas, with respect to the horizontal passage PL(1), in the order from the left in the figure, they are numbered, for example, for the horizontal passage PL1, as NL(1,1), NL(1,2), ···, in relation to their own numbers. Similarly, for the vertical passage PL(1), in the order from the top in the figure, they are numbered, for example, for the vertical passage PV1, as NV(1,1), NV(1,2), ···, in relation to their own numbers. Note that the intersection CP is also an area, and that area is numbered, for example, as NC(1,1), NC(1,2), ···, NC(2,1), NC(2,2), ···, based on the number of the intersection CP. In the figure, the numbers are shown enclosed by a dashed ellipse. Incidentally, each area N can be considered as a node (vertex, knot point, etc.) in graph theory, and it can also be considered that there are edges (sides) connecting these areas N within the warehouse 10.

[0023] At the left end of the warehouse 10 in the figure, there is a loading exit GO for carrying out the vehicle C. Although it is omitted in the figure, at the right end, there is a loading entrance GI for carrying in the vehicle C. The management device 12 is composed of a computer 14 and a communication device 16, and is installed in the management room 18 attached to the warehouse 10.

[0024] [B]Vehicle transporter As shown in the plan view of Fig. 2(a) and the side view of Fig. 2(b), the transporter T is composed of a self-driving tractor 20 and a carrier 22 towed by the tractor 20. The tractor 20 and the carrier 22 are rotatable relative to each other about a hinge 24. The tractor 20 has front wheels 26 and rear wheels 28, with the front wheels 26 being steering wheels and the rear wheels 28 being drive wheels. The tractor 20 incorporates an automatic driving controller for automatic driving. In addition, a unit device 30, which integrates a camera for monitoring the surroundings for automatic driving, a beacon receiver for acquiring its own position, a communication device for communicating with the management device 12, etc., is held above the tractor 20. Since the automatic driving is performed by a general method, the description here is omitted. The carrier 22 has a lifting base plate 32, and this lifting is performed by the automatic driving controller. Further, the carrier 22 has wheels 34 at the end on the side far from the tractor 20.

[0025] As shown in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b), the transporter T can insert the carrier 22 under the vehicle body from the rear side of the vehicle C, lift the vehicle C with the base plate 32 raised, and transport the vehicle C in this state. Although not shown, it is also possible to insert the carrier 22 under the vehicle body from the front side of the vehicle C, lift the vehicle C with the base plate 32 raised, and transport the vehicle C in this state. That is, the transporter T can access the vehicle C in either the front or rear direction of the vehicle C.

[0026] [C] Inhibition of vehicle storage / retrieval work and passage movement by a vehicle transporter As shown in FIG. 1, in the warehouse 10, there is an arrangement of storage rows L in which four storage compartments S are lined up. For the retrieval of the vehicle C from the storage compartment S and the storage of the vehicle C into the storage compartment S, the transporter T enters the storage row L from the transverse passage PL facing the end of the storage row L and exits from the storage row L to the transverse passage PL. The passage P is for left-side traffic, and has a width that allows the transporter T to pass by and one transporter T to overtake another transporter T. However, since the length of the transporter T is long regardless of whether it is transporting the vehicle C or not, when performing storage and retrieval operations (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "operations"), in the area of the transverse passage PL including the location where the operation is being performed, the movement of other transporters T in that area will be hindered.

[0027] Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 3(a), when the transporter T1 performs the retrieval operation of the vehicle C stored in the storage compartment S facing the area NL3, that is, the vehicle C marked with a ★, it first shifts to the side far from the vehicle C in the transverse passage PL and protrudes beyond the area NL3, and then reverses and enters the storage compartment S. In the case shown in the figure, it will protrude to the area NC1 which is the area of the intersection CP. In this embodiment, at that time, the area NL3 and the area NC1 are set as an exclusive area E as shown by hatching in the figure, and the passage of other transporters T in these areas is prohibited. Specifically, the transporter T2 trying to go straight to the left in the figure beyond the area NL3 in the transverse passage PL and the transporter T3 trying to go straight upward in the figure beyond the intersection CP in the longitudinal passage PV will each wait in the areas NL4 and NV2 until the exclusive area E is released.

[0028] Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3(b), when the transporter T1 is about to transport the vehicle C and move rightward in the figure along the horizontal passage PL, since the transporter T1 does not enter the area NC1, when the transporter T1 enters the section S where the vehicle C is stored, the setting of the exclusive area E for the area NC1 is released, and the transporter T3 is allowed to pass through the area NC1. Then, when the transporter T1 starts moving rightward in the figure along the horizontal passage PL, the setting of the exclusive area E for the area NL3 is released, and the transporter T2 is allowed to pass through the area NL3.

[0029] The setting of the above exclusive area E is performed by the management device 12, which will be described in detail later. Generally speaking, in this embodiment, when the movement of the passage of one transporter T, which is the target moving body, hinders the operation of other transporters T, the area where the operation is being performed is set as the exclusive area E. Also, as can be understood from the above description, in this embodiment, it can be considered that the size of the exclusive area E changes with time as the operation of other transporters T progresses, and the setting and release of the exclusive area E are performed in consideration of this change.

[0030] In this embodiment, the vehicle C is also stored in the section S at the back of the section S facing the horizontal passage PL (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "front section S"). When the vehicle C is stored in both the front section S and the vehicle C in the back section S is to be transported, the transporter T takes out the vehicle C stored in the front section S, temporarily places it on the horizontal passage PL, then takes out the vehicle C in the back section S, temporarily places it in another location on the horizontal passage PL, stores the vehicle C temporarily placed earlier in the back section S, and then transports the vehicle C temporarily placed in another location. Therefore, in such a case, the working time is also somewhat long, and the exclusive area E is set for a relatively long time.

[0031] [D] Functions of the transporter operation management device As described above, the management device 12, which is a mobile body operation management device, mainly consists of a computer 14. The computer 14 includes a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM, a RAM, and a hard disk. Hereinafter, the functions of the management device 12 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. 4. Each block in the figure represents a functional unit realized by the computer 14 executing a predetermined program.

[0032] The management device 12 has an inventory management unit 50 that creates inventory data indicating which storage section S in the warehouse 10 currently contains which vehicle C. The management device 12 also receives, via the communication device 16, loading / unloading data from the outside regarding when and what kind of vehicle C is loaded into the warehouse 10 and when and what kind of vehicle C is unloaded from the warehouse 10. The management device 12 has a work plan creation unit 52 that creates a work plan for the storage / retrieval operation of the vehicle C by the transporter T based on this loading / unloading data. Although detailed descriptions of the inventory data and the work plan are omitted, they are stored in the storage device 54.

[0033] Furthermore, based on the above inventory data and loading / unloading data, the management device 12 identifies, at an appropriate timing, the storage section S for storing the incoming vehicle C or the storage section S where the vehicle C to be unloaded is stored, and determines which transporter T will perform the storage operation of the vehicle C into the storage section S or the retrieval operation of the vehicle C from the storage section S. The management device 12 has a transporter state grasping unit 58. The transporter state grasping unit 58 grasps, based on the information received from each transporter T via the communication device 16, which transporter T is moving while transporting the vehicle C or not transporting the vehicle C at which position inside the warehouse 10, or at which position the storage operation or the retrieval operation is being performed. The assignment decision by the work assignment decision unit 56, that is, the assignment of the storage operation or the retrieval operation to each transporter T, is made based on this grasping.

[0034] The management device 12 issues an operation instruction order to the transporter T to which a work assignment is assigned, such as which vehicle C should be carried into the warehouse 10, which storage section S it should go through which passage P, and store the vehicle C in that storage section S, or which vehicle C stored in which storage section S should be taken out and carried out of the warehouse 10 through which passage P. In short, the management device 12 has a function of issuing an operation instruction including the next destination and travel route to each transporter T via the communication device 16, in other words, it has a function of performing an operation instruction order process.

[0035] If the transporter T to which a work assignment is assigned and an operation instruction is issued is defined as the target transporter T as the target moving body, and the point where the target transporter T should travel and arrive according to the work assignment is defined as the destination point, respectively, the operation instruction order unit 60 issues an operation instruction to the target transporter T to travel to the destination point along the shortest path.

[0036] As described above, the work of other transporters T may hinder the travel of the target transporter T on the passage. Therefore, the operation instruction order unit 60 has an exclusive area setting unit 62 for setting the above-mentioned exclusive area E. And the operation instruction order unit 60 has a shortest path determination unit 64 for determining the shortest path to the destination point of the target transporter T in consideration of the exclusive area E. Further, when determining the shortest path, in the case where the exclusive area E is set on the path, in consideration of waiting in front of the exclusive section E, a process of adding the waiting time to the moving time between each of the exclusive area E and the area connected thereto, that is, the moving time reset process is executed. Therefore, the operation instruction order unit 60 has a moving time reset unit 66.

[0037] [E]Determination of the shortest path Regarding the determination of the shortest path described above, the following explanation will be given with reference to the schematic example shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows each area N of the passage and how they are connected. The area N that is the starting point is indicated by St, and the area N that is the destination is indicated by Go. The other areas N are numbered N1 to N6. Areas N1 to N6 can be considered as nodes in graph theory. Also, the inter-area lines connecting each area N indicate that it is possible to move between two areas N, and can be considered as edges in graph theory. The numbers beside the inter-area lines indicate the time required for the transporter T to travel between those two areas N, that is, the inter-area travel time, in minutes. Hereinafter, the target transporter will be represented by Ts, and the target transporter Ts is considered to depart from the starting point St at 10:00. Incidentally, the shortest path to the destination Go, each area N, and the arrival time at the destination Go are calculated, for example, according to Dijkstra's algorithm.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 5(a), when no other transporter T is working in any of the areas N1 to N6 and none of them are exclusive areas E, the shortest path determination unit 64 determines the path St→N3→N2→N1→Go as the shortest path, and the operation instruction issuing unit 60 issues an instruction to the target transporter Ts to travel along that shortest path and head towards the destination Go. In that case, the arrival time of the target transporter Ts at the destination Go is 10:11.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 5(b), when another transporter T is scheduled to work in area N2 between 10:02 and 10:07, the exclusive area setting unit 62 sets area N2 as the exclusive area E as shown by shading during that time period. Therefore, when the target transporter Ts attempts to pass through the above shortest path, it needs to wait in front of area N2 until the exclusive area E is released. Since the arrival time at area N2 is 10:05, the waiting time until the exclusive area E is released is 2 minutes. In this case, the movement time resetting unit 66 adds 1 minute, which is the time obtained by dividing the waiting time by 2, to the inter-area movement time between each of areas N3, N6, and N1 connected to area N2 and area N2. That is, a movement time resetting process is performed to reset the inter-area movement time between area N2 and area N3 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "inter-area movement time N3-N2"), inter-area movement time N6-N2, and inter-area movement time N2-N1 to 4 minutes, 3 minutes, and 4 minutes, respectively. Based on the inter-area movement time reset in this way, the shortest path determination unit 64 determines the shortest path. The shortest path in that case is the same as when the exclusive area E is not set, which is St→N3→N2→N1→Go, and the operation instruction issuing unit 60 issues an instruction to the target transporter Ts to travel along the shortest path and head towards the destination Go. In this case, since the target transporter Ts needs to wait for 2 minutes in front of area N2, the arrival time at the destination Go is 10:13.

[0040] On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5(c), when another transporter T is scheduled to work in area N2 between 10:02 and 10:11, since the waiting time before area N2 is 6 minutes, the movement time resetting unit 66 adds 3 minutes, which is the time obtained by dividing the waiting time by 2, to the inter-area movement times between each of areas N3, N6, and N1 connected to area N2 and area N2. That is, movement time resetting processing is performed to reset the inter-area movement times N3-N2, N6-N2, and N2-N1 to 6 minutes, 5 minutes, and 6 minutes, respectively. Based on the inter-area movement times reset in this way, the shortest path determination unit 64 determines the shortest path. The shortest path in that case is St→N6→N5→N1→Go, that is, a path that bypasses area N2, and the operation instruction issuing unit 60 issues an instruction to the target transporter Ts to travel along the shortest path and head towards the destination Go. The arrival time of the target transporter Ts at the destination Go in this case is 10:15.

[0041] Also, when other conveyors T are operating in two areas N, the shortest path is determined as follows. For example, as shown in Fig. 5(d), when another conveyor T is operating in area N2 between 10:02 and 10:07 and another conveyor T is operating in area N1 between 10:06 and 10:12, that is, when area N1 is also set as the exclusive area E in addition to the case shown in Fig. 5(b), consider this situation. In this case, as described above, the shortest path determination unit 64 once determines the shortest path as the path St→N3→N2→N1→Go. In this path, furthermore, since the passage of the target conveyor Ts is also blocked in area N1, the exclusive area setting unit 62 also sets area N1 as the exclusive area E. And since the waiting time before area N1 is 2 minutes, the movement time resetting unit 66 adds 1 minute, which is the time obtained by dividing the waiting time by 2, to the inter-area movement times between each of areas N2, N5, and the destination Go, which are connected to area N1 and area N1. That is, a movement time resetting process is performed to reset the inter-area movement times N2-N1, N5-N1, and N1-Go to 5 minutes, 3 minutes, and 4 minutes respectively. Based on the inter-area movement times reset in this way, the shortest path determination unit 64 determines the shortest path. The shortest path in that case is St→N3→N2→N1→Go, and the operation instruction issuing unit 60 issues an instruction to the target conveyor Ts to travel along the shortest path and head for the destination Go. In this case, since the target conveyor Ts needs to wait for another 2 minutes even before area N1, the arrival time at the destination Go is 10:15.

[0042] As described above, the management device 12 can appropriately determine the shortest path even when a plurality of exclusive areas E are set in the path. Although detailed description is omitted, in the case where the release of the exclusive area E for area N1 is delayed, the shortest path determination unit 64 may set a path that bypasses area N1, that is, a path such as St→N6→N5→N4→Go as the shortest path.

[0043] [F] Flow of the process for determining the shortest path Regarding the flow of the process for determining the shortest path described above (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "shortest path determination process"), it will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6.

[0044] In the shortest path determination process, first, in step 1 (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "S1". The same applies to other steps), the initial setting of the inter-region travel time is performed. In this setting, assuming that the exclusive area E does not exist, each inter-region travel time is set to the time stored in advance. In the subsequent S2, according to the method of Dijkstra's algorithm in graph theory, the shortest path is tentatively determined.

[0045] In the next S3, it is determined whether or not an encounter with the exclusive area E occurs when traveling on the tentatively determined shortest path. Specifically, when traveling on the tentatively determined shortest path, the arrival time at each area N can be estimated, and when trying to pass through that area N at a time when another transporter T is working in any area N, it is determined that an encounter with the exclusive area E occurs. When it is determined that an encounter with the exclusive area N occurs, in S4, the waiting time for the nearest exclusive area N in the tentatively determined shortest path is calculated. Subsequently, in S5, the above-described movement time re-setting process is performed. Specifically, half of the calculated waiting time is added to the inter-region travel time between that exclusive area E and each area N connected to that exclusive area E.

[0046] After the movement time re-setting process is performed, it returns to S2, and based on the re-set inter-region travel time, the processes after the tentative determination of the shortest path are performed again. The processes after this S2 are repeated until no encounter with the exclusive area E occurs when traveling on the tentatively determined shortest path. When no encounter with the exclusive area E occurs, in S6, the shortest path that is tentatively determined at the current time is determined as the shortest path to be traveled. After that determination, a series of processes for determining the shortest path ends.

[0047] The above-mentioned shortest path determination process is first performed when a work assignment is issued for the target transporter Ts. Since the situation in the warehouse 10 changes every moment, hereafter, each time the target transporter Ts enters the next area N from the currently traveling area N during travel, it is executed. The shortest path may be changed, and when it is changed, a command regarding the changed shortest path is transmitted to the target transporter Ts. In this management device 12, the shortest path determination process is set to be performed each time the target transporter Ts enters the next area N, but it may be performed each time a set distance is traveled or each time a set time has elapsed.

Explanation of Signs

[0048] 10: Vehicle warehouse [area] 12: Transporter operation management device [mobile body operation management device] 14: Computer 16: Communication device 18: Management room 20: Tractor 22: Carrier 50: Inventory management department 52: Work plan creation department 54: Storage device 56: Work assignment determination department 58: Transporter state grasping department 60: Operation instruction issuing department 62: Exclusive area setting department 64: Shortest path determination department 66: Movement time re-setting department T: Vehicle transporter [mobile body] C: Vehicle [carried object] S: Storage section L: Storage row B: Storage block P: Passageway PL: Horizontal passageway PV: Vertical passageway CP: Intersection N: Area (NL, NV, NC) E: Exclusive area

Claims

1. A mobile body operation management device for managing the operations of a plurality of mobile bodies that move along a passage provided within a region and perform operations at a designated location, wherein: When one of the plurality of mobile bodies is designated as a target mobile body, for the movement of the target mobile body to its destination point, the path that arrives at the destination point the fastest is determined as the shortest path, and it is configured to instruct movement along that shortest path. Also, When the target mobile body must pass through an exclusive area set as an area where its movement is obstructed by the operations of other mobile bodies, it executes a movement time resetting process of adding half of the waiting time until the exclusive area is released to the movement time between each of the exclusive area and the area connected to the exclusive area, and is configured to determine the shortest path based on the result of that process. A mobile body operation management device.

2. The mobile body operation management device according to claim 1, wherein when a plurality of exclusive areas are set on the path to the destination point of the target mobile body, the movement time resetting process for each of the exclusive areas is executed in order from the foremost exclusive area, and the shortest path is determined.

3. The mobile body operation management device according to claim 1, wherein when the size of the exclusive area changes over time, it is configured to determine the shortest path taking that change into account.

4. The mobile body operation management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shortest path is determined each time the target mobile body moves a set distance or each time a set time has elapsed.

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