Installation control system

Abstract

To provide an installation control system capable of safely and automatically controlling an installation.SOLUTION: An accessory control system of the present disclosure includes a vehicle state determination unit that determines a state of a vehicle, a vehicle periphery safety monitoring unit that monitors safety of a periphery of the vehicle, a remote instruction reception unit that receives instruction information for operating an accessory from an external device, an accessory control unit that controls an operation of the accessory based on a determination result of the vehicle state determination unit, a monitoring result obtained by the vehicle periphery safety monitoring unit, and the instruction information received by a remote driving state transmission unit, and an accessory driving unit that drives the accessory based on control by the accessory control unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an equipment control system that controls equipment mounted on a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Some vehicles are called special-purpose vehicles, and are equipped with bodywork. Examples of special-purpose vehicles include wing trucks with opening and closing wings, dump trucks with a lifting and lowering bed, mixer trucks with a drum for mixing ready-mixed concrete, and concrete pump trucks with a concrete pumping unit.

[0003] As described in Patent Document 1 and elsewhere, specially equipped vehicles are provided with an operating unit for operating the mounted equipment. The operating unit is made up of levers, buttons, etc., and is operated by the driver or on-site workers. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-90282 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In recent years, the transportation industry has been facing a shortage of drivers and other workers. To address this issue, it has been proposed to use autonomous driving technology to operate unmanned trucks.

[0006] However, there has been insufficient consideration given to automating the mounted equipment, which is an obstacle to resolving the labor shortage that is a problem in the transportation industry.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a mounting control system that can safely and automatically control mounting objects. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the bodywork control system of the present disclosure is A vehicle control system that controls mounted equipment, a vehicle state determination unit that determines the state of the vehicle; a vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit that monitors the safety of the surroundings of the vehicle; A remote instruction receiving unit that receives instruction information for operating the equipment from an external device; A mounting control unit that controls the operation of the mounting object based on the judgment result of the vehicle state judgment unit, the monitoring result obtained by the vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit, and the instruction information received by the remote driving state transmission unit; A mounting drive unit that drives the mounting object based on control by the mounting control unit; Equipped with. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present disclosure, a mounting control system can be realized that can safely and automatically control mounting objects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] Diagram showing a winged vehicle [Figure 3] Diagram showing a dump truck [Figure 4] Diagram showing a mixer truck [Figure 5] Diagram showing a concrete pump truck [Figure 6] A diagram explaining reservation information DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Vehicle 100 is a so-called specially equipped vehicle having a mounted object.

[0013] Figures 2 to 5 show examples of specially equipped vehicles that are the subject of this embodiment. Figure 2 is a wing truck equipped with an opening and closing wing as a mounted part, Figure 3 is a dump truck equipped with a lifting and lowering bed as a mounted part, Figure 4 is a mixer truck equipped with a drum for mixing ready-mixed concrete as a mounted part, and Figure 5 is a concrete pump truck equipped with a concrete pumping unit as a mounted part.

[0014] The vehicle 100 may be a specially equipped vehicle other than those illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5, and the key point is that it may be any vehicle equipped with an accessory.

[0015] The vehicle 100 has a vehicle state determination unit 101, a vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit 102, a remote instruction receiving unit 103, a surrounding notification unit 104, a body driving unit 105, a remote driving state transmitting unit 106, and a body control unit 110.

[0016] The vehicle state determination unit 101 receives vehicle speed information, timer information, door information, side parking (side P) information, etc., and determines whether the vehicle 100 is in a parked state based on this information. For example, the vehicle state determination unit 101 determines that the vehicle 100 is in a parked state when one minute or more has passed since the vehicle speed reached 0 km / h, all doors are closed, and the side parking is activated.

[0017] The vehicle periphery safety monitor unit 102 receives omnidirectional information from the camera 102a and the sensor 102b and monitors the safety of the periphery of the vehicle 100 based on this information. Specifically, the vehicle periphery safety monitor unit 102 determines that it is safe to activate the bodywork when the camera 102a, which captures images of the periphery of the vehicle, and the sensor 102b, which detects objects around the vehicle, do not detect any objects such as a person within the bodywork operation area of ​​the vehicle 100. On the other hand, the vehicle periphery safety monitor unit 102 determines that it is not safe when the camera 102a and the sensor 102b detect any object such as a person within the bodywork operation area of ​​the vehicle 100.

[0018] The remote instruction receiving unit 103 receives instruction information for operating the mounted object from an external device. Here, the external device is a center device that transmits instruction information for controlling a plurality of vehicles 100 having mounted objects to each vehicle 100, and transmits reservation information including date and time information for operating the mounted object to the vehicle 100 as instruction information for operating the mounted object. The center device is, for example, a server device operated by a transportation company.

[0019] In this embodiment, the reservation information includes start information, operation information, and termination information. The start information is information that instructs the start of the engine 105b or the motor 105c, which are the torque generation sources of the PTO (Power Take Off) 105a. The operation information is information that activates the PTO 105a, instructs its forward or reverse rotation, and instructs how to operate the mounted equipment. In other words, the operation information is information that instructs the operating mode of the mounted equipment. The termination information is information that instructs the stop of the PTO 105a and its torque generation sources, such as the engine 105b and the motor 105c.

[0020] The reservation information is information in which the above-mentioned start information, operation information, and end information are shown in a schedule format. Specifically, it is information including the start date and time, operation date and time, and end date and time. This reservation information will be explained in detail later.

[0021] When the mounting control unit 110 controls the driving of the mounted object, the surrounding notification unit 104 alerts people around the vehicle 100 that the mounted object is about to be driven by a buzzer 104a, a hazard lamp (hazard) 104b, etc. Note that the alert by the surrounding notification unit 104 is not limited to when the mounted object is being driven, but may be performed a predetermined time before the mounted object is driven. Also, the alert may be performed not only by the buzzer 104a and the hazard lamp (hazard) 104b, but also by a display, for example.

[0022] Based on a control signal from the mounting control unit 110, the mounting drive unit 105 drives parts that operate the mounting, such as the PTO 105a, the engine 105b, and the motor 105c.

[0023] The remote driving status transmission unit 106 transmits the driving status of the mounted object to an external device (center device) based on a signal from the mounting control unit 110. The remote driving status transmission unit 106 also transmits vehicle status information (including, for example, vehicle speed information, door information, and side parking (side P) information) and surrounding monitor information (including, for example, omnidirectional information) to the external device (center device).

[0024] The mounting control unit 110 controls the operation of the mounting object based on the judgment result of the vehicle state judgment unit 101, the monitoring result obtained by the vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit 102, and the instruction information received by the remote instruction receiving unit 103.

[0025] The mounting control unit 110 mainly comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The CPU reads out a program corresponding to the processing content from the ROM and loads it into the RAM, and in cooperation with the loaded program, controls the surrounding notification unit 104, the mounting drive unit 105, and the remote drive status transmission unit 106 based on the outputs of the vehicle state determination unit 101, the vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit 102, and the remote instruction receiving unit 103. Note that all or part of the mounting control unit 110 may be formed by a hardwired circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).

[0026] The control of the mounting control unit 110 will be specifically described. The mounting control unit 110 decides to drive the mounted equipment indicated by the instruction information when the vehicle state determination unit 101 obtains a determination result that the vehicle 100 is in a parked state and the vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit 102 obtains a monitoring result that there is no person within the operating area of ​​the mounted equipment. In other words, even if the instruction information instructs to drive the mounted equipment, the mounting control unit 110 decides not to drive the mounted equipment when the vehicle 100 is not in a parked state or when there is a person around the vehicle 100.

[0027] In this case, driving the mounted equipment means actually operating the mounted equipment. In this embodiment, the mounted equipment control unit 110 starts up the mounted equipment before operation to operate the engine and motor, and then confirms that there is no person within the operating area of ​​the mounted equipment before actually operating the mounted equipment using the mounted equipment drive unit 105.

[0028] When the mounting control unit 110 decides to operate the mounting, it outputs a control signal to the mounting drive unit 105 to operate the mounting, and causes the surrounding notification unit 104 and the remote drive status transmission unit 106 to perform the above-mentioned operations of alerting the surrounding area and notifying an external device (center device) of the remote drive status.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating reservation information transmitted from an external device (center device) and received by the remote instruction receiving unit 103. In FIG.

[0030] As can be seen from the figure, the reservation information includes information on the start date and time, information on the operation date and time, and information on the end date and time. In the example of FIG. 6, reservation information is transmitted from an external device (center device) instructing to start the engine or motor, etc. at 7:45 on January 16, 2024, to operate the mounted equipment at 8:30, and to stop the engine or motor, etc. at 11:45. In addition, reservation information is transmitted from the external device (center device) instructing to start the engine or motor, etc. at 7:45 on January 17, 2024, to operate the mounted equipment at 8:30, and to stop the engine or motor, etc. at 11:45. In addition, reservation information is transmitted from the external device (center device) instructing to start the engine or motor, etc. at 12:45 on January 17, 2024, to operate the mounted equipment at 13:30, and to stop the engine or motor, etc. at 16:45.

[0031] The data structure of this reservation information may be, for example, such that reservation date data is placed in a first data area, operation type data (e.g., 1: start, 2: operation, 3: end) is placed in the following second data area, and data on the time at which the operation is to be performed is placed in the following third data area.

[0032] If the mounted object is driven based on such reservation information, the external device (center device) can display a reservation schedule as shown in Fig. 6. This allows the worker who sets the reservation information on the external device (center device) and manages the operation of the vehicle 100 to set a work plan (reservation information) after adjusting the work volume, work allocation, and timetable of the vehicle 100, and further prevents omissions in the work plan.

[0033] Furthermore, the external device (center device) side can also recognize whether the reservation schedule has been carried out as planned based on the information transmitted from the remote drive status transmission unit 106. For example, if there is a person within the operation area of ​​the mounted object at the reserved date and time, the start-up, operation, and termination operations will not be carried out according to the reserved schedule, but the worker can recognize this based on the information transmitted from the remote drive status transmission unit 106. As a result, if the worker on the external device (center device) side determines that the mounted object did not operate according to the reserved schedule, he or she can set a new reservation schedule.

[0034] As described above, according to this embodiment, the vehicle is provided with a vehicle state determination unit 101 that determines the state of the vehicle 100, a vehicle surroundings safety monitor unit 102 that monitors the safety around the vehicle 100, a remote instruction receiving unit 103 that receives instruction information for operating the mounted equipment from an external device, a mounted equipment control unit 110 that controls the operation of the mounted equipment based on the determination result of the vehicle state determination unit 101, the monitoring result obtained by the vehicle surroundings safety monitor unit 102, and the instruction information received by the remote driving state transmitting unit 106, and a mounted equipment driving unit 105 that drives the mounted equipment based on the control by the mounted equipment control unit 110.

[0035] As a result, even if the driver of the vehicle 100 does not directly operate the mounted equipment, the mounted equipment is operated based on instruction information from an external device, which reduces the burden on the driver, and furthermore, the mounted equipment can be controlled even if there is no worker such as a driver at the actual site to operate the mounted equipment. In addition, the mounted equipment is not simply controlled based on instruction information from an external device, but is controlled taking into account the vehicle's condition and the surrounding safety, so the mounted equipment can be controlled safely. Thus, a mounted equipment control system that can safely and automatically control mounted equipment can be realized.

[0036] Moreover, according to this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is further provided with a surrounding notification unit 104 that notifies the surroundings of the vehicle 100 that the mounted object is operating in response to control of the mounted object by the mounted object control unit 110. This makes it possible to warn people not to approach the vehicle 100 while the mounted object is operating.

[0037] Moreover, according to this embodiment, a transmitting unit (remote driving status transmitting unit 106) is further provided to transmit information on the control of the mounted object by the mounted object control unit 110 to an external device. This allows the external device to check whether the mounted object has actually operated according to the instruction information.

[0038] The above-described embodiments are merely examples of specific embodiments of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by these embodiments. In other words, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the gist or main characteristics thereof. [Industrial Applicability]

[0039] The present disclosure may be applied to specially equipped vehicles having mounted structures, such as wing trucks, dump trucks, mixer trucks, and concrete pump trucks. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 100 vehicles 101 Vehicle state determination unit 102 Vehicle Surrounding Safety Monitor Unit 103 Remote instruction receiver 104 Surrounding Area Notification Department 105 Body drive unit 106 Remote drive status transmitter 110 Bodywork control unit

Claims

1. A vehicle control system that controls mounted equipment, a vehicle state determination unit that determines the state of the vehicle; a vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit that monitors the safety of the surroundings of the vehicle; A remote instruction receiving unit that receives instruction information for operating the equipment from an external device; A mounting control unit that controls the operation of the mounting object based on the judgment result of the vehicle state judgment unit, the monitoring result obtained by the vehicle surrounding safety monitor unit, and the instruction information received by the remote driving state transmission unit; A mounting drive unit that drives the mounting object based on control by the mounting control unit; Bodywork control system.

2. Further provided is a surrounding notification unit that notifies the surroundings of the vehicle that the mounted object is operating in response to control of the mounted object by the mounted object control unit. The body control system according to claim 1.

3. Further provided is a transmission unit that transmits information on the control of the mounted object by the mounted control unit to the external device, The body control system according to claim 1.

4. The instruction information includes start information instructing the start of an engine or a motor, which is a torque generating source of a PTO (Power Take Off), operation information instructing the operation mode of the mounted object, and end information instructing the stop of the PTO, the engine, or the motor. The body control system according to claim 1.

5. The instruction information includes information on the date and time when the mounted object is to be driven. The body control system according to claim 1.

6. The external device is a center device that transmits the instruction information for controlling the plurality of vehicles having mounted objects to each vehicle, and transmits reservation information including date and time information for operating the mounted objects to the vehicles. The body control system according to claim 1.

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