Operating system

Abstract

To improve practicality of a work system configured by including a mobile work machine which moves by means of electric energy stored in battery to carry out work.SOLUTION: This work system comprises: a plurality of mobile work machines 10; and a charging facility 58 that has a plurality of charging ports 62 and that is for charging batteries the mobile work machines. When charging from some of the charging ports become impossible, in place of a normal planed charging process, if remaining charging ports include a free port through which no charging is currently carried out, a failure-time charging process for issuing a charging instruction to carry out charging through the free port to a mobile work machine which has finished work is performed. Through the failure-time charging process, the battery of the mobile work machine which has finished work is charged for each presence of a free port without following a preset charging plan. Thus, at each mobile work machine, a state where a battery remaining capacity becomes 0 can be prevented.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a work system configured to include a mobile work machine that moves and works by electric energy stored in a battery.

Background Art

[0002] In the above work system, for example, the mobile work machine has a battery and operates by electric energy stored in the battery. In such a work system, it is necessary to charge the battery, in other words, to charge the mobile work machine. In the following patent documents, the charging management of a service vehicle, which is a mobile work machine, is performed based on an operation plan so that the vehicle can move to a charging facility and be charged at the charging facility without any delay.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a work system, it is desired to have high charging efficiency. Therefore, usually, based on the number of mobile work machines, the content of the work to be performed, etc., a charging facility with the smallest possible scale is adopted as long as the work efficiency does not decrease. On the other hand, for example, a situation is also assumed where the charging facility cannot exhibit sufficient capacity due to a failure or the like, and in such a situation, consideration is required to maintain the work efficiency of the mobile work machine as high as possible. By taking such consideration, it becomes possible to improve the practicality of the work system. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a highly practical work system.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To solve the above problems, the work system of the present invention A plurality of mobile work machines each having a battery and performing work involving movement by the electrical energy stored in the battery, Charging equipment having a plurality of charging ports and charging the batteries of the mobile work machines connected to each of the charging ports, A controller for managing the operations of the plurality of mobile work machines A work system comprising: The controller Based on the work plans of the plurality of mobile work machines, formulates a charging plan for the plurality of mobile work machines and executes a planned charging process of issuing a charging instruction based on the charging plan to each of the plurality of mobile work machines, while When charging from a part of the plurality of charging ports becomes impossible, instead of the planned charging process, when there is an empty port where charging has not been performed in the remaining part excluding the said part of the plurality of charging ports, a defective charging process of issuing a charging instruction to the mobile work machine that has finished work to charge from the empty port is configured to be executed.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] According to the work system of the present invention described above, for example, when the number of available charging ports decreases due to a defect, inspection, etc. of the charging equipment, without following the pre-established charging plan, each time there is an empty space in the available charging ports, the battery of the mobile work machine that has finished work is charged, so that in each mobile work machine, it is possible to avoid a state where the remaining amount of the battery becomes 0 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an "electricity shortage state"). As a result, even if a charging equipment with a somewhat small capacity is adopted, it is possible to prevent a significant decrease in the work efficiency of the work system. Aspects of the Invention

[0007] The "mobile working machine" in the working system of the present invention is not particularly limited. Specifically, for example, typically, vehicles for moving and transporting objects, vehicles for performing various operations such as construction and inspection, etc. are applicable. Also, a moving body that cannot be called a vehicle, such as a drone, etc. may be used. The mobile working machine may be operated by a human or may be automatically operated. That is, it may be something like a robot. Also, the place where the mobile working machine moves is not particularly limited, and it may be indoors or outdoors.

[0008] The "charging port" of the charging facility means a part connected to the mobile working machine for charging, a place where the mobile working machine should be located for charging, etc. The charging facility may be one charger having a plurality of charging ports, or may be a plurality of chargers each having one charging port.

[0009] Since the "controller" manages the operation of the mobile working machine, for example, it is desirable that it has a communication device capable of communicating various information and various instructions with the terminal of the mobile working machine. Also, the controller may have a function of acquiring or creating a working plan for the mobile working machine, and specifically, it may be mainly composed of a computer. Note that the part for formulating the charging plan in the planned charging process and the part for issuing the charging instruction may be separate from each other. That is, the controller may be composed of a plurality of devices each including a computer.

[0010] It is desirable that the above "working plan" has high working efficiency as much as possible, and it is desirable that the above "charging plan" does not inhibit the working efficiency according to the working plan. In view of the charging facility efficiency, as long as charging of a plurality of mobile working machines can be performed according to the normal charging plan formulated based on the normal working plan, it is desirable that the charging facility is as small as possible in terms of the number of charging ports, etc.

[0011] In the above "charging process during failure" when charging becomes impossible from some of the multiple charging ports, it is desirable to charge the multiple mobile working machines evenly. That is to say, it is desirable to charge the multiple mobile working machines without bias. In view of this, it is desirable to issue a charging instruction to the mobile working machine having a battery on the condition that the remaining battery level is below the set charging amount (which can also be referred to as the "set remaining amount"). Conversely, it is desirable not to issue a charging instruction to a mobile working machine with a sufficient battery level even if there is an empty port.

[0012] Also, for the above-mentioned unbiased charging, it is desirable to issue a charging instruction to the mobile working machine stating that charging should not be performed for more than the set time even if the battery is not fully charged. That is to say, in short, by repeatedly charging each of the multiple mobile working machines for a short time, it is possible to charge the multiple mobile working machines evenly.

[0013] On the other hand, in the charging process during failure, in order to avoid a power shortage for any mobile working machine, for a mobile working machine whose remaining battery level is below the limit charging amount (which can also be referred to as the "limit remaining amount") set less than the above-mentioned set charging amount, when there is no empty port at the end of the work, it is desirable to wait without performing work until an empty port appears, and when an empty port appears, preferably issue a charging instruction to charge from that empty port preferentially.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, as a mode for carrying out the present invention, a work system which is an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the claimable invention can be implemented in various forms obtained by making various changes and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, in addition to the following embodiments and the forms described in the section of 〔Aspects of the Invention〕.

Embodiment

[0016] [A] Conveyor robot The work system of the embodiment is a product conveyance system in a logistics warehouse (hereinafter, may be abbreviated as "conveyance system") including a plurality of conveyor robots as mobile work machines for transporting products. FIG. 1 shows the conveyor robot. The conveyor robot 10 has a short cylindrical base 12. The lower right side of the figure is the front and the upper left side is the rear. Although not shown in the figure, the base 12 has a pair of drive wheels on the left and right and a pair of steering wheels on the front and rear. On the base 12, a pair of posts 14 are erected on the left and right. Between the pair of posts 14, a table 16 that can move up and down along the posts 14 is disposed. On the table 16, a slide arm 18 that can move back and forth is disposed. At the front end of the slide arm 18, a clamp 24 having a clamp base 20 and a pair of gripping plates 22 is disposed. The clamp 24 is movable left and right, and the pair of gripping plates 22 are opened and closed left and right so as to grip a generally rectangular parallelepiped product or commodity (hereinafter, may be referred to as "product, etc.") between them. The conveyor robot 10 is movable back and forth and can turn on the spot.

[0017] Since the transfer robot 10 operates electrically, it has a battery 26 inside the base 12. That is, the transfer robot 10 moves and performs work by the electrical energy stored in the battery 26. Also, since the transfer robot 10 moves and performs work automatically, a camera 28 and a LiDAR (rider) 30 for recognizing the front are arranged above the clamp 24, and a receiver 32 for receiving signals from a beacon to be described later is arranged at the upper end of one of the pair of posts 14. Further, an antenna 34 for communicating with a control device to be described later is installed at the upper end of the other of the pair of posts 14. Note that the transfer robot 10 runs automatically and performs work automatically, and for these methods, known methods may be arbitrarily adopted, and the methods adopted in this transfer system will be omitted here. Note that the transfer robot 10 has a control terminal 36 mainly composed of a computer to control itself.

[0018] [B]The logistics warehouse where the transfer robot operates As schematically shown in FIG. 2, in the logistics warehouse, a plurality of rows of shelves 50 are arranged inside. In the following description, as shown in the upper right corner of the figure, the upper side of the figure will be called the north side, the lower side the south side, the left side the west side, and the right side the east side.

[0019] Specifically, inside the warehouse, there are a passage α extending east-west on the northernmost side (in the figure, the symbols α are shown at both ends of the passage. The same applies to other passages), a passage β extending east-west at the north-south center, two passages γ and δ extending east-west on the southernmost side, and a plurality of passages a to l extending north-south connecting the passage α and the passage β, four passages m to p extending north-south connecting the passage β and the passage γ, and four passages q to t extending north-south connecting the passage β and the passage δ.

[0020] The shelves 50 are arranged in a plurality on both sides of each of the aisles a to t. Specifically, 13 are arranged in a north-south direction on both sides of each of the aisles a to l, and 14 are arranged in a north-south direction on both sides of each of the aisles m to t. In other words, the shelves 50 sandwiched between adjacent ones of the aisles a to t are arranged back to back with each other. Hereinafter, the rows of the shelves 50 (hereinafter, may be referred to as "shelf rows") are associated with the aisles a to t, and those on the west side of the aisle are called (a to t)W, and those on the east side of the aisle are called (a to t)E. For each row of the shelves 50, as shown in the leftmost shelf 50 in the figure, starting from the north side in order, those belonging to the shelf rows (a to l)W and (a to l)E are numbered 1 to 13, and those belonging to the shelf rows (m to t)W and (m to t)E are numbered 1 to 14, respectively. Therefore, for example, the shelf 50 indicated by ☆ in the figure is eW4 in terms of the shelf number. Also, as shown in the lower right end of the figure, each shelf 50 has four tiers and has four storage spaces. Each tier, that is, each storage space, is numbered A to D in order from the top. Therefore, the second storage space from the top of the shelf 50 with the shelf number eW4 indicated by ☆ in the figure is represented as eW4B. One or more types of products, etc. are stored in each storage space, one or more pieces at a time.

[0021] A plurality of transport robots 10 travel in the warehouse. In the figure, 10 transport robots 10 are shown, and they are numbered R1 to R10 as robot No.

[0022] The yard on the south side at the center in the east-west direction in the warehouse is the loading and unloading yard 52, and loading and unloading operations are performed on the truck 54 entering and leaving the warehouse. In the loading operation, one or more transport robots 10 receive one by one the products, etc. brought into the warehouse by the truck 54, and transport the received products, etc. to the designated shelf 50 and store them in that shelf 50. In the unloading operation, one or more transport robots 10 take out one by one the products, etc. stored in the designated shelf 50, transport them to the truck 54, and deliver them to that truck 54.

[0023] In the incoming / outgoing yard 52, a standby space 56 for the transfer robot 10 is provided. The number of standby spaces 56 is provided according to the number of transfer robots 10, and each transfer robot 10 waits in the available standby space 56. Also, in the incoming / outgoing yard 52, charging equipment 58 is provided. The charging equipment 58 has one charger 60 and a plurality of charging ports 62. In this transfer system, as shown in the figure, the charging equipment 58 has only a smaller number of charging ports 62 than the number of transfer robots 10. Specifically, it has only three charging ports 62, and those three charging ports 62 are provided for the three standby spaces 56 on the north side. When charging its own battery 26, the transfer robot 10 needs to be located in any of those three standby spaces 56. Note that the charging ports 62 are labeled as a, b, and c, and in the following description, when distinguishing them, they may be referred to as charging ports 62a, 62b, and 62c.

[0024] On each of the four corners of the ceiling of the warehouse, the aforementioned beacon 64 is installed. By receiving signals from those beacons 64, the transfer robot 10 can grasp its position within the warehouse at any time.

[0025] The management of the work of the transfer robot 10, the remaining amount of the battery 26 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "remaining battery amount"), and the charging of the battery 26 are carried out by a control device 70 mainly composed of a computer and a communication device. Each transfer robot 10 receives work instructions and the like from the control device 70 and performs work and the like according to the work instructions. That is, the control device 70 is arranged in the control building outside the warehouse and functions as a controller for managing the operation of the transfer robot 10.

[0026] [C] Functions of the control device The control device 70 is equipped with a work management function for managing the work of each transfer robot 10 and a charging management function for managing the charging of the battery 26 of each transfer robot 10.

[0027] i) Work management function The operations performed by the transfer robot 10 are the incoming and outgoing operations described above. For each truck 54 entering the incoming and outgoing yard 52, products unloaded from the truck 54 or products loaded onto the truck 54 are created as a list of incoming and outgoing products. Based on the list of incoming and outgoing products, the control device 70 assigns incoming and outgoing operations to each transfer robot 10 and formulates an operation plan as shown in FIG. 3. Incidentally, hereinafter, one operation means a set of a series of incoming and outgoing operations for one type of product. Specifically, in this operation plan, the matters described in one line, that is, for example, the operations for receiving 5 products of product # to be performed from 0:15 to 0:30 are considered as one operation. The operation plan is formulated once a day at a fixed time (for example, 0:00).

[0028] Based on the above operation plan, when the truck 54 arrives at the warehouse, the control device 70 gives instructions to each transfer robot 10 to receive products from the truck 54 for the incoming and outgoing operations of the truck 54, and to indicate which storage space in which shelf 50 to store the received products, or which products stored in which storage space in which shelf 50 to deliver to the truck 54.

[0029] ii) Charge management function As described above, in this transfer system, only three charging ports 62 are provided, and the electric energy consumed in the daily operations of all transfer robots 10 can be covered by charging from these three charging ports 62. In view of this, the control device 70 formulates a charging plan for the three charging ports 62 based on the operation plan of each transfer robot 10, specifically, based on the amount of work determined according to the operation plan and the idle time of the work. For example, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0030] In view of charging as much as possible with a single charge without interfering with the operations of each transport robot 10, the charging plan is formulated to perform charging for a time equal to or longer than the set basic charging time (for example, 30 minutes). Conversely, in order to formulate such a charging plan, a work plan has been formulated for each of the transport robots 10 such that there is an appropriate amount of non-operating time equal to or longer than the basic charging time.

[0031] In the charging plan of FIG. 4, a charging unit (for example, 15 minutes) is set for each charging port 62, and charging is performed in units of two or more. Specifically, for example, the transport robot 10 of robot No. R1 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "transport robot R1"; the same applies to other transport robots) charges at charging port 62a from 2:15 to 3:00, the transport robot R2 charges at charging port 62b from 1:15 to 2:00, the transport robot R3 charges at charging port 62a from 1:00 to 1:30, ···, and a charging plan has been formulated for each to perform charging accordingly. Incidentally, the charging facility 58 is capable of fully charging the battery 26 of each transport robot 10 to about 8 units, for example, from an empty state.

[0032] As can be seen from the charging plan of FIG. 4, there is no idle time during which charging is not performed at charging port 62a from 1:30 to 1:45 and at charging port 62b from 1:00 to 1:15. That is, since there is not much margin in the number of charging ports 62, that is, the capacity of the charging facility 58, an efficient charging plan has been formulated in this transport system.

[0033] The control device 70 issues charging instructions to each of the plurality of transport robots 10 according to the charging plan. Specifically, for example, when it is 1:00, the control device 70 issues a charging instruction to start charging at the charging port 62a to the transport robot R3, and when it is 1:30, it issues an instruction to end the charging. Before the scheduled time to end charging, when the battery 26 is fully charged, charging is ended at that time, and the transport robot is made to leave the charging port 62. The above processing performed by the control device 70, that is, the processing including the formulation of the charging plan and the issuance of the charging instruction, is the planned charging processing in this transport system.

[0034] Each transport robot 10 constantly grasps the remaining battery level E BAT (percentage of the remaining amount at the current time when the full charge amount E FULL is set to 100%) of the battery 26 provided in itself, and transmits information about the grasped remaining battery level E BAT to the control device 70. The control device 70 constantly grasps the remaining battery level E BAT of each transport robot 10 based on the transmitted information.

[0035] iii) Response to Defects in the Charging Port In this transport system, there are a plurality (specifically, three) of charging ports 62, and a situation may occur where a part (for example, one) of them is defective and charging from that part becomes impossible. When the above-mentioned planned charging processing is executed in such a situation, it is expected that the remaining battery level will become 0, that is, a power outage state will occur in some of the transport robots 10. When charging from a part of the plurality of charging ports 62 becomes impossible, the control device 70 executes charging processing at the time of defect instead of the above-mentioned planned charging processing. Note that the charging processing at the time of defect is not limited to the time of defect of the charging port 62, but can be widely applied to situations where charging becomes impossible due to inspection of the charging port 62 or the like.

[0036] In the charging process during a failure, when there is a charging port 62 that is not being charged (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an "empty port") in the remaining part (for example, two charging ports 62) excluding a part of the failed charging port 62, the control device 70 issues a charging instruction to the transfer robot 10 that has completed one operation to charge from the empty port, regardless of the above charging plan.

[0037] Specifically, the charging process during a failure aims to charge all the transfer robots 10 as evenly as possible while avoiding any of the transfer robots 10 from running out of power. Under this purpose, in the charging process during a failure, the control device 70 checks the remaining battery level E BAT against the set charging amount E TH (for example, 40%). If it is lower, the control device 70 issues a charging instruction to the transfer robot 10 having the battery 26. Conversely, for a transfer robot 10 with a remaining battery level E BAT equal to or higher than the set charging amount E TH , even if there is an empty port when one operation is completed, no charging instruction is issued. Incidentally, the set charging amount E TH can also be called the set remaining amount E TH .

[0038] Also, under the above purpose, in the charging process during a failure, for a transfer robot 10 with a remaining battery level E BAT lower than the limit charging amount E LIM (for example, 20%), when there is no empty port when the operation is completed, the control device 70 waits without performing an operation until an empty port appears, and when an empty port appears, it preferentially issues a charging instruction to charge from the empty port. Incidentally, the limit charging amount E LIM is set to be less than the above set charging amount E TH , and can also be called the limit remaining amount E LIM .

[0039] Furthermore, under the above purpose, in the charging process during a failure, the control device 70 allows the battery 26 not to be fully charged as long as the set time t THIssue a charging instruction to the transport robot 10 that is scheduled to charge, indicating that charging beyond a certain limit is not to be performed. This set time t TH is set to a time shorter than, for example, the basic charging time t BAS in the planned charging process (e.g., 20 minutes). Note that the set charge amount E TH is set such that even if the battery 26 is charged for the set time t TH , the battery 26 does not reach a fully charged state. The set charge amount E TH , and the set time t TH are set.

[0040] Note that when the operation 1 is completed, if the remaining battery level E BAT is equal to or greater than the set charge amount E TH , or if the remaining battery level E BAT is less than the set charge amount E TH but equal to or greater than the critical charge amount E LIM , and there are no empty ports, the control device 70 issues an instruction to allow the execution of the next operation.

[0041] According to the charging process during failure, there is a possibility that the work plan cannot be properly executed. In other words, there is a possibility that the work by the transport robot 10 may be delayed. However, according to the charging process during failure, the power shortage state can be avoided for any transport robot 10, thus preventing the work plan from being greatly disrupted. Therefore, the significance of performing this charging process during failure is considered to be sufficiently great. Note that during the execution of the charging process during failure, if recovery is achieved until charging is possible from all charging ports 62, from that point on, charging processing along the original charging plan may be performed, or at that time, a new charging plan may be formulated and charging processing along that charging plan may be performed thereafter.

[0042] iv) Flow of the charging process during failure When the above charging process during failure occurs, for each transfer robot 10, every time the transfer robot 10 finishes one operation, the computer of the control device 70 executes a charging process program during failure, the flowchart of which is shown in FIG. 5. The following is a brief description of the flow of the charging process during failure, specifically, the flow of the process for one transfer robot 10, along with the flowchart.

[0043] In the process according to the charging process program during failure, first, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as "S1"; the same applies to other steps), the remaining battery level E BAT is determined whether it is less than the set charging amount E TH . If it is not less, then in S2, the next operation of the transfer robot 10 is permitted, and the process according to this program ends.

[0044] In S1, if it is determined that the remaining battery level E BAT is less than the set charging amount E TH , then in S3, it is determined whether the remaining battery level E BAT is less than the critical charging amount E LIM . If it is equal to or more than the critical charging amount E LIM , then in S4, it is determined whether there is an empty port. On the other hand, if it is determined in S3 that the remaining battery level E BAT is less than the critical charging amount E LIM , then in S5, it is determined whether there is an empty port. If it is determined in S4 that there is no empty port, then in S2, the next operation of the transfer robot 10 is permitted, and the process according to this program ends.

[0045] If it is determined in S4 or S5 that there is an empty port, then in S6, an instruction to charge at that empty port is given, and in S7, the time counter t is incremented. In S8, it is determined whether the time counter t, that is, the charging time, has reached the set time t TH , and the set time t THIf it is determined that the [condition] has not been reached, charging continues. When it is determined in S8 that the charging time has reached the set time t TH If it is determined that the [condition] has been reached, in S9, charging is terminated, the time counter t is reset, and in S2, the next operation of the transfer robot 10 is permitted, and the processing according to this program ends.

[0046] On the other hand, if it is determined in S5 that there is no empty port, in S10, an instruction is given to wait for charging until an empty port appears. The state of waiting for charging is grasped by the control device 70, and when an empty port appears, the processing for charging after S6 is executed with priority over other transfer robots 10.

Explanation of Signs

[0047] 10: Transfer robot [mobile working machine] 26: Battery 50: Shelf 52: In / out yard 54: Truck 56: Waiting space 58: Charging facility 60: Charger 62a, 62b, 62c: Charging port 70: Control device [controller] E BAT : Remaining battery level E TH : Set charging amount E LIM : Limit charging amount t: Time counter [charging time] t TH : Set time

Claims

1. A plurality of mobile working machines, each having a battery and performing work involving movement by the electrical energy stored in the battery; Charging equipment having a plurality of charging ports for charging the batteries of the mobile working machines connected to each of the charging ports; A controller for managing the operations of the plurality of mobile working machines A working system comprising: The controller: While executing a planned charging process of formulating a charging plan for the plurality of mobile working machines based on the work plans of the plurality of mobile working machines and issuing a charging instruction based on the charging plan to each of the plurality of mobile working machines, When charging from a part of the plurality of charging ports becomes impossible, instead of the planned charging process, when there is an empty port where charging has not been performed in the remaining part excluding the said part of the plurality of charging ports, a failure charging process is executed to issue a charging instruction to the mobile working machine that has finished working to charge from that empty port. A working system configured as such.

2. The controller: In the failure charging process, the working system according to claim 1, wherein a charging instruction is issued to the mobile working machine having the battery on the condition that the remaining amount of the battery is less than the set charging amount.

3. The controller: In the failure charging process, for the mobile working machine whose remaining amount of the battery is less than the limit charging amount set to be less than the set charging amount, when there is no empty port at the time when the work is finished, it waits without performing work until an empty port appears, and when an empty port appears, a charging instruction to preferentially charge from that empty port is issued. The working system according to claim 2, configured as such.

4. The controller: In the failure charging process, the working system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a charging instruction not to perform charging exceeding a set time even if the battery is not fully charged is issued to the mobile working machine.

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