Operating system

Abstract

To improve a practicality of a work system including a plurality of mobile work machines that perform a work which involves movement using electricity stored in a battery.SOLUTION: A plurality of works to be performed at one time are assigned to a plurality of mobile work machines, some of the assigned works are identified as a specific work (warehousing work); and a movement distance (long-range accommodation area, medium-range accommodation area, short-range accommodation area), which is a distance of movement of the mobile work machine in the specific work, is set according to a total remaining battery capacity ESUM, which is a sum of a remaining battery capacity EBAT of each of the plurality of mobile work machines (S15). Based on the total remaining battery capacity of the plurality of mobile work machines, it is possible to easily avoid a situation where the remaining battery capacity of each mobile work machine becomes zero or close to zero without reducing an overall work efficiency of the plurality of mobile work machines.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a work system including a plurality of mobile work machines that perform work involving movement by electricity stored in a battery.

Background Art

[0002] Mobile work machines that perform work involving movement, such as vehicles and robots, are used in various industrial fields. In a work system including a plurality of mobile work machines that perform work using electricity stored in a battery, it is meaningful to grasp the state of the battery of each mobile work machine. For example, in the technology described in the following patent document, the work performed by each of a plurality of vehicles, each of which is a mobile work machine, is assigned according to the state of the battery of each vehicle, specifically, the deterioration state of the battery.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As described in the above patent document, in a work system including a plurality of mobile work machines, grasping the state of the battery of each mobile work machine and determining the work to be assigned to those mobile work machines is effective for improving the practicality of the work system. On the other hand, there is still room for sufficient improvement regarding the determination of work according to the state of the battery, and by making some improvements, it is possible to further increase the practicality of the work system. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to improve the practicality of a work system including a plurality of mobile work machines that perform work involving movement by electricity stored in a battery.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To solve the above problems, the work system of the present invention comprises a plurality of mobile work machines each having a battery and performing work involving movement by the electricity stored in the battery, a controller that manages the operations of each of the plurality of mobile work machines while grasping the remaining battery amount, which is the amount of electricity remaining in the battery of each of the plurality of mobile work machines, and is a work system provided with wherein the controller allocates a plurality of tasks to be performed in a period to the plurality of mobile work machines, and some of the tasks to be allocated are The moving distance of the mobile working machine in the operation can be set to be changeable identified as specific tasks, and according to the total remaining battery amount, which is the sum of the remaining battery amounts of each of the plurality of mobile work machines, When the total battery remaining amount is less than the set remaining amount, compared with the case where it is equal to or more than the set remaining amount, each of the specific operations is assigned the mobile work machine of the move travel distance is shortly configured to be set.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] According to the work system of the present invention, the travel distance of the mobile work machine in the work assigned to the mobile work machine is set based on the total remaining battery amount, rather than the remaining battery amount of each of the plurality of mobile work machines. In short, based on the remaining battery amount of the plurality of mobile work machines as a whole, the power consumption of the plurality of mobile work machines as a whole can be easily controlled. Therefore, for example, in a time period when there are many tasks to be performed by a plurality of mobile work machines (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "busy time period"), by setting the travel distance of the mobile work machine in a specific task to be short, it is possible to avoid a situation where the remaining battery amount of each mobile work machine becomes 0 or close to 0 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "power outage") without reducing the work efficiency of the plurality of mobile work machines as a whole. Aspects of the Invention

[0007] Examples of aspects of the invention recognized as patentable in the present application (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "patentable inventions") are illustrated below and described. Each aspect is divided into sections, numbered for each section, and described in a form that quotes the numbers of other sections as necessary. This is merely for facilitating the understanding of patentable inventions and is not intended to limit the combinations of components constituting those inventions to those described in the following sections. That is, patentable inventions should be interpreted in consideration of the descriptions accompanying each section, descriptions of examples, etc. As long as they conform to such interpretation, aspects in which additional components are added to the aspects of each section, as well as aspects in which some components are deleted from the aspects of each section, can also be an aspect of patentable inventions.

[0008] (1) A plurality of mobile working machines each having a battery and performing work involving movement by the electricity stored in the battery, a controller that manages the operations of each of the plurality of mobile working machines while grasping the remaining battery amount, which is the amount of electricity remaining in the battery of each of the plurality of mobile working machines, A work system comprising: wherein the controller allocates a plurality of works to be performed in a period to the plurality of mobile working machines, designates some of the allocated works as specific works, and sets the moving distance, which is the distance of movement of the mobile working machine in the specific work, according to the total remaining battery amount, which is the sum of the remaining battery amounts of the batteries of each of the plurality of mobile working machines.

[0009] This aspect is the basic aspect of the present invention. As described above, according to the work system of this aspect, based on the total remaining battery amount obtained by summing up the remaining battery amounts of each of the plurality of mobile work machines, the moving distance of the mobile work machine to which a specific work is assigned is set. The "specific work" in this aspect can be considered as work for which the moving distance can be set to be changeable. For example, when the total remaining battery amount is large, the moving distance of the specific work is set long, and conversely, when the total remaining battery amount is small, the moving distance of the specific work is set short, so that it is possible to simply avoid power shortage of the mobile work machines without significantly reducing the work efficiency of the entire plurality of mobile work machines.

[0010] The "mobile work machine" in this aspect is not particularly limited. Specifically speaking, for example, typically, vehicles that move and transport objects, vehicles that perform various operations such as construction and inspection, etc. are applicable. Also, a moving body that cannot be called a vehicle, for example, a drone, etc. may be used. The mobile work 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 work machine moves is not particularly limited, and it may be indoors or outdoors.

[0011] Generally, the work system is configured to include charging equipment for charging the mobile work machines. From the perspective of the purpose of avoiding power shortage of each mobile work machine without reducing work efficiency, this aspect is particularly meaningful for a work system equipped with charging equipment where all of the plurality of mobile work machines cannot be charged simultaneously, such as when the number of charging ports to which the mobile work machines are connected for charging is small. Incidentally, the charging equipment may be composed of a plurality of chargers each having one charging port, or may be composed of one charger having a plurality of charging ports.

[0012] Since the "controller" manages the operations of the mobile working machine, for example, it preferably has a communication device capable of communicating with the terminal and various information and various instructions of the mobile working machine. Further, the controller may have a function of acquiring or creating a work plan for the mobile working machine, and specifically, it may be mainly composed of a computer.

[0013] (2) The work system according to item (1), wherein the controller is configured to set a shorter moving distance in the specific work when the total battery remaining amount is less than the set remaining amount compared to when it is equal to or more than the set remaining amount. The work system according to item (1), wherein the controller is configured to set a shorter moving distance in the specific work when the total battery remaining amount is less than the set remaining amount compared to when it is equal to or more than the set remaining amount.

[0014] This aspect is a typical aspect for setting the moving distance in a specific work based on the total battery remaining amount. According to this aspect, when the total battery remaining amount is large, it is possible to execute a work with relatively high power consumption as a whole for a plurality of mobile working machines. Conversely, when the total battery remaining amount is small, it is possible to suppress the power consumption of the plurality of mobile working machines as a whole. Incidentally, the "set remaining amount" may be appropriately set according to the power consumed by one work, etc. As an aspect similar to this aspect, it is also possible to adopt an aspect in which the moving distance in a specific work is set longer when the total battery remaining amount is equal to or more than the set remaining amount compared to when it is less than the set remaining amount.

[0015] (3) The work system according to item (2), wherein the controller is configured to set a shorter moving distance in the specific work as the total battery remaining amount is smaller. The work system according to item (2), wherein the controller is configured to set a shorter moving distance in the specific work as the total battery remaining amount is smaller.

[0016] This aspect includes both a mode of continuously increasing or decreasing the travel distance in a specific operation according to the total battery remaining amount, and a mode of increasing or decreasing it stepwise. The latter is, for example, a mode in which, as the above-mentioned set remaining amount, by setting a plurality of set remaining amounts, the travel distance in a specific operation is set stepwise. In addition, from the reverse perspective, this aspect can be considered as a mode in which the longer the total battery remaining amount, the longer the travel distance set in a specific operation.

[0017] (4) The controller is configured to assign the specific operation preferentially to a mobile working machine with a smaller remaining battery amount, as described in item (2) or (3).

[0018] This aspect relates to the determination of the mobile working machine to which a specific operation is assigned. According to this aspect, the risk of power failure of the mobile working machine can be more effectively reduced.

[0019] (5) The controller is configured to when there are a plurality of mobile working machines to which the specific operation is assigned, the shorter the remaining battery amount of the mobile working machine, the shorter the travel distance in the specific operation assigned to that mobile working machine, as described in any one of items (2) to (4).

[0020] This aspect relates to the setting of the travel distance in each specific operation. According to this aspect, the risk of power failure of the mobile working machine can be more effectively reduced.

[0021] (6) The controller is configured to when the remaining battery amount of a certain mobile working machine among a plurality of mobile working machines is less than the set individual remaining amount, regardless of the total remaining battery amount, assign the specific operation to that mobile working machine and set the travel distance in that specific operation to be short, as described in any one of items (2) to (5).

[0022] This embodiment is a special case that takes into consideration the remaining battery charge of each mobile work machine. When the remaining battery charge of one mobile work machine is considerably low, there is a high possibility that that mobile work machine will run out of power. In consideration of this, in this embodiment, for example, even if the total remaining battery charge is equal to or greater than the set remaining charge, a specific task is assigned to that mobile work machine and the travel distance for that task is set to be short.

[0023] (7) The controller: The work system according to any one of items (2) to (6), configured to set a travel distance for the specific work to be short when a total battery remaining charge is predicted to be less than the set remaining charge even if the total battery remaining charge is equal to or greater than the set remaining charge.

[0024] As explained above, for example, in cases where there is a busy period and this busy period continues for a relatively long period, the mobile work machine is highly likely to run out of power. This aspect takes such a situation into consideration, and according to this aspect, for example, by setting the travel distance for a specific task to be short before the busy period begins, it is possible to prevent or reduce the risk of running out of power during the busy period.

[0025] (8) The controller: A work system as described in any one of items (1) to (7) above, configured such that when the remaining battery charge of a certain mobile work machine among the plurality of mobile work machines is less than a limit remaining charge, work is not assigned to that mobile work machine, regardless of the total remaining battery charge.

[0026] According to this aspect, for example, it is possible to more reliably prevent a power shortage in a mobile work machine in which the possibility of a power shortage has increased.

[0027] (9) A work system described in any one of items (1) to (8), wherein each of the plurality of mobile work machines is a conveying machine that conveys products, the work system is an intra-warehouse product conveying system for causing the conveying machine to convey products between a storage location and a shipping / receiving location within a warehouse, and the work performed by the conveying machine includes a warehousing operation that is the work of conveying products from the shipping / receiving location to a storage location, and a warehousing out operation that is the work of conveying products from the storage location to the shipping / receiving location.

[0028] This aspect is an aspect relating to a specific application of the work system of the present invention. The work system of the present invention can be suitably employed in the above-mentioned in-warehouse product transport system. In this aspect, the "shipping / receiving location" is a concept that collectively includes the receiving location for receiving goods into the warehouse and the shipping location for unloading goods from the warehouse, and there may be multiple receiving / receiving locations, such as when the receiving location and the shipping location are different. In this aspect and the following aspects, the "product" is a concept that does not only mean manufactured items, but also includes goods that are bought and sold, work in progress in a manufacturing factory, etc. Therefore, it can also be called a "product, etc."

[0029] (10) The controller: The work system according to item (9) is configured to recognize only the warehousing work among the warehousing work and the retrieval work as the specific work, and is configured to set a storage location for the warehousing work recognized as the specific work, thereby setting a travel distance for the warehousing work.

[0030] In the case of retrieval work, a product is transported to a storage location that has already been determined, whereas in the case of retrieval work, the storage location of the transported product has a high degree of freedom. This aspect is an aspect that takes such a situation into consideration, and according to this aspect, for example, only retrieval work is recognized as a specific work, and the travel distance in the retrieval work that is the specific work is set according to the total remaining battery power.

[0031] (11) The controller: When the warehousing operation and the shipping operation are to be carried out at the same time, the working system according to item (9) or (10) configured to allocate more moving work machines than the number corresponding to the amount of the shipping operation to the shipping operation.

[0032] The shipping operation has greater time constraints compared to the warehousing operation. Specifically, due to circumstances such as trucks, etc., the time for shipping products may be set tightly, and in that case, it is required to execute the shipping operation somewhat quickly. This aspect is an aspect considering such circumstances.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0033]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0034] Hereinafter, as a mode for implementing the claimable invention, a work system which is an embodiment of the claimable invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note 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 including the forms described in the section of [Aspects of the Invention].

Embodiment

[0035] [A] Conveyor robot The work system of the embodiment is a product conveyance system within a logistics warehouse (hereinafter, may be abbreviated as "conveyance system") that includes a plurality of conveyor robots (a type of "conveyor"), which are mobile work machines for transporting products, goods, work-in-progress, stored items, etc. (hereinafter, may be referred to as "products, etc."). 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. A pair of posts 14 are erected on the base 12, and between the pair of posts 14, a table 16 that can move up and down along the posts 14 is arranged. A slide arm 18 that can move back and forth is arranged on the table 16. 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 arranged. The clamp 24 is movable left and right, and the pair of gripping plates 22 are opened and closed left and right to grip a generally rectangular parallelepiped product or good (hereinafter, may be referred to as "products, etc."). The conveyor robot 10 is movable back and forth and can turn on the spot.

[0036] 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 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 can 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.

[0037] [B]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.

[0038] Specifically, inside the warehouse, there are a passage α extending east-west at 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 at 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.

[0039] The shelves 50 are arranged in plural numbers on both sides of each of the passages a to t. Specifically, 13 shelves are arranged in a north-south direction on both sides of each of the passages a to l, and 14 shelves are arranged in a north-south direction on both sides of each of the passages m to t. In other words, the shelves 50 sandwiched between adjacent ones among the passages a to t are arranged back to back with each other. Hereinafter, the rows of the shelves 50 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "shelf rows") are associated with the passages a to t, and those on the west side of the passage are called (a to t)W, and those on the east side of the passage are called (a to t)E. For each row of the shelves 50, as shown in the leftmost shelf 50 in the figure, in order from the north side, 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, each shelf 50 has four tiers as shown in the lower right end of the figure 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 denoted as eW4B. One or more types of products or the like are stored in each storage space, one or more pieces at a time. Note that each shelf 50 can be considered as a storage place for products or the like.

[0040] A plurality of transport robots 10 travel in the warehouse. In the figure, ten transport robots 10 are shown, and they are numbered R1 to R10 as robot No.

[0041] The yard on the south side of the center in the east-west direction inside the warehouse is the loading and unloading yard 52 as the loading and unloading location, where products and the like are loaded and unloaded for the trucks 54 entering and leaving the warehouse. Each transport robot 10 performs the warehousing operation and the outbound operation. In the warehousing operation, the transport robot 10 receives products and the like one by one from the truck 54, transports the received products and the like to the designated shelf 50, and stores them in the designated storage space of the shelf 50. In the outbound operation, the transport robot 10 takes out the products and the like stored in the designated storage space of the designated shelf 50 one by one, transports them to the truck 54, and delivers them to the truck 54.

[0042] In this transport system, the installation locations of the shelves 50 are divided into three categories. More specifically, the installation locations of the shelves 50 inside the warehouse are divided into three storage areas based on the moving distance of the transport robot 10 between the loading and unloading yard 52 in the warehousing operation and the outbound operation. The three storage areas are: a) the short-distance storage area where the moving distance of the transport robot 10 is short, b) the long-distance storage area where the moving distance of the transport robot 10 is long, and c) the medium-distance storage area where the moving distance of the transport robot 10 can be considered to be in the middle between the short-distance storage area and the long-distance storage area. More specifically, the shelves 50 installed in the short-distance storage area belong to the shelf rows (e~h)W, (e~h)E, and in the figure, they are shown with hatching. The shelves 50 installed in the medium-distance storage area belong to the shelf rows (c~d)W, (c~d)E, (i~j)W, (i~j)E, (o~p)W, (o~p)E, (q~r)W, (q~r)E, and in the figure, they are shown with screening. The shelves 50 installed in the long-distance storage area belong to the shelf rows (a~b)W, (a~b)E, (k~l)W, (k~l)E, (m~n)W, (m~n)E, (s~t)W, (s~t)E, and in the figure, they are shown without hatching or screening.

[0043] The incoming / outgoing yard 52 is provided with a standby space 56 for the transport robot 10. The number of standby spaces 56 is provided corresponding to the number of transport robots 10, and each transport robot 10 waits in the available standby space 56. Also, the incoming / outgoing yard 52 is provided with charging equipment 58. The charging equipment 58 has one charger 60 and a plurality of charging ports 62. In this transport system, as shown in the figure, the charging equipment 58 has only a number of charging ports 62 that is less than the number of transport 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 transport robot 10 needs to be located in any one of those three standby spaces 56. 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.

[0044] On the ceiling of the warehouse, the aforementioned beacons 64 are installed at each of the four corners. By receiving the signals from those beacons 64, the transport robot 10 can grasp its position within the warehouse at any time.

[0045] The management of the operations of the transport 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 transport robot 10 receives work instructions and the like from the control device 70 and performs operations and the like according to those 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 (a concept including both work and charging) of the transport robot 10.

[0046] [C] Functions of the control device The control device 70 is equipped with a charging management function for managing the charging of the battery 26 of each transport robot 10 and a work management function for managing the work of each transport robot 10. The following will explain those functions in detail.

[0047] i) Charging management function Each transfer robot 10 grasps the remaining battery level E, which is the amount of electricity remaining in the battery 26 it is equipped with BAT (hereinafter, expressed as a percentage of the fully charged amount E of the remaining electricity at the current time FULL ), and transmits information about the grasped remaining battery level E BAT to the control device 70. Based on the transmitted information, the control device 70 grasps the remaining battery level E of each transfer robot 10 BAT .

[0048] As described above, in this transfer system, there are 10 transfer robots 10, while only 3 charging ports 62 are provided. Therefore, the control device 70 manages the charging of each transfer robot 10 while making good use of the three charging ports 62, based on the grasped remaining battery level E of each transfer robot 10 BAT , so as to avoid power outages of each transfer robot 10 as much as possible and ensure that each transfer robot 10 is charged as evenly as possible

[0049] As will be described in detail later, the control device 70 assigns inbound and outbound operations to the transfer robot 10 at a predetermined timing. The control device 70 treats the transfer robot 10 to which neither inbound nor outbound operations are assigned as a standby robot. In addition, the control device 70 recognizes the presence of the transfer robot 10 that is currently charging and the charging port 62 that is not charging (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an "empty port").

[0050] The transfer robot 10 moves to the charging port 62 that has become an empty port according to the charging instruction from the control device 70 and receives charging at that charging port 62. When the battery 26 of the transfer robot 10 reaches the fully charged state, it detaches from the charging port 62 where it is receiving charging without waiting for an instruction from the control device 70. Also, even if the battery 26 of itself is not in the fully charged state, it detaches from the charging port 62 where it is receiving charging according to the charging end instruction from the control device 70

[0051] The control device 70 performs charge management by repeatedly executing, at a predetermined time pitch (for example, one minute), a charge management program whose flowchart is shown in FIG. 3, on its own computer. In the process according to this program, first, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as "S1"; the same applies to other steps), the remaining battery levels E of all the transport robots 10 BAT are recognized. In the next S2, it is determined whether there is a standby robot. If there is no standby robot, one execution of the program ends.

[0052] If it is determined in S2 that there is a standby robot, in S3, the transport robot 10 with the least remaining battery level E among the standby robots BAT is specified as the standby minimum remaining battery level robot S, and the remaining battery level E of the standby minimum remaining battery level robot S BAT is specified as the remaining battery level E BAT-S . In the subsequent S4, it is determined whether there is an empty port. If there is an empty port, in S5, a charge instruction, which is an instruction to perform charging, is issued to the standby minimum remaining battery level robot S.

[0053] If it is determined in S4 that there is no empty port, in S6, the transport robot 10 with the most remaining battery level E among the transport robots 10 that are being charged BAT is specified as the charging maximum remaining battery level robot C, and the remaining battery level E of the charging maximum remaining battery level robot C BAT is specified as the remaining battery level E BAT-C . In the next S7 and S8, respectively, it is determined whether the remaining battery level E of the charging maximum remaining battery level robot C BAT-C is greater than or equal to the reference remaining battery level E R , and whether the remaining battery level E of the standby minimum remaining battery level robot S BAT-S is less than the reference remaining battery level E R . If the remaining battery level E of the charging maximum remaining battery level robot C BAT-C is greater than or equal to the reference remaining battery level E R , and the remaining battery level E of the standby minimum remaining battery level robot S BAT-S is less than the reference remaining battery level ER When it is less, at S9, a charge end instruction, which is an instruction to end charging, is issued to the robot C with the maximum remaining charge during charging. The battery remaining amount E of the robot C with the maximum remaining charge during charging BAT-C is less than the reference remaining amount E R When it is less, or when the battery remaining amount E of the robot C with the maximum remaining charge during charging BAT-C is equal to or greater than the reference remaining amount E R even if it is equal to or greater than the reference remaining amount E, but the battery remaining amount E of the robot S with the minimum remaining charge during standby BAT-S is equal to or greater than the reference remaining amount E R When it is equal to or greater than, one execution of the program ends. Incidentally, the reference remaining amount E R is set to a value at which it is considered desirable to perform charging if it is less than that, in other words, a value at which there is no need to perform charging deliberately if it is equal to or greater than that. In this transport system, the reference remaining amount E R is set to, for example, 70%.

[0054] In this transport system, by the above-described processing, even in the charging facility 58 that has only a smaller number of charging ports 62 than the number of transport robots 10, all the transport robots 10 will be charged evenly.

[0055] ii) Work management function The work by the transport robot 10 is the incoming and outgoing work described above. Regarding the truck 54 scheduled to enter the in-out yard 52, products etc. to be unloaded from the truck 54 or products etc. to be loaded onto the truck 54, an in-out product etc. list as shown in FIG. 4 is created. More specifically, this in-out product etc. list is a so-called work plan, which describes the name of the products etc. to be received or shipped, the quantity of those products etc., and the time of receipt or shipment. Since the schedule of in-out of products etc. for the truck 54 is expected to change to some extent, the data for the above in-out product etc. list is created by an in-out management device (not shown) at predetermined time intervals (e.g., 1 hour) for a predetermined time period (e.g., one day's worth) and sent to the control device 70.

[0056] Each time one of the incoming or outgoing operations by each transfer robot 10 is completed, the control device 70 sends data regarding the completed operation content to the incoming and outgoing management device. The incoming and outgoing management device updates the incoming and outgoing product list etc. based on the data, and sends data regarding the updated incoming and outgoing products etc. to the control device 70 at the above-mentioned predetermined timing. The control device 70 holds the incoming and outgoing product list etc. based on the data as the latest incoming and outgoing product list etc.

[0057] On the other hand, the control device 70 holds a stored product list etc. as shown in FIG. 4 for the stored products etc. stored in the warehouse. More specifically, in the list, for each storage space of the shelf 50, the name of the product etc. stored in the storage space and the quantity of the product etc. are shown. Incidentally, in the list of FIG. 4, the storage space where the name and quantity of the product etc. are not described indicates that it is an empty space where no product etc. is stored. The control device 70 updates the item regarding the storage space in the list when a product etc. is stored in any storage space or when a product etc. is taken out from any storage space.

[0058] In this transfer system, the operation of the transfer robot 10 is managed by dividing 24 hours a day into hourly time zones. Therefore, at the beginning of each time zone, the control device 70 determines the operation load for each time zone within a predetermined time (for example, one day) from that point based on the above-mentioned incoming and outgoing product list etc. More specifically, the total operation amount of all transfer robots 10 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "total operation amount Q per time zone"). Specifically, the total operation amount Q per time zone is determined as shown in the operation amount distribution graph of FIG. 5. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates the time, that is, the time from the current point, and the vertical axis indicates the operation amount. The graph of FIG. 5 shows the transition of the total operation amount Q per time zone from 00:00 to 00:00 of the next day.

[0059] On the one hand, every time the transfer robot 10 performs an operation, whether it is an inbound operation or an outbound operation, it consumes power, and the remaining battery level E of the transfer robot 10 BAT decreases. The power consumption for one operation by one transfer robot 10 varies depending on the distance between the inbound / outbound yard 52 and the location of the shelf 50 to which the storage space where products or the like are stored or will be stored belongs (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "storage location"), that is, the moving distance of the transfer robot 10. For convenience, a standard moving distance (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "standard moving distance") for one operation is set, and based on this standard moving distance, the power consumption for one operation is set. The control device 70 estimates the power consumption of all the transfer robots 10 for each time period by multiplying the power consumption for one operation by the total operation volume Q for each time period.

[0060] In the graph of FIG. 5, the time periods from 07:00 to 11:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00 are time periods when the total operation volume Q for each time period exceeds the reference operation volume Q R , that is, peak hours. If the sum of the remaining battery levels of each transfer robot 10 is defined as the total remaining battery level E SUM , then in that peak hour, the decrease in the total remaining battery level is large, and the transfer robot 10 does not have enough time to charge. Therefore, in peak hours, especially when peak hours continue, the possibility that any one of the transfer robots 10 will run out of power becomes high. Thus, the control device 70 is configured to grasp the peak hours based on the total operation volume Q for each time period.

[0061] iii) Assignment process The central function in the operation management function is to execute an assignment process for assigning operations to the transfer robots 10. Hereinafter, this assignment process will be described in detail with reference to the assignment process flowchart shown in FIG. 6. The control device 70 executes the assignment process when one time period starts, and assigns the operations for that time period as operations to be performed at one time to several transfer robots 10.

[0062] The control device 70 first performs battery remaining amount related processing in S11. In this battery remaining amount related processing, the control device 70 grasps the battery remaining amount E BAT of each transport robot 10. Then, the control device 70 determines that the transport robot 10 whose battery remaining amount E BAT is less than the limit remaining amount E LIM (for example, 10%) is a transport robot 10 that needs to be charged, that is, a standby robot, and no work is assigned to that transport robot 10. Subsequently, the remaining transport robots 10 are determined as operable robots, and the operable robots are ranked based on the battery remaining amount E BAT . On the other hand, the control device 70 determines the total battery remaining amount E BAT by summing up the battery remaining amounts E SUM of all the transport robots 10.

[0063] Subsequently, the control device 70 performs work / robot number determination processing in S12. In this work / robot determination processing, the control device 70 first determines the incoming and outgoing warehouse operations (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "assigned incoming warehouse operations" and "assigned outgoing warehouse operations") to be performed in that time period based on the above-mentioned incoming and outgoing product list. Incidentally, as will be described later, the control device 70 recognizes only the incoming warehouse operation as a specific operation.

[0064] Since shipment needs to be strictly timed compared to receipt, it is necessary to ensure a certain number of transport robots 10 engaged in the shipping operation according to the amount of work. Therefore, in the work and robot number determination process, the control device 70 determines the number of transport robots 10 to which the shipping operation is assigned (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "number of robots assigned for shipping") to be equal to or more than the number corresponding to the amount of the assigned shipping operation. Specifically, in principle, the total number of available robots is multiplied by the ratio of the amount of the assigned shipping operation to the sum of the assigned shipping operation and the assigned receiving operation to determine the number of robots assigned for shipping and the number of transport robots 10 to which the receiving operation is assigned (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "number of robots assigned for receiving"). If the number of robots assigned for shipping is less than the number corresponding to the amount of the assigned shipping operation, the number of robots assigned for receiving is reduced until it reaches that number, and the number of robots assigned for shipping is increased by the same amount. When the receiving operation and the shipping operation should be carried out at the same time, the control device 70 is configured to assign to the shipping operation a number of transport robots 10 equal to or more than the number corresponding to the amount of the shipping operation.

[0065] The work assignment is, in principle, evenly carried out among the available robots. In other words, the assigned shipping operation is generally evenly assigned to the transport robots 10 with the number of robots assigned for shipping, and the assigned receiving operation is generally evenly assigned to the transport robots 10 with the number of robots assigned for receiving. In other words, the control device 70 is configured to assign the available robots so that each of the transport robots 10 to which the shipping operation is assigned performs generally the same number of shipping operations, and each of the transport robots 10 to which the receiving operation is assigned performs generally the same number of receiving operations.

[0066] Here, the characteristics of the outgoing operation and the incoming operation will be described. Regarding the outgoing operation, since the shelf 50 that stores products and the like to be transported to the shipping yard 52 is determined, the moving distance of the transport robot 10 in one operation is generally determined. On the other hand, for the incoming operation, as long as there is an empty space in the shelf 50, it is possible to arbitrarily determine the shelf 50 that stores products and the like. Therefore, in this transport system, the incoming operation is recognized as a specific operation, and the content of the incoming operation, that is, the storage space for products and the like in the incoming operation, is changed. In principle, considering the power consumption of the entire transport robot 10 that constitutes this transport system, the control device 70 is based on the total battery remaining amount E SUM Based on this, when the total battery remaining amount E SUM is small, the storage space for storing products and the like, that is, the shelf 50, is determined so that the moving distance of the transport robot 10 in the incoming operation is shortened. When the total battery remaining amount E SUM is large, the storage space for storing products and the like, that is, the shelf 50, is determined so that the moving distance of the transport robot 10 in the incoming operation is lengthened. Below, the assignment of the incoming operation and the assignment of the outgoing operation including the setting of the moving distance of the transport robot 10 will be described in detail.

[0067] The control device 70 performs the individual battery remaining amount-dependent allocation process in S13 after the operation and robot number determination process. This individual battery remaining amount-dependent allocation process is an exceptional process for the moving distance setting based on the total battery remaining amount E SUM as the above principle. In this process, the control device 70 determines that the transport robot 10 whose battery remaining amount E BAT is less than the set individual remaining amount, that is, the set individual threshold remaining amount E TH (for example, 30%) is individually recognized as a robot with a small remaining amount that is likely to be in a power-off state. Then, the assigned incoming operation is preferentially assigned to the recognized robot with a small remaining amount. Specifically, in order to shorten the moving distance in the operation, the total battery remaining amount E SUMRegardless, determine the storage space for storing products and the like as the empty space of shelf 50 belonging to the short-distance storage area, and issue an operation instruction to the low-battery robot to store the products and the like specified in the assigned warehousing operation in the determined storage space. Incidentally, when there are multiple low-battery robots, the battery remaining amount E BAT is less. In the warehousing operation of the transport robot 10 with less battery remaining amount, shelf 50 is determined so that the moving distance of the transport robot 10 is shorter. When there is no assigned warehousing operation, the warehousing operation is not assigned even to a low-battery robot. When the number of assigned warehousing operations is smaller than the number of low-battery robots, the warehousing operation is preferentially assigned from the low-battery robots with less battery remaining amount E BAT is less.

[0068] After the individual battery remaining amount-dependent allocation process, in S14, the control device 70 performs a peak time zone confirmation process. In this peak time zone confirmation process, as described above, the control device 70 determines the total workload Q for each time zone of 24 hours from the current time in the form of the above-described workload distribution graph based on the list of incoming and outgoing products and the like. Based on this determination, the control device 70 determines whether or not the time zone is within 2 hours before the above-described peak time zone. If it is within 2 hours before the peak time zone, the control device 70 determines the time zone as a pre-peak time zone.

[0069] In the subsequent S15, the control device 70 performs an incoming storage area determination process. In this process, the control device 70 first determines the degree of the total battery remaining amount E SUM . Specifically, in this transport system, regarding the total battery remaining amount E SUM , two set remaining amounts are set as the first threshold remaining amount E TH1 (for example, 60%) and the second threshold remaining amount E TH2 (for example, 40%). When the total battery remaining amount E SUM is equal to or greater than the first threshold remaining amount E TH1 , it is in a high remaining amount state. When it is less than the first threshold remaining amount E TH1 and equal to or greater than the second threshold remaining amount E TH2 , it is in a medium remaining amount state. When it is less than the second threshold remaining amount E TH2When it is less than, it is recognized as the remaining small amount state and the remaining medium amount state, respectively.

[0070] And the control device 70, based on the degree of the total battery remaining amount E SUM and whether it is the time zone before the busy period, determines the storage area, which is the area to which the shelf 50 in which products etc. are stored in the warehousing operation belongs, to any one of the long-distance storage area, the medium-distance storage area, and the short-distance storage area described above with reference to FIG. 2. Specifically, when it is in the state of a large remaining amount and is not in the time zone before the busy period, it is determined to be the long-distance storage area, when it is in the state of a large remaining amount and is in the time zone before the busy period, it is determined to be the medium-distance storage area, when it is in the state of a medium remaining amount, it is determined to be the medium-distance storage area, when it is in the state of a small remaining amount, it is determined to be the short-distance storage area, respectively. Briefly speaking, according to the total battery remaining amount E SUM the moving distance of the transfer robot 10 that performs the warehousing operation is set step by step. Incidentally, when the total battery remaining amount E SUM is equal to or more than the first threshold remaining amount E TH1 and it is in the time zone before the busy period, determining the storage area in the warehousing operation to be the medium-distance storage area is to make the possibility that the transfer robot 10 becomes out of power in the later busy time zone lower.

[0071] After the warehousing storage area determination process, the control device 70 performs, in S16, a warehousing operation allocation process, which is a process for allocating the allocation warehousing operations that have not been allocated in the individual battery remaining amount-dependent allocation process. Specifically explained, the control device 70 allocates the unallocated allocation warehousing operations to the available robots whose number is obtained by subtracting the number of transfer robots 10 to which the warehousing operations have already been allocated from the number of warehousing allocation robots. At this time, based on the ranking performed earlier, the warehousing operations are preferentially allocated to the available robots with a smaller battery remaining amount E BAT That is, the warehousing robots that perform the warehousing operations are determined.

[0072] In the storage operation assignment process, the control device 70 determines, for each assigned storage operation, the empty space of the shelf 50 in the determined storage area as the storage space for accommodating products and the like. Specifically, based on the above ranking, the remaining battery level E BAT The shelf 50 is determined such that the shorter the moving distance of the transfer robot 10 with less remaining battery level E

[0073] is for the storage operation to be performed. Then, the control device 70 issues an operation instruction to the storage robot to store the products and the like specified in the assigned storage operation in the determined storage space.

[0074] In short, the above assignment process is a process of setting the moving distance of the transfer robot 10 in a specific operation to be shorter as the total remaining battery level E SUM is less. Conversely, it can be considered that the longer the moving distance of the transfer robot 10 in a specific operation is set as the total remaining battery level E SUM is more. By performing such an assignment process, this transfer system can easily avoid the transfer robot 10 from running out of power without reducing the overall work efficiency of each transfer robot 10.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0075] 10: Transfer robot [Conveyor] [Moving work machine] 50: Shelf [Storage location] 52: In / out yard [In / out location] 56: Waiting space 58: Charging equipment 62: Charging port 70: Control device [Controller] EBAT : Battery remaining amount E LIM : Threshold remaining amount E TH : Set individual threshold remaining amount [Set individual remaining amount] E SUM : Total battery remaining amount E TH1 : First threshold remaining amount [Set remaining amount] E TH2 : Second threshold remaining amount [Set remaining amount]

Claims

1. A plurality of mobile work machines, each having a battery and performing work involving movement by means of the electricity stored in the battery, and a controller that manages the operations of each of the plurality of mobile work machines while grasping the remaining battery level, which is the amount of electricity remaining in the battery of each of the plurality of mobile work machines, A work system comprising: wherein the controller allocates a plurality of tasks to be performed during a certain period to the plurality of mobile work machines, and identifies some of the tasks to be allocated as specific tasks for which the travel distance of the mobile work machine in that task can be set to be changeable. According to the total remaining battery level, which is the sum of the remaining battery levels of each of the plurality of mobile work machines, when the total remaining battery level is less than the set remaining level, compared to when it is equal to or greater than the set remaining level, the travel distance of each mobile work machine to which the specific task is allocated is configured to be set shorter. A work system

2. wherein the controller is configured such that the shorter the total remaining battery level, the shorter the travel distance of each mobile work machine to which the specific task is allocated, according to Claim 1. The work system

3. wherein the controller is configured to preferentially allocate the specific task to a mobile work machine with a lower remaining battery level, according to Claim 1. The work system

4. wherein the controller when there are a plurality of mobile work machines to which the specific task is allocated, the shorter the remaining battery level of the mobile work machine, the shorter the travel distance of the mobile work machine in the specific task allocated to that mobile work machine, according to Claim 1. The work system

5. wherein the controller when the remaining battery level of a certain mobile work machine among the plurality of mobile work machines is less than the set individual remaining level, regardless of the total remaining battery level, allocates the specific task to that mobile work machine and is configured to set the travel distance of that mobile work machine in the specific task shorter, according to Claim 1. The work system

6. wherein the controller is configured to set the travel distance of each mobile work machine in the specific task shorter even when the total remaining battery level is equal to or greater than the set remaining level but is predicted to be less than the set remaining level, according to Claim 1. The work system

7. wherein the controller The work system according to claim 1, wherein when the remaining battery level of a certain mobile work machine among the plurality of mobile work machines is less than the critical remaining level, regardless of the total remaining battery level, the work is not assigned to that mobile work machine.

8. Each of the plurality of mobile work machines is a transporter for transporting products, and the work system is an in-warehouse product transportation system for transporting products between a storage location and a shipping / receiving location in the warehouse by the transporter. The work performed by the transporter includes a warehousing operation, which is the work of transporting products from the shipping / receiving location to the storage location, and a shipping operation, which is the work of transporting products from the storage location to the shipping / receiving location. The work system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The controller is configured such that only the warehousing operation among the warehousing operation and the shipping operation is recognized as the specific operation, and by setting the storage location in the warehousing operation recognized as the specific operation, the moving distance of the mobile work machine in the warehousing operation is set. The work system according to claim 8.

10. The controller is configured such that when the warehousing operation and the shipping operation should be performed at the same time, the number of mobile work machines equal to or more than the amount corresponding to the shipping operation is assigned to the shipping operation. The work system according to claim 8.

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