Transport Vehicle Guide-Zone Check After Position Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transport facilities struggle to properly resume control of transport vehicles when they lose information on their travel position due to events like power failures, making it difficult for the control system to manage the vehicles effectively.
Innovation Solution
The transport facility includes a guide rail along the travel route with guide zones and non-guide zones, and a control system that performs a confirmation operation to determine the vehicle's location by driving guided sections in the width direction, allowing it to distinguish between guide and non-guide zones, even when the vehicle loses positional information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the transport vehicle uses positional information reading to determine its location, then the control system can control the vehicle along the travel route, but the vehicle loses positional information when specific events like power failures occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs a confirmation operation before normal control to determine whether the transport vehicle is in a guide zone or non-guide zone. This preliminary action ensures that even if positional information is lost due to power failures or other events, the system can quickly determine the vehicle's location type and resume appropriate control without manual intervention.
2Reliability
If the control system manually restores vehicle control after position information loss, then accurate control can be resumed, but manual intervention is required which reduces productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the control system to automatically determine whether the transport vehicle is in a guide zone or non-guide zone through confirmation operations, without requiring manual intervention. The system self-diagnoses its situation and selects appropriate control strategies, eliminating the need for workers to perform restoration work and thereby improving productivity.
3Measurement precision
If the guide rail is disposed throughout the entire travel route, then the vehicle can always determine its position, but the system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different control strategies based on the local characteristics of the zone. In guide zones where guide rails are present, the system uses guide rail information for position determination. In non-guide zones where guide rails are not disposed, the system uses confirmation operations to determine location type and applies appropriate control. This local differentiation reduces the need for guide rails throughout the entire route while maintaining position determination capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A travel route of a transport facility includes a guide zone in which a guide rail is disposed and a non-guide zone in which the guide rail is not disposed. A control system causes a guide drive section to execute a confirmation operation to drive a first guided section in a width direction Y in response to occurrence of a specific event in which a transport vehicle loses information on a travel position thereof, determines that the transport vehicle is in the non-guide zone in response to the first guided section moving from a first position to a second position or from the second position to the first position, and determines that the transport vehicle is in the guide zone in response to the first guided section being prevented from moving from the first position to the second position or from the second position to the first position.