Travelling Vehicle Controller Blocking Area Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing travelling vehicle systems in semiconductor manufacturing factories face long processing times due to time-consuming calculation processing for determining passage permissions through blocking areas, particularly at intersections like branching and merging sections, which delays the overall transportation efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A travelling vehicle system and method where a controller stores information about the last permitted and canceled vehicles at each blocking area, allowing for quick determination of passage permissions based on coinciding forward and last permitted/canceled vehicle information, eliminating the need for route searching and reducing processing time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If calculation processing such as route searching is performed to determine the sequence of travelling vehicles entering the blocking area, then the passage permission determination is made based on accurate route information, but the processing time from reception of the request to completion of determination becomes long
Solution Approach 1:
The controller pre-manages the sequence of travelling vehicles in advance by using stored information about the last permitted and last canceled vehicles. This preliminary sequencing eliminates the need for time-consuming route searching at the moment of permission determination, while still ensuring accurate sequence-based control of vehicle passage through blocking areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing complex route searching calculations, the system uses simplified copied information from storage - specifically, the identification information of the last permitted vehicle and last canceled vehicle. This copied data serves as a proxy for the full route analysis, providing sufficient accuracy for determination while dramatically reducing processing time.
2Reliability
If the sequence of travelling vehicles is managed at all times with route searching, then passage permission is given correctly according to entry sequence, but the overall transportation efficiency is reduced due to long processing time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary sequencing by maintaining stored information about the last permitted and last canceled vehicles in advance. This pre-established sequence information allows the controller to quickly determine passage permissions without disrupting transportation flow, thereby maintaining both reliability and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller utilizes its own stored historical data (last permitted vehicle, last canceled vehicle) to automatically determine the current sequence without needing to perform external route searching. This self-service approach using internal memory ensures reliable sequence management while eliminating time-consuming calculations that would reduce transportation efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A travelling vehicle system includes travelling vehicles and a controller. The controller includes a storage that stores a last permitted travelling vehicle, to which a passage permission is transmitted lastly and the passage permission for which is not canceled, for each direction in a branching section or a merging section included in a blocking area, stores a last canceled travelling vehicle, the passage permission for which is canceled lastly, for each direction in the blocking area, and stores the travelling vehicle, to which the passage permission in a same direction in the blocking area is transmitted lastly, as a forward travelling vehicle of a travelling vehicle waiting for the permission to pass through the blocking area at the time of transmission of the passage permission to the passage-permission waiting travelling vehicle, and a determiner that determines whether to give passage permission to the travelling vehicle waiting for the permission.