Article transport facility, route setting method, and route setting program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11914385-B2
Application number	US-202217726669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2022
Priority date	Apr 23, 2021
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

A reference cost and a variable cost are included in a link cost for setting a set route for causing a setting vehicle to travel to a destination on a travelable route. A controller obtains an adjusted variable cost by adjusting a variable cost using a priority adjustment value set higher as a priority for arriving more quickly at a destination decreases, determines a link cost for each link in a candidate route, which is a candidate for a set route for a setting vehicle, based on the adjusted variable cost and the reference cost, obtains a route cost for each candidate route based on the link costs, and sets the set route based on the route costs of the candidate routes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article transport facility comprising:
a plurality of article transport vehicles configured to transport articles while traveling along a specified travelable route; and
a controller configured to control the article transport vehicles,
wherein:
the travelable route includes a plurality of nodes at which a route branches or routes merge, and a plurality of links that are each a route portion connecting a pair of nodes,
the controller executes route setting control to set a set route based on a link cost set for each of the links, the set route is a route along which a setting vehicle, which is one of the plurality of article transport vehicles, travels to a destination on the travelable route,
each of the link costs includes a reference cost and a variable cost,
a target vehicle is any one article transport vehicle that passes through a link, a target link is the link through which the target vehicle passes, and another vehicle is an article transport vehicle other than the target vehicle,
the reference cost is a value set based on a reference transit time indicating an amount of time required for the target vehicle to pass through the target link while the other vehicle is not present in the target link,
a setting time is a time at which the route setting control is executed,
an other vehicle cost is a value set according to an amount by which the time required for the target vehicle to pass through the target link increases per other vehicle present in the target link,
a target other vehicle is another vehicle deemed to be present in the target link, and
a priority adjustment value is a value set according to a traveling purpose of an article transport vehicle and furthermore set so as to increase continuously or stepwise as a priority for arriving more quickly at the destination decreases,
in the route setting control, the controller obtains the variable cost based on the number of target other vehicles and the other vehicle cost, obtains an adjusted variable cost by adjusting the variable cost using the priority adjustment value that is in accordance with the traveling purpose of the setting vehicle, determines the link cost for each link in a candidate route based on the adjusted variable cost and the reference cost, the candidate route is a candidate for the set route from the position of the setting vehicle at the setting time to the destination, obtains a route cost for each candidate route based on the link costs, and sets the set route based on the route cost of each candidate route.

2. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein there are a plurality of traveling purposes, including transport-related traveling for traveling to a destination set in order to receive an article or deliver an article, and retreat traveling for traveling to a destination set in order to clear a route for another article transport vehicle, and
wherein the priority adjustment value corresponding to the retreat traveling is set higher than the priority adjustment value corresponding to the transport-related traveling.

3. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein there are a plurality of traveling purposes, including first transport-related traveling for traveling to a destination that is an article usage location, and second transport-related traveling for traveling to a destination that is an article storage location, and
wherein the priority adjustment value corresponding to the second transport-related traveling is set higher than the priority adjustment value corresponding to the first transport-related traveling.

4. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein there are a plurality of traveling purposes, comprising:
first delivery traveling for traveling to a destination that is an article usage location in order to deliver an article,
first receiving traveling for traveling to a destination that is an article usage location in order to receive an article,
second delivery traveling for traveling to a destination that is an article storage location in order to deliver an article,
second receiving traveling for traveling to a destination that is an article storage location in order to receive an article, and
retreat traveling for traveling to a destination set so as to clear a route for another article transport vehicle, and

wherein the priority adjustment value is set increasingly higher in above-stated order of traveling purposes.

5. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller sets, as the target other vehicle, another vehicle for which a set route passing through the target link has already been set.

6. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller sets, as the target other vehicle, another vehicle that is to travel simultaneously with the setting vehicle at a position in front of the setting vehicle, based on an arrival time of the setting vehicle at the target link estimated based on a route from a position of the setting vehicle at the setting time to the target link, and an arrival time of another vehicle at the target link estimated based on a route from a position of the other vehicle at the setting time to the target link.

7. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller obtains a density value by dividing the number of target other vehicles by a maximum value of the number of article transport vehicles that can be present in the target link, obtains an adjusted density value by adjusting the density value using the priority adjustment value that is in accordance with the traveling purpose of the setting vehicle, and, in the route setting control, corrects the link cost so as to increase as the density value increases.

8. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
further comprising a power supply line configured to supply power to the article transport vehicles and provided along the travelable route,
wherein the travelable route is divided into a plurality of power supply areas, an area maximum number of vehicles is set for each of the power supply areas, and the number of article transport vehicles to which power is suppliable in each of the power supply areas is less than or equal to the area maximum number of vehicles of the corresponding power supply area, and
wherein in a case where the number of other vehicles deemed to be present in a target power supply area, which is one of the power supply areas, is greater than or equal to the area maximum number of vehicles of the target power supply area, in the route setting control, the controller executes power supply area correction processing to correct the link cost of a link included in the target power supply area so as to be higher than the link cost of a link not included in the target power supply area.

9. A route setting method for, in an article transport facility that comprises a plurality of article transport vehicles that transport articles while traveling along a specified travelable route and a controller that controls the article transport vehicles, setting a set route for causing a setting vehicle, which is one of the article transport vehicles, to travel to a destination on the travelable route, by causing the controller to execute route setting control,
the travelable route including a plurality of nodes at which a route branches or routes merge, and a plurality of links that are each a route portion connecting a pair of nodes,
a link cost set for each of the links including a reference cost and a variable cost,
wherein:
a target vehicle is any one article transport vehicle that passes through a link, a target link is the link through which the

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Kono Makoto
• Takeno Keisuke
• Iwamitsu Kazuhiro

Classifications

• H10P72/3221

  Overhead conveying · CPC title

• H10P72/3216

  using a general scheme of a conveying path within a factory · CPC title

• H10P72/3208 Primary

  Changing the direction of the conveying path · CPC title

• H10P72/0612

  Production flow monitoring, e.g. for increasing throughput · CPC title

• H10P72/3218

  Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers · CPC title