Travelling vehicle system and method for controlling travel of travelling vehicle in curved section

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9336684-B2
Application number	US-201314403735-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 19, 2013
Priority date	May 28, 2012
Publication date	May 10, 2016
Grant date	May 10, 2016

Abstract

A ground controller in a travelling vehicle system stores travel permissions for a curved section that are provided to travelling vehicles, and deletes the travel permissions when the travelling vehicles leave the curved section. When a request for a permission to travel in the curved section is received from a travelling vehicle, the ground controller references the memory, provides a first travel permission if a permission to travel has not been provided to another travelling vehicle, and provides a low-order travel permission that permits travel with a lower speed than the first travel permission if a permission to travel has been provided to another travelling vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A travelling vehicle system comprising:
a travelling route;
a ground controller; and
travelling vehicles configured to travel in a section including a curve in the travelling route under control of the ground controller; wherein
the travelling vehicles are configured to travel along the travelling route, include an obstacle sensor and a communication unit configured to communicate with the ground controller, and are configured or programmed to make a request for a travel permission to the ground controller via the communication unit before travelling in the section including a curve;
the ground controller is configured or programmed to control travelling of the travelling vehicles and includes:
a memory in which a travel permission for the section including a curve that has already been provided to the travelling vehicle is stored, and from which the travel permission is deleted when the travelling vehicle leaves the section; and
a travel permission unit configured or programmed to, when a request for a permission to travel in the section is received from one of the travelling vehicles, reference the memory, provide a first travel permission if a permission to travel has not been provided to another one of the travelling vehicles, and provide a low-order travel permission that permits travel with a lower speed than the first travel permission if a permission to travel has been provided to another one of the travelling vehicles;

the traveling vehicles are configured to enter the section including a curve when the ground controller has provided the first travel permission or the low-order travel permission;
the traveling vehicles are configured to wait to enter the section including a curve when the ground controller has not provided the first travel permission or the low-order travel permission; and
when a travelling vehicle that is farthest ahead in the section has been provided with the first travel permission by the ground controller and a travelling vehicle following the farthest ahead travelling vehicle in the section has been provided with the low-order travel permission by the ground controller, the travelling vehicle with the low-order travel permission is configured to monitor a travelling vehicle ahead of the travelling vehicle with the low-order travel permission in the section by the obstacle sensor of the travelling vehicle with the low-order permission in the section.

2. The travelling vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein the travel permission unit is configured or programmed to, when the travelling vehicle farthest ahead in the section leaves the section, change the travel permission for the travelling vehicle immediately following the farthest ahead travelling vehicle in the section to the first travel permission.

3. The travelling vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein
the ground controller includes a storage device configured to, for each of the travelling vehicles, store a frequency of interferences with leading vehicles or rapid speed reductions in sections; and
the travel permission unit is configured or programmed to, when providing the low-order travel permission, provide a travel permission with a lower speed when the frequency is high, and provide a travel permission with a higher speed when the frequency is low.

4. The travelling vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein the section including a curve is a diverging section or a merging section, and the travel permission unit is configured or programmed to not provide the low-order travel permission when a request for a travel permission to a different side from the other travelling vehicle in the diverging section is received, or when a request for a travel permission from a different side from the other travelling vehicle in the merging section is received.

5. The travelling vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein:
when the section includes at least three travelling vehicles, each of the at least three travelling vehicles, other than the farthest ahead travelling vehicle, monitors another of the at least three traveling vehicles that it is immediately following in the section by the obstacle sensor.

6. A method of controlling travelling of travelling vehicles in curved sections, to allow the travelling vehicles to travel in a section including a curve in a travelling route under control of a ground controller, the method comprising:
making a request for a travel permission to the ground controller before the travelling vehicle travels in the section including a curve;
monitoring an obstacle in the section with an obstacle sensor; and
stopping or performing speed reduction of the travelling vehicle to avoid interference if an obstacle is detected; wherein
the ground controller is configured or programmed to:
store in a memory a travel permission for the section including a curve that has been already provided to the travelling vehicle, and delete the travel permission from the memory when the travelling vehicle leaves the section; and
when a request for a permission to travel in the section is received from one of the travelling vehicles, reference the memory, provide a first travel permission if a permission to travel has not been provided to another one of the travelling vehicles, and provide a low-order travel permission that permits travel with a lower speed than the first travel permission if a permission to travel has been provided to another one of the travelling vehicles;

the traveling vehicles are configured to enter the section including a curve when the ground controller has provided the first travel permission or the low-order travel permission;
the travelling vehicles are configured to wait to enter the section including a curve when the ground controller has not provided the first travel permission or the low-order travel permission; and
when a travelling vehicle that is farthest ahead in the section has been provided with the first travel permission by the ground controller and a travelling vehicle following the farthest ahead travelling vehicle in the section has been provided with the low-order travel permission by the ground controller, the travelling vehicle with the low-order travel permission is configured to monitor a travelling vehicle ahead of the travelling vehicle with the low-order travel permission in the section by the obstacle sensor of the travelling vehicle with the low-order permission in the section.

7. The method of controlling travelling of travelling vehicles according to claim 6 , wherein:
when the section includes at least three travelling vehicles, each of the at least three travelling vehicles, other than the farthest ahead travelling vehicle, monitors another of the at least three traveling vehicles that it is immediately following in the section by the obstacle sensor.

Assignees

• Murata Machinery Ltd

Inventors

• Harasaki Kazumi

Classifications

• G05D2201/0213

  Physics · mapped topic

• G05D1/0297

  by controlling means in a control room · CPC title

• G08G1/22 Primary

  Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles · CPC title

• G05D1/0289 Primary

  with means for avoiding collisions between vehicles (vehicle fittings for automatically controlling speed including means for detecting potential obstacles B60K31/0008; avoiding obstacles by action on the steering system B62D; radar, sonar, lidar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93) · CPC title

• G01C21/34

  Route searching; Route guidance · CPC title