US-12625501-B2 - Delivery system, delivery method, and automatic transfer device

US12625501B2US 12625501 B2US12625501 B2US 12625501B2US-12625501-B2

Abstract

A delivery system for delivering an article includes: an automatic transfer device configured to automatically move the article in a specific space; a standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby is provided in the specific space; and a cleaning device disposed in the standby space. The automatic transfer device includes a detection section configured to detect surroundings, a drive section, and a control section configured to control the drive section. The cleaning device is configured to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby.

Inventors

Koji Kawaguchi

Assignees

FUJI CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210921

Claims (9)

1 . A delivery system configured to deliver an article, the delivery system comprising: an automatic transfer device including a detection section configured to detect surroundings, a drive section, and a control section configured to control the drive section, the automatic transfer device being configured to automatically move the article by the drive section in a specific space, wherein a standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby is provided in the specific space, the delivery system further comprises a cleaning device disposed in the standby space, the cleaning device being configured to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby, the standby space is provided with an inspection section used when inspecting a function of the automatic transfer device, the automatic transfer device is configured to use the inspection section to execute an inspection of a function of the automatic transfer device while on standby in the standby space, the delivery system further comprises a management device configured to manage information of the delivery system, and the management device is configured to output an instruction to the automatic transfer device to automatically inspect the function of the automatic transfer device using the inspection section while the automatic transfer device is on standby, output an instruction to the cleaning device to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby, acquire an automatic inspection result from automatic transfer device, determine whether the automatic inspection result satisfies a predetermined condition, when the automatic inspection result satisfies the predetermined condition, update and output maintenance information, when the automatic inspection does not satisfy the predetermined condition, determine whether a re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed a predetermined number of times, when the re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed less than the predetermined number of times, execute the re-inspection and re-cleaning process, and when a re-inspection and a re-cleaning process has been executed the predetermined number of times, display and output error information.
2 . The delivery system according to claim 1 , wherein the cleaning device includes one or more of an air blow device, a liquid spray cleaning device, and a brush device.
3 . The delivery system according to claim 1 , wherein a wall configured to face the automatic transfer device is provided in the standby space, and the wall is formed with an inspection pattern, as the inspection section, configured to be detected by the detection section of the automatic transfer device, and the automatic transfer device is configured to use the inspection pattern to execute an inspection of the detection section of the automatic transfer device.
4 . The delivery system according to claim 1 , wherein the detection section includes one or more of a laser scan sensor, an imaging camera, and a sonar sensor.
5 . The delivery system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a charging device disposed in the standby space, the charging device being configured to charge the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby.
6 . A delivery system configured to deliver an article, the delivery system comprising: an automatic transfer device including a detection section configured to detect surroundings, the automatic transfer device being configured to automatically move the article in a specific space, wherein a standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby is provided in the specific space, the standby space is provided with a cleaning device configured to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby in the standby space, and an inspection section used when inspecting a function of the automatic transfer device, the automatic transfer device is configured to use the inspection section to execute an inspection of a function of the automatic transfer device while on standby in the standby space, the delivery system further comprises a management device configured to manage information of the delivery system, and the management device is configured to output an instruction to the automatic transfer device to automatically inspect the function of the automatic transfer device using the inspection section while the automatic transfer device is on standby, output an instruction to the cleaning device to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby, acquire an automatic inspection result from automatic transfer device, determine whether the automatic inspection result satisfies a predetermined condition, when the automatic inspection result satisfies the predetermined condition, update and output maintenance information, when the automatic inspection does not satisfy the predetermined condition, determine whether a re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed a predetermined number of times, when the re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed less than the predetermined number of times, execute the re-inspection and re-cleaning process, and when a re-inspection and a re-cleaning process has been executed the predetermined number of times, display and output error information.
7 . The delivery system according to claim 6 , wherein a wall configured to face the automatic transfer device is provided in the standby space, and the wall is formed with an inspection pattern, as the inspection section, configured to be detected by the detection section of the automatic transfer device, and the automatic transfer device is configured to use the inspection pattern to execute an inspection of the detection section of the automatic transfer device.
8 . A delivery method for delivering an article by using an automatic transfer device, the automatic transfer device including a detection section configured to detect surroundings, a drive section, and a control section configured to control the drive section, the automatic transfer device being configured to automatically move the article by the drive section in a specific space, wherein a standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby is provided in the specific space, the delivery method comprises: automatically inspecting a function of the automatic transfer device using an inspection section disposed in the standby space while the automatic transfer device is on standby; cleaning the automatic transfer device using a cleaning device disposed in the standby space while the automatic transfer device is on standby; acquiring an automatic inspection result from automatic transfer device; determining whether the automatic inspection result satisfies a predetermined condition; when the automatic inspection result satisfies the predetermined condition, updating and outputting maintenance information; when the automatic inspection does not satisfy the predetermined condition, determining whether a re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed a predetermined number of times; when the re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed less than the predetermined number of times, executing the re-inspection and re-cleaning process; and when a re-inspection and a re-cleaning process has been executed the predetermined number of times, displaying and outputting error information.
9 . An automatic transfer device used in a delivery system configured to deliver an article, the automatic transfer device being configured to automatically move the article in a specific space, the automatic transfer device comprising: a detection section configured to detect surroundings; a drive section configured to drive the automatic transfer device; and a control section configured to control the drive section, wherein the delivery system is provided with a management device configured to manage information of the delivery system, and a standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby in the specific space, and the standby space is provided with an inspection section used when inspecting a function of the automatic transfer device, and a cleaning device configured to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby, and the management device is configured to output an instruction to the control section to automatically execute an inspection of a function of the automatic transfer device using the inspection section while the automatic transfer device is on standby, output an instruction to the cleaning device to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby, acquire an automatic inspection result from automatic transfer device, determine whether the automatic inspection result satisfies a predetermined condition, when the automatic inspection result satisfies the predetermined condition, update and output maintenance information, when the automatic inspection does not satisfy the predetermined condition, determine whether a re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed a predetermined number of times, when the re-inspection and re-cleaning process has been executed less than the predetermined number of times, execute the re-inspection and re-cleaning process, and when a re-inspection and a re-cleaning process has been executed the predetermined number of times, display and output error information.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present description discloses a delivery system, a delivery method, and an automatic transfer device. BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, as a mobile robot device, there has been proposed a mobile robot device that relates to a system including a base station and a mobile robot device that performs grass cutting or cleaning, in which environmental sensors, such as temperature and precipitation sensors, are disposed in the base station to regulate the deployment of the mobile robot device according to weather conditions (for example, see Patent Literature 1). The system can achieve improvement of the work results of the mobile robot device by minimizing unnecessary work. In addition, as a mobile robot device, there has been proposed a mobile robot device that detects the presence or absence of an abnormality in a drive system due to a traveling motor including a battery based on a current waveform of the battery when traveling on a predetermined traveling path (for example, see Patent Literature 2). The device can appropriately detect an abnormality in the drive system including the electric energy source. Further, as a mobile robot device, there has been proposed a mobile robot device in which an approximate position is detected by ultrasonic measurement and an odometer, a slot-shaped light beam perpendicular to a traveling surface is transmitted from a docking device, and an accurate rotation angle of the mobile robot device is detected by a detector (for example, see Patent Literature 3). PATENT LITERATURE Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2019-501650Patent Literature 2: JP-A-2016-33816Patent Literature 3: JP-A-2001-508572 BRIEF SUMMARY Technical Problem An automatic transfer device may be used in, for example, a delivery system for delivering articles. In the delivery system, the automatic transfer device executes not only delivery work for delivering articles but also work such as standing by between work, device charging process, maintenance inspection work, so that it is desired to operate efficiently. Although Patent Literatures 1 to 3 describe the system using the automatic transfer device, efficient maintenance and operation of the automatic transfer device are not considered. The present disclosure is made to solve such problems, and a main object of the present disclosure is to provide a delivery system, a delivery method, and an automatic transfer device capable of executing maintenance work more efficiently by utilizing standby time. The present disclosure employs the following means in order to achieve the main object described above. The delivery system of the present description is a delivery system configured to deliver an article, the delivery system including an automatic transfer device that includes a detection section configured to detect surroundings, a drive section, and a control section configured to control the drive section, the automatic transfer device being configured to automatically move the article by the drive section in a specific space, in which a standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby is provided in the specific space, and the delivery system further includes a cleaning device disposed in the standby space, the cleaning device being configured to clean the automatic transfer device while the automatic transfer device is on standby. In this delivery system, the cleaning device configured to clean the automatic transfer device is disposed in the standby space where the automatic transfer device is on standby, and the automatic transfer device can be cleaned while on standby. In this delivery system, maintenance work can be executed more efficiently by utilizing the standby time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an example of delivery system 10. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of logistics center 20. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of standby space 30 and automatic transfer device 40. FIG. 4 is a trihedral view of automatic transfer device 40 connected to wheeled platform 12. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of a detection range of detection section 47. FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example of maintenance information 25 stored in storage section 23. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic transfer device maintenance processing routine. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an example of delivery system 10. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of logistics center 20. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of standby space 30 and automatic transfer device 40. FIG. 4 is a trihedral view of automatic transfer device 40 connected to wheeled platform 12, in which FIG. 4A is a plan view, FIG. 4B is a front view, and FIG. 4C is a side view. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of a detection range of detection section 47. FIG. 6