Article conveyance apparatus

An article conveyance apparatus that travels along a predetermined transportation path and conveys an article, the transportation path including a linear section and a curved section, the article conveyance apparatus comprising:

• a conveyance body that holds the article,
• a front imaging device that captures an image in front of the conveyance body,
• a left-side imaging device that captures an image in left front of the conveyance body, the left-side imaging device inclined toward a left side of the conveyance body with respect to the front of the conveyance body, and
• a right-side imaging device that captures an image in right front of the conveyance body, the right-side imaging device inclined toward a right-side of the conveyance body with respect to the front of the conveyance body,
• wherein the front imaging device includes a plurality of cameras, and determines presence or absence of an obstacle ahead of the conveyance body and calculates a distance between the obstacle and the conveyance body, based on a comparison between images captured by the plurality of cameras;
• in a region where the conveyance body enters from the linear section to the curved section, the left-side imaging device and the right-side imaging device determine presence or absence of an obstacle ahead of a left or a right side of the conveyance body based on an image captured in left front or right front of the conveyance body according to a turning direction of the curved section;
• the article conveyance apparatus avoid a collision with an obstacle by at least reducing a traveling speed if the distance from the front obstacle is at most a predetermined threshold value, the distance being calculated by the front imaging device, and if one of the left-side imaging device and the right-side imaging device determines presence of an obstacle ahead of the left or the right side of the conveyance body, and
• wherein the left-side imaging device and the right-side imaging device capture images only in a curve transition region determined in advance in the transportation path.