CN111052025A

CN111052025A - Mobile robot system

Info

Publication number: CN111052025A
Application number: CN201880053574.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 伊藤顺治
Original assignee: Nidec Corp
Current assignee: Nidec Corp
Priority date: 2017-09-13
Filing date: 2018-08-31
Publication date: 2020-04-21
Also published as: JPWO2019054205A1; WO2019054205A1

Abstract

A mobile robot system (1, 2) comprises: the robot system includes a tag (100) that transmits tag identification information, a positioning device (30) that measures the position of the tag according to the tag identification information and transmits the position information of the tag, and a mobile robot (10) that moves to a destination along a set path. The tag moves together with the moving object (200). The mobile robot (10) moves according to a destination and a route set according to the position of the label, and when the position of the label changes during the movement, the destination and the route are changed according to the changed position of the label, and the mobile robot moves according to the changed destination and route.

Description

Mobile robot system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to mobile robotic systems.

Background

Development of a system for controlling movement of a moving body such as a automated guided vehicle has been advanced.

International publication No. 2008/035433 discloses a mobile body having a tag communication section. A plurality of IC tags having respective position information are arranged in a distributed manner in the travel target area. When the mobile body travels, the tag communication unit wirelessly communicates with the IC tag and reads the positional information of the IC tag. Thus, the mobile object can acquire information on the current position and automatically travel.

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 11-154013 discloses a system for moving an Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) to a predetermined position. The AGV reads a position mark indicating a position, and corrects the position mark using its own navigation system when the AGV moves to a specified position and its own position is shifted.

Patent document

Patent document 1: international publication No. 2008/035433

Patent document 2: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 11-154013

Summary of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Conventional mobile bodies collect data indicating their own positions individually, perform altitude control, and autonomously travel toward a destination. Such a mobile body requires a high-performance processor, a large-capacity memory, a high-performance sensor, and the like, and thus the cost of the system increases.

For example, in the techniques of

patent documents

1 and 2, both the IC tag and the position mark required for detecting the position are disposed in the travel area, and the moving object itself detects the current position and is used for autonomous travel. A reading device for reading the position information and a device for performing autonomous traveling using the position information are required, and the cost of the mobile body increases.

The present disclosure provides a mobile robot system that can be introduced and operated at a low cost.

Means for solving the problems

An exemplary mobile robot system of the present disclosure includes: a tag that transmits tag identification information; a positioning device for measuring the position of the tag according to the tag identification information and transmitting the position information of the tag; and a mobile robot that moves along a set path to a destination, the tag moving together with a moving object, the mobile robot moving according to the destination and the path set according to a position of the tag, and when the position of the tag changes during the movement, changing the destination and the path according to the changed position of the tag, and moving according to the changed destination and the changed path.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

In the exemplary mobile robot system of the present application, the position of the IC tag is measured using a positioning device, and the mobile robot autonomously moves so as to follow the change in the position of the IC tag. The mobile robot does not need to position itself, and does not need to arrange an IC tag or a position mark, which is necessary for detecting the position, in the travel area. Thus, the mobile robot system can be introduced and operated at a low cost.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an exemplary mobile robot system.

Fig. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the mobile robot system.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a guidance command for the mobile robot.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a boot instruction before update and a boot instruction after update.

Fig. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of another example of the mobile robot system.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the structure of the IC tag.

Fig. 7 is an external view of the mobile robot.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the mobile robot.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the boot device.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the positioning device.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the file server.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a procedure of communication performed in the mobile robot system and processing of the mobile robot, the guidance device, and the positioning device.

Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the mobile robot system according to the application example.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a storage device in which a guide device and a file server are housed in one housing.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the mobile robot system of the present disclosure will be described.

In the mobile robot system of the present disclosure, a destination and a movement path are set for each of 1 or more mobile robots, and the mobile robots move autonomously. A destination and a moving route are set according to the position of the IC tag. The "IC tag" is an electronic device that periodically or intermittently transmits unique identification information. A communication device such as a smartphone can also be used as the IC tag.

The position of the IC tag is measured by a positioning device provided in a moving space of the mobile robot. The measurement is performed periodically, for example, at intervals of several seconds. When the IC tag moves, the positioning device can acquire the position of the moved IC tag.

The setting and changing of the destination and the route are performed by the guidance device when the guidance device is provided. The guiding device transmits a guiding command to each mobile robot to move the mobile robot along the route to the destination. When the guide device is not provided, the setting and changing of the destination and the route are performed by each mobile robot.

The mobile robot may also be, for example, an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV), a self-propelled cart or wheelchair, an automatic or autonomous drive, a robot, a multi-rotor aircraft, a service robot. The "position" may be a position in a two-dimensional plane or a position in a three-dimensional space.

An example of a utilization of a mobile robot system is the reception of a visitor serving the robot. Hereinafter, an example will be given in which a visitor of a facility into which a mobile robot system is introduced is met by a service robot when carrying an IC tag that is lent when entering a hall. A guide device is provided in a mobile robot system.

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a mobile robot system 1. Fig. 1 shows a moving path R1 of a visitor 200 having an IC tag 100 and a moving path R2 of a mobile robot 10 for welcoming the visitor 200.

When the visitor 200 finishes the reception in the hall, the powered-on IC tag 100 is handed to the visitor. Since the power is turned on, the IC tag 100 starts to periodically or intermittently transmit the unique identification information. A positioning device, not shown, measures the position P0 of the IC tag 100. The coordinate of the position P0 is (X0, Y0).

The guide device determines the coordinates (X0, Y0) of the position P0 of the IC tag 100 as the destination, and determines a route from the current position S to the destination of the mobile robot 10. Since the route is determined, the guidance device may have a map indicating a space in a section where the mobile robot 10 can move.

When the guidance device transmits a guidance command including a destination and a route to the mobile robot 10, the mobile robot 10 sets the destination and the route included in the guidance command. In the example of fig. 1, a route from the position S (Xs, Ys) to the destination Pn (X0, Y0) via the position Pa (Xa, Ya), the position Pb (Xb, Yb), ·. The mobile robot 10 starts moving according to the set destination and route.

The positioning device periodically measures the position of the IC tag 100. When the visitor 200 carrying the IC tag 100 moves, the change in the position of the IC tag 100 can be detected at the timing of measurement. In fig. 1, the IC tag 100 is located at position P0 and then at position P1. The coordinate of the position P1 is (X1, Y1). At this time, the mobile robot 10 reaches the position Pa.

When a change in the position of the IC tag 100 is detected by measurement by the positioning device, the guidance device changes the destination and route according to the changed position of the IC tag. When the guidance device transmits a guidance command including the changed destination and route to the mobile robot 10, the mobile robot 10 sets the destination and route again. In the example of fig. 1, a route from the position Pa (Xa, Ya) to the destination Pn (X1, Y1) via the position Pb (Xb, Yb), ·. The mobile robot 10 continues to move according to the destination and the route set again.

After that, when the visitor 200 passes through the positions P2 and P3 in this order, the destination and the route are changed as needed by the guide device, and the setting is again performed on the mobile robot 10. By such an operation, the mobile robot 10 moves toward the IC tag 100 as the visitor 200 carrying the IC tag 100 moves.

When passing through the position Pe, the destination of the mobile robot 10 is set to Pn again (X3, Y3), and the route is also set again. After that, the mobile robot 10 reaches the position Pn via the position Pf. In addition, the guest 200 also moves from the position P3 to the position P4. As a result, the visitor 200 carrying the IC tag 100 meets the mobile robot 10. The mobile robot 10 outputs a message welcoming the visitor 200, for example, by voice. This enables the reception of the guest 200.

Various processes for determining that the mobile robot 10 meets the visitor 200 are considered. For example, the IC tag is also provided to the mobile robot 10, and the positioning device measures the position of the mobile robot 10 and notifies the mobile robot 10 of the position of the mobile robot 10. The mobile robot 10 may stop moving when it is determined that its current position enters a predetermined area, for example, a hall where a visitor waits.

Further, the movement of the mobile robot 10 may be stopped when the distance between the position of the IC tag 100 and the position of the mobile robot 10 falls within a predetermined range, for example, 1 m.

An imaging device (camera) for acquiring the image data of the space may be provided to the mobile robot 10, and the mobile robot 10 may be stopped when the image data of the camera includes the visitor 200. Whether or not the image data of the camera contains the guest 200 may be determined by analyzing the image and determining whether or not the feature of the picture of the face of the guest 200 registered in advance is contained in the image data. Alternatively, the determination may be made by, for example, whether or not the image data includes a name card number given at the time of reception in the venue.

In the above description, the guidance device directly transmits the guidance command to the mobile robot 10. However, the mobile robot 10 can acquire the guidance instruction by another method. For example, a file server that operates as a storage device is prepared. When the guide device newly generates a guide instruction or updates an already generated guide instruction, the guide instruction is transmitted to the file server and stored. The guidance device transmits a notification indicating that a guidance command is generated or a notification indicating that the guidance command has been updated to the mobile robot 10. In response to the reception of the notification, the mobile robot 10 acquires a new guidance instruction from the file server and sets the instruction to itself. The mobile robot 10 may acquire the guidance command from the file server only when a new guidance command is generated. In such a mobile robot system, a very large number of mobile robots can be guided while suppressing a communication load and a processing load.

When the guidance command is not changed or when the storage device cannot be accessed for some reason, the mobile robot can move in accordance with the acquired guidance command.

The mobile robot does not need a device or the like for acquiring the position information. It is not necessary to provide an IC tag or the like storing position information in the moving area of the mobile robot. This also suppresses the cost of introducing the system including the cost of the mobile robot.

In addition, when the guide device is provided, the mobile robot 10 does not need to be provided with the IC tag 100. That is because, as described later, the mobile robot 10 can move based on the guidance instruction, and therefore does not need to know the position of itself. On the other hand, when the guide device is not provided, the IC tag 100 is preferably provided to the mobile robot 10. That is to know the relationship between the position of the host computer and the position of the IC tag 100 of the guest 200.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the mobile robot system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. However, detailed description may be omitted if necessary. For example, detailed descriptions of already known matters and repetitive descriptions of actually the same configuration may be omitted. This is because the following description is avoided to be unnecessarily lengthy and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. The present inventors have provided drawings and the following description in order to fully understand the present disclosure for those skilled in the art, and therefore do not intend to limit the subject matter described in the claims. In the following description, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

A mobile robot system according to an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 2. The mobile robot 10 is a service robot.

Fig. 2 schematically shows the structure of the mobile robot system 1. The exemplary mobile robot system 1 shown in fig. 2 includes a mobile robot 10, a guide device 20, a positioning device 30, and an IC tag 100. Fig. 2 illustrates the relay device 32. The relay device 32 is a device that has a transmission antenna 33 and a reception antenna 34 and relays communication. The relay device 32 may be included in the necessary components of the mobile robot system 1, or the relay device 32 may not be included.

The IC tag 100 is an electronic device that transmits unique identification information (RFID) uniquely identifying itself. The identification information is held in advance in the IC tag 100. The information transmitted from the IC tag 100 is received by the receiving antenna 34 of the relay device 32. The IC tag 100 periodically transmits the identification information, for example, every 0.1 second. The identification information is propagated by radio waves. The radio waves are received by the receiving antennas 34 of the plurality of relay devices 32.

The positioning device 30 can measure the position of the mobile robot 10 using the arrival angle of the radio wave received by each receiving antenna 34 of the identification information. An example of the structure and processing of the positioning device 30 will be described later.

The guidance device 20 sets the position of the IC tag 100 as the destination of the mobile robot 10, and determines a route to the destination. The guidance device 20 transmits a guidance command including a destination and a route to the mobile robot 10. The mobile robot 10 sets a destination and a route and starts moving. Thereby, the mobile robot 10 moves to the IC tag 100 carried by the visitor 200 (see white arrows in fig. 2). An example of the configuration and processing of the guide device 20 will be described later.

Fig. 3 shows an example of the guidance instruction 110 for the mobile robot 10 whose identification information is "100063". In the present embodiment, as an example, position information of a plurality of positions is previously included in one guidance instruction. The positions Pa to P (n-1) indicate a plurality of passage points that define the movement path of the mobile body. The destination is the lowest Pn with coordinates (X3, Y3).

The guidance command 110 specifies an angle θ x indicating the traveling direction of the mobile robot 10 and a distance dx (x: A, B, C, D, E, F) to be entered for the positions Pa to P (n-1), respectively. In other words, the position information set for the k-th position Pk is information of the direction and distance of the (k +1) -th position P (k +1) as viewed from the position Pk (k: positive integer). In the present embodiment, after starting to move from the position Pk to the next position P (k +1), the mobile robot 10 continues to move without stopping until reaching the position P (k +1) as a principle. Each row of the guidance instructions 110 is a movement interval. The method of describing the position information is arbitrary. Absolute coordinates (global coordinates) may be set in the space in which the mobile robot 10 moves, and coordinates of each position may be described.

If the position of the IC tag 100 does not change, the guidance device 20 does not change the guidance command 110. On the other hand, when the position of the IC tag 100 has changed, the guidance device 20 generates a new guidance command in which the destination and the route have been changed, and transmits the new guidance command to the mobile robot 10. The mobile robot 10 sets the destination and the route again, and moves to a new destination along a new route.

Fig. 4 shows examples of pre-update boot instructions 110 and post-update boot instructions 120. In the example of fig. 4, the mobile robot 10 arrives at the position Pe in accordance with the guide instruction 110 before update, and then changes the destination Pn shown in the lowermost layer to (X4, Y4). Thus, the updated guidance command 120 updates the movement direction and distance of each section starting from the following passage points Pc, Pe, Pf, and P (n-1). When the point Pe is changed to a different position Pe, the moving direction and distance are updated so that the position Pe is a starting point and the moving direction and distance are directed to a new position Pf. In addition, some or all of the passing points below the passing point Pf are updated to have different moving directions and distances.

A mobile robot system different from the mobile robot system 1 shown in fig. 2 can also be employed.

Fig. 5 schematically shows the structure of the mobile robot system 2. The mobile robot system 2 includes: mobile robot 10, guiding device 20, positioning device 30, file server 40. The mobile robot system 2 is different from the mobile robot system 1 in that the file server 40 is provided.

The file server 40 is communicably connected to the guidance device 20 and the mobile robot 10. The file server 40 stores a guidance instruction for each mobile body, which is initially generated by the guidance device 20. In response to receiving the guidance instruction acquisition request transmitted from the mobile robot 10, the file server 40 reads the guidance instruction of the mobile robot 10 that transmitted the request. Then, the file server 40 transmits a guidance instruction to the mobile robot 10. Note that the process of the mobile robot 10 transmitting the guidance instruction acquisition request and thereby acquiring the guidance instruction may be described as the mobile robot 10 reading the guidance instruction from the file server 40.

Fig. 5 shows processes (1) to (7) performed in order by the mobile robot system 2 when the position of the IC tag 100 changes. The following description is made in order.

The storage device 48 of the file server 40 stores in advance a guidance instruction (fig. 3) generated before the position of the IC tag 100 is changed. The processing at the time of first generating the guidance instruction may be performed by replacing the update processing read in the following description with the generation processing. The main bodies of the operations are described with reference to the mobile robot 10, the guidance device 20, the file server 40, and the mobile robot 10, respectively, but the main bodies of the actual operations are signal processing circuits, CPUs, or microcomputers provided respectively. The configurations of the mobile robot 10, the guidance device 20, the file server 40, and the mobile robot 10 will be described in detail later.

When a predetermined condition is satisfied, the guidance device 20 starts a process of updating the guidance instruction. The "predetermined condition" is a change in the position of the IC tag 100 measured by the positioning device 30 by a predetermined distance, for example, 50cm or more. The "predetermined distance" can be arbitrarily set to a position change amount equal to or more than the positioning accuracy of the positioning device 30.

(1) The guidance device 20 transmits the updated guidance instruction for the mobile robot 10 to the file server 40. The file server 40 replaces the identification information of the mobile robot 10 already held with the newly received guidance instruction. The file server 40 transmits an update end notification indicating that the update of the guidance instruction is ended to the guidance device 20.

(2) Upon receiving the update end notification, the guidance device 20 transmits a guidance instruction update notification to the mobile robot 10.

(3) The mobile robot 10 receives the guidance instruction update notification from the guidance device 20. By this notification, the mobile robot 10 can know that the guidance instruction applied to itself is updated.

(4) In response to reception of the guidance instruction update notification, the mobile robot 10 transmits a guidance instruction acquisition request to the file server 40. Further, information (for example, an IP address) for specifying the file server 40 on the network is held in advance by the mobile robot 10.

(5) The file server 40 receives a guidance instruction acquisition request from the mobile robot 10.

(6) The file server 40 reads the guide command 120 of the mobile robot 10 updated in the processing (1) from the storage device 48 and transmits the read guide command to the mobile robot 10.

(7) The mobile robot 10 receives the updated guidance instruction 120 from the file server 40. As a result, the mobile robot 10 can replace the existing guidance command 110 with the newly received guidance command 120.

In the above-described processing, the update notification of the guidance command is transmitted only to the mobile robot 10 that updated the guidance command. The file server 40 may read the guidance command and transmit the guidance command to the mobile robot 10 at a timing when the guidance command acquisition request from the mobile robot 10 is received. All the mobile robots 10 do not need to periodically check the file server 40 for updates. According to the processing of the present embodiment, when compared with a method in which the presence or absence of update is periodically checked with respect to the file server 40 by all the mobile robots 10, the communication load on the network is reduced, and the processing load on the file server 40 can be reduced.

The method of obtaining the updated guidance instruction by notification may be considered as an application example of a chat system that is a Social Network Service (SNS). In other words, it is sufficient to assume a state in which each mobile robot 10 has a conversation with the guidance device 20. Each mobile robot 10 can acquire the guidance command from the file server 40 and update it by knowing that the guidance command is updated by the notification from the guidance device 20. Before the presence notification, it is considered that the guidance command is not updated, and the mobile robot 10 may continue to move in accordance with the currently held guidance command.

The mobile robot 10 can access the file server 40 even when it does not receive a notification from the guidance device 20. For example, the mobile robot 10 may access the file server 40 at the time when the movement of the current section is completed, that is, at the time when the nearest passage point is reached. By accessing the file server 40 at the timing of arrival at each passage point, even when the notification is not delivered due to temporary deterioration of the communication environment or the like, the guidance command of the mobile robot 10 can be updated.

The respective components of the

mobile robot systems

1 and 2 that realize the above-described operations will be described in detail.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the structure of the IC tag 100. The IC tag 100 has a coin-sized case, for example. The IC tag 100 includes an IC51 for generating a high-frequency signal, a storage device 52, and an antenna 54. The storage device 52 is, for example, a flash ROM, and stores unique identification information 53 for each IC tag 100. IC51 periodically transmits identification information using antenna 54. Note that illustration of a battery necessary for the operation of the IC tag 100 is omitted.

In the present embodiment, the IC tag 100 radiates a signal wave in accordance with the low-power consumption (BLE) bluetooth (registered trademark) standard. More specifically, the IC tag 100 continues to transmit the signal wave containing the advertisement packet periodically for each channel using 3 channels. The frequency of the signal wave is, for example, a micro wave band, but may be a millimeter wave band. The IC tag 100 can emit a signal wave in a 2.4 gigahertz band at intervals of, for example, 10 milliseconds to 200 milliseconds, typically 100 milliseconds. The frequency of the signal wave does not need to be constant as long as it can be received by the array antenna 20, and a plurality of frequencies can be hopped.

The advertisement packet is described as a "common device address" or a "random device address" that functions as identification information (RFID) that uniquely identifies the IC tag 100. This makes it possible to notify the surroundings of the presence of the user.

In the present embodiment, the IC tag 100 can operate as a so-called "connectable beacon" that does not receive a connection request from the positioning apparatus 30 or the like, as a broadcast of only the advertisement packet. However, the IC tag 100 may be a "connectable beacon" capable of transmitting and receiving data in response to a connection request from the positioning device 30 or the like. The IC tag 100 may operate according to other specifications.

Fig. 7 is an external view of the mobile robot 10. Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the mobile robot 10.

The mobile robot 10 includes: drive

wheels

11a and 11b, auxiliary wheel 11c, body 12, head 13, right arm mechanism 14a, left arm mechanism 14b, camera 16, movement control device 17, speaker 18, and IC tag 100. The illustrated mobile robot 10 is provided with an IC tag 100. The IC tag 100 built in the mobile robot 10 may have hardware within the dotted line frame of fig. 6.

The right arm mechanism 14a and the left arm mechanism 14b are a right arm and a left arm of the mobile robot 10, respectively, and each arm and fingers are moved by a plurality of motors. The specific configurations of the right arm mechanism 14a and the left arm mechanism 14b are irrelevant to the present disclosure, and therefore, descriptions thereof are omitted.

The camera 16 is disposed at a position corresponding to "eyes" of the head 13. The camera 16 acquires image data of a space in which the mobile robot 10 exists. The video data may be a still image or a moving image. As described above, when the image data includes the guest 200, the mobile robot 10 can control the

motor control circuits

58a and 58b to stop the generation of the driving forces of the

motors

15a and 15 b.

Refer to fig. 8.

The mobile robot 10 includes

motors

15a and 15b, a movement control device 17, and

motor control circuits

58a and 58b in a body 12. The

motors

15a and 15b are power sources that rotate the

drive wheels

11a and 11b, respectively, to generate an urging force (driving force) for urging the mobile robot 10. The

motor control circuits

58a and 58b are inverter circuits, and control the magnitude of the driving force generated in the

motors

15a and 15 b. The motor control circuit can be referred to as a drive. The mobile robot 10 uses electric power stored in a battery, not shown, to operate the

motors

15a and 15 b.

The movement control device 17 includes a microcomputer 55, a memory 56, and a communication circuit 57. The microcomputer 55 is a microcomputer or a computer, and controls the operation of the mobile robot 10. The memory 56 expands a computer program executed by the microcomputer 55 or temporarily stores a guidance instruction received from the guidance device 20. Further, the memory 56 is a data block including a so-called DRAM and a flash memory. The flash memory stores, for example, a computer program to be executed by the microcomputer 55 and data of sound output from the speaker 18.

The movement control device 17 controls the operation of the mobile robot 10. Specifically, the movement control device 17 controls the rotation speed of the

motors

15a and 15b so as to be directed toward the movement direction indicated by the guide instruction received from the guide device 20 and to move only the indicated distance.

As described above, the moving direction (angle) is given as an angle based on the current traveling direction of the mobile robot 10. For example, when the angle θ takes a positive value, it indicates an angle toward the left side of the traveling direction, and when the angle θ takes a negative value, it indicates an angle toward the right side of the traveling direction. The movement control device 17 determines the rotation direction of the motor 15a according to the plus/minus of the angle θ.

The movement control device 17 changes the rotation speed of the

motors

15a and 15b, thereby changing the rotation speed of the

front wheels

11a and 11b, and controls the movement direction of the mobile robot 10. For example, the memory 56 holds information on the angle change in the moving direction corresponding to the difference in the rotational speed of the motor 15a and the motor 15 b. The microcomputer 55 of the movement control device 17 refers to the information of the angle change, and generates and outputs a control signal (PWM signal) that generates a difference in the rotation speeds of the

motors

15a and 15 b.

The microcomputer 55 determines the rotation speeds of the

motors

15a and 15b so as to move only the distance indicated by the guidance instruction, and rotates the

motors

15a and 15b independently in accordance with the rotation speeds. For example, the memory 56 holds information of the movement distance L per 1 turn of the

driving wheels

11a and 11 b. The microcomputer 55 can calculate the rotation speed of the

drive wheels

11a and 11b by dividing the distance indicated by the guidance command by the travel distance L. The microcomputer 55 outputs a control signal (PWM signal) for rotating the

drive wheels

11a and 11b at the calculated rotation speed. The

motor control circuits

58a and 58b control the current and voltage flowing through the

motors

15a and 15b, respectively, based on a control signal (PWM signal) output from the microcomputer 55 of the movement control device 17, which will be described later, to change the rotational speeds of the motors.

The speaker 18 is used when the mobile robot 10 propagates a message of sound to the visitor 200. The data of the sound output from the speaker 18 is stored in the memory 56 in advance, for example. Examples of sounds are "welcome", "welcome".

Next, the guide device 20 and the positioning device 30 will be described with reference to fig. 9 and 10.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the guidance device 20.

The guide device 20 includes: a Central Processing Unit (CPU)25, a memory 26, a communication circuit 27, and a map information Database (DB)28, which are connected by an internal bus 29.

The CPU25 is a signal processing circuit that generates a guidance instruction for guiding each mobile robot 10 by a process described later. Typically, the CPU25 is a computer constituted by a semiconductor integrated circuit. The memory 26 is, for example, a DRAM, and is a work memory used in association with the processing of the CPU 25.

The communication circuit 27 is a communication circuit having 1 or more communication connectors, for example, and performs wired communication in the ethernet (registered trademark) standard. The communication circuit 27 acquires position information indicating the position of each mobile robot 10 from the positioning device 30. The communication circuit 27 can also transmit a guidance command to the mobile robot 10 via the receiving antenna 34 of the relay device 32. The communication circuit 27 may transmit a guidance command to each mobile robot 10 via the transmission antenna 33 of the relay device 32. In the example of the mobile robot system 2, the guidance device 20 can transmit and receive guidance commands, notifications, and the like to and from the file server 40.

The map information DB28 holds information such as the layout of the space into which the mobile robot system 1 is introduced, the area where the mobile robot 10 can travel, and the detour route.

The processing by which the CPU25 generates the boot instruction will be described in detail later.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the positioning device 30.

The positioning device 30 has a CPU35, a memory 36, and a communication circuit 37, which are connected by an internal bus. The CPU35 measures the position of each IC tag 100 and/or the position of the mobile robot 10 by the processing described later, and generates position information indicating the measured positions. The memory 26 is, for example, a DRAM, and is a work memory used in association with the processing of the CPU 35. The communication circuit 37 is, for example, a communication circuit having 1 or more communication connectors. The communication circuit 37 is connected to the receiving antenna 34 of the relay device 32 by wire. More specifically, the communication circuit 37 is connected to an output of an antenna element of the antenna element 34a provided in each of the receiving antennas 34, and receives a high-frequency electric signal generated by the electromagnetic wave received by the antenna element 34 a. The communication circuit 37 is connected to the communication circuit 27 of the guidance device 20 via a wired communication line that performs wired communication in the ethernet (registered trademark) standard, for example.

The processing (positioning processing) performed by the positioning device 30 to measure the position of the mobile robot 10 will be described below. Various positioning processes for objects on a plane or in space are known. The positioning device 30 measures the position of the mobile robot 10 by using one or a combination of a plurality of positioning processes. The positioning process is exemplified below.

(a) The positioning device 30 measures the arrival direction Of a radio signal transmitted from the IC tag 100 Of the mobile robot 10, and determines the position Of the mobile object (aoa (angle Of arrival) method). The AOA system is a system that determines the position of the mobile robot 10 by measuring the arrival angle of the arriving radio wave based on a reference azimuth (for example, the front direction of the receiving antenna) when receiving a signal transmitted from the IC tag 100 by the plurality of receiving antennas 34. Since the minimum number of base stations (the number of relay devices 32 having the receiving antenna 34) required for determining the position is 2, the number of relay devices 32 required at the same time can be small. Further, since the angle can be accurately measured, no obstacle exists from the base station to the terminal, and the position of the mobile robot 10 can be determined with high accuracy when the estimated line is clear.

As the receiving antenna 34, an array antenna in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally can be used. Alternatively, a phased array antenna may be used which controls the beam direction and radiation pattern by adjusting the phase of the current flowing through each antenna element. In the case of using an array antenna, the direction of the IC tag 100 with respect to the receiving antenna 34 can be determined by the single receiving antenna 34. In this case, the position of the IC tag 100 can be determined by one receiving antenna 34. For example, when the direction of the IC tag 100 with respect to the receiving antenna 34 disposed on the ceiling surface at a predetermined height is determined, if the height of the IC tag 100 with respect to the floor surface is known or can be estimated, the position of the IC tag 100 can be determined. Therefore, the IC tag 100 can be positioned by one receiving antenna 34.

(b) The positioning device 30 receives the radio signal transmitted from the IC tag 100 via the plurality of receiving antennas 34 (or the antenna elements 34a), and determines the position of the mobile object based on the difference between the receiving times of the antenna elements 34a (time difference of arrival) method). The relay device 32 having the receiving antenna 34 operates as a base station, and must accurately measure the reception time. The relay devices 32 need to synchronize with each other at accurate timing in nanoseconds.

(c) The positioning device 30 determines the position based on the reception intensity of the radio Signal emitted from the IC tag 100 by knowing the position of the receiving antenna 34 and using the attenuation of the radio wave according to the distance (rssi (received Signal strength indication)) system. However, since the strength of the received signal is affected by multipath, a distance attenuation model is required for each environment into which the mobile robot system 1 is introduced in order to calculate the distance (position).

(d) The positioning device 30 can also determine the position of the mobile robot 10 based on the position of the camera, the direction in which the camera is directed, and the position of the mobile robot 10 in the captured image by capturing an image (for example, a QR code (registered trademark)) to which identification information of the mobile robot 10 is added with the camera.

Further, the position measurement accuracy also differs depending on the positioning process. In the positioning process (a), the position measurement accuracy is determined by the angular resolution of the antenna and the distance to the object to be measured, and is 10cm in a general building. In the positioning process (c), several meters may be generated in a normal room due to a change in the intensity of the radio wave caused by interference of the radio wave flowing from the IC tag, and an error of about 1m may be generated even under good conditions. In the positioning process (d), the positioning error depends on the number of pixels of the image sensor, the spatial resolution, and the deformation of the lens. In addition, a relatively high load process such as object recognition is required.

From the viewpoint of accuracy, the above-described positioning process (a) is superior at the current time. However, the

mobile robot systems

1 and 2 of the present disclosure may be constructed using any of the positioning processes (b) to (d).

Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the file server 40. As described above, the file server 40 is provided in the mobile robot system 2.

The file server 40 includes: the CPU45, the memory 46, the communication circuit 47, and the storage device 48 are connected by an internal bus.

The CPU45 controls the actions of the file server 40. The memory 46 is, for example, a DRAM, and is a work memory used in association with the processing of the CPU 45. For example, the CPU45 reads a computer program (basic software) of an Operating System (OS) into the memory 46 and executes the computer program, and further reads a server program (application software) executed by the OS into the memory 46 and executes the server program. As a result, the processing described later is realized.

The communication circuit 47 is a communication circuit having 1 or more communication connectors, for example, and performs wired communication in the ethernet (registered trademark) standard. The communication circuit 47 receives the guidance instruction from the guidance device 20 and stores the guidance instruction in the storage device 48. The communication circuit 47 receives a request for obtaining a guidance command from the mobile robot 10, and transmits the required guidance command to the mobile robot 10 via the transmission antenna 33 of the relay device 32.

The storage device 48 is, for example, a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a Solid State Drive (SSD). The storage device 48 has a sufficient recording area for storing the guidance instruction generated by the guidance device 20.

Next, the operations of the mobile robot 10, the guide device 20, and the positioning device 30 performed in the mobile robot system 1 will be described with reference to fig. 12.

Fig. 12 shows a sequence of communication performed in the mobile robot system 1 and processing of the mobile robot 10, the guidance device 20, and the positioning device 30.

In the following description, the main bodies of the operations are the mobile robot 10, the guidance device 20, and the positioning device 30, but in reality, the microcomputer 55 of the mobile robot 10, the CPU25 of the guidance device 20, and the CPU35 of the positioning device 30 are main bodies and transmit and receive information via their respective communication circuits. Time flows from top to bottom of the figure.

In step S201, the positioning device 30 receives the RFID from the IC tag 100, and measures the position of the IC tag 100 by the above-described 1 or more positioning processes. The positioning device 30 transmits the measurement result to the guide device 20.

In step S301, the guide device 20 acquires information on the position of the IC tag 100 measured by the positioning device 30 and stores the information in the memory 26.

In step S302, the guidance device 20 transmits a guidance command (fig. 3) to the mobile robot 10. The guidance instruction includes 1 or more passing points, which are the positions of the IC tags 100 and pass through toward the destination, as "routes".

In step S101, the mobile robot 10 starts moving in accordance with the guidance instruction.

The positioning device 30 continuously measures the position of the IC tag 100. In step S202, the positioning device 30 measures the position of the IC tag 100 and transmits the measurement result to the guide device 20.

In step S303, the guide device 20 detects a change in the position of the IC tag 100 according to a predetermined condition. In step S304, the guidance device 20 changes the position of the IC tag 100 after the change of position to the destination, and includes 1 or more passage points passing toward the destination after the change as "routes".

In step S305, the guidance device 20 transmits the changed guidance instruction to the mobile robot 10 (fig. 4).

In step S102, the mobile robot 10 sets the changed guidance command again and moves according to the changed guidance command. Thereafter, by repeating the processing of step S202 and the following steps, the guidance command is updated in accordance with the movement of the IC tag 100, and the mobile robot 10 continues to move toward the IC tag 100. Thereby, the mobile robot 10 can meet the visitor 200 having the IC tag 100.

The vertical processing shown in fig. 12 is processing executed by the microcomputer 55 of the mobile robot 10, the CPU25 of the guidance device 20, and the CPU35 of the positioning device 30, and can be captured as a flowchart. These processes can be implemented as a computer program containing a plurality of commands. The computer program is developed and executed in the respective memories.

Note that the order of communication performed in the mobile robot system 2 (fig. 5) and processing of the mobile robot 1, the guidance device 20, and the positioning device 30 is performed in the order shown in fig. 5 in accordance with fig. 12, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

(application example)

An application example of the

mobile robot systems

1 and 2 will be described.

Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the mobile robot system 3 according to the application example. Fig. 13 shows a moving path R3 of the visitor 200 with the IC tag 100. The position of the IC tag 100 varies along the path R3.

The destination and the route are updated according to the changed positions of the IC tag 100 in accordance with the operations of the

mobile robot systems

1 and 2. When the IC tag 100 moves from the position P0 to the position P3, the mobile robot 10 moves from the position S to the position Pd along the path R4. Then, at the position Pd, the guide device 20 or the mobile robot 10 generates a route R4b with a destination P3. Fig. 13 illustrates the guidance instruction 130b generated by the guidance device 20.

In the present application example, when the destination (destination) of the movement of the IC tag 100 can be predicted, the mobile robot 10 is moved to the destination. For example, when the mobile robot 10 moves from the position S to the position Pd along the route R4, the destination of the visitor 200 carrying the IC tag 100 can be predicted to be the position Pu (Xu, Yu). At this time, the guidance device 20 or the mobile robot 10 generates a route R4a destined to the position Pu.

For example, the guidance device 20 generates the guidance instruction 130 a. The mobile robot 10 moves according to the updated guidance instruction 130a, whereby the mobile robot 10 can reach the destination earlier than the visitor 200.

Various methods of predicting a destination of movement are considered.

For example, the mobile robot system 3 includes a server computer, not shown, that registers a plan including an access destination of the guest 200. The schedule of the guest 200 corresponds to the identification information of the IC tag 100. When the CPU25 of the guidance device 20 or the microcomputer 55 of the mobile robot 10 transmits the identification information of the IC tag 100 to the server computer, the server computer reads the plan of the guest 200 associated with the received identification information and returns the plan. Thereby, the guidance device 20 or the mobile robot 10 can predict the destination of the visitor 200.

The guidance device 20 or the mobile robot 10 holds a table in which the name (for example, conference room a) of the access destination and the coordinates are associated in advance. The CPU25 of the guidance device 20 or the microcomputer 55 of the mobile robot 10 can refer to the table and acquire the coordinates of the access destination. This allows the coordinates to be set as a destination, and a route to the set destination to be determined.

In the above description (including the application example), the number of the IC tag 100 and the mobile robot 10 is 1, but a plurality of them may be present. Since unique identification information is given to the IC tag 100, different mobile robots 10 may be assigned to each IC tag 100, and a guidance command may be given to each mobile robot 10.

Each guidance instruction is described as including information specifying an angle indicating the movement direction of mobile robot 10 and a distance indicating the movement amount of mobile robot 10. Thus, the "interval" is a straight line. However, the guidance instruction may include information on the turning radius R at the time of turning of the mobile robot 10, for example.

In the present disclosure, the guide device 20 and the positioning device 30 are illustrated as being separate devices. However, the guide means 20 and the positioning means 30 may also be integrated. For example, the guidance device 20 may have a function corresponding to the function of the positioning device 30, measure the positional information of the mobile robot, and generate a guidance command. In this case, the guide device 20 is connected to the receiving antenna 34, and the CPU25 of the guide device 20 performs positioning processing.

In the present disclosure, a route from the current position of the mobile robot to the final destination position set in advance is divided into a plurality of sections, and the guidance device 20 generates a guidance command for each section and guides the section to the destination point. However, the final destination position may be changed while the mobile robot is traveling. In such a case, the guidance device 20 may divide the route from the current position of the mobile robot to the final destination position of the change into a plurality of sections again, generate a guidance command for each section, and guide the section to the next destination point.

In the present disclosure, the acquisition of the position information and the generation or correction of the guidance instruction do not have to be synchronized. For example, if the position information of the IC tag 100 is used, there is a possibility that the current position of the IC tag 100 does not change and the guidance command does not need to be corrected. In this case, the guidance device 20 acquires the position information from the positioning device 30, but does not generate the guidance command.

However, the reason why the above-described two-dimensional specification is adopted is mainly because it is assumed that the present specification specifies the position of the mobile robot traveling on the floor surface of the plane of the factory.

However, the travel direction and the distance can also be specified three-dimensionally. For example, when the mobile robot is operated in a facility having a plurality of floors, information for specifying the number of floors may be further added to the guidance instruction.

In the above description, the guidance device 20 and the file server 40 are described as being independent devices. This is because the load is distributed by the guidance device 20 performing the generation and change processing of the guidance command and causing the file server 40 to transmit and receive the guidance command to and from the mobile robot 10. However, the guide device 20 may be integrated with the file server 40. For example, fig. 14 shows a configuration example in which the guide device 20 and the storage device 48 of the file server 40 are housed in one housing. According to the configuration of fig. 14, the transmission and reception of the changed guidance instruction between the guidance device 20 and the file server 40 are completed in the guidance device 20, and the transmission and reception of the update completion notification are not necessary.

Instead of providing the guide device 20, each mobile robot 10 may set a destination and a route. In this case, it is considered that each mobile robot 10 has the same function as the guide device 20. In other words, the mobile robot 10 (fig. 7 and 8) may be referred to by the structure of the guide device 20 (fig. 9) and the functions associated with the structure. The microcomputer 55 of the mobile robot 10 receives the position information of the tag 100, and determines a destination and a route based on the position information.

In this specification, an example in which various communications are performed between a mobile object and a transmission antenna and a reception antenna is described. The frequency of the electromagnetic wave or the ultrasonic wave used for the positioning, the frequency used for the communication for transmitting the running condition, and the frequency used for the communication for receiving the guidance instruction may be the same, or may be 2 or 3 or more different frequencies. The same communication method is used. For example, in the positioning process (a), an electromagnetic wave having a frequency of BLE (registered trademark) low energy can be used. The transmission of the running condition and the reception of the guidance command can use electromagnetic waves of a frequency of the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, or a frequency of the 2.4GHz band or the 5GHz band of the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) standard.

Industrial applicability

The mobile robot system of the present disclosure can be widely used for controlling the position of a mobile robot, for example.

Description of reference numerals

1 to 3-mobile robot system, 10-mobile robot, 11a, 11 b-drive wheel, 11 c-auxiliary wheel, 12-body, 13-head, 14 a-right arm mechanism, 14 b-left arm mechanism, 16-camera, 17-mobile control device, 18-speaker, 20-guide device, 25-CPU, 26-memory, 27-communication circuit, 28-map information Database (DB), 30-positioning device, 32-relay device, 33-transmitting antenna, 34-receiving antenna, 35-CPU, 36-memory, 37-communication circuit, 40-file server, 45-CPU, 46-memory, 47-communication circuit, 48-storage device, 52-storage device, 53-identification information (RFID), 54-antenna, 55-microcomputer, 56-memory, 57-communication circuit, 58a, 58 b-motor control circuit, 100-IC tag, 110-boot instruction, 120-boot instruction (updated), 200-guest.

Claims

1. A mobile robot system is provided with:

a tag that transmits tag identification information;

a positioning device that measures a position of the tag according to the tag identification information and transmits position information of the tag; and

a mobile robot moving to a destination along a set path,

the tag moves together with the moving object,

the mobile robot moves according to the destination and the route set according to the position of the tag, and when the position of the tag changes during movement, the mobile robot changes the destination and the route according to the changed position of the tag, and moves according to the changed destination and the changed route.

2. The mobile robot system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile robot system further comprises:

a guidance device that receives position information of the tag, determines the destination and the route based on the position information, and generates a guidance instruction including the destination and the route; and

a storage device storing the boot instruction,

the mobile robot reads the guidance command from the storage device and changes the destination and the route.

3. The mobile robotic system of claim 2, wherein,

after the guidance instruction is generated, the guidance device transmits a notification indicating that the guidance instruction has been generated to the mobile robot,

the mobile robot reads the guidance instruction from the storage device in response to receiving the notification.

4. The mobile robotic system of claim 2 or 3, wherein,

the mobile robot comprises:

a 1 st communication circuit that communicates with the guidance device;

a power source that generates a driving force;

a driving device that controls the magnitude of the driving force; and

a 1 st signal processing circuit that controls the drive device in accordance with the guidance instruction,

the guide device has:

a 2 nd communication circuit that receives the position information of the tag and transmits the guidance instruction; and

and a 2 nd signal processing circuit which determines the destination and the route based on the position information, and generates the guidance instruction including the destination and the route.

5. The mobile robotic system of claim 4, wherein,

the 2 nd signal processing circuit changes the destination and the route according to a change in the position of the tag, and stores an updated guidance instruction including the changed destination and the route in the storage device via the 2 nd communication circuit.

6. The mobile robotic system of claim 5, wherein,

after the updated guidance instruction is generated, the guidance device transmits a notification indicating that the guidance instruction is updated to the mobile robot,

the mobile robot reads the updated guidance instruction from the storage device in response to receiving the notification.

7. The mobile robotic system of claim 1, wherein,

the mobile robot comprises:

a 1 st communication circuit that communicates with the positioning device;

a power source that generates a driving force;

a driving device that controls the magnitude of the driving force; and

a 1 st signal processing circuit which controls the driving device in accordance with a pilot instruction,

the 1 st signal processing circuit receives the position information of the tag via the 1 st communication circuit, and determines the destination and the route based on the position information.

8. The mobile robot system according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein,

the mobile robot further includes a tag that transmits unique robot identification information to the mobile robot,

the positioning device measures the position of the mobile robot based on the robot identification information, transmits the position information of the mobile robot to the mobile robot,

the 1 st signal processing circuit receives the positional information of the mobile robot via the 1 st communication circuit, and controls the driving device to stop generating the driving force when the mobile robot enters a predetermined area.

9. The mobile robot system according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein,

the mobile robot further comprises an imaging device for acquiring image data of the space,

when the image data includes the moving object, the 1 st signal processing circuit controls the driving device to stop generating the driving force.

10. The mobile robotic system of claim 4 or 5, wherein,

the positioning device measures the position of the mobile robot according to the robot identification information,

the 2 nd communication circuit of the guiding device receives the position information of the tag and the position information of the mobile robot,

if the distance between the position of the tag and the position of the mobile robot is less than a predetermined value, the 2 nd signal processing circuit of the guidance device generates a guidance instruction for stopping the movement of the mobile robot, and transmits the generated guidance instruction to the mobile robot via the 2 nd communication circuit.

11. The mobile robot system according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein,

the 1 st signal processing circuit acquires information on an arrival prediction point of the mobile object, sets the arrival prediction point as the destination, and determines a route to the arrival prediction point.

12. The mobile robotic system of claim 11, wherein,

the moving object is a person and the moving object is a human,

the mobile robot system further includes at least one of an electronic device and a server computer in which a plan including an access destination of the person is registered,

the 1 st signal processing circuit reads the plan registered in at least one of the electronic device and the server computer, and sets the destination as the predicted arrival point.