JP2002321179A - Mobile working robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile working robot that has no waste in traveling movement and finishes work in a short time. SOLUTION: A main body 1 is equipped with driving wheels 2 for self moving, a floor nozzle for collecting dust on a floor surface (not shown), a distance measuring sensor 17 for detecting obstacles in front of the main body 1, and a traveling control device of the main body 1 (not shown). The floor nozzle 8 is equipped at the front edge of the main body 1. The main body 1 goes straight and advances until the distance measuring sensor 17 detects a front obstacle by the traveling control device, when the sensor detects a front obstacle, it stops once then changes direction by a specified angle and goes straight back by a specified distance and then stops. After that, it changes direction by a specified angle and repeats the action to go straight and advance until the obstacle detection device detects a front obstacle again.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile robot having a self-propelling function in a main body and automatically performing operations such as floor cleaning and floor finishing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile work robots have been developed which add a self-propelled function to work equipment such as a vacuum cleaner and a floor cleaning machine, and which are equipped with a microcomputer and various sensors to automate work. Have been.

For example, a floor cleaning robot uses a battery as a power source, has an electric blower or a dust collecting device such as a suction nozzle provided at the bottom of the main body as a cleaning function, and has a traveling device such as a driving wheel or a traveling motor as a traveling function. It has obstacle detection means for detecting obstacles during traveling and position recognition means for recognizing the position during traveling, and travels while detecting walls etc. around the cleaning place by the obstacle detection means. The cleaning area is recognized by the means, and cleaning is performed while running the entire cleaning area without corners.

[0004] In such a mobile work robot,
In general, the vehicle is provided with various safety indicators such as an operation lamp, a blinker, and an abnormality indicator so that the user can know the driving state from the viewpoint of safety.

[0005]

Among the conventional mobile work robots, in a floor cleaning robot, a combination of a traveling pattern and a floor nozzle arrangement is an important factor that greatly affects cleaning efficiency and cleaning time. In particular, the ability to clean a corner near a wall has a large effect on the cleaning efficiency.
There is also an operation in which the floor nozzle is retracted after turning by 80 ° to bring the floor nozzle close to the wall. However, in this example, there is a problem that the corner cleaning property is improved, but the cleaning time becomes longer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an unprecedentedly superior mobile work robot with improved corner cleaning performance when cleaning a floor, and with a shorter cleaning time.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a traveling device for self-propelling a main body, a floor nozzle for collecting dust on a floor, and an obstacle detection for detecting an obstacle in front of the main body. An apparatus and a travel control device for controlling travel of the main body are provided in the main body, and the floor nozzle is disposed at a front end of the main body, and the travel control device is configured such that the obstacle detection device detects a forward obstacle. After moving forward and straight ahead, once detecting an obstacle in front, it temporarily stops and then changes direction by a predetermined angle and then moves straight backward. It has running control means that repeats the operation of moving forward and straight until an obstacle is detected. Operation time required for turning is not necessary in the 180 ° turning by Ukoto is made shorter.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The floor includes a traveling device that allows the main body to travel by itself, a floor nozzle that collects dust on a floor surface, an obstacle detection device that detects an obstacle in front of the main body, and a traveling control device that controls traveling of the main body. The nozzle is arranged at the front end of the main body, and the travel control device moves forward straight until the obstacle detection device detects the obstacle in front, temporarily stops after detecting the obstacle in front, and then changes direction by a predetermined angle. The vehicle has traveling control means that repeats the operation of moving straight forward, moving backward by a predetermined distance, temporarily stopping, changing direction by a predetermined angle, and moving forward and straight again until the obstacle detection device detects a preceding obstacle. Regardless of the length of the main body, the floor nozzle always approaches the wall and cleans it, and it repeats forward and backward rectilinear movement, eliminating the necessity of 180 ° turning and the operation required for turning Between those that are shorter.

[0009]

(Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the overall structure of a floor cleaning robot according to this embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a main body of the floor cleaning robot, 2 is a drive wheel provided on the left and right rear of the main body 1, and is driven by a traveling motor 3 independently of the left and right. Reference numeral 4 denotes a follower wheel rotatably attached to the front of the main body 1. As mentioned above, drive wheel 2
The traveling motor 3 and the driven wheel 4 constitute a traveling device that causes the main body 1 to travel by itself. Reference numeral 5 denotes an electric blower, 6 denotes a dust collection chamber, and 7 denotes a filter formed of a paper bag provided therein. Reference numeral 8 denotes a floor nozzle provided in front of the bottom of the main body 1 to collect dust on the floor surface.

The floor nozzle 8 is connected to the dust collection chamber 6 via a suction hose 9, and dust on the floor is sucked by the electric blower 5 and collected in the filter 7. As described above, the electric blower 5, the dust collecting chamber 6, the filter 7, the floor nozzle 8, and the suction hose 9 constitute a dust collecting device. Reference numeral 10 denotes a dust collection chamber lid that covers the upper part of the dust collection chamber 6 so as to be openable and closable. Reference numeral 11 denotes a front cover which covers the front portion of the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and performs maintenance inside the main body by opening and closing the front cover.
Reference numeral 12 denotes a battery for supplying power to the whole, and uses two storage batteries connected in series. Reference numeral 13 denotes a door body that opens and closes an opening 14 at the rear of the main body 1 so as to be rotatable. Reference numeral 15 denotes a handle rotatably attached to the door body 13. The handle is pivoted at a right angle and pulled out to release the buckle and the door body 13 can be opened. The door 13 will be described later in detail.

Numeral 16 designates one indicator light provided at each of the four corners of the main body 1. The indicator light control means (not shown) in the control circuit changes the blinking pattern and the lighting color in accordance with the operation state. Display a safety sign. Reference numeral 17 denotes a distance measuring sensor including an ultrasonic sensor and the like provided around the main body 1, and an obstacle detecting device that detects an obstacle by measuring a distance to an object in front of, right, left, and right of, and behind the main body 1. Is composed. Reference numeral 18 denotes a bumper made of an elastic body attached around the main body 1. Reference numeral 19 denotes a travel control device for controlling the travel of the main body 1, which controls the travel motor 3 based on data from a position recognition means (not shown) such as a gyro or the like and an obstacle detection device, and Controls actions such as reversing, turning, and stopping. An operation panel 20 for operating the main body 1 includes various switches and indicators such as an LED and a buzzer. Reference numeral 21 denotes a main body handle, which is held by hand during manual cleaning or when moving between locations.
You can move manually by holding. Reference numeral 23 denotes an emergency stop switch. When this switch is pressed in an emergency, the main body 1 is completely stopped. 2
Reference numeral 4 denotes a power switch including a key switch. Reference numeral 25 denotes a power plug connection port for charging the battery 12 by inserting a charging plug of a charger into the charging plug.

The operation of the floor cleaning robot configured as described above is as follows.

As shown in FIG. 3, the door 13 is supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the lower horizontal axis, and the handle 15 provided on the door 13 is rotated at a right angle in the direction of arrow d and pulled out. And the buckle 24 are released, and can be opened in the direction of arrow e. At this time, the handle 15 comes into contact with the floor surface while projecting at a right angle from the outer surface of the door body 13, so that the door body 13 is supported in parallel with the floor surface. Therefore, in this state, when the tray 25 of the battery 12 is gripped by hand and pulled out in the direction of the arrow f, the door 13 becomes a cradle so that the battery 12 can be easily taken out and does not drop to the floor.

When the removed battery 12 is to be mounted, the door 13 is opened in parallel with the floor by holding the handle 15 as described above. The work can be facilitated because the slide can be inserted.

As described above, by providing the handle 15 rotatably with respect to the door body 13 and releasing the buckle 24,
The door 13 can be opened with one touch, and the handle 15 protruding from the outer surface of the door 13 can also serve as a support. When the door 13 is closed, the handle 15 does not protrude from the outer surface of the door 13, so that the handle 15 does not hinder the traveling of the main body 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 4, power supply terminals 27 are connected to the power terminals 26 of the two batteries 12, respectively.
The power receiving connectors 28 are fixed near the opening 14 of the main body 1. As shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4, the two power receiving connectors 28 are wired in series by a cord 29 and connected to a power supply terminal of a main circuit 30. Therefore, there is no correspondence between the two power supply connection devices 27 and the power reception connection device 28, and either power supply connection device 27 may be inserted into the power reception connection device 28.

As described above, the connection between the battery 12 and the main body 1 can be easily performed without erroneous wiring only by connecting and disconnecting the power supply connection device 27 and the power reception connection device 28 without distinguishing the two batteries 12. Separation is also easy.

In this embodiment, the case where the number of batteries is two has been described. However, the effect increases as the number of batteries increases.

Next, the indicator lamp 16 will be described in more detail.

As described above, the indicator lamps 16 provided at the respective corners of the main body 1 change the blinking pattern and the lighting color by the indicator light control means to perform a safety display. The relationship between the state and the indicator light 16 is as shown in FIG. That is, when the main body 1 is in a standby state, all the four indicator lights 16 repeat a long-period blinking yellow,
During forward movement, the two indicator lights 16 in front of the main body 1 repeat during retreat, and the two indicator lights 16 behind the main body 1 repeat long-period yellow lighting. While the main body 1 is turning left, two indicator lights 1 on the left side of the main body 1
6, while turning right, the two indicator lights 16 on the right side of the main body 1 repeat long-period yellow lighting. In addition, if normal operation is not possible,
For example, when the battery voltage drops, all the indicators 16 repeat the long-period red blinking, and in other abnormalities, the all indicators 16 repeat the short-period red blinking. The contents are distinguishable.

By arranging the indicator lights 16 at each of the four corners of the main body 1 as described above, at least two or more indicator lights 16 can be seen from any direction of the main body 1, so that the user can be seen from a distance. The operation state of the main body 1 can be displayed on the display. In addition, since the four display lamps can perform various displays such as forward / backward display, right / left turn display, abnormal display, and standby display, power consumption does not accumulate even when the display amount increases.

The lighting / blinking pattern and lighting / blinking color of the indicator lamp of this embodiment are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

The floor cleaning robot has several types of operation modes. For example, a case in which an area is cleaned from the center of a room to a wall will be described. As shown in FIG.
The main body 1 is moved to the cleaning start point, and the main body 1 is placed so as to be substantially perpendicular to the reference wall surfaces P and Q of the area to be cleaned, and the operation mode is designated. At this time, the area between the reference wall surface PQ and the straight line 31 passing through the point where the main body 1 is placed is set as the cleaning area. Next, when the start button is pressed, the main body 1 starts running, and moves forward and straight along a straight line 32. The main body 1 always measures the distance to the surrounding obstacle by the distance measuring sensor 17 during traveling, and also measures the traveling distance by the position recognition means of the traveling control device 19.

In this way, when the main body 1 approaches the front wall P by a predetermined distance, the main body 1 stops at the point A so as not to collide. At this time, since the floor nozzle 8 is disposed at the front end of the main body 1, the floor nozzle 8 can be approached to the wall Q and the wall can be cleaned. Then, the direction of the main body 1 is changed by swinging the angle of the main body 1 by a predetermined angle.
While the vehicle is moving straight backward, the forward traveling distance (the length of the straight line 32) measured last time is set as the target traveling distance. When the traveling distance measured by the position recognition means becomes equal to this, the vehicle stops at point B.

Of course, if there is an obstacle before reaching the target traveling distance, the vehicle stops so as not to collide with the obstacle. At the point B, the direction of the main body 1 is changed by swinging the angle of the main body 1 by a predetermined angle, and a straight forward movement is started as indicated by a straight line 34. Similarly, after stopping once at point C, the direction is changed and the vehicle moves straight backward as indicated by a straight line 35. After stopping once at point D, the direction is changed and the vehicle moves forward and straight ahead. Cleaning is performed while performing. Also,
The angle at which the direction is changed after the vehicle is once stopped is a constant value (for example, 40 cm) between the points AC or BD depending on the traveling distance.
The predetermined angle is determined so that The above operation is controlled by the travel control means such as a microcomputer of the travel control device 19, and this flowchart is shown in FIG.

As described above, the floor nozzle 8 is disposed at the front end of the main body 1 and the travel control means of the travel control device 19
When the distance measurement sensor 17 detects an obstacle in front, it moves forward and straight. When it detects an obstacle in front, it temporarily stops, then changes direction by a predetermined angle and then goes straight forward. By repeating the operation of changing the direction and moving forward and straight until the distance measuring sensor 17 detects the obstacle in front again, the floor nozzle 8 can always approach the wall of the reference wall for cleaning.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, regardless of the length of the main body, the floor nozzle always approaches the wall to perform cleaning and shortens the time required for changing the direction. Therefore, it is possible to realize a mobile work robot which is excellent in cleaning efficiency and can be cleaned in a short time and has high cleaning efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a mobile work robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the mobile work robot.

3A is a rear perspective view of the mobile work robot. FIG. 3B is a main perspective view showing a state where a battery built in the mobile work robot is pulled out.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of the mobile work robot.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of an indicator light of the mobile robot.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the mobile work robot.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the mobile work robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Drive wheel 3 Travel motor 4 Follower wheel 5 Electric blower 6 Dust collection chamber 7 Filter 8 Floor nozzle 12 Battery 13 Door body 14 Opening 15 Handle 16 Indicator light 17 Distance measuring sensor 19 Travel control device

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasudo Kobayashi 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Inventor Toshiaki Fujiwara 1006 Kazuma, Kazuma, Osaka Pref., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Osamu Eguchi 1006, Kazuma, Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Pref. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Takagi 1006 Ojimon Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Pref. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshiki Kuroki 1006 Kadoma, Kazuma, Osaka Pref.F-term (reference) 3B057 DA00 3C007 AS15 CS08 HS09 HS27 KS12 KS36 KV18 KX02 LV12 WA16 WB21 WB22 5H301 AA02 AA10 BB11 GG07 GG28 GG29 H H10 HH20 LL01 LL08 LL14

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A traveling device for self-propelling a main body, a floor nozzle for collecting dust on a floor surface, an obstacle detecting device for detecting an obstacle in front of the main body, and a traveling control device for controlling traveling of the main body. In preparation for, the floor nozzle is arranged at the front end of the main body, and the traveling control device moves straight forward until the obstacle detection device detects a forward obstacle, and temporarily stops when detecting a forward obstacle, Travel control means that repeats the operation of changing the direction by a predetermined angle and moving straight backward, moving backward by a predetermined distance and then temporarily stopping, temporarily stopping, then changing direction by a predetermined angle and moving forward and straight again until the obstacle detection device detects a forward obstacle. Mobile work robot having a.