JP2802160B2 - Travel control device for mobile work robot - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the traveling of a mobile work robot that automatically performs a work while repeating reciprocating movements of an automatic floor cleaner, an automatic lawn mower, an automatic floor finisher, and the like. The present invention relates to a control device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various mobile work robots have been developed in which functions such as a travel driving device, sensors, and a travel control device are added to work equipment to automate work.

Among the mobile robots of this type, those that need to move the entire work area completely, such as floor cleaning, lawn mowing, floor finishing, etc., are a combination of straight-ahead movement and reversal of the traveling direction. In many cases, reciprocating movement is repeated.

For example, FIG. 8 shows an example of a traveling control method of this kind of mobile work robot, which starts by moving straight ahead from a starting point S, and moves toward an obstacle in front of the main body 1 when approaching a front wall (W1). While performing a U-turn operation to the left as detected by the detection device 2, the vehicle travels straight from a position displaced in the work direction A by the work width L. Next, similarly, when the vehicle reaches the front wall (W2), a U-turn operation is performed rightward, and the vehicle travels straight again from the position displaced in the work direction A by the work width L again. Then, the above-mentioned operation is repeated to move to the vicinity of the side wall (W3), and before moving to the U-turn operation, the distance to the wall is detected by the obstacle detection device 3 or 3 'on the side of the main body 1. . If the distance is equal to or less than the work width L, the work is finished assuming that the end point F has been reached.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a conventional traveling control device for a mobile work robot, for example, as shown in FIG.
When there is a protrusion in the work area, or when the wall is oblique as shown in FIG. 9 (2), the work may be terminated with the unworked areas 5 and 6 left. In addition, in order to execute the so-called reverse running in which the main body moves backward while facing the front, it is necessary to provide a distance measuring sensor for detecting an obstacle present behind the main body, which has a complicated configuration. I have.

Therefore, the present invention is capable of ending a work without leaving an unworked area even when there is a protrusion in the work area or an oblique wall, and the traveling control of a mobile work robot that does not need to retreat. It is intended to provide a device.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a driving device and a steering device for moving a main body, an obstacle detection device for detecting obstacles in front and side of the main body, A direction measuring device for measuring a direction, a traveling control device for controlling the driving device and the steering device to control traveling of the main body, and a working device for performing operations such as cleaning, the traveling control device includes a direction measuring device. A straight traveling means for moving the main body straight based on the output of the device, and working the main body by a predetermined working width if an obstacle is detected in front of the main body during straight running and an obstacle is not detected in a working direction on the side of the main body. U-turn means for reversing to a position displaced in the direction, and spin-turn means for detecting an obstacle in front of the main body during straight running and for reversing the main body on the spot when an obstacle is also detected in the working direction beside the main body. And that After turning the body in reverse, and then proceed straight ahead until an obstacle is detected in front of the body after the spin turn. This is a traveling control device of a mobile work robot that terminates the work when an obstacle is also detected in the work direction.

The present invention detects an obstacle in front of the main body during straight running,
When an obstacle is also detected in the working direction on the side of the main body, the main body is reversed at that point, and then the vehicle is driven straight forward until an obstacle is detected. Work is terminated only when an obstacle is detected and an obstacle is also detected in the working direction on the side of the main unit.
If an obstacle is detected in front of the main unit during straight running after the spin turn and no obstacle is detected in the working direction on the side of the main unit, the main unit is reversed in the working direction and the work is continued. Is something that will not remain. In addition, there is no need to perform a backward running in which the main body moves rearward while facing forward.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking an automatic floor cleaner as an example.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a moving body that constitutes the main body of the automatic floor cleaner, and 12L and 12R denote driving wheels provided on the left and right sides of the main body 11, respectively, and left and right independent by driving motors 13L and 13R. Is driven. Reference numeral 14 denotes a driven wheel rotatably attached to the front of the main body 11. As described above, the driving / steering device that moves the main body 1 by the driving wheels 12L and 12R, the driving motors 13L and 13R, and the driven wheels 14 is configured. Reference numeral 15 denotes two left and right movable members protruding from the main body 11 from the side portion to the front portion of the main body 11, around which a buffer 16 made of an elastic material is attached. This movable body
Reference numeral 15 is attached to the main body 11 via a holding portion 17, and is rotatably supported. Reference numeral 18 denotes a buffer attached to the rear of the main body 11. Reference numeral 19 denotes a brush implanted around the rotating plate 20. The brush is rotationally driven inwardly of the main body 11 in parallel with the floor B by a motor 21 provided on the movable body 15, so that dust on the floor B is swept. ing. 22 is an electric blower, 23 is a dust collection room,
Reference numerals 24 and 25 denote filters provided inside. 26 is the body
A floor nozzle provided at the center of the bottom of 11 is connected to the dust collection chamber 23 via a connection pipe 27. Reference numeral 28 denotes an operation button provided on the operation unit 29. Reference numeral 30 denotes a direction measuring device for measuring the direction of the main body 11, which in the present embodiment comprises a rate gyro, an integrator for integrating the output, and the like. Reference numeral 31 denotes a distance measuring sensor including an ultrasonic sensor and the like provided around the main body 11.
An obstacle detection device is configured to measure the distance to the object in front, left and right sides, and to the objects described in the official gazette to detect an obstacle. Reference numeral 32 denotes a travel control device that controls the drive motors 13L and 13R based on data from the direction measurement device 30 and the obstacle detection device, and controls travel of the main body. Reference numeral 33 denotes a power supply including a storage battery or the like for supplying power to the whole.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 34 denotes an obstacle detection device including a plurality of distance measurement sensors 31 and a drive circuit 35. The obstacle detection device 34 inputs distance data to obstacles in front, side and rear of the main body 11 to the determination processing means 37 via the input means 36 of the travel control device 32. Similarly, the direction measuring device 30
Inputs the direction data of the main body 11 to the judgment processing means 37 via the input means 36. The judgment processing means 37 judges these data and outputs the data to the drive motors 13L and 13R via the output means 38.
To output a control signal. In this embodiment, the drive motor 13
By controlling the rotational speeds of L and 13R, the rotational speeds of the left and right drive wheels 12L and 12R are independently controlled, and the main body 11 is driven and steered. That is, driving of a so-called PWS system is performed. The drive motors 13L, 13R and the drive wheels 12
The drive and steering device 39 is composed of L and 12R.

Next, the mobile work robot of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The control method of this embodiment is as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 40 denotes the main body 11 based on the direction data of the main body 11 measured by the direction measuring device 30.
Is a straight traveling means for controlling the driving and steering device 39 so as to travel at a predetermined speed in a fixed direction. Reference numeral 41 denotes a position where the obstacle is detected in front of the main body 11 by the obstacle detection device 34 while the vehicle is traveling straight, and if the obstacle is not detected in the side working direction, the obstacle is displaced in the working direction by a predetermined working width. U-turn means for inverting the main body 11.

In FIG. 5, the main body is displaced by the working width L in the working direction.
An operation example of inverting 11 is shown. That is, FIG. 5A shows a case where the main body 11 is turned rightward.
While the right drive wheel 12R is stopped from the position indicated by the broken line, only the left drive wheel 12 is advanced as shown by the arrow a, and 180
さ せ る Turn it over. When the main body 11 is inverted by 180 °, the main body 11 comes to a position shown by a solid line displaced by a working width L equal to the tread of the left and right drive wheels 12L, 12R.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the spin turn operation of the spin turn means 43. The spin turn means 43 detects an obstacle in front of the main body 11 while traveling straight and at the same time detects an obstacle in the working direction beside the main body 11, and turns the main body 11 on the spot. is there. Fig. 6 (1) shows the main body 11
Is shown to the right. That is, from the position shown by the broken line, the left drive wheel 12L moves in the forward direction,
Are rotated in the backward direction at the same speed as shown by the arrow c. By doing so, the main body 11 executes a spin turn, and the main body 11 comes to a position which is flipped 180 ° in place. FIG. 6 (2) shows a case where the main body 11 is turned to the left. That is, the right driving wheel 12R is rotated in the forward direction and the left driving wheel 12L is rotated in the backward direction from the position indicated by the broken line at the same speed as indicated by the arrow d. By doing so, the main body 11 spins 180 ° leftward on the spot and stops at the position shown by the solid line.

44 is a straight-line means after the spin turn, until the obstacle is detected in front of the main body 11 after executing the spin turn,
The main body 11 is moved straight. At this time, when an obstacle is detected in front of the main body 11 and an obstacle is also detected on the side of the main body 11, the operation is terminated.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the travel control device of the present embodiment. When the vehicle is started with the main body 11 positioned at the start point S, first, the straight running means 40 starts straight running.
U-turn means when approaching the front wall W1 by traveling straight
41 detects this wall W1 and detects whether an obstacle exists in the work direction A at this position. In this case, since there is no obstacle, the main body 11 is reversed in the direction of the work A, that is, to the left of the main body 11, as shown in FIG. 5 (2). Thus, straight running is started again. In this state, when the front wall W2 approaches, the vehicle reverses to the right in the same manner as described above, and starts straight traveling again. Repeat the above operation to
Let 11 reach point P. At this time, the spin turn means 43 operates to detect the wall W1 in the front and the obstacle 4 in the work direction A at the same time. That is, the main body 11
Is turned rightward, that is, as shown in FIG. 6 (1), after the body 11 is turned over, the straight running is started again by the straight running means 44 after the spin turn. When the existence of the wall W2 is detected ahead at the point a in this way, it is detected whether or not an obstacle exists in the working direction A. In this case, since there is no obstacle, the vehicle is again turned in the direction of the working direction A by the U-turn means 41 to start straight traveling. Therefore, after this, if there is no obstacle in the direction of the work direction A, the work is performed by the rectilinear traveling means 40 and the U-turn means 41 while moving while repeating the straight traveling and the U-turn. Thus, it is assumed that point R is reached. At the point R, the U-turn means 41 detects the wall W2 forward, and at the same time, detects the wall W3 also in the working direction A on the side of the main body 11. Therefore, at the point R, a spin turn is executed by the spin turn means 43 to the left of the main body 11 as shown in FIG. 6 (2). Thus, after the spin turn, the vehicle travels straight by the straight traveling means 44 and reaches the point F. At the point F, the obstacle 4 is detected ahead and the wall W3 is detected on the left side of the main body 11 at the same time, so that the work is ended here.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an obstacle is detected in front of the main body 11 during straight running after the spin turn, and
When an obstacle is not detected in the working direction A on the side of the body 11, the main body 11 is reversed in the working direction A to continue the work. Therefore, the unworked area as described in the conventional example does not remain.

Further, in the present embodiment, there is no need to perform so-called reverse running in which the main body 11 moves rearward while facing forward. For this reason, the main body 11 does not need to be provided with a distance measuring sensor for detecting an obstacle present behind the main body 11, and has a simple configuration that does not need to consider safety and workability during backward traveling. This implements a travel control device for a mobile work robot.

As described above, the present invention provides a driving device and a steering device for moving a main body, an obstacle detecting device for detecting an obstacle in front and side of the main body, and a direction measuring device for measuring a direction of the main body. A travel control device that controls the drive device and the steering device to perform travel control of the main body, and a work device that performs work such as cleaning. The travel control device includes a main body based on an output of a direction measurement device. Means for traveling straight ahead, and if the obstacle is detected in front of the main body during straight traveling and no obstacle is detected in the working direction on the side of the main body, the main body is inverted to the position displaced in the working direction by a predetermined working width U-turn means,
Spin-turn means for detecting the obstacle in front of the main body while traveling straight and detecting the obstacle also in the working direction on the side of the main body, turning the main body on the spot, and turning the main body on the spot and turning forward Having a straight-ahead means after a spin turn that allows the vehicle to travel straight until an obstacle is detected, when an obstacle is detected in front of the main body during the straight travel after the spin turn and an obstacle is also detected in the working direction on the side of the main body. As a configuration to end the work, even if there is a protrusion in the work area or the wall is inclined, the work can be finished without leaving the unworked area,
It is another object of the present invention to provide a travel control device for a mobile work robot that does not need to travel backward.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of an automatic floor cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view showing the structure of the automatic floor cleaner, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a control block diagram showing a configuration of a travel control device for a mobile work robot according to an embodiment, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the control method, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the U-turn operation, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the apparatus, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of a conventional mobile work robot. 11 ... body, 12L, 12R ... drive wheel, 13L, 13R ... drive motor, 14 ... follower wheel, 19 ... brush, 20 ... rotating plate, 21 ...
... Motor, 22 ... Electric blower, 23 ... Dust collection chamber, 24, 25 ...
… Filter, 26 …… Floor nozzle, 27 …… Connection pipe, 30
………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… nextdoor
… Straight-line means, 41… U-turn means, 43… spin-turn means, 44… straight-line means after spin-turn, 45… straight-line means after spin-turn.

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G05D 1/02 A47L 9/00 102 A01B 69/00 303

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A driving device and a steering device for moving a main body, an obstacle detecting device for detecting an obstacle in front and side of the main body, a direction measuring device for measuring a direction of the main body,
A traveling control device that controls the driving device and the steering device to perform traveling control of the main body; and a working device that performs work such as cleaning. The traveling control device moves the main body straight based on an output of the direction measurement device. A straight traveling means for traveling, and U which inverts the main body to a position displaced in the working direction by a predetermined working width if an obstacle is detected in front of the main body while traveling straight and no obstacle is detected in the working direction on the side of the main body. Turning means, spin-turn means for detecting an obstacle in front of the main body while traveling straight and detecting an obstacle also in the working direction on the side of the main body, and turning the main body on the spot when the main body is inverted, After the spin turn, the vehicle travels straight ahead until an obstacle is detected. When detected Travel control device of the mobile work robot to terminate the work.