JP2930389B2 - Moving object distance measuring device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a work vehicle for detecting a position of a work vehicle required for autonomously moving a work vehicle such as a transport vehicle for transporting materials at a construction site. This is a device used when performing based on the distance from to two reference positions.
A distance meter for receiving a spatially propagating wave (electromagnetic wave or sound wave) from an indicator provided at a target position such as a reference position and measuring a distance to the indicator is provided on a moving body such as a working vehicle, and A driving device for changing the direction of the receiving unit in order to correct the direction of the receiving unit of the rangefinder so as to face the indicator so as to receive the spatially propagating wave, and command means for intermittently outputting a tracking command signal. And reception presence / absence detection means for detecting the presence / absence of reception of the reception unit; and a direction change control for determining a direction correction angle for operating a driving device such that the reception unit changes direction each time the tracking command signal is output. And a correction angle for indicating a correction angle at which the receiving unit after the direction change for the direction correction angle determination should be set to the reception direction based on the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means after the start of the direction change for the direction correction angle determination. Indicating means and the orientation A moving body provided with a tracking means comprising a direction correction control means for operating a driving device so that the receiving unit changes the direction with the correction angle designated by the correction angle instruction means after the direction change for the correction angle determination; It relates to a distance measuring device.

[Conventional technology]

In this type of moving object distance measuring device, the positional relationship between the indicator and the distance meter changes as the moving object moves. If the direction of the receiving unit in the rangefinder deviates from the direction toward the indicator due to such a change in the positional relationship, the intended distance measurement cannot be performed. Tracking that corrects the direction of the receiving unit so that it is directed toward the device is necessary.

Conventionally, as a tracking means for performing such tracking, a television camera is provided in a state in which the direction of the television camera is changed integrally with the reception unit and in a state in which the television camera faces the same direction as the reception unit. Judgment of the relationship between the direction of the receiving unit and the index device from the image position of the image, change the direction of the receiving unit so that the image of the index device comes to a predetermined position such as the center of the video screen, and correct the direction to the index device Means for doing so are known.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the conventional technique, it takes time to process an image, and the moving speed of the moving body is limited.

An object of the present invention is to accurately and quickly track an indicator.

[Means for solving the problem]

A first characteristic configuration according to the moving object distance measuring apparatus of the present invention is as follows.
The direction change control means of the tracking means is set to a size smaller than the included angle (γ) formed by two straight lines connecting both ends of the pointing device in the direction of direction change of the receiver and the receiver. When the drive unit is operated so that the receiving unit changes the direction at an angle (β), the correction angle indicating unit is configured to detect the presence or absence of the reception presence / absence detecting unit after the receiving unit changes the direction. In
When a first set angle smaller than the set angle (β) is designated as a correction angle, and the detection result is no detection, a second set angle equal to the set angle (β) is set. The point is that the angle is designated as the correction angle.

In a second characteristic configuration according to the moving object distance measuring apparatus according to the present invention, the correction angle instructing means in the first characteristic configuration may be configured such that the detection result of the reception presence / absence detecting means after the direction of the receiving unit is detected is detected. In this case, the first set angle equal to half the set angle (β) is designated as the correction angle, and if no detection result is obtained, the set angle (β) is set.
In that the second set angle equal to the angle of 3/2 is designated as the correction angle.

According to a third characteristic configuration of the moving object distance measuring apparatus according to the present invention, in the first characteristic configuration or the second characteristic configuration, the indicator reflects an incident electromagnetic wave in a direction parallel to an incident direction thereof. It is preferable that the rangefinder transmits an electromagnetic wave toward the indicator and receives the reflected wave from the indicator to measure the distance.

(Operation)

According to the first characteristic configuration, the direction change for determining the direction correction angle is performed at the set angle (β), so that the direction correction angle for directing the receiving unit to the indicator after the direction change is accurately determined. can do.

That is, if the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection unit after the direction change is not detected, the direction toward one of the two ends of the indicator toward the direction of the direction change direction and the receiving unit before the direction change is performed. It can be determined that the angle formed by the pointing direction is smaller than the set angle (β), and conversely, if the detection result of the reception presence / absence detecting means after the direction change is detected, both ends of the indicator are detected. It can be determined that the angle between the direction facing one end on the direction change direction side and the direction the receiving unit was facing before the direction change is larger than the set angle (β).

Therefore, by appropriately setting the correction angle in the case of detection and in the case of non-detection based on the set angle (β), the receiving unit can be used as the indexing tool with the correction amount specified by the correction angle instruction means. Can be directed to

Specifically, in the case of the presence detection, the direction of the receiving unit is corrected by using the first set angle of half the set angle (β) as the correction angle, so that the receiving unit holds the direction in which the indicator faces. Is done.
In practice, the receiving unit is corrected within a range that is widened by と し て of the set angle (β) on both sides around the center position of the indicator. This means that if the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means is detected, the direction of the receiving unit before the change in direction was also directed to the indicator. Of these, it was facing between the center position and the end on the direction change direction side. Therefore, when the first set angle is corrected from the position after the direction change, the receiving unit is directed to the range centered on the center position of the indicator as described above.

Conversely, even in the case of no detection, the direction of the receiving unit is corrected by using the second set angle having the same size as the set angle (β) as the correction angle, so that the receiving unit is returned to the original direction before the direction change. , Also held in a direction facing the indicator.

As described above, according to the distance measuring apparatus of the present invention, the receiving unit is turned for the orientation correction angle determination, and the receiving unit is indexed based on the correction angle selected according to the detection result of the reception presence / absence detecting means. Modify it to point at the tool. Therefore, for example, the image processing time required when a television camera is used as in the related art is not required, and the tracking of the index tool can be speeded up.

The second characteristic configuration is that, when the direction of the receiving unit gradually changes and the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection unit is not detected,
The direction of the receiving unit is corrected by using a second set angle equal to 3/2 of the set angle (β) as a correction angle. As a result, the direction of the receiving unit is returned by 1/2 of the set angle (β) more than the direction that was facing before the direction change. In other words, by more positively correcting the orientation of the receiver in the direction opposite to the direction in which the receiver is turning,
The direction of the receiving section can be more reliably maintained in the direction of the indicator.

According to the third characteristic configuration, since the electromagnetic waves such as infrared rays transmitted by the range finder itself are used as the distance measuring light, the distance can be measured even at night or the like.

〔The invention's effect〕

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to simplify the control related to the direction change, so that the position correction of the receiving unit with respect to the indicator and the intended distance measurement can be performed promptly despite the movement of the moving body. be able to.

Further, according to the present invention, the chance that the receiving unit is directed to a position near the center of the indicator can be increased, so that the time required for the orientation of the receiving unit to deviate from the indicator with the movement of the moving body is reduced. Can be longer. Therefore, the number of times of the direction change for correcting the direction of the receiving unit can be reduced, and the control related to the direction change can be further simplified.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

<Example 1> A self-propelled transport vehicle (1), which is an example of a moving object, has a first structure.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 3, the position detecting means (2) for detecting the position (P) of the transport vehicle (1) on the XY coordinates set on the running surface, and the moving direction of the transport vehicle (1) A direction detecting means (3) to be detected, and an automatic operating means for operating the traveling means (4) so as to reach the target position (P ₀ ) based on the detection results of the position detecting means (2) and the direction detecting means (3). Running control means (5).

As shown in FIG. 3, the position detecting means (2)
The origin of the coordinates is defined as a _first target position (P ₁ ) of the position detection reference, and a position separated from the origin by a set distance (l ₀ ) in the X-axis direction is defined as a second target position (P ₂ ) of the position detection reference. ) be one which the first distance measuring device for measuring the distance (l ₁₎ from the position of the transportation vehicle (1) (P) to said first target position (P ₁₎ and (a ₁₎ A _second distance measuring device (A ₂ ) for measuring a distance from the position (P) of the transport vehicle (1) to the second target position (P ₂ ), and the distance measuring devices (A ₁ ), (A ₁ ) a ₂₎ measurement by respective distances _{(l 1), (l 2} ) and the set distance (l ₀₎ truck from the coordinate value of the position (P) of (1) (X, Y) calculating means for calculating the (B ).

The first and second distance measuring devices (A ₁ ) and (A ₂ )
As shown in the figure, a spatially propagating wave from the index tool (6) provided at the target position (P ₁ ) or (P ₂ ) is received, and the distance (l) to the index tool (6) is measured. A distance meter (7) that measures the distances (l ₁ ) and (l ₂ ) of the target, and a direction facing the index device (6) so as to receive a spatially propagating wave from the target index device (6) Tracking means (8) for correcting the direction of the entire distance meter (7).

The indicator (6) is a reflecting mirror using a corner cube that reflects an incident light beam in a direction parallel to the incident direction.

The range finder (7) includes an infrared light projecting unit and a receiving unit, and measures a distance from the time from when the light is projected to the time when the light is reflected and received by the reflecting mirror (6) to the distance to the reflecting mirror (6). It is a distance meter. As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting means of the distance meter (7) allows the transport vehicle (1) to rotatably support two turntables (9) around the same vertical axis (y). A support frame (10) is supported on each of these turntables (9) so as to be swingable about a horizontal axis (x),
This is means for mounting a distance meter (7) corresponding to each of the support frames (10). That is, the range finder (7) changes the rotation of the turntable (9) and the swing direction of the support frame (10).

The tracking means (8) reflects the distance meter (7) without affecting the distance meter (7) associated with the movement of the transport vehicle (1) in the horizontal direction relative to the reflecting mirror (6). This is a means for measuring the distance to the mirror (6). Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a stepping motor (8A) for rotating the turntable (9) to change the direction of the distance meter (7).
(An example of a driving device), a timer (8B) for intermittently outputting a tracking command signal, and a tilt angle for detecting a tilt angle (α) of the direction of the distance meter (7) with respect to the moving direction of the transport vehicle (1). It comprises detection means (8C), reception presence / absence detection means (8D), direction change control means (8E) for direction correction angle determination, correction angle instruction means (8F), and direction correction control means (8G). .

The tilt angle detecting means (8C) is a rotary encoder for detecting a rotation angle of the turntable (9) with respect to the carrier (1).

The reception presence / absence detection means (8D) is a means for detecting the presence / absence of light reception of the range finder (7), that is, whether or not the range finder (7) faces the reflecting mirror (6).

Each time the tracking command signal is output from the timer (8B), the direction change control means (8E) controls the distance meter (7) based on the signals from the setter (8a) and the tilt detection means (8C). Means for operating the stepping motor (8A) so as to change the direction at the set angle (β).
As shown in FIG. 5, the set angle (β) is set at both ends (6) of the reflecting mirror (6) in the direction in which the distance meter (7) changes direction.
This angle is half of the included angle (γ) formed by a straight line connecting a), (6b) and the distance meter (7). The included angle (γ)
Is considered that the lengths (La) and (Lb) of the two straight lines are both close to the measurement distance l {(l ₁ ), (l ₂ )} measured by the distance meter (7), and the inclination angle calculating means (8b) Thus, cos γ = (La ² + Lb ² −L ² ) / 2 · La · Lb, ie, cos γ = (2l ² −L ² ) / 2l ² . Here, L is the width of the reflecting mirror (6).

The correction angle instructing means (8F) is provided for each time the direction change for the direction correction angle determination by the direction changing means (8E) is completed, based on the detection result of the reception presence / absence detecting means (8D). (7) is a means for instructing a correction angle to be set to the receiving direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the presence / absence detection means (8D) detects the presence, the direction of the end portion (6a) or (6b) of the reflecting mirror (6) is changed. With the side end (6a) as one end and the other end (6b) as the other end, before changing the direction, the range finder (7) is positioned from the center (6c) of the reflecting mirror (6) in the width direction. Also, it is determined that the first set angle (β) is directed toward a portion offset toward the other end (6b), and as shown in FIG. As a correction angle, and as shown in FIG. 5 (a), in the case of no detection, the range finder (7) before the change of direction has one end ( 6a) It is determined that the portion is directed to a portion deviated to the side, and as shown in FIG. 5 (b), a second set angle having the same size as the set angle (β) is designated as a correction angle. .

The direction correction control means (8G) controls the distance meter (7) based on the correction angle specified by the correction angle instruction means (8F) and the detection angle of the inclination angle detection means (8C). This is a means for operating the stepping motor (8A) to change the direction.

Therefore, when the reception presence detecting means (8D) after the direction change for the direction correction angle determination detects presence, as shown in FIG.
A direction inclining toward one end (6a) at an angle of half the set angle (β) with respect to a direction toward the center (6c) of the reflecting mirror (6); (6c) and the other end (6) at an angle that is half the set angle (β)
b) The range finder (7) is corrected to a direction within the range (A) between the direction inclined to the side and the fifth direction in the case of no detection.
As shown in the figure, the range finder (7) is corrected in the direction before the direction change for determining the direction correction angle, and in any case, the range finder (7) is corrected to the posture facing the reflecting mirror (6). Then, the distance measurement by the distance meter (7) is maintained. When the reception presence / absence detection means (8D) detects the presence, the reflection angle of the reflection mirror (6) is 1/2 of the set angle (β) with respect to the direction toward both ends (6a) and (6b). Since the direction of the distance meter (7) is corrected in a direction deviated to the center side more than the angle of the distance, after the direction is corrected, the direction of the distance meter (7) is changed with the movement of the transport vehicle (1) to the reflecting mirror (6). )), There is room for more than half the angle of the set angle (β). However, in the case of no detection, the corrected direction may be directed to a portion near one end (6a) of the reflecting mirror (6). In order to prevent the direction of the meter (7) from deviating from the reflecting mirror (6), it is desirable to make the output interval of the tracking command signal as small as possible.

The calculation unit (B), as shown in FIG. ^{_{1, cosλ = (l 0 2 +}} l 1 2 -l 2 2) / 2 · l 0 · l 1 X = l 1 · cos λ Y = l 1 · This is a means for calculating the coordinate value (X, Y) of the position (P) of the transport vehicle (1) using the three equations of sim λ.

As shown in FIG. 1, the direction detecting means (3) includes measurement distances (l ₁ ) and (l ₂ ) of the first and second distance measuring devices (A ₁ ) and (A ₂ ), From the measured distance (l ₀ ) and the tilt angle (α) detected by the tilt angle detecting means (8C), the moving direction of the transport vehicle (1) is calculated as its tilt angle (θ) with respect to the Y-axis direction. Means, cos λ = (l ₀ ² + l ₁ ² −l ₂ ² ) / 2 · l ₀ · l ₁ to λ = cos ⁻¹ ｛(l ₀ ² + l ₁ ² −l ₂ ² ) / 2 · l ₀ · l ₁ 、, and θ is obtained from this equation and λ = (π / 2) − (α−θ).

(11) and (12) are stepping motors for swinging the support frame (10) around the horizontal axis (X) to change the direction of the distance meter (7) up and down, and an encoder for detecting the direction.

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the correction angle instructing means (8F) of the tracking means is improved as follows.

If the detection result of the reception presence / absence detecting means (8D) after the direction is changed with the set angle (β) is detected, the angle of the half of the set angle (β) is set as in the first embodiment. In the case of no detection, an angle of 3/2 of the set angle (β) is indicated as the correction angle, as shown in FIGS. Means.

In this case, even if no detection is made, the angle of the set angle (β) is 1/2 of the set angle (β) with respect to the direction toward both ends (6a) and (6b) of the reflecting mirror (6). As described above, the direction of the distance meter (7) can be corrected so as to be offset toward the center (6c).

<Third Embodiment> In the first embodiment, the following means are provided as the direction change control means (8E) and the correction angle instructing means (8F) among the tracking means.

Each time the tracking command signal is output, the direction change control means (8E) detects the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means (8D) based on the tracking command signal and the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means (8D). The driving device (8A) changes the direction of the distance meter (7) until the detection is switched to non-detection, and stops changing the direction of the distance meter (7) when the detection result is no detection.
Is a means for operating. That is, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the distance meter (7) is provided with the direction change control means (8E).
Accordingly, regardless of the orientation before the orientation change, the orientation is directed to a slightly outward portion of the one end (6a) of the reflecting mirror (6).

The correction angle instructing means (8F) is a means for instructing, as a correction angle, an angle having a half of the included angle (γ) described in the first embodiment.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the distance meter (7) is corrected to face the center (6c) or almost the center (6c) in the width direction of the reflecting mirror (6).

(Another embodiment)

 Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[1] In the above embodiment, the distance meter (7) measures the distance to the reflecting mirror (6) from the time required from the projection to the reception of the reflected light. ) May measure the distance from the phase difference between the light emission and the light reception.

[2] In the above embodiment, an infrared ray, which is one of the electromagnetic waves, is shown as the space propagation wave. However, the space propagation wave may be an electromagnetic wave other than infrared light, a sound wave, or an ultrasonic wave.

[3] In the above embodiment, the rangefinder (7) is of an active type that transmits a spatially propagating wave toward the reflecting mirror (6) and receives the reflected wave to measure the distance. The distance meter (7) is a passive type that measures distance only by receiving a spatially propagating wave emitted from the index device (6), such as reflected light from the index device (6) and the index attached thereto. It may be.

[4] In the above-described embodiment, the transporting vehicle is shown as the moving body (1). However, as the moving body (1), various work vehicles such as a concrete floor finishing machine can be used.

[5] In the above embodiment, the setting angle (β) of the first embodiment is a half angle of the included angle (γ).
The set angle (β) may be any size as long as it is smaller than the sandwich angle (γ), and the first set angle may be any size smaller than the set angle (β). May be any size.

[6] In the claims, reference numerals are provided for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a distance measuring device, and FIGS.
The drawings are block diagrams, FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are schematic plan views showing a tracking operation, and FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b) are embodiments. 8A and 8B are schematic plan views illustrating the tracking operation in the third embodiment. FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are schematic plan views illustrating the tracking operation in the third embodiment. (6) ... indicator, (1) ... moving body, (7) ... rangefinder, (8) ... tracking means, (8A) ... drive device, (8B)
…… Command means, (8D)… Reception presence detection means, (8E)…
… Orientation change control means, (8F)… Correction angle instruction means, (8
G)… direction correction control means.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takayoshi Higashito 4-1-1-13 Honcho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside the Takenaka Corporation Osaka Main Store (56) References JP-A-63-124911 (JP, A (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01S 5/00-17/95 G01C 15/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A distance meter (7) for receiving a spatially propagating wave from an index device (6) provided at a target position and measuring a distance to the index device (6) is attached to the moving body (1). A drive device (8A) for changing the direction of the receiving unit in order to correct the direction of the receiving unit of the rangefinder (7) so that the spatially propagating wave from the indicator (6) faces the indicator (6). Command means (8B) for intermittently outputting a tracking command signal; reception presence / absence detecting means (8D) for detecting the presence / absence of reception of the receiving section; and a receiving section each time the tracking command signal is output. The direction change control means (8E) for determining the direction correction angle for actuating the driving device (8A) so as to change the direction, and the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means (8D) after the start of the direction change for direction correction angle determination The receiving unit after the orientation change for the orientation correction angle determination should be set to the receiving orientation based on the A correction angle instructing means (8F) for instructing a correction angle, and a driving device (8) in which the receiving unit changes the direction with the correction angle instructed by the correction angle instructing means (8F) after changing the direction for the direction correction angle determination. 8A) is a moving object distance measuring apparatus provided with a tracking means (8) constituted by a direction correction control means (8G) for operating the direction change control means (8G), wherein the pointing tool (6) is used as the direction change control means (8E). )
A driving device that changes the direction of the receiving unit with a set angle (β) smaller than a sandwiching angle (γ) formed by two straight lines connecting both ends of the direction of the direction of the receiving unit and the receiving unit. (8A) is provided, and as the correction angle indicating means (8F), when the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means (8D) after the direction change of the receiving section is detected, the setting angle is set. When the first set angle smaller than (β) is designated as the correction angle, and the detection result is no detection, the second set angle having the same size as the set angle (β) is corrected. A moving object distance measuring device provided with means for indicating as a corner. 2. When the detection result of the reception presence / absence detection means (8D) after the direction of the receiving section is changed is detected, the correction angle instructing means (8F) is set to 1 / (1 / β) of the set angle (β). Indicating a first set angle equal to the angle of 2 as the correction angle, and
If the detection result is no detection, 3/3 of the set angle (β)
2. The distance measuring apparatus for a moving body according to claim 1, wherein a second set angle equal to the second angle is designated as the correction angle. 3. The indicator (6) is a reflecting mirror for reflecting an incident electromagnetic wave in a direction parallel to the incident direction of the electromagnetic wave, and the rangefinder (7) is adapted to reflect the electromagnetic wave toward the indicator (6). The distance measuring apparatus for a mobile object according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the distance is measured by transmitting a signal and receiving a reflected wave from the indicator (6).