JP5452442B2 - Robot system and map updating method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for updating an environmental map referred to by an autonomous mobile robot, and a robot system.

  The autonomous movement of the robot is performed by referring to a route indicating the movement procedure of the robot and obtaining movement control from the current position and orientation of the robot. For example, according to Patent Document 1, a robot can perform a basic operation of autonomous movement to a destination by movement control based on set movement route data. In Patent Document 1, a path on which the robot moves is created on an environment map showing the geometrical state of an object in space, and movement control is performed based on the current position and orientation of the robot. Here, the position and orientation of the robot is estimated by geometrically matching the surrounding shape measured by a distance sensor or the like with the environment map.

  As an environmental map, for example, a space in which a robot moves is divided into a two-dimensional grid, and information indicating whether an object exists in the area of the space corresponding to each cell surrounded by the grid is given. is there. As a technology for creating an environmental map, Patent Document 2 discloses a technology for generating and / or displaying an environmental map around the sensor as an image while moving the laser distance sensor.

  Here, in actual application scenes, in many cases, the arrangement and shape of objects in space change with time. Therefore, the environmental map created in the past is different from the state of the existence in the current space. In that case, the geometric alignment for estimating the robot position and orientation cannot be performed. Therefore, in order to operate an autonomous mobile robot in a situation where the shape of the environment changes, the environment map is updated so that the state of the actual entity matches the environment map with the change in the arrangement or shape of the object. There is a need to.

  As a technology for updating the environmental map, Patent Literature 3 discloses a technology for preventing the environmental map from being updated by a low-accuracy map including erroneous recognition. Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a technique that eliminates inconsistencies in the map shape at the time of creating a map and further enables partial environmental map updates. Specifically, a partial map showing a partial area of an independent space is created, and the map is updated by connecting the partial map to a past environmental map based on a connection point set by the operator.

JP 2009-291540 A JP 2005-326944 A JP2009-169845A JP 2010-92147 A

  These map update means overwrite the newly measured shape on the past environmental map, and errors (hereinafter referred to as differences from the actual shape) included in the reference past environmental map shape. Error) affects the accuracy when combining new measurement data. Therefore, when a new error occurs in the updated environmental map, the error is accumulated by repeating the update process, and the accuracy of the map is lowered.

  In Patent Document 3, the environment map is updated by geometrically matching the surrounding shape measured by the robot with the environment map, and reflecting the measured area to be changed in the environment map. At this time, since the shape represented on the environment map does not completely match the actual shape, an alignment error occurs. As a result, a new error is added to the overwritten and updated area in the environment map. Therefore, when the above update is repeated, errors in the environment map accumulate.

  In Patent Document 4, when a past environment map and a new environment map newly obtained by measurement are combined, the environment map is updated based on a connection point set in an area shared by both environment maps. . However, since both environment maps have errors, a new error is added to the past environment map in the updated environment map obtained based on the connection point set on both environment maps. As a result, errors are accumulated by repeating the update.

  On the other hand, according to the object of the present invention, there is provided a mobile robot, a robot system, and a map update method capable of performing update processing while accumulating errors in the environment map while maintaining the accuracy of the past environment map. There is to do.

  As an example of the feature of the present invention for solving the above problems, a storage unit that stores an environment map indicating geometric information of a space at a past time point, a sensing unit that can measure the shape of an entity around a robot, A mobile robot or a robot system that has a measurement location calculation unit that calculates a location measured by the sensing unit and is movable in space, wherein the storage unit includes shape information of a predetermined area in the preset environment map , Having a function of storing a plurality of pairs of attributes of the predetermined area on the environmental map, and comparing the environmental map with the predetermined area stored in the storage unit to correspond to the predetermined area In accordance with the attribute read unit that reads the attribute and the attribute read by the attribute read unit at the measurement location calculated by the measurement location calculation unit, And the new environment map updating section, characterized in that it comprises a.

  The update process of the environmental map can be performed without causing error accumulation. As a result, the accuracy of the environmental map does not decrease even when the update process is repeated.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of a robot system. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of operation | movement of a robot system. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a robot. It is a figure which shows the measurement using a distance sensor. It is a figure which shows the measured distance data. It is a figure which shows the state of the grid | lattice in an environmental map. It is a figure which shows geometric fitting of the distance data to an environmental map. It is a figure which shows the update of an environmental map. It is a figure which shows registration to the map of the data obtained from the distance sensor. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of environmental map update. It is a figure which shows the setting of an area | region shape and an update influence degree. It is a figure which shows the memory | storage form of area | region shape and an update influence degree. It is a figure which shows the update of the state of the grating | lattice in each set area | region. It is a figure which shows the map before an update, and the setting of an invariable area | region. It is a figure which shows the measurement of a shape when an entity shape changes. It is a figure which shows the update result other than an invariable area | region. It is a figure which shows the numerical formula used in an Example.

  In the present invention, a plurality of arbitrary region shapes and attributes for each predetermined region are set on the environment map, and update processing based on the attributes is performed. When the environment map is updated using the surrounding shape obtained while the robot is moving, the environment map is updated according to the attribute in the update part.

For example, for an area where the actual shape is unchanged, an attribute that the shape is unchanged is set for the area (hereinafter referred to as an invariable area). The invariant area is not updated, so that the shape on the environment map included in the area is not updated.
As a result, even if the update process is repeated for the environment map, the region is not updated and no error is accumulated. If the optimum geometric alignment is performed using the environmental map, consistency can be obtained with the region where no error is accumulated. Since a part of the measurement data is consistent with the shape in the area at the time of alignment, there is no influence of error accumulation on the alignment. Since the environmental map is updated based on the result, no error is accumulated in the environmental map.

Therefore, accuracy can be maintained for shapes other than the invariable region even if the update is repeated. Since the fitting process and the updating process can be automatically executed, if the attribute is set in advance, the map can be automatically kept up-to-date even while the robot is moving.
According to the present invention, the update process of the environment map can be performed without causing error accumulation. As a result, the accuracy of the environmental map does not decrease even when the update process is repeated.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a robot system according to the present embodiment. First, the robot system of the present invention includes a mobile robot 10 and an area setting device 11. The mobile robot 10 includes an environment map 120 that shows the shape of an object existing in space, a storage unit 100 that stores a plurality of pairs of region shapes 121 and region attributes 122, a sensing unit 101 that measures surrounding shapes, and a self-position. An estimation unit 102, a measurement location calculation unit 103, an area attribute reading unit 104, an environment map update unit 105, a movement control unit 106 that determines a movement direction and amount according to the position of the robot, and a movement mechanism unit 107 are provided.

In the present embodiment, the region attribute 122 indicates an update influence degree that is an influence degree on the environment map at the time of update, and the region attribute read unit 104 reads the update influence degree. The area setting device 11 includes an area setting unit 110, an update influence level setting unit 111, a display unit 112, and a display unit 113.
Here, the mobile robot 10 is configured to include at least a sensing unit 101 and a moving mechanism unit 107 that measure the shape of the surroundings, and the other environment maps 120, the storage unit 100, and the like are devices that are separate from the mobile robot 10 (for example, The information may be stored in the area setting device 11), and provided with a wired or wireless communication means or the like to control such information to be appropriately transmitted to the mobile robot.

  The sensing unit 101 can obtain the shape of the measurement target by measuring the distance to the object 13 existing around the robot 10 using a laser distance sensor, a sonar sensor, or the like. In addition, the said sensor should just be a thing which can measure a surrounding shape, and is not limited to the example of the said sensor.

  The self-position estimation unit 102 estimates the position and orientation of the robot at the time of measurement by geometrically matching the surrounding shape of the robot 10 obtained by measurement with the environment map 120 held by the storage unit 100. The measurement location calculation unit 103 obtains the position coordinates of the measurement point on the environment map from the measured data based on the estimated self-position.

  The update influence degree reading unit 104 selects a region including the position of the measurement point from the region shape 121 stored in the storage unit 100, and obtains the update influence degree 122 associated with the region. Note that the association between the region shape and the update influence degree is assumed that the operator arbitrarily sets a region in advance and sets the update influence degree for each predetermined region. The environment map update unit 105 updates a location on the environment map corresponding to the measurement location according to the update influence level. The movement control unit 106 determines movement control of the direction and speed of movement along the route based on the robot's own position estimated by the self-position estimation unit 102. The movement mechanism unit 107 moves the movement control robot determined by the movement control unit 106.

  In this description, for simplicity, the system is housed in the robot. However, with respect to the storage unit 100, the self-position estimation unit 102, the measurement location calculation unit 103, the update influence degree reading unit 104, and the environment map update unit 105, It may be installed in a computer installed outside the robot, and the robot may be remotely operated based on the result of the calculation via a communication device. By having these parts in the external computer, it can be applied to a work in which a plurality of robots cooperate to update one map.

  FIG. 2 shows the processing procedure of this embodiment. In the mobile robot 10, the movement control unit 106 determines the direction and speed of movement (movement control) according to the self-position estimated as a route, and the movement mechanism unit 107 performs a movement process (S200). Next, the shape around the robot 10 is measured by the sensing unit 101 (S210). The self-position of the robot is estimated by geometrically matching the measured shape to the environment map (S220). Finally, the environment map is updated by updating the environment map with the shape obtained from the sensing unit 101 (S230). These processes are repeated until the measurement is completed.

  FIG. 3 shows a state where the robot moves along the route while avoiding the existence object 13 in the space. The robot moves along a route designated or automatically created in advance. If a mechanism for moving the robot system 10 such as a biped walking type or a crawler type is provided, the moving mechanism unit 107 in the robot system 10 is not limited to the one using wheels as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram in the case where the sensing unit 101 measures the distance to the surrounding object 13. Here, for the sake of explanation, a distance sensor is employed as the measuring device of the sensing unit 101. The sensing unit applies the irradiated laser to the surrounding entity 13, and the sensing unit receives the reflected light, thereby measuring the distance to the entity 13 according to the time from irradiation to light reception. By performing this in all directions, it is possible to measure the surrounding shape.

FIG. 5 shows a measurement example when the peripheral shape is measured using a distance sensor. The distance sensor irradiates the surrounding with an infrared laser, receives the reflected light of the laser hitting the object existing in each direction, and measures the distance to the object by the time difference from irradiation to light reception. The distance sensor simultaneously measures n data while changing the measurement direction φ by an angular resolution δφ. The measurement direction of the i-th measurement data is φ _i and the measured distance r _i . The combination (r _i , φ _i ) of the distance and direction at that time is the position represented by the relative polar coordinate system of the measurement target object with the distance sensor as the center. The dotted arrow represents the measurement result, and the end of the arrow is the position of the point to be measured. A closed dotted line indicates an object in space, and a dotted arrow that collides with the object is data that has been successfully measured. A dotted arrow that did not hit the closed dotted line indicates that nothing could be measured. Conversion from the position (r _i , φ _i ) expressed in the polar coordinate system to the Cartesian coordinate system (s _xi , s _yi ) is performed by the mathematical expression (Equation 1) shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the environment map 600. In FIG. 6, for the sake of explanation, it is expressed as a binary expression that only indicates whether or not an object exists. Details of a method of expressing whether or not there is an object in consideration of the update influence degree in this embodiment will be described later. As an environmental map expression format, it is divided into fine grids such as 620. However, if the shape of the entire space is illustrated as a lattice, the notation of the lattice becomes too small. Therefore, in the description using the lattice, a part is enlarged as shown by 620.

  In the following description, an environment map 600 and a grid 620 appear, but they differ only in magnification and have the same internal structure. The environmental map 600 shows the coordinate axes and entities of the environmental map. Here, in the coordinate system of the environment map, the center of the map is (0, 0), the right direction is the positive direction of the x axis, and the upward direction is the positive direction of the y axis. In addition, the coordinate system of an environmental map is not restricted to this. The shape existing in the space is expressed like a presence object 610 as a black line. The presence object 610 represented here is measured at a past time and recorded on the environment map 600.

  Subsequently, an example of expression in a lattice will be described. The lattice 630 represents that nothing exists in the corresponding region in the space. A lattice 640 indicates that an object exists in the lattice. For the sake of explanation, FIG. 6 shows a simplified binary value indicating whether or not an object exists, but in the present embodiment, it is not a binary value, but this is expressed as a multivalued probability format described below. Express probability.

  The details of the object representation method on the environment map in this embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the shape of the object in the space is expressed on the environment map as the existence probability of the object. Inside the environmental map, object information is recorded as a voting value, and converted into an existence probability at the time of reading. First, let p (m (x, y)) be the probability that an object exists for a lattice cell m (x, y) at coordinates (x, y) in the environment map coordinate system. Here, from the value of p (m (x, y)), it is determined whether or not an object exists, for example, according to a comparison result with a parameter. Each grid holds a vote value v (x, y), and calculates a probability p (m (x, y)) from the value of the vote value v (x, y).

  In addition, the expression method of these environmental maps is not limited to the above, What is necessary is just the expression method which can consider the influence degree of an update.

FIG. 7 shows an example of estimating the position and orientation of the robot when the surrounding shape is measured by the self-position estimating unit 102. In the self-position estimation, the distance data shown in FIG. 5 measured by the sensing unit 101 is geometrically matched with the environment map 600 shown in FIG. 6 so that the environment when the robot measures the surrounding shape. Estimate the position and orientation on the map. Let the position of the robot in the environmental map coordinate system be (x, y, θ). Here, when the coordinate of the measurement result shown in the robot coordinate system of Equation 1 is converted into the coordinate system (t _xi , t _yi ) of the environment map, the equation (Equation 2) shown in FIG. 17 is obtained.

The coordinate system of the environmental map is obtained as a linear transformation from the robot coordinate system. The optimal position (x ^* , y ^* , θ ^* ) when the distance result converted into the coordinate system of the environmental map is geometrically matched to the environmental map is as shown in Equation (3) shown in FIG. Find it.

The solution of Equation 3 is given an initial value close to the optimal solution in advance, and can be solved by the steepest descent method or the like.
In the following description, it is assumed that the estimated self-position is (x, y, θ), and the position of the measured point in the measured environment map coordinate system is (t _x , t _y ).

FIG. 8 shows an example of updating the environmental map based on the distance information obtained from the sensing unit 101. The environmental map is updated by recording the currently measured sensing result for the shape recorded in the past environmental map. The measured location is obtained by the measurement location calculation unit 103. The calculation of the measurement point calculation unit 103 is similar to Equation 2, and obtains the self position (x, y, θ) and the position of the measurement point (t _x , t _y ), and between the self position and the measurement point. This is obtained by searching each grid in the region of. In FIG. 8, the shape 800 recorded in the environmental map is the same as the measured shape, the shape 810 that has been recorded in the past environmental map but is not currently measured, and a new measurement. Each shape 820 is shown. First, based on the self-position (x, y, θ) of the mobile robot 10 obtained by the fitting, the measured point is converted into the coordinate system of the environment map. Then, the measured shape and the environment map coincide with each other for a part whose shape does not change when the past environment map is constructed, such as the shape 800. On the other hand, when the arrangement is lost due to movement or the like as in the shape 810, the laser irradiated by the distance sensor passes. In this case, the shape 810 can be deleted from the environmental map by reducing the existence probability of the portion corresponding to the region through which the laser has passed. The calculation of the existence probability will be described later. Although not recorded in the past environment map, the shape 820 newly measured in the current measurement is not recorded in the coordinates of the measurement point on the environment map. In that case, the shape is newly recorded by increasing the existence probability of the position of the measurement point. The environment map can be updated as described above.

  Subsequently, a method for calculating the existence probability in the update of the environment map by the environment map update unit 105 will be described. The update is performed by increasing or decreasing the voting value of the grid using the update influence degree for each region. In this embodiment, the operator sets the values of the increase parameter α (x, y) and the decrease parameter β (x, y) in the region corresponding to the coordinates (x, y) as the update influence degree. The set update influence degree is read by the update influence degree reading unit 104. The grids to be updated are the grid corresponding to the measurement point calculated by the measurement location calculation unit 103 and the grid corresponding to the area where nothing was measured.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the lattice is updated by increasing the vote value v (x, y) for the lattice 900. First, the update of the grid corresponding to the measurement point when the distance is measured will be described. When the distance is measured, the measurement point calculation unit 103 obtains the coordinates of the measurement point using Expression 2, and the environment map update unit 105 stores the vote value v (x, x, stored in the grid corresponding to the coordinates. Increase y). Thereby, the existence probability of the object at the position increases. The position (t _x , t _y ) of the lattice 900 is obtained from the measured distance and the position of the robot at the time of measurement according to Equation 2. The voting value is changed by using an increase parameter α (t _x , t _y ) corresponding to the position (t _x , t _y ) of the lattice as shown in the equation (Equation 4) shown in FIG.

Next, the update of the grid corresponding to the area where nothing was measured will be described. For the grid 910 corresponding to the area where nothing is measured, the grid is updated by reducing the vote value v (x, y). The target is a grid through which a line segment connecting the position of the sensing unit 101 and the position of the point to be measured passes. The voting value is changed by using the decrease parameter β (t _x , t _y ) corresponding to the grid position (t _x , t _y ) and updated as shown in the equation (Equation 5) shown in FIG.

  The probability p (m (x, y)) that an object exists in the lattice can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the vote value of the lattice as described above. The probability p (m (x, y)) decreases as the vote value decreases, and the probability increases as the vote value increases.

FIG. 10 shows an update processing procedure in this embodiment. First, the data from the sensing unit 101 is converted into coordinates (t _x , t _y ) on the environment map using Equation 2 based on the self-position (x, y, θ) obtained by the self-position estimation unit 102 (S1000). ). Next, a grid corresponding to a region where nothing is measured in each measurement direction of the sensing unit 101 is detected (S1010), and the decrease parameter β (t _x , t _y ) that becomes an update influence corresponding to the grid. Is read out (S1020), and the existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) of the object in the lattice is lowered by reducing the vote value v (t _x , t _y ) of the lattice according to the parameter (S1030). ). If the shape is detected, a grid corresponding to the detected position is obtained from Equation 2 (S1040), and the increase parameter α (t _x , t _y ) corresponding to the grid is read (S1050). The existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) of the object in the lattice is increased by increasing the vote value v (t _x , t _y ) of the lattice according to the parameter (S1060).

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the setting screen for the update influence level. In the present embodiment, a plurality of pairs of the region shape 121 and the update influence level 122 are set using the region setting device 11. First, an operator specifies an area on the environment map by the area setting unit 110, and an update influence degree is set for each area by the update influence degree setting unit 111. As a setting method, an environmental map is displayed on the screen by the display unit 113, an operator sets the area shape of the environmental map with a pointing device such as a mouse in accordance with the displayed environmental map, and the operator is further applied to the set area. Sets the update impact. As the region setting method, there are a free curve enclosing method and a rectangular enclosing method using the pointing device. The pointing device is not limited to a mouse as long as it can indicate coordinates on the screen. The set area shape 121 and the update influence level 122 are stored in the storage unit 112 in the storage unit 10 of the robot 10. FIG. 11 shows three areas set for each ring update influence level. Here, it is assumed that the respective areas are set as an area 1100 having a high update influence level, an area 1110 having a low update influence degree, and an area 1120 in which no update occurs. In FIG. 11, the update influence degree is limited to three types, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to set the parameters to be changed continuously.

  FIG. 12 shows a storage form of the area shape and the update influence degree. Here, description will be made by taking the region 1100 and the region 1110 shown in FIG. 11 as an example. In the present embodiment, the area shape and the update influence degree are divided into a grid shape like 1200 as in the map holding form shown in FIG. 6, and the update influence degree corresponding to each grid is determined. The value is stored in the storage unit. As a storage form, the update influence value is stored at a position corresponding to the (x, y) coordinate value on the storage unit as indicated by 1210. Thereby, the update influence degree can be read out only by the process of reading out the value corresponding to the designated coordinates. In addition, as a form of the area shape, it is also possible to hold numerically an area surrounded by a polygon or a curve without using a grid. In that case, the update influence degree is associated with each area and held. When the update influence degree is read, an area corresponding to the designated coordinates is searched, and a value associated with the area is read.

FIG. 13 shows an example of updating the environmental map after setting the update influence level. Note that the degree of update influence in each area is the same as in FIG. First, the voting value v (t _x , t _y ) is greatly reduced for the grid 1300 whose shape is not measured among the grids included in the region 1100 having a large update influence. Then, the existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) of the object in the lattice is greatly reduced. On the other hand, among the grids included in the region 1100, the voting value v (t _x , t _y ) is significantly increased for the grid 1310 whose shape is measured. Then, the existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) of the object in the lattice is also greatly increased. As a result, if the shape changes or moves in the area, the object's existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) in the lattice in the area greatly increases and the shape is immediately reflected in the environment map. Is done. For the lattice included in the region 1110 having a low update influence level, the increase / decrease of the voting value v (t _x , t _y ) is small. The grid 1320 whose shape has not been measured reduces the vote value v (t _x , t _y ) slightly. Then, the existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) of the object in the lattice decreases to a small extent. Of the grids included in the region 1110, the grid 1330 whose shape is measured slightly increases the vote value v (t _x , t _y ). In this case as well, the object existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) increases slightly. As a result, in the region, the increase or decrease in the existence probability p (m (t _x , t _y )) of the object in the lattice in the region is small with respect to the change or movement of the shape, and the influence on the environmental map is moderate Become. The voting value v (t _x , t _y ) is not changed for the lattice included in the region 1120. Therefore, the shape in the region remains unchanged for any measurement. In FIG. 13, both the 1340 whose shape was not measured and the lattice 1350 whose shape was measured do not change the vote value. The shape recorded in the invariant area is invariant, and no error is accumulated even if updating is repeated.

  As an effect when the update influence degree is divided into several types as described above, there is a point that a stationary object can be recorded on the environment map while preventing the moving object from being erroneously recorded on the environment map. If a moving object is recorded on the environment map, the moving object does not exist at the time of self-position estimation, and accuracy decreases due to a mismatch between the map and the actual environment. Therefore, it is desirable that an object that does not move is recorded on the environment map. In the present embodiment, the environment map can be updated as described above by setting the update influence degree in accordance with the frequency of movement of the object in each region. For example, in an area such as a passage where there are many moving objects, by setting the degree of influence of updating to be low, it is difficult to record moving objects that are not desirable to be reflected in the environment map. Also, in a region where there are many static objects that do not move, by setting the degree of influence of updating high, even a small number of measurements are immediately reflected in the environment map, and the object is easily recorded on the environment map.

  Examples of actual updating are shown in FIGS. FIG. 14 shows an example in which the update impact level is set to two types. One is to set the influence degree of the update high, and the other is to set the influence degree to zero and not update. FIG. 14 includes a past environment map 1400, an area 1410 in which no update occurs, an invariant shape 1420 existing in the area 1410, and a shape 1430 existing outside the area 1410. The area 1410 is set in advance by the operator. Measurement is performed as shown in FIG. 15 on the assumption that the storage unit holds the environment map of FIG. In the environment of FIG. 15, it is assumed that the shape 1430 on the map of FIG. Therefore, at the time of this measurement, nothing exists in the part of the shape 1430 registered in the environment map so far, and therefore a part of the invariant shape 1420 in the back is measured. In addition, the shape 1500 is newly measured. Based on this measurement result, the environment map is updated in FIG. Since no update occurs in the area 1410, the environment map does not change. In the area other than the area 1410, the shape is updated based on the newly measured result. Therefore, the shape 1430 is erased and the shape 1500 is recorded. Since the shape 1420 is not updated, no error is accumulated for the shape 1420 even if the update is repeated. In this way, during the update, the influence of the update in the area where the shape is invariable or the object that does not move is zeroed, and errors that occur in the shape in the invariant area when the update is repeated are accumulated. Does not happen. By using this update, in the fitting of the shape at the self-position, if a part of the measured shape is consistent with the shape where the error is not accumulated, the influence of the error accumulation on the self-position estimation result Does not come out. Therefore, if the map is updated based on the result of the self-position estimation, errors other than the invariable region will not accumulate on the map.

  From the above form, it is possible to automatically perform the update after the operator specifies the area and the update influence level in advance, but by manually setting the area to be updated at the time of update, It is possible not to reflect the data that should not be reflected on the environment map, and the present invention is not limited to the usage method that is automatically executed.

  According to the present invention, if the operator sets the update area and the influence degree in advance, the map update and the self-position estimation can be executed without accumulating errors. For this reason, the robot system of the present invention can automatically create a highly accurate map. As a result, the map can be automatically updated to the latest state while the robot is moving, and the robot can move autonomously without manual or re-measurement work even under circumstances where the shape of the environment changes. It becomes possible.

  In the above embodiment, the sensing unit 101 has been described using a distance sensor that measures an object existing on a two-dimensional plane. On the other hand, a distance sensor that can measure the shape three-dimensionally can be used as the sensing unit 101. An embodiment in the case of using a three-dimensional distance sensor will be described below.

  When processing a three-dimensional space, if the space is divided as a grid, the amount of used memory becomes enormous. Therefore, it is assumed that a set (point group) of measured points measured by the distance sensor is directly stored in the storage unit 100. Of course, when a computer loaded with a large amount of storage media can be used, it is also possible to handle a grid as in the above embodiment.

  The procedure of functions and processes mounted on the mobile robot is the same as in the above embodiment. Hereinafter, each function will be described.

  In this embodiment, an object in space is represented by a set of measurement points. Each vote rate is recorded in the storage unit 100 for each point instead of the lattice. The self-position estimation unit 102 estimates the self-position by applying a surrounding point group obtained by the sensing unit 101 to the currently held point group. The estimation is performed by searching for an association and a posture that minimize the sum of squared distances of the distances between the points having an existence ratio of 0.5 or more and the measured points. .

  The measurement location calculation unit 103 calculates the shape of the held object and the measurement shape changing unit. Here, a point group existing within a certain distance from a linear trajectory through which each laser passes is searched for and set as a “point not measured”. In addition, a point group within a certain distance from the measurement point is a “measured point”.

  The update influence degree reading unit 104 searches for an area held in the storage unit 100 including the points calculated by the measurement point calculation unit 103, and reads the influence degree associated with the area.

  The environmental map update unit calculates the voting value recorded in the point according to the degree of influence read by the influence degree reading unit 104 based on the point held by the storage unit 100 calculated by the measurement point calculation unit 103. Increase or decrease. The “point not measured” calculated by the measurement point calculation unit 103 lowers the vote value. On the other hand, the “measured point” calculated by the measurement point calculation unit 103 has a lower voting value.

  In the area setting unit 110, the operator selects an arbitrary area. An arbitrary area in the three-dimensional space cannot be specified directly with the mouse. For this reason, there is a method in which a rectangle is designated on each of the viewpoints in two orthogonal directions, and the common area of both rectangles is designated as the designated area. In addition, the update influence degree setting unit 111 sets the update influence degree for each designated area.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Mobile robot, 101 ... Sensing part, 101 ... Self-position estimation part, 103 ... Measurement location calculation part, 104 ... Attribute reading part, 105 ... Environmental map update part, 106・ ・ ・ Moving control unit 107 ・ ・ ・ Driving unit 11 ・ ・ ・ Area setting device 110 ・ ・ ・ Area setting unit 111 111 Update influence setting unit 113 113 Storage unit 112 Display unit 120 ... environment map, 121 ... region shape, 122 ... region attribute, 13 ... existing object in real space, 600 ... environment map, 610 ... existence expressed on the map Object, 620 ... Detailed grid in environment map, 630 ... Grid of area without object, 640 ... Grid of area where object exists, 800 ... Site whose shape does not change by update, 810 ..Parts erased by update 820 ... Site added by updating, 900 ... Grid at the point where the distance is measured, 910 ... Grid in an area where nothing is present in the space through which the laser has passed, 1100 ... Update effect level High area, 1110 ... Area with low update influence, 1120 ... Area without update, 1130 ... Object with high movement frequency, 1140 ... Object with low movement frequency, 1150 ... Movement Object that does not occur, 1200 ... lattice representing the shape of the region, 1210 ... retention mode of the update influence in the storage unit, 1300 ... update of the lattice state when the laser passes in a region with a high update influence, 1310: Update of the lattice state when the distance is measured in a region where the update influence is high, 1320 ... The laser passes in a region where the update influence is low Grid state update, 1330... Lattice state update when distance is measured in a region with low update influence, 1340... Lattice state update when laser passes in a region where no update occurs. 1350... Update of grid state when distance is measured in a region where no update occurs 1400... Past environmental map, 1410... Region where no update occurs, 1420. 1430 ... Shape before movement, 1500 ... Shape after movement.

Claims (14)

A mobile robot having a sensing unit capable of measuring the shape of surrounding objects, a storage unit for storing an environment map indicating geometric information of the space at a past time, and a location measured by the sensing unit A measurement point calculation unit for calculating
The storage unit stores a plurality of preset shape information of the predetermined area in the environment map and attributes of the predetermined area on the environment map,
Furthermore, an attribute reading unit that compares the environmental map with a predetermined region stored in the storage unit and reads the attribute corresponding to the predetermined region, and the attribute reading unit at the measurement point calculated by the measurement point calculation unit An environment map update unit that updates the environment map according to the read attribute;
A robot system comprising: The robot system according to claim 1,
A robot system comprising: an area setting unit that sets an arbitrary predetermined area on an environmental map and the attribute of the predetermined area. The robot system according to claim 1 or 2,
The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the attribute is a degree of update influence on the map when the environmental map is updated in the predetermined area. The robot system according to claim 1 or 2,
The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the attribute is whether or not the map can be updated when the environmental map is updated in the predetermined area. The robot system according to claim 1,
A self-position estimating unit that estimates the position and orientation of the robot according to a geometric fit between the shape on the environment map and the data from the sensing unit;
The said measurement location calculation part calculates the measurement location on the map which the said sensing part measured based on the result of the self-position estimation part of the previous term, The robot system characterized by the above-mentioned. The robot system according to claim 1,
The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is a distance sensor that measures a distance to a surrounding object. The robot system according to claim 2, wherein
The region setting unit
An area setting unit capable of setting the predetermined area;
An attribute setting unit capable of setting the attribute parameter for the predetermined region; information on the predetermined region set by the region setting unit in the storage unit; and the attribute in the predetermined region set by the attribute setting unit And a storage unit for storing a plurality of pairs,
A robot system comprising: The robot system according to claim 7, wherein
A robot system comprising: a display unit configured to display on the screen the environmental map and the predetermined region set in the region setting unit being input. The robot system according to claim 1,
The robot system, wherein the storage unit, the measurement location calculation unit, the attribute reading unit, and the environment map update unit are stored in the mobile robot. A method for updating an environmental map representing the shape of an entity in a moving space in a mobile robot capable of moving in the space, wherein an operator sets a predetermined area on the environmental map;
An attribute setting step in which an operator sets the attribute for the predetermined area;
A measurement location calculation step for calculating a measurement location from sensing data from the sensing unit;
In the measurement location calculated in the measurement location calculation step, an attribute read step for reading out the attribute set in the predetermined area including the measurement location;
An environment map update step for updating the location calculated in the measurement location calculation step on the environment map according to the attribute read in the attribute read step;
Environmental map update method including In the environmental map update method of Claim 10,
The environmental map update method, wherein the attribute is a degree of influence on a map when the environmental map is updated in the predetermined area. In the environmental map update method of Claim 10,
The attribute map update method according to claim 1, wherein the attribute is whether or not update is possible when updating the environment map in the predetermined area. In the environmental map update method of Claim 10,
A position / orientation estimation step for estimating the position / orientation of the robot according to a geometric fit between the shape on the environment map and the sensing data measured by the sensing unit;
An environmental map update method, wherein the measurement location calculation step calculates the measurement location from the sensing data from the sensing unit according to the position and orientation based on the result of the previous position and orientation estimation step. In the environmental map update method of Claim 10,
The environmental map updating method, wherein the sensing unit is a distance sensor that measures a distance to a surrounding object.

Images