JPH0635535A - Indoor mobile robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To move an indoor mobile robot to a target position with higher accuracy by surely detecting the position of the robot in each room even if a room where the robot moves is divided into plural rooms by the walls. CONSTITUTION:An indoor mobile robot 1 identifies the room where the robot is presently moving and transmits the identification signals and the timing pulses through an identification signal transmitter 2 and a timing pulse transmitter 3 respectively. The ultrasonic waves are transmitted by the ultrasonic wave transmitters 6-1 and 7-1 or 6-2 and 7-2 whose signals are coincident with the identification signal received by the identification signal receivers 8-1 and 8-2, as soon as the timing pulse receivers 9-1 and 9-2 receive the timing pulses. Then the robot 1 receives the ultrasonic waves through the ultrasonic receivers 4 and 5. Thus the robot 1 detects its own position in each room based on the time count value covering the time point when the timing pulses are received through the point of time when the ultrasonic waves arrive and moves on a designated traveling route CL.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile robot used indoors such as in a factory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various mobile robot systems used in factories have been developed and put into practical use. The mobile robots of these systems detect magnetic tapes or optical reflection tapes stuck on the floor and move along them, or a gyro is installed to detect the moving direction and speed of the robot. It is known that the vehicle travels so as to match the designated traveling route stored in the internal memory.

[0003]

However, the tape type has a problem that there is a place where the tape cannot be attached or a place where the tape is difficult to attach, and it is difficult to change the designated traveling path. There is also a problem that a mark must be provided at the stop position.

On the other hand, in the gyro system, first, the traveling distance of the route from the starting point to the instructed place is calculated based on the map information. (Hereinafter, referred to as travel route distance.)
Next, the traveling direction and traveling speed during traveling are detected, and the distance traveled from the starting point to the current position is calculated from the detection data. (Hereinafter, referred to as travel distance.) Then, when the travel distance and the travel route distance match, it is determined that the instructed place has been reached. However, if the traveling distance to the instructed place is short, there is no particular problem, but if the traveling distance to the instructed place is long,
There is a problem that the measurement error due to the gyro is accumulated, it deviates greatly from the designated place, and it stops.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an indoor mobile robot capable of solving the problems of the above method.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, an indoor mobile robot according to the present invention comprises at least one timing pulse receiver and at least two timing pulse receivers which transmit by the timing pulse received by the receiver. An ultrasonic transmitter having different frequencies is installed in the vicinity of a moving area indoors, means for storing moving indoor map information and position information on the map of the ultrasonic transmitter, and at least one timing pulse transmission And at least two ultrasonic receivers for receiving the frequencies, respectively, and measuring the time from the time of transmitting the timing pulse to the time of receiving the ultrasonic waves of the ultrasonic transmitter. , Means for detecting the self-position on the map from the time data, means for storing the self-position data, and current self-position data stored in the self-position storage means A first aspect is provided with an ultrasonic guidance system including a means for detecting a traveling direction from self-position data and a steering control means for controlling a traveling direction based on the self-position data and detection information of the traveling direction. It is a feature of.

Further, according to the present invention, at least two ultrasonic transmitters having different frequencies are installed in each room partitioned by the wall of the indoor moving area around the moving area of each room,
Receiving identification received by the identification signal receiver, wherein each of the ultrasonic transmitters is provided with means for storing an identification code and storing the respective identification code, and an identification signal receiver. Means for converting a signal into a reception identification code, means for comparing the reception identification code with the stored storage identification code, and if the reception identification code and the storage identification code are the same, for a certain period of time , Each of the ultrasonic transmitters is provided with means for enabling the ultrasonic transmitter to operate, and means for storing the identification code of each ultrasonic transmitter in the mobile robot, and means necessary for the self-position detection. Means for detecting an ultrasonic transmitter, means for detecting a memory identification code of the ultrasonic transmitter, means for converting the memory identification code into an identification signal, and an identification signal transmitter for transmitting the identification signal, Send the identification signal And a second; and a timing pulse transmitter for transmitting a timing pulse from the point in time after a certain time.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the designated traveling route of the indoor mobile robot can be easily changed by the above-described configuration, and the self-recovery can be performed even if the indoor traveling robot deviates from the predetermined route. Further, it is possible to prevent the accumulation of errors that occur according to the traveling distance, and to stop at the destination position more accurately even when the destination is a long distance.

In particular, according to the present invention having the second feature, even when the moving room is partitioned by a wall into a plurality of rooms, the self-position in each room can be surely detected and the target position can be more accurately determined. You can move to.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An indoor mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an indoor mobile robot, an indoor moving area of the robot, and an arrangement state of a timing pulse receiver and an ultrasonic transmitter arranged in the area according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an indoor mobile robot, 2 is an identification signal transmitter, 3 is a timing pulse transmitter, 4 and 5 are ultrasonic wave receivers having different frequencies, and 6-1 and 6-2 correspond to 4 frequencies. Ultrasonic transmitters, 7-1 and 7-2 are ultrasonic transmitters corresponding to frequencies of 5, 8-1 and 8-2 are identification signal receivers, and 9-1 and 9-2 are timing pulse receivers. ,
10-1 and 10-2 are moving rooms, and CL is a designated travel route.

The operation of the indoor mobile robot configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the indoor mobile robot 1 detects the identification code of the room currently moving and converts it into an identification signal, and then transmits the identification signal from the identification signal transmitter 2 mounted on the indoor mobile robot 1, and after a certain time. A timing pulse is transmitted from the timing pulse transmitter 3. The indoor mobile robot 1
Incorporates a time counter (not shown in FIG. 1), which resets the time counter at the same time as transmitting the timing pulse and starts counting the time.

Further, the identification signal receivers 8-1 and 8-2 receive the identification signal, convert it into an identification code, and when the identification code matches the stored identification code, the ultrasonic transmitter 6 is operated for a predetermined time. -1, 7-1 or 6-2, 7-2 can be operated. Then, at the same time when the timing pulse is received by the timing pulse receiver 9-1 or 9-2, ultrasonic waves having different frequencies are transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitters 6-1 and 7-.
1, or 6-2, 7-2, is transmitted for a predetermined time interval.

When the ultrasonic receivers 4 and 5 mounted on the indoor mobile robot 1 receive the ultrasonic waves having different frequencies, the time counter of the indoor mobile robot 1 stores the respective reception time count numbers (see FIG. 1 is not shown).

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 shows a designated travel route C of the indoor mobile robot 1.
The arrangement of L and the ultrasonic transmitters 6-1, 7-1, 6-2, 7-2 and FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of this embodiment.

In FIG. 2, ultrasonic transmitters 6-1 and 7-1 are arranged at the reference points A and B of the moving room 10-1, and the point A is the origin, and the line passing through the point B is the Y-axis. The coordinates of the indoor mobile robot 1 and the room 10-1 are shown in the coordinate system. In addition, the reference point C of the moving room 10-2,
Ultrasonic transmitters 6-2 and 7-2 are arranged at D, and the map coordinates of the indoor mobile robot 1 and the room 10-2 are set in a coordinate system having a point C as an origin and a line passing through the point D as the Y axis. Shows. The position of the indoor mobile robot 1 is indicated by T (Xt, Yt).

In FIG. 2, for simplification of explanation, the four sides of each of the moving rooms 10-1 and 10-2 are X-axis or Y-axis.
Although an example in which the reference points A and B are arranged around the room 10-1 and the reference points C and D are arranged around the room 10-2, the respective rooms 10-1 and 10- The shape of 2 and the orientation of the 4 sides are arbitrary. Further, although the case of two rooms is shown, the number of rooms is arbitrary.

The indoor mobile robot 1 has a designated traveling route CL.
Although the vehicle travels along, the shape of the designated travel route CL is also arbitrary.

The control procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, the map information of each room 10-1, 10-2 in the indoor moving area is input to the map storage section.

In step S2, the ultrasonic transmitter 6-1,
The positions of 7-1, 6-2, and 7-2 on the map are input to the transmitter position storage unit.

In step S3, the designated travel route CL is set to X.
The coordinates are input as Xn and the Y coordinates as Yn in the travel route storage unit.

In step S4, the indoor mobile robot 1 is placed at the travel start point to start traveling.

In step S5, the ultrasonic transmitters 6-1 and 7- of the indoor mobile robot 1 are calculated from the reception time count number.
1 or 6-2, the distance from 7-2 is calculated, and the self-position T of the indoor mobile robot 1 on the X and Y coordinates in the room 10-1 or 10-2 moving by the triangulation method.
The calculation of (Xt, Yt) is performed, and the self-position data is stored in the self-position storage unit. Further, the traveling direction is detected from the current self position data and the previous self position data. Then, the room currently moving is identified based on the current self-position data.

In step S6, the amount of deviation from the designated travel route CL (ΔX = Xt-Xn, ΔY = Yt-Yn) is calculated.

In step S7, the steering angle of the indoor mobile robot 1 is controlled according to the traveling direction and the deviation amount.

In step S8, it is determined whether or not all steps have been completed. If the whole process is not completed, the traveling is continued.

In step S9, the identification code of the room currently being moved is detected, the identification code is converted into an identification signal, and the identification signal and the timing pulse are transmitted.

In step S10, the time counter is reset and the above operation is repeated until all the steps are completed.

When all the steps are completed, the process stops at the final point of the designated traveling route and waits for the traveling start command.

In the embodiment described above, the starting point and the ending point of the designated traveling route CL are different, but the traveling route is closed in advance when the traveling route is designated with the starting point and the ending point being the same point. It is also possible to specify a route and perform repeated patrols.

In this embodiment, the indoor mobile robot 1 is also used.
Although the work function is not added to the above, it can be applied to a cleaning robot, a monitoring robot, or the like by adding a cleaning function, a monitoring function, or the like.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The shape of the designated traveling route can be made arbitrary, and the designated traveling route can be easily changed.

(2) The self position of the indoor mobile robot can be identified within the moving area of each room indoors,
Accumulated error due to measurement error can be eliminated.

(3) The ultrasonic transmitter may be installed anywhere in each room as long as it is around the moving area of each room indoors, and the reference point can be easily set.

(4) Even if the indoor moving area is divided into a plurality of rooms by walls, etc., the ultrasonic transmitter is installed in each room, so that ultrasonic distance can be reliably measured. Therefore, the designated traveling route can be traveled more accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an indoor mobile robot in an embodiment, a moving area of each room indoors of the robot, and an arrangement state of an identification signal receiver, a timing pulse receiver, and an ultrasonic transmitter arranged in the area. Is.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a designated travel route of an indoor mobile robot and an arrangement of ultrasonic transmitters.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Indoor mobile robot, 2 ... Identification signal transmitter, 3 ... Timing pulse transmitter,
4, 5, ... Ultrasonic receiver, 6-1, 6-2, 7
-1, 7-2 ... Ultrasonic transmitter, 8-1, 8-
2 ... Identification signal receiver, 9-1, 9-2 ...
・ Timing pulse receiver, 10-1, 10-2 ・
・ ・ ・ Rooms for indoor movement area, CL ・ ・ ・ ・ Designated travel route

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Teruyuki Matsui 2-3-1, Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An indoor moving apparatus in which at least one timing pulse receiver and at least two ultrasonic transmitters having different frequencies which are transmitted by the timing pulse received by the receiver are installed around a moving area in an indoor environment. Storing map information of the ultrasonic transmitter and position information on the map of the ultrasonic transmitter, at least one timing pulse transmitter, and at least two ultrasonic receivers each receiving the frequency. Means for detecting the self-position on the map from the time data by measuring the time from the time of transmitting the timing pulse to the time of receiving the ultrasonic wave of the ultrasonic transmitter, and the self-position data. And a means for detecting the traveling direction from the current self-position data and the previous self-position data stored in the self-position storage means, An indoor mobile robot characterized by comprising an ultrasonic wave guiding system comprising steering control means for controlling a traveling direction based on detection information of a row direction. 2. At least two ultrasonic transmitters having different frequencies are provided in each room partitioned by a wall of an indoor movement area,
Installed around the moving area of each room, adding an identification code to each of the ultrasonic transmitters, means for storing each of the identification codes, and an identification signal receiver provided in each ultrasonic transmitter. Means for converting the received identification signal received by the identification signal receiver into a received identification code, means for comparing the received identification code with the stored stored identification code, the received identification code and the stored identification If the code is the same,
Each of the ultrasonic transmitters is provided with means for enabling the ultrasonic transmitter to operate for a certain period of time, and means for storing the identification code of each ultrasonic transmitter in the mobile robot; Means for detecting an ultrasonic transmitter necessary for position detection, means for detecting a memory identification code of the ultrasonic transmitter, means for converting the memory identification code into an identification signal, and identification for transmitting the identification signal The indoor mobile robot according to claim 1, further comprising a signal transmitter and a timing pulse transmitter that transmits a timing pulse after a predetermined time from the time when the identification signal is transmitted.