JPH11247232A - Automatic operative shovel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic operative shovel equipped with a contact prevention function through a simple method and with less disposing defrayment. SOLUTION: This automatic operative shovel is composed of a hydraulic shovel, an automatic-operative controller 5 provided on the hydraulic shovel to make the hydraulic shovel regenerate the round operation from excavating to soil dumping as taught, and an operating means 4 provided on the hydraulic shovel or at a place apart from the hydraulic shovel and gives operating instructions to the automatic-operative controller 5. In this case, the automatic- operative controller 5 is provided with operation confirmation means 41, 52, 58 making the hydraulic shovel to regenerate the operation by the operating instructions from the operating means 4 and discontinuing the regeneration operation when the operating direction is cancelled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic driving shovel, and more particularly to an automatic driving shovel provided with means for preventing collision with peripheral devices during automatic driving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hydraulic excavator has been known as a typical example of construction equipment. In recent years, when a series of monotonous operations from excavation to earth excavation are repeated by a hydraulic excavator, the operation is performed by automatic operation. It is made to be performed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9-195321 discloses that crushed stones collected by a bulldozer are excavated by a hydraulic shovel and turned, and after returning to the hopper, the crushed stones are repeatedly returned to excavate the crushed stones to automatically perform the work. An automatic driving shovel to be operated is described, and furthermore, a monitoring camera is attached to the automatic driving shovel, and it is described that the work state is monitored by the monitoring camera and the work is performed while confirming safety. I have.

[0003]

As described in the above prior art, an automatic driving shovel is often operated together with another working machine such as a truck or a crusher. In order to automate the automatic driving shovel, another working machine is required. It must prevent contact and collision with peripheral devices such as.

[0004] However, the automatic operation shovel must teach the regeneration operation prior to the automatic operation. However, if all the movements of the automatic operation shovel during the automatic operation are continuously taught, the number of teaching points increases and the teaching time is long. Since it takes time, it is necessary to reduce the number of teaching points so that the operation of the automatic driving shovel can be reproduced to some extent.

However, when teaching is performed with the number of teaching points reduced, the moving posture of the automatic driving shovel between the teaching points can be smoothly moved between the teaching points by a method described later. It is difficult to know exactly what trajectory to move between. That is, when moving between teaching points during automatic driving, it is difficult to accurately understand in advance how close or possibly there is a possibility of contact with a peripheral device.

On the other hand, a system for recognizing the position of another work machine by providing a surveillance camera or actively using an external sensor such as a visual sensor in order to prevent contact or the like, as in the above-mentioned prior art. And systems using GPS or the like are conceivable, but methods for preventing collisions and the like by these methods require expensive sensors and devices, and the processing load for using detected data to obtain desired data is large. Was not practical.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide:
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic driving shovel having a contact prevention function which is a simple method and reduces a processing load.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following means.

A hydraulic shovel, an automatic operation controller provided on the hydraulic shovel, for causing the hydraulic shovel to regenerate the cycled operation from excavation to earth removal, and a location remote from the hydraulic shovel or the hydraulic shovel. And an operating means for issuing an operation command to the automatic driving controller.The automatic driving controller causes the automatic driving controller to perform the regeneration operation in response to an operation command from the operating means. An operation check unit for stopping the reproduction operation when the command is released is provided.

[0010] At least a hydraulic switching valve for starting a hydraulic cylinder for operating the boom, the arm and the bucket and a hydraulic motor for operating the revolving unit, between the revolving unit and the boom, between the boom and the arm, A hydraulic shovel comprising a rotational angle between the arm and the bucket and an angle detector for detecting a turning angle of the slewing body, and an angle signal from the angle detector in any of a plurality of postures of the hydraulic shovel. Automatic operation controller comprising: teaching means for storing the position data as attitude data; reading means for reading the attitude data stored by the teaching means; and regenerating means for controlling the solenoid-operated switching valve; and the hydraulic shovel or a location remote from the hydraulic shovel. Provided in
And an operation unit for issuing an operation command to the automatic operation controller, wherein the automatic operation controller causes the regeneration operation to be performed by an operation command from the operation unit, and the operation command is released. And an operation check unit for stopping the reproduction operation.

Further, according to any one of claims 1 and 2, the automatic driving controller includes a reproducing means for performing the reproducing operation in response to an operation command from the operating means, and the reproducing means. The apparatus further comprises a reproduction operation prohibiting unit for prohibiting the execution of the reproduction operation by the reproduction unit unless the operation confirmation unit executes the reproduction operation for one cycle or more.

Further, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the operation confirmation means can perform the reproduction operation by the operation confirmation means at an arbitrary reproduction speed. .

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an automatic driving shovel according to the present embodiment, a teaching position thereof, and a locus during a reproducing operation.

In this figure, 1 is a debris storage area, 2 is an automatic operation shovel body that excavates debris stored in the debris storage area 1 and discharges it to a crusher 3 described later, and 3 crushes the released debris. The crusher 4 is an operation box installed at an arbitrary place suitable for automatically operating the automatic driving shovel body 2 by remote control.

The hydraulic excavator 2 is connected to the traveling body 20 via a joint portion and is connected to the traveling body 20 by a hydraulic motor (not shown).
1 and a boom 22 provided on the revolving unit 21 so as to be able to move up and down.
And an arm 2 rotatably provided at the tip of the boom 22
3, a bucket 24 rotatably provided at the tip of an arm 23, a boom 22, an arm 23, and a bucket 2
4 for raising and lowering the cylinders respectively.
27, an operator's cab 28 provided on the revolving superstructure 21, and an antenna 29 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the operation box 4.

The crusher 3 includes a traveling body 30, a crusher body 31 provided on the traveling body 30, a hopper 32 provided on the crusher body 31, and a conveyor 33 provided below the crusher body 31. Numeral 34 denotes debris crushed by the crusher 3.

The operation box 4 includes an operation box main body 40, an operation panel 41 provided on the operation box main body 40 and having various operation switches described later in detail, a support base for supporting the operation box main body 40, And an antenna 43 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the antenna 29 of the self-driving shovel body 2.

K1, K2, K3... Kn are teaching points,
A line AA connecting K1, K2, K3,... Kn indicates the trajectory of the tip of the bucket 24 during the reproducing operation.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism of the automatic driving shovel according to the present embodiment.

A command output processor 44 outputs various operation signals output from the operation panel 41 as operation commands to an automatic operation controller 5 described later. An operation controller 51 that receives an operation command from the operation box 4 and determines various types of processing to be executed by the automatic operation controller in accordance with the contents of the command; 52, a command determination process A teaching confirmation flag storage unit 53 in which a variable (teaching confirmation flag) used for the determination in the unit 51 is stored.
2 to read the current position data and teach position storage 5
The teaching processing unit 54 stores the teaching position data as the teaching position data in a boom angle, an arm angle, a bucket angle, and a turning angle which will be described later.
The current position storage unit 55, which stores the instruction position with an o, receives the instruction from the command interpreter unit 59 and receives the instruction position storage unit 5
4, a teaching position output processing unit that reads the teaching position data from the teaching position output unit 4 and outputs the read teaching position data to the servo pre-processing unit 56; A servo pre-processing unit that outputs a target position interpolated so that the shovel operates smoothly to the servo control unit 57 at regular time intervals;
Reference numeral 57 denotes a servo control unit that outputs a movement command corresponding to the difference between the interpolated target position output from the servo pre-processing unit 56 and the current position output from the current position calculation unit 62 to the proportional solenoid valve 6, and 58 denotes a command. A confirmation processing unit that receives a command from the determination processing unit 51 and outputs a command to start or stop automatic operation of the automatic driving shovel to a command interpreter unit 59. The confirmation processing unit 59 or the start / stop processing unit 60
A command interpreter unit that reads a playback command from the playback command storage unit 61 when receiving a start command from the controller and outputs a command to the teaching position output processing unit 55 or the servo pre-processing unit 56. Upon receiving the command, the start / stop processing unit 61 outputs a command to start or stop the automatic operation of the automatic driving shovel to the command interpreter unit 59. A playback command 61 stores a playback command in which playback procedures as shown in FIG. The storage unit 62 receives a detection signal from the angle detector 7 to calculate a current position and calculates a current position.
Control signal from the hydraulic motor or hydraulic cylinder 25
27 is a proportional solenoid valve that operates .about.27. Angle detector 7
Are a boom angle detector for detecting a relative angle between the swing body 21 and the boom 22; an arm angle detector for detecting a relative angle between the boom 22 and the arm 23;
It comprises a bucket angle detector for detecting a relative angle between the four, and a turning angle detector for detecting a relative angle between the traveling unit 20 and the revolving unit 21.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the operation panel 41 shown in FIG.

In this figure, 411 is a mode switch for switching between a mode in which only manual operation is possible and another mode in which automatic operation is possible, 412 is an emergency stop switch for stopping the operation of the automatic driving shovel, and 413 is teaching during teaching operation. A display unit 414 for displaying a position and an error message when an error occurs, a switch 414 for setting a teaching mode, 41
5, 416 are teaching selection switches for selecting a teaching position during a teaching operation, 417 is a teaching switch for determining teaching at each teaching position, 418 is a confirmation switch for instructing a reproduction operation only while the switch is pressed, and 419 is an automatic switch. A start switch for instructing the start of the operation, a stop switch 420 for instructing the stop of the automatic operation, an automatic operation OK lamp 421 for indicating that the automatic operation can be started, 422
Is an error display lamp that indicates that an error has occurred.

In this embodiment, an example in which the operation panel 41 is provided in the operation box 4 has been described. However, the same operation panel may be provided in the cab 28.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a playback command stored in the playback command storage section 61.

In the drawing, L1 represents not a command but a line label, and a PAC (positional accuracy) 20 is a command for specifying the positioning accuracy of the movement, which makes it easy to move the automatic driving shovel to a predetermined teaching position. Therefore, when the numerical value of the positioning accuracy as shown in this numerical value is reached, the automatic operation shovel is used for determining that the teaching position has been reached. The higher the value, the higher the accuracy is required. V 100 is a command for designating the moving speed, and the larger the numerical value, the higher the moving speed. MOVE is a command for commanding movement to a designated teaching position, and K1 to Kn are labels indicating angle information of each joint of the MOVE command. For example, MOVE K1 is a teaching stored in the teaching position storage unit 54. Among the position data, the position No. K shown in FIG.
Indicates that it should move to 1. GOTO L1 is a command for instructing that execution be restarted from the line label L1.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the teaching position data stored in the teaching position storage section 54.

In the drawing, K1 to Kn correspond to the teaching points shown in FIG. 2 and correspond to the labels K1 to Kn, respectively, and the boom angle, the arm to be taken by each part of the automatic driving shovel at each teaching point. The values of the angle, the bucket angle, and the turning angle are set.

Next, a processing procedure in the automatic operation controller according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are flowcharts showing processing procedures executed by the automatic operation controller 5 during teaching.

When the teaching mode switch 414 on the operation panel 41 is pressed while the mode switch 411 is in the automatic operation state, the instruction is transmitted to the teaching processing unit 53 via the command output processing unit 44 and the command determination processing unit 51, and the teaching is performed. The mode is set, and the teaching process becomes possible. In this state, when the return direction switch 415 for returning the teaching point is pressed once as shown in FIG. 6, the value of the position number in the teaching position storage unit 54 is decreased by one as shown in step S1. Then, as shown in step 2, the teaching position No at that time is displayed on the display unit 413 of the operation panel 41. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 7, the advance direction switch 4 is used to advance the teaching point.
When 16 is pressed once, the value of the position number in the teaching position storage unit 54 increases by one, as shown in step S11. Then, as shown in step 12, the teaching position number at that time is displayed on the display unit 413. By operating the return direction switch 414 or the advance direction switch 415 to move the teaching points and determining the posture of the automatic driving shovel at each teaching point as teaching position data, the teaching determination is performed for each teaching point to be determined. The switch 417 is pressed. As shown in FIG. 8, when the teaching confirmation switch 417 is pressed, the teaching confirmation flag of the teaching confirmation flag storage unit 52 is set to zero as shown in step 21. Next, as shown in Step 22, the posture data at the teaching point selected by the teaching position selection switches 415, 416 is stored in the teaching position storage unit 54 as the teaching position data. As described above, once the teaching operation is performed, the teaching confirmation flag is set to zero, and it is not possible to shift to the automatic operation without performing the confirmation operation.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure executed by the automatic operation controller at the time of operation confirmation after teaching.

When the confirmation switch 418 on the operation panel 41 is pressed while the mode switch 411 is in the automatic operation state, the command is transmitted to the confirmation processing unit 58 via the command output processing unit 44 and the command determination processing unit 51.
As shown in FIG. 9, when the confirmation switch 418 is pressed in step 31, the confirmation processing unit 58 sequentially executes the reproduction commands stored in the reproduction command storage unit 61 in the command interpreter unit 59 in order to perform the confirmation operation. To do so. In step 32, it is determined whether or not the confirmation operation has been completed, and the confirmation operation is continued until the operation is completed. When the confirmation operation completes, in step 33, the confirmation processing unit 58
Sets the teaching confirmation flag to 1 and stores the teaching confirmation flag = 1 in the teaching confirmation flag storage unit 52. In step 33, when the command determination processing section 51 detects that the teaching confirmation flag = 1 in the teaching confirmation flag storage section 52, it turns on the automatic operation OK lamp 421 of the operation panel 41 to notify that automatic operation is possible. .

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, when the confirmation switch 418 is released from the state in which the confirmation switch 418 is being pressed, the confirmation is transmitted via the command output processing unit 44 and the command determination processing unit 51 to the confirmation processing unit. 58. In step 41, when the confirmation processing unit 58 receives the command, it outputs a stop command to the command interpreter unit 59, and the stop processing is transmitted to the servo pre-processing unit 56 to stop the operation of the automatic driving shovel.

As described above, the confirmation operation is continued only while the confirmation switch is kept pressed, and the confirmation operation is immediately stopped when the confirmation switch is released. Therefore, by the on / off operation of the confirmation switch, the confirmation operation can be efficiently executed while confirming whether or not the automatic driving shovel collides with the peripheral device.

In this embodiment, the operating speed of the automatic driving shovel during the checking operation is not particularly mentioned. However, the operating speed may be the same as the operating speed during the automatic driving. Thus, it is also possible to operate at an arbitrary operation speed lower than the operation speed at the time of automatic operation.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure executed by the automatic operation controller during automatic operation.

When the start switch 419 of the automatic operation switch on the operation panel 41 is turned on while the mode switch 411 is in the automatic operation state, the command is activated via the command output processing section 44 and the command determination processing section 51.
The information is transmitted to the stop processing unit 60. When the start / stop processing unit 60 receives the instruction, as shown in FIG.
In step 1, it is checked whether or not the teaching confirmation flag stored in the teaching confirmation flag storage unit 52 is 1. When the teaching confirmation flag is set to 1, in step 52, it is necessary to perform automatic operation. , Command interpreter 5
9 is instructed to sequentially execute the playback commands stored in the playback command storage unit 61. Teaching confirmation flag is 1
If not, automatic operation is not permitted because the confirmation operation has not been executed. As described above, during automatic operation, automatic operation is started after confirming that the teaching confirmation flag is 1, so that collision with another work machine near the automatic operation shovel during automatic operation is avoided in advance. be able to.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12, when the stop switch 420 of the automatic operation switch on the operation panel 41 is turned on during the automatic operation, the command is sent via the command output processing section 44 and the command determination processing section 51. It is transmitted to the start / stop processing unit 60. In step 61, upon receiving the command, the start / stop processing section 60 outputs a stop command to the command interpreter section 59, and the stop processing is transmitted from the command interpreter section 59 to the servo preprocessing section 56, and the operation of the automatic driving shovel is started. Is stopped.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the teaching position is changed by pressing the teaching switch once, the teaching confirmation flag is reset to zero. In this state, the automatic operation cannot be performed even if the start switch is pressed. Controlled. Further, the teaching confirmation flag is set to 1 by continuing to press the confirmation switch to make a round of the confirmation operation, and control is performed so that automatic operation can be started by pressing the start switch. As described above, since the operation of the automatic operation can be confirmed only while the confirmation operation switch is pressed, the operator can quickly execute the stop operation after recognizing the operation failure of the automatic operation shovel.

Further, since it is necessary to confirm the automatic operation while pressing the confirmation switch for at least one round operation,
It is possible to prevent a malfunction due to an incorrect teaching and a collision with a peripheral device during automatic driving.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the reproduction operation is performed by the operation command from the operation means, and the operation confirmation means for stopping the reproduction operation when the operation command is released is provided. After recognizing the operation failure of the hydraulic excavator, the operation of the automatic operation shovel can be quickly stopped. Also,
Unless one or more cycles of the regeneration operation are performed, the automatic operation cannot be performed. Therefore, before the automatic operation is started, the automatic operation can be started by knowing that there is no collision with a peripheral device or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a control mechanism of an automatic driving shovel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an automatic driving shovel according to the present embodiment, a teaching position thereof, and a locus during a reproducing operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of an operation panel 41 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a playback command stored in a playback command storage unit 61 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of teaching position data stored in a teaching position storage unit 54 shown in FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of teaching in the automatic operation controller 5 shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of teaching in the automatic operation controller 5 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of teaching in the automatic operation controller 5 shown in FIG. 1;

9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of operation confirmation in the automatic driving controller 5 shown in FIG.

10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of operation confirmation in the automatic driving controller 5 shown in FIG.

11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of automatic driving in the automatic driving controller 5 shown in FIG.

12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of automatic driving in the automatic driving controller 5 shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 mudstone 2 hydraulic excavator 25, 26, 27 hydraulic cylinder 3 crusher 4 operation box 41 operation panel 414 teaching mode switch 415 return direction switch 416 advance direction switch 417 teaching determination switch 418 confirmation switch 419 start switch 420 stop switch 421 automatic operation OK lamp 5 Automatic operation controller 52 Teaching confirmation flag storage unit 53 Teaching processing unit 54 Teaching position storage unit 56 Servo preprocessing unit 57 Servo control unit 58 Confirmation processing unit 59 Command interpreter unit 60 Start / stop processing unit 61 Playback command storage unit 62 Current position Calculation unit 6 Proportional solenoid valve 7 Angle detector

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hideto Ishibashi 650 Kandatecho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Pref.

Claims (4)

[Claims] A hydraulic excavator, an automatic operation controller provided on the hydraulic excavator, for causing the hydraulic excavator to perform a replay operation of a taught cycle from excavation to earth removal, and a distance from the hydraulic excavator or the hydraulic excavator. Operating means for issuing an operation command to the automatic driving controller, wherein the automatic driving controller causes the regeneration operation to be performed by an operation command from the operation means. An automatic driving shovel comprising an operation checking means for stopping the regeneration operation when the operation command is released. 2. A hydraulic switching valve for activating at least a hydraulic cylinder for operating a boom, an arm, and a bucket, and a hydraulic motor for operating a revolving unit, between the revolving unit and the boom, between the boom and the arm, A hydraulic shovel including a rotational angle between the arm and the bucket and an angle detector for detecting a turning angle of the slewing body; and an angle signal from the angle detector in any of a plurality of postures of the hydraulic shovel. An automatic operation controller comprising: teaching means for storing the position data as attitude data; reading means for reading the attitude data stored by the teaching means; and a reproducing means for controlling the electromagnetic switching valve. Operating means for issuing an operation command to the automatic driving controller. In the dynamic driving shovel, the automatic driving controller includes an operation check unit configured to cause the regeneration operation to be performed by an operation command from the operation unit, and to stop the regeneration operation when the operation command is released. Self-driving excavator. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
In one embodiment of the present invention, the automatic driving controller includes a reproducing unit for performing the reproducing operation in response to an operation command from the operating unit, and the reproducing unit does not execute the reproducing operation for one cycle or more by the operation checking unit. An automatic operation shovel comprising a regeneration operation prohibiting unit for prohibiting execution of a regeneration operation by the regeneration unit. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The automatic driving shovel according to one of the claims, wherein the operation confirmation unit can cause the regeneration operation by the operation confirmation unit to be performed at an arbitrary reproduction speed.