JP2006227673A - Autonomous travel device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an autonomous travel device to perform operations at many points continuously in a short time by correcting displacement during movement to target points. <P>SOLUTION: A target point on a ceiling or wall is detected with an autonomous-vehicle-mounted camera, information on displacement from a target point input in advance is calculated, a route integration value and the deviation information are substituted into a vehicle motion equation to provide vehicle position control, which corrects the displacement from the target point during movement to enable an operation with a working device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a position detection control method during autonomous operation of an automated guided vehicle, and in particular, a position detected by a camera attached to the automated guided vehicle without partially laying a magnetic tape or a reflective tape on a floor surface as a guide path. It relates to an autonomous traveling device for automated guided vehicles that can perform self-sustained operation of the guided vehicle at high speed and with high accuracy and work indoors with work equipment, based on deviation information and the integrated value of the route provided by the encoders installed on the wheels of the automated guided vehicle. is there.

  As a conventional autonomous traveling device for automatic guided vehicles, it determines its own position coordinates, travels toward the target point according to the movement order, stops near the target point, and then installs work equipment (work tools, surveillance cameras, etc.) There was one that corrected the deviation from the target point and performed indoor work with work equipment at the target point.

In other words, the conventional autonomous traveling device for an automatic guided vehicle includes a self-propelled carriage that moves to a work point in accordance with a movement program that is input in advance, and an electronic lightwave ranging angle measuring instrument provided on the loading platform of the self-propelled carriage. A power-driven XY table provided on the loading platform of the self-propelled carriage, a work device provided on the XY table, a control unit that performs travel control of the self-propelled cart and drive control of the XY table and the work equipment, The environment model to which the map and the like are transcribed, the coordinates of the work point in the environment model, the movement of the self-propelled carriage, the positioning of the work equipment, and the work menu are input in advance to the computer of the control unit. Then, the self-propelled carriage that has completed self-location identification at the starting point is moved toward the work point, and further, the distance to the reflective target placed at the reference point on the floor surface is measured by the light wave ranging angle measuring instrument. The amount of deviation between the work point and the self-propelled carriage stopped near the work point is calculated, the deviation is corrected with the XY table, the work device is positioned at the work point, and then the work by the work device is performed. Was configured to do.
JP 2001-289638 A

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the target position of the installed work equipment (such as a work tool or a monitoring camera) is obtained after traveling toward the target point according to the movement order input in advance by obtaining its own position coordinates and stopping near the target point. When the work equipment is operated at the target point by correcting the deviation from the point, it is impossible to correct the displacement during movement, and when working at many points in a short time, etc. There was a problem of causing trouble.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an autonomous traveling device that can correct misalignment during movement and can continuously perform work at multiple points in a short time. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the autonomous traveling device of the present invention detects the target point of the ceiling and wall surface with the camera attached to the autonomous traveling vehicle, calculates positional deviation information from the target point input in advance, and calculates the route integrated value. In addition, the position information of the previous term is included in the movement equation of the carriage to control the position of the carriage, correct the deviation from the target point while moving, and perform the indoor work with the work equipment.

  With this configuration, it is possible to correct misalignment during movement, and work at multiple points can be performed continuously in a short time.

  As described above, according to the autonomous traveling device of the present invention, the target point of the ceiling and wall surface is detected by the autonomous vehicle-attached camera, the positional deviation information with respect to the target point input in advance is calculated, the route integrated value and Since it has a configuration to control the position of the trolley by adding the position information of the previous term to the trolley equation of motion, the displacement from the target point is corrected while moving, and indoor work with work equipment at multiple points is performed in a short time continuously. There is an effect that can be.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the driving means 10 controls the forward and backward travel and the left and right movements of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1, and the driving means 10 moves the left traveling motor 111 to move the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 to the right side. And a right motor drive unit 12 that drives the right traveling motor 121 to move the autonomous vehicle 1 cleaner to the left side. Driving wheels (not shown) are attached to the left traveling motor 111 and the right traveling motor 121, respectively.

  Further, the travel distance detection means 20 detects the travel distance of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 moved by the drive means 10, and the travel distance detection means 20 is the left drive wheel driven under the control of the drive means 10. A left side encoder 21 that detects a travel distance that the autonomous vehicle 1 has moved to the right side by generating a pulse signal that is proportional to the rotation speed, that is, the rotation speed of the left side travel motor 111, and a right side drive that is driven by the control of the drive means 10. It comprises a right encoder 22 that detects a travel distance that the autonomous vehicle 1 has moved to the left side by generating a pulse signal proportional to the rotation speed of the wheel, that is, the rotation speed of the right travel motor 121.

  Each direction detecting means 30 detects a change in the traveling direction of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 moved by the driving means 10, and this direction angle detecting means 30 is the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 moved by the driving means 10. A direction angle sensor such as a gyro sensor that detects a change in the traveling direction by sensing the rotational speed of the autonomous vehicle 1 according to the voltage level that changes when the vehicle rotates.

  The positional deviation information calculation means 40 detects the target point to the ceiling and wall surface existing on the travel route of the autonomous vehicle 1 moved by the driving means 10 and calculates positional deviation information with respect to the target point inputted in advance. The positional deviation information calculation means 40 is composed of an autonomous traveling vehicle-attached camera unit 41 that detects a target point to the ceiling and wall surface present in the traveling route of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1.

  The autonomous traveling vehicle-attached camera unit 41 of the positional deviation information calculation means 40 inputs the image of the autonomous traveling vehicle-attached camera 411 that detects target points to the ceiling and wall surface that exist on the traveling route of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1. Sensor driving unit 412, a step-in motor 413 that rotates the autonomous vehicle-attached camera 411 in a desired direction, and a step-in motor driving unit 414 that drives the step-in motor 413.

  Further, in FIG. 1, the control means 50 receives the travel distance data detected by the travel distance detection means 20 and the travel direction data detected by the direction detection means 30 at predetermined time intervals, so that the autonomous travel vehicle 1 By calculating the current position, positional deviation information for the target point to the ceiling and wall surface calculated by the positional deviation information calculating means 40 is input, and by controlling the traveling route of the autonomous vehicle 1 according to the information result, autonomous This is a central processing unit CPU that controls the traveling vehicle 1 so as to accurately travel to the target point without departing from the normal track.

  Hereinafter, the position recognition method and control method of the autonomous vehicle configured as described above, and the operation and effect thereof will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a traveling control operation order of the autonomous traveling vehicle in the present embodiment, and S in the figure represents each step.

  First, when the user turns on an operation switch mounted at a predetermined position of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1, the driving voltage supplied from the power supply means (not shown) is input from the control means 50 in step S <b> 1 and the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 travels. The operation is started in accordance with the work command input by the user while being initialized to be suitable for the work function.

  Next, in step S2, the first autonomous traveling vehicle attached camera 411 attached to the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 placed in a predetermined direction in a traveling region at an initial stage of the work rotates in accordance with the driving of the step-in motor 413. While detecting the target point to the ceiling and the wall surface existing on the travel route of the autonomous vehicle 1, positional deviation information with respect to the autonomous vehicle 1 and the target point is calculated.

  An example of calculating the angle between the autonomous vehicle 1 and the front wall surface WF will be described with reference to FIG.

  If the i-th direction is a direction perpendicular to the wall surface WF when the distance to the wall surface WF is measured while rotating the camera 411 attached to the first autonomous vehicle, the i-1 and i + 1-th The distances d (i−1), d (i), and d (i + 1) in the direction satisfy the following expression.

If cos Δθ · d (i−1) = cos Δθ · d (i + 1) = d (i), then cos ⁻¹ {d (i) / d (i−1)} = cos ⁻¹ {d ( i) / d (i + 1)} = Δθ.

If d (i−1) = d (i) or d (i + 1) = d (i),
0 <cos ⁻¹ {d (i) / d (i−1)} <Δθ
0 <cos ⁻¹ {d (i) / d (i + 1)} <Δθ
It can be inferred that the direction showing the shortest distance from the directions satisfying is closest to the direction i perpendicular to the wall surface WF. That is, if the i direction is a direction perpendicular to the wall surface WF, the angle θi formed between the i direction and the front surface of the autonomous vehicle 1 can be regarded as approximate to the angle θ formed between the autonomous vehicle 1 and the wall surface WF. .

  Next, in step S3, a control signal output from the control means 50 is input to the drive means 10 to drive the right traveling motor 121, thereby rotating the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 leftward by θi to move the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 forward. In step S4, the left side of the autonomous vehicle 1 is separated from the wall WL by the first sensor driving unit 412 from the first autonomous vehicle attached camera 411 in step S4 as shown in FIG. The distance d1 is calculated and the calculated separation distance data d1 is output to the control means 50.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the right side of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 calculates the separation distance d2 from the wall surface WR by the first sensor driving unit 412 from the first autonomous traveling vehicle attached camera 411. The separation distance data d2 is output to the control means 50.

  At this time, if the separation distance data is d1> d2, the driving means 10 receives the control signal output from the control means 50 and drives the right traveling motor 121 to move the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 90 ° to the left. Rotate and move to an intermediate point at (d1 + d2) / 2.

  If the above process is repeated, it becomes possible to move to the center point of the travel area (room) even in a travel area having a complicated structure as shown in FIG. 5, so that the position of the autonomous vehicle 1 is the center point in step S5. If it is not the center point of the room (in the case of NO), the process returns to step S4 to repeat the operations in and after step S4 until the autonomous vehicle 1 moves to the center point of the room.

  As a result of the determination in step S5, when the position of the autonomous vehicle 1 is the center point of the room (when YES), the current position is grasped in a space (traveling area) whose size and structure are known. However, since the direction is unknown, the process proceeds to step S6, and the control means 50 drives the left traveling motor 111 and the right traveling motor 121 to finally grasp the direction, thereby autonomously traveling the vehicle. Move 1 so that it is perpendicular to the wall from the center of the room.

  The autonomous vehicle 1 that has obtained the current position coordinates by the method as described above proceeds to step S9 and starts from the starting point (for performing assigned tasks such as cleaning or monitoring according to the previously input traveling route. While moving to the origin), the process proceeds to step S10 to perform the assigned work.

  Next, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the traveling is completed while performing the work assigned to the autonomous traveling vehicle 1. If the traveling is not completed (NO), the process returns to step S10 and the operations after step S10 are performed. When the traveling is repeated and the traveling is finished (when YES), the traveling operation of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 is stopped and the operation is terminated.

  The autonomous traveling device of the present invention has the effect of correcting the deviation from the target point while moving and performing autonomous operation at high speed and with high accuracy. It can also be applied to position detection control during autonomous operation of an automated guided vehicle that can be performed in time.

The control block diagram of the autonomous traveling apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention Flow chart showing the control operation sequence of the autonomous mobile device Explanatory drawing about angle calculation with front wall of autonomous vehicle Explanatory diagram regarding movement of autonomous vehicle to left and right side walls Explanatory diagram regarding movement of autonomous vehicle to center of room

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Drive means 11 Left motor drive part 12 Right motor drive part 20 Travel distance detection means 21 Left encoder 22 Right encoder 30 Direction detection means 40 Misalignment information calculation means 41 Autonomous vehicle attached camera part 50 Control means 411 1st autonomous Traveling vehicle attached camera 412 First sensor driving unit 413 Step-in motor

Claims (4)

Detects target points on the ceiling and wall surface with the camera attached to the autonomous vehicle, calculates positional deviation information with respect to the target points entered in advance, and adds the integrated route value and previous-term positional deviation information to the cart motion equation to control the cart position Autonomous traveling device that performs the indoor work by the work equipment by correcting the deviation from the target point while moving. The autonomous traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the autonomous traveling vehicle attached camera is an upward camera. The autonomous traveling device according to claim 1, wherein an encoder for integrating the route integrated value is provided on a wheel of the autonomous traveling vehicle. The autonomous traveling device according to claim 3, wherein the autonomous traveling vehicle attached camera is an upward camera.

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