JP2006236109A - System for automatically charging robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for automatically charging a robot, capable of surely guiding the robot to be correctly connected to a charger, while being constituted inexpensively by using RFID tags. <P>SOLUTION: The system includes a position-recognition module 4 constituted of the plurality of RFID tags 4a-4e directed in the radial direction; the charger 1 with the position recognition module 4 attached thereto; and a robot 7 having a function of autonomous traveling with a battery as a power source. At least position information of the charger and attachment angle information of the RFID tags are stored in the RFID tags 4a-4e. The robot 7 includes a means of performing transmission/reception with the RFID tags, so as to be moved toward the charger 1, based on the read information of the RFID tags. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic charging system for a robot, and more particularly to an automatic charging system for a robot that moves autonomously using a built-in charging power source as a power source.

  2. Description of the Related Art In the industrial and production fields, there are autonomous mobile robots that perform various operations such as maintenance work in a manufacturing factory, parts transfer work, assembly work, and cleaning work in a store or factory. These robots have a self-running function using a charging power source as a power source, and run independently in the work space. Therefore, when the remaining capacity of the charging power source decreases after traveling for a certain period of time, charging is required. However, the operation of connecting the robot and the charger for charging is very complicated for the user.

  Therefore, a technology is known in which when the remaining battery capacity of the robot decreases to a set value, the robot detects this and automatically runs to a charger placed at a predetermined position to automatically charge the battery ( (See Patent Documents 1 to 4).

  These conventional means use a radio wave signal as a robot guiding method to a charger (Patent Document 1), an ultrasonic signal (Patent Document 2), an image recognition using a camera (Patent Document 3), and a high-frequency signal. (Patent Document 4), and others using infrared rays, and a robot storing map information indicating the position of the charger in advance.

Patent Document 5 discloses means for guiding and running a robot along a set route by using an electronic recording medium (hereinafter collectively referred to as an RFID tag) having a wireless transmission / reception function such as an RFID tag and an IC tag and a memory. Proposed.
JP 05-61545 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-8428 JP 07-191755 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-237035 JP 2003-232881 A

  In the means based on radio wave signals, ultrasonic signals, and high frequency signals as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 4, it is necessary to equip both the charger and the robot with electronic devices that transmit and receive signals, and means based on image recognition. However, there is a problem that a camera and an image processing means are required, and the cost is high in any case. Further, the means based on the map information has a drawback that mapping (map creation work) must be performed every time the place where the robot is used, that is, where the charger is installed, is very troublesome.

  Further, in the guidance method using an RFID tag as disclosed in Patent Document 5, since the RFID tag has a planar shape, the angular relationship between the current position of the robot and the RFID tag, that is, the current position of the robot Depending on the angle with the surface of the object to which the RFID tag is attached, even if the robot approaches, it may be difficult to receive the RFID tag information at an accurate timing, and information necessary for traveling may not be acquired. there were. Even if information signals can be transmitted and received between the RFID tag and the robot, it is difficult to sufficiently obtain information on the angle (direction) between the current position of the robot and the object surface to which the RFID tag is attached, When the robot and the RFID tag approach each other, a rough angle (the moving direction of the robot) between the two can be grasped, but it is difficult to perform accurate orientation. Therefore, with this means alone, even if the robot is guided to the vicinity of the charger, it is difficult to accurately connect the connector of the robot to the connector of the charger.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an automatic robot charging system capable of reliably guiding a robot so that it can be correctly connected to a charger, while being configured at low cost using an RFID tag. There is.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, the robot automatic charging system according to the present invention includes a position recognition module including a plurality of RFID tags facing in a radial direction, a charger to which the position recognition module is attached, and a rechargeable battery as a power source. The RFID tag stores at least the position information of the charger and the mounting angle information of the RFID tag, and the robot is provided with means for transmitting and receiving with the RFID tag. The robot moves toward the charger based on the information of the RFID tag.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the plurality of RFID tags of the position marker module attached to the charger are attached so as to be directed in the radial direction, when the robot approaches the charger, any one of the most facing ones in that direction Information can be sent and received between one RFID tag and the robot, so that necessary information can be reliably acquired from any one of these RFID tags, and the robot can be charged correctly with the mounting angle information and position information. Can be guided to a vessel.
Furthermore, since the RFID tag is used to guide the robot to the charger, an automatic charging system can be configured at low cost.

(Means and effects for solving other problems)
In the above invention, the position recognition module may be formed by attaching RFID tags to the tag mounting surfaces of the body having a plurality of tag mounting surfaces facing in the radial direction.
For example, a position recognition module can be formed by attaching five RFID tags to each of the five surfaces except for a mounting seating surface (cut section) of a body having a half-cut shape of a regular octagonal prism. .
Thereby, a plurality of flat RFID tags can be stably attached to the tag attachment surface, and accurate angle information can be acquired by measuring the angle of the tag attachment surface in advance.

In the above invention, the angle information stored in the RFID tag of the position recognition module is an attachment angle of the RFID tag with respect to the receiving direction of the charger with respect to the robot, and the charger is attached to the RFID tag facing the receiving direction. It is preferable to input intrusion instruction information for instructing to approach the charging position.
Accordingly, the robot can be guided to the RFID tag directed in the robot receiving direction by the angle information and the position information input to the RFID tag, and can be advanced to the connector connection position toward the charger 1 by the intrusion instruction information. Can be charged reliably.

In the above invention, the robot includes a remaining capacity detecting means for detecting a remaining capacity of a battery as a power source, and automatically starts an operation for charging when the remaining capacity of the battery reaches a set value. Good.
As a result, when the remaining capacity decreases to the set value due to use over time, this can be reliably detected and the operation for charging can be started.

In the above invention, the robot may include a plurality of antennas for transmitting and receiving with the RFID tag, and the plurality of antennas may be arranged around the robot at a predetermined interval.
As a result, regardless of the direction of the robot, it can be transmitted to and received from the RFID tag by any antenna, and information can be acquired with certainty.

In the above invention, it is preferable to provide an orientation recognition module for searching for the orientation of the charger in the work space of the robot. This azimuth recognition module is composed of a plurality of RFID tags oriented in the radiation direction, and these RFID tags store at least azimuth information indicating the direction of the charger and travel command information.
As a result, when the robot's remaining capacity drops to the set value while the robot is working in the work space and the work is stopped, the robot's radio signal is at a remote location that does not reach the charger position indicator module. Communicating with any RFID tag with high receiving efficiency of the orientation recognition module, and using the information stored in this RFID tag as a clue, it can be moved to an area where it can be transmitted to and received from the RFID tag of the position marker module of the charger. This makes it possible to reliably guide the robot to the charger.

  Hereinafter, an automatic charging system for a robot according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a charger and a robot in an automatic charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the position recognition module, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining the operation of the robot in the work space, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which the robot approaches the charger. FIG. 5 is a plan view when the robot comes to the front of the charger, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a charged state of the robot.

  As shown in FIGS. 1-6, the charger 1 is installed in the space where the robot 7 mentioned later moves, for example, the wall surface of the north side 3a in the work space 3 in a factory or a store. The charger 1 is provided with a position recognition module 2 and a connector 1a exposed toward the open space. The connector 1a is electrically connected to a connector 7g of the robot 7. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the position recognition module 2 has five surfaces formed as tag mounting surfaces 23... Except for a mounting seat surface (cutting surface) 22 of the body 21 having a half-cut shape of a regular octagonal prism. The RFID tag 4a-4e is formed on each of the tag mounting surfaces 23 of the surface. Thereby, each RFID tag 4a-4e is arrange | positioned so that it may each go to a radiation direction.

  As shown in FIG. 8, each of the RFID tags 4a to 4e stores an identification number of the charger 1, an RFID number, angle information indicating the mounting direction of each RFID tag, and charger position information. The identification number of the charger indicates the individual of the charger 1, and for example, “1” is input for the first charger. The RFID number is used to distinguish from an RFID tag of a direction identification module described later, and is input as 0, for example. The position information indicates the position where the charger 1 is installed. In the case of the present embodiment, the charger 1 is arranged in contact with the north wall surface 3a in the robot work space 3, so that “north Is entered.

  Further, the angle information indicating the mounting direction of the RFID tags 4a to 4e is obtained by inputting the mounting angle of the RFID tag with reference to the receiving direction X (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the charger 1 with respect to the robot. Here, the receiving direction X refers to a robot receiving direction (robot intrusion direction) necessary for correctly connecting the connector 7 g of the robot 7 and the connector 1 a of the charger 1. In the present embodiment, the central RFID tag 4c is arranged in the same direction as the receiving direction X, and 0 degrees is input to the RFID tag 4c as angle information. Also, 45 degrees is input to the RFID tag 4b arranged at a 45 degree angle in the clockwise direction with respect to the reference RFID tag 4c, and the RFID tag 4d arranged at an angle of 45 degrees in the counterclockwise direction is input to the RFID tag 4d. Is input to -45 degrees, and similarly 90 degrees is input to the RFID tag 4a arranged at a 90 degree angle in the clockwise direction, and-is input to the RFID tag 4e arranged at a 90 degree angle in the counterclockwise direction. 90 degrees is input.

  Also, the RFID tag 4c facing in the receiving direction X receives intrusion permission information for the robot 7 to approach the charger 1 until the connector 7g of the robot 7 is connected to the connector 1a of the charger 1. Has been.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of azimuth recognition modules 5a, 5b, and 5c are installed at positions distributed in a well-balanced manner in the space 3 in which the robot 7 moves. In this embodiment, orientation recognition modules are respectively attached to the middle portions of the east and west wall surfaces 3b and 3c and the south wall surface 3d in the work space 3. As shown in FIG. 7, the orientation recognition modules 5a, 5b, and 5c include five RFID tags 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, and 6e that face in the same radial direction as the position recognition module 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the RFID tag stores an RFID number, angle information indicating the mounting direction of each RFID tag, and azimuth information indicating the mounting position. For example, for the RFID tag of the orientation recognition module 5a attached to the east wall 3b, the RFID tag 6c facing west is set to a reference angle of 0 degree, and the other four RFID tags 6a, 6b, 6d, 6e An attachment angle with respect to the RFID tag 6c is input. Similarly, the RFID tag of the azimuth recognition module 5b attached to the west wall 3c also stores the respective attachment angles with the RFID tag facing east as the reference angle of 0 degrees as shown in FIG. Similarly, the RFID tag of the azimuth recognition module 5c attached to the south wall surface 3d also stores the respective attachment angles with the RFID tag facing north as the reference angle of 0 degrees as shown in FIG. ing. In addition, movement instruction information for instructing movement of the robot 7 toward the north direction where the charger 1 is located is input to the RFID tags of these orientation recognition modules.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the robot 7 reads the information of the RFID tag of the self-propelled mechanism that is controlled by the control unit 7a and travels by the wheel 7b, and the position recognition module 2 and the direction recognition modules 5a, 5b, and 5c. A transmitter 7c for transmitting a power radio signal to the RFID tag via the antenna 7h, a receiver 7d for receiving an information signal when the RFID tag driven by the power radio signal emits an information signal, and the power of the robot 7 A battery unit 7e serving as a source, a remaining capacity meter 7f for measuring the remaining capacity of the battery unit 7e, and a connector 7g for charging the battery unit by connecting to the connector 1a of the charger 1 are provided. When receiving the information signal transmitted from the RFID tag, the controller 7a calculates and grasps the distance from the RFID tag from the transmission power value at that time. Further, the control unit 7a starts an operation of moving the robot 7 in a certain direction when the remaining capacity of the battery unit 7e decreases to a set value and the remaining capacity meter 7d detects this. In addition, a plurality of antennas 7h for transmitting and receiving radio signals are provided around the robot at regular intervals, for example, four in the direction of east, west, north, and south.

  When the remaining capacity of the battery unit 7e is reduced to the set value while the robot 7 is working in the work space 3, the control unit 7a stops the work and emits a radio wave signal for power from the surrounding antenna 7h in order, and the charger 1 The position marker module 2 is searched. In this case, when the radio signal of the robot 7 does not reach the position marker module 2 of the charger 1, for example, when it is located at a position biased southeast in the work space as shown in FIG. The RFID tag 6d of the azimuth recognition module 5a at the shortest and most directive and high receiving efficiency position is detected from any antenna 7h, and the charger is determined by the position information and angle information input to the RFID tag 6d. It is possible to roughly know the direction of 1, that is, the north direction. At the same time, the robot 7 starts moving toward the north where the charger 1 is located by the movement instruction information stored in the RFID tag.

  When the robot 7 advances and reaches an area where the RFID tag of the position marker module 2 of the charger 1 can be transmitted and received, the position marker is located at the position where the radio wave signal from the antenna 7h is the shortest, the most directional, and the reception efficiency is high. The RFID tag 4d of the module 2 is detected (see FIG. 4). From the angle information input to the RFID tag 4d, the correct intrusion direction of the robot 7 with respect to the charger 1, that is, the angle relationship with respect to the receiving direction X of the charger 1, can be grasped, and transmission / reception is performed with the RFID tag 4c facing the receiving direction X. Move to the position (see FIG. 5). During this movement, the robot 7 and the charger 1 are set so as to maintain a certain distance. This distance can be grasped from the robot transmission power value when the RFID tag is received. When the robot 7 moves to a position for transmitting / receiving to / from the RFID tag 4c, the intrusion permission information stored in the RFID tag 4c is read and the robot 7 moves toward the charger 1 to connect the charger connector 1a and the robot connector 7g. The battery enters the connection position, stops, and starts charging (see FIG. 6).

  When the robot 7 enters the charger 1, a guide recess 1b for receiving the robot 7 is preferably provided on the front surface of the charger 1 at a position where the connector 1a of the charger and the connector 7g of the robot are correctly connected. Thereby, it can charge by hold | maintaining reliably the connection of connector 1a, 7g in the stable state.

  In the present invention, when the robot 7 is in a remote place where it cannot transmit / receive to / from the position marker module 2 of the charger 1, if the remaining capacity of the battery unit 7e decreases to the set value, the robot 7 detects the position marker module 2 of the charger 1. The movement may be automatically started up to an area where transmission / reception can be performed. In other words, the battery 1 may be automatically advanced toward the “north” direction where the charger 1 is located. This can be implemented, for example, by incorporating a compass into the robot 7. Thereby, the above-mentioned azimuth recognition modules 5a, 5b and 5c can be omitted.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not departing from the gist of the configuration. For example, the body for holding the RFID tag may be formed of an arc surface or a spherical body, and only the portion to which the RFID tag is attached may be processed flat. In addition, although the above-described position recognition module and orientation recognition module pentahedron are used, it is needless to say that a tetrahedron or a trihedron facing in the radial direction, or a hexahedron or more may be formed.

  The present invention is applied to various types of mobile robots that use a battery as a power source, such as robots that run on wheels or caterpillars, pet-type robots such as dogs and cats that walk on four legs, and humanoid robots that stand on two legs upright. Can be used.

The schematic explanatory drawing of the charger and robot in the automatic charging system concerning this invention. The perspective view which shows an example of the position recognition module in this invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining the operation of the robot in the work space. The top view which shows the state which the robot approached the charger. The top view when a robot comes to the front of a charger. The top view which shows the charge state which the robot approached the charger. The top view which shows an example of the azimuth | direction recognition module in this invention. The figure which shows the information input into the RFID tag of a position marker module. The figure which shows the information input into the RFID tag of an azimuth | direction recognition module.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charger 1a Charger connector 2 Position marker module 3 Work space 4a-4e RFID tag 5a-5c of position recognition module Direction recognition module 6a-6e RFID tag of direction recognition module 7 Robot 7a Control part 7c Transmission part 7d Reception part 7e Battery part 7f Remaining capacity meter 7g Robot connector 7h Antenna

Claims (6)

It consists of a position recognition module composed of a plurality of RFID tags facing in the radial direction, a charger to which this position recognition module is attached, and a robot having a function of autonomously running with a rechargeable battery as a power source,
The RFID tag stores at least charger position information and RFID tag mounting angle information,
An automatic charging system for a robot, wherein the robot is provided with means for transmitting and receiving with an RFID tag, and the robot moves toward the charger based on the read RFID tag information.   2. The automatic robot according to claim 1, wherein the position recognition module is formed by attaching an RFID tag to each of the tag mounting surfaces of a body having a plurality of tag mounting surfaces facing in a radial direction. Charging system.   The angle information stored in the RFID tag of the position recognition module is the mounting angle of the RFID tag relative to the receiving direction of the charger with respect to the robot, and the robot approaches the charging position of the charger toward the RFID tag facing the receiving direction. 3. An automatic charging system for a robot according to claim 1, wherein intrusion instruction information for instructing the robot is input.   2. The robot according to claim 1, further comprising: a remaining capacity detecting unit configured to detect a remaining capacity of a battery serving as a power source, and starting an operation for charging when the remaining capacity of the battery reaches a set value. The automatic charging system for a robot according to any one of claims 3 to 4.   5. The robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot includes a plurality of antennas for transmitting and receiving to and from the RFID tag, and the plurality of antennas are arranged at intervals around the robot. The automatic robot charging system described.   An orientation recognition module is provided for searching for the orientation of the charger in the work space of the robot. The orientation recognition module is composed of a plurality of RFID tags oriented in the radial direction, and these RFID tags include at least the orientation of the charger. The automatic charging system for a robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein azimuth information and travel command information are stored.

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