JP3201216B2 - Autonomous vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autonomous vehicle, and more particularly, to an autonomous vehicle capable of traveling along an object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an autonomous vehicle that travels autonomously while detecting the presence of surrounding obstacles, a predetermined operation such as a cleaning operation or a transportation operation is performed while traveling along an object such as a wall. Various things to do have been developed. As this type of conventional autonomous vehicle, there is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-17703. This conventional autonomous traveling vehicle is controlled so as to follow a predetermined traveling route while measuring a distance between a vehicle body and a reference wall surface and calculating a position deviation and a posture difference. In addition, a pair of distance measurement sensors are attached to one side surface of the vehicle body of the autonomous vehicle and to the outside of the vehicle body and to the center of the vehicle body. Therefore, distance measurement at a short distance is performed by a distance measurement sensor attached to the center portion of the vehicle body, and distance measurement is performed at a long distance by a distance measurement sensor attached to the outside portion of the vehicle body.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional autonomous vehicle, a distance measuring sensor which is originally used for measuring a long distance is mounted at a position shifted from the center of the vehicle body, so that the distance is measured at a short distance. Therefore, the width of the vehicle body needs to be more than a certain degree, and there is a problem that the size of the autonomous vehicle cannot be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to measure a short distance to an object and detect the presence or absence of the object.
Another object is to provide an autonomous vehicle suitable for miniaturization.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a self-contained traveling vehicle which is capable of traveling along an object and has a contact which comes into contact with the object. The distance measuring means, which is urged in the direction of the object and measures the distance to the object while making contact with the object, and the output of the distance measuring means vibrate.
Detection means for detecting that the object has been interrupted when moving .

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the distance to the object can be measured while the contact is in contact with the object, the short distance to the object can be measured. Further, when the object is interrupted, the output of the distance measuring means vibrates, so that by detecting this vibration , it can be detected that the object has been interrupted, and whether there is an object around the contactor. Can be detected.

[0007]

【Example】

(1) Overall Configuration of Autonomous Vehicle The following describes an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of the autonomous vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a top view showing the entire configuration of the autonomous vehicle shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the autonomous traveling vehicle includes a working unit main body 1, a working arm 2, and a driving unit 3.
The working unit main body 1 is mounted on the upper part of the driving unit 3 and is configured to be rotatable about the same axis as the rotation center of the driving unit 3 as indicated by an arrow. The working arm 2 is attached to the rear of the working unit main body 1 and is provided so as to be slidable in the left-right direction as indicated by the arrow.

The autonomous vehicle of this embodiment is used for various purposes. As an example, in the following embodiment, an autonomous vehicle for cleaning and waxing will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the entire configuration of an autonomous traveling vehicle for cleaning and waxing to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 3, the working unit main body 1 includes a tank 11, a hose 12, a pump 13, a slide mechanism 14, a motor 15 for a slide mechanism, a controller 16, and a contact sensor 17. The work arm 2 includes a contact sensor 17.

The tank 11 contains a detergent (or wax).
Is stored. The detergent stored in the tank 11 is guided to the working arm 2 by a pump 13 via a hose 12. The work arm 2 is supported by the slide mechanism 14 so as to be movable in the left-right direction of the work unit main body 1. The work arm 2 is driven in the left-right direction by a motor 15 via a slide mechanism 14. The controller 16 controls the operations of the pump 13, the slide mechanism motor 15, and the brush 21 (see FIG. 4) of the working arm 2. A contact sensor 17 for detecting an obstacle is provided on the outer periphery of the working unit body 1 and the working arm 2.

Next, the working arm 2 shown in FIG. 3 will be described in detail. 4 and 5 are a side view and a bottom view showing the configuration of the working arm shown in FIG. 4 and 5, the working arm 2 includes a brush 21,
It includes a nozzle 22, a hose 23, and a brush driving motor 24.

Below the working arm 2, four brushes 21 are rotatably mounted. In addition, each brush 2
In the vicinity of 1, there are provided nozzles 22 for ejecting the detergent extruded by the pump 12 through four hoses 23 distributed respectively. The four brushes 21
The brush driving motor 24 is connected to the rotating shaft of the brush driving motor 24 by a connecting mechanism (not shown), and is driven to rotate by the brush driving motor 24. In addition, the working width of the four brushes 21 is wider than the width of the working unit body 1 in order to increase the work area where the cleaning and waxing work is performed by the four brushes 21.

Next, the driving section 3 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in more detail. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of the driving unit shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, drive unit 3 includes driven wheel 31
F, 31B, drive wheels 32R, 32L, drive wheel motor 3
3R, 33L, connecting mechanism 34R, 34L, encoder 3
5R, 35L, rotation support mechanism 36, rotation drive motor 3
7, including the controller 38.

A driven wheel 31F is mounted in front of the drive unit 3 so as to be rotatable in any direction. Similarly, drive unit 3
, A driven wheel 31B is attached. A drive wheel 32R is mounted on the right side of the drive unit 3. Drive wheel 32
R includes a driving wheel motor 33R via a coupling mechanism 34R.
Is transmitted. The other end of the drive shaft of the drive wheel motor 33R is provided with an encoder 35R, and can detect the rotation amount and the rotation speed of the drive wheel motor 33R. Also, as the output of the encoder 35R, it is possible to calculate the traveling distance from the detected rotation amount and output the traveling distance. Similarly, on the left side of the drive unit 3, the drive wheels 32
L, a drive wheel motor 33L, a coupling mechanism 34L, and an encoder 35L are provided. A rotation support mechanism 36 that rotatably supports the working unit main body 1 is provided at the center of the driving unit 3, and a rotation drive motor 37 for rotating the working unit main body 1 via the rotation supporting mechanism 36 is provided. Have been. The driving unit 3 includes a driving wheel motor 33R,
33L and a controller 38 for controlling the operation of the rotary drive motor 37 are provided. The mounting width of the left and right drive wheels 32R, 32L is W, and the drive wheels 32R, 32L,
The 32L diameter is DIC.

(2) Drive Control of Autonomous Vehicle Next, a drive control method of the autonomous vehicle configured as described above will be described. As the drive control method, there are five types of control methods of straight-line control, curve control, first spin turn control, second spin turn control, and third spin turn control, and each control method will be described below. Each of the control methods described below uses a drive wheel motor 33R, 33R by a program stored in the controller 38 in advance.
L, by controlling the rotation drive motor 37.

First, the straight running control will be described. In order for the autonomous vehicle to go straight, the left and right drive wheels 32R, 32L are required.
However, it is necessary to perform control so that the motor always rotates by the same amount after the start of driving. This control is performed for the left and right driving wheels 3.
The rotation operation of the 2R, 32L can be achieved by speed control, but the left and right drive wheels 32R, 32R,
The straight-ahead control is performed by the following method in order to make the amount of rotation of 32L equal and more accurately straight-ahead.

Specifically, one drive wheel is set as a reference wheel,
The reference wheel is controlled to rotate at the target speed. Also,
The other drive wheel (control wheel) is controlled so as to have the same speed and the same amount of rotation as the drive wheel. Here, DC motors are used as the drive wheel motors 33R and 33L,
By changing the time ratio (duty ratio) of energizing the motor by M (Pulse Width Modulation) control, the current flowing to the motor is increased or decreased for control.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a straight-ahead control method in which the left driving wheel 32L is used as a control wheel and the right driving wheel 32R is used as a reference wheel by the above control method. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the above-described straight-ahead control method. In the following description, the encoders 35R, 35R
The pulse output from L is counted by a counter (not shown) during traveling, and this count value is called an encoder value.
The encoder value for the right driving wheel 32R is Er, and the encoder value for the left driving wheel 32L is El. The straight-ahead control described below is repeatedly performed at every predetermined time t1, and the amount of change in the encoder value per predetermined time t1 is called the drive wheel speed, and the speed of the right drive wheel 32R is V
r, the speed of the left driving wheel 32L is Vl. In addition, the PWM control amounts (duty ratios) for controlling the current values flowing through the left and right drive wheel motors 33R and 33L are D
r and Dl. At the start of straight traveling, the left and right encoder values Er and El are reset, and thereafter, a control routine described below is executed every predetermined time t1.

First, in step S1, the left and right encoder values Er and El are read. Next, the speeds Vr and Vl of the left and right driving wheels are obtained. Specifically, the left and right velocities Vr and Vl are obtained by subtracting the encoder values PEr and PEl before the predetermined time t1 from the encoder values Er and El read in step S1, respectively.

Next, in step S3, a difference ΔE between the encoder value El of the control wheel and the encoder value Er of the reference wheel is obtained. Next, in step S4, the control wheel speed V
The difference ΔV between 1 and the reference wheel speed Vr is obtained.

Next, in step S5, step S5
3 is subtracted from the duty ratio Dl of the control wheel by an amount obtained by multiplying the difference ΔE between the encoder value obtained in step 3 and the difference ΔV in speed obtained in step S4 by the gains GE and GV, respectively. I do. Next, the current encoder values Er and El are converted to the encoder values PE before the predetermined time t1.
r and PE1, respectively. By controlling the duty ratio Dl of the control wheel 32L according to the above process, the control wheel 32L is controlled so as to have the same speed and the same rotational speed as the reference wheel 32R.

Next, curve control will be described. In the curve control, the speed ratio of the left and right drive wheels 32R, 32L is controlled to be a constant ratio in order to curve the autonomous vehicle. Specifically, by controlling the speed and the rotation amount of the control wheel 32L to increase by 10% of the speed of the reference wheel 32R, the autonomous vehicle is curved toward the reference wheel, and the speed and the rotation of the control wheel 32L are controlled. The autonomous vehicle is curved to the control wheel side by controlling the amount to be reduced by 10% of the speed of the reference wheel 32R. The curve radius C is
It is calculated from the speed ratio R of the left and right wheels and the mounting width W of the left and right wheels by the following equation.

C = R × W / (R−1) (1) Therefore, when the left driving wheel 32L is used as a reference wheel, the autonomous vehicle curves to the left by setting R> 1, and R
By setting it to <1, it curves to the right. The curve radius is also determined by the value of the speed ratio R. When C> 0, the curve radius when turning to the left is represented, and when C <0, the curve radius when turning to the right is represented. In the case of going straight, the curve radius C is infinite. Therefore, in the case of the straight-ahead control described above, a special case of the curve control is performed, and the speed ratio R is one.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the above-described curve control method. The method of curve control is
Basically, it is the same as the straight-ahead control method.

First, in steps S11 and S12, the same processing as in steps S1 and S2 shown in FIG. 7 is performed. Next, in step S13, control wheel 32L
Encoder value El of the reference wheel 32R and the encoder value Er of the reference wheel 32R.
Is multiplied by the speed ratio R to obtain ΔE.

Next, in step S14, a value obtained by multiplying the speed Vr of the reference wheel by the speed ratio R is subtracted from the speed Vl of the control wheel to obtain ΔV. Next, steps S15 and S
At 16, the same processing as in steps S5 and S6 shown in FIG. 7 is performed.

Next, the first spin turn control will be described. The first spin turn control is a control for causing the driving unit 3 to perform a spin turn. In order to spin turn the drive unit 3, it is necessary to control the left and right drive wheels 32R, 32L to start driving in opposite directions to each other and to always rotate by the same amount of rotation. For this reason, the first spin turn control is executed by rotating the reference wheel and the drive wheel in opposite directions and performing the same control as the straight-ahead control. First
In the spin turn control, rotation is performed about the center point of the left and right driving wheels 32R and 32L, and the rotation angle is determined by using an angle sensor (not shown) such as a gyro sensor or by rotating the driving wheel motors 33R and 33L. Left and right drive wheels 3 from number
The rotational speeds N of the 2R and 32L are obtained, and the left and right drive wheels 32R,
The rotation angle θ (radian) can be calculated from the width W of 32L and the wheel diameter DI by the following equation.

Θ = N × DI / W (2) Next, the second spin turn control will be described. The second spin turn control controls the rotation of the working unit body 1. The rotation operation of the working unit body 1 is performed by rotating the rotation drive motor 37. As the rotation drive motor 37, for example, a stepping motor is used. Therefore, the rotation angle of the working unit main body 1 can be arbitrarily set by setting the number of pulses given to the stepping motor.

Next, the third spin turn control will be described. The third spin turn control is a control in which only the drive unit 3 is spin-turned, and the working unit main body 1 keeps the posture as it is regardless of the spin turn of the drive unit 3. In order to spin-turn only the drive unit 3, it is necessary to control the spin turn of the drive unit 3 and the spin turn of the working unit main body 1 to rotate simultaneously at the same speed but in opposite directions.
Specifically, the driving unit 3 is rotated by the above-described first spin-turn control method, the rotation amount and the rotation speed are detected, and a pulse having a cycle corresponding to the rotation amount is supplied to the rotation driving motor 37. I have.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a third spin turn control method. This control is repeatedly executed at every predetermined time t2 as in the straight-ahead control. At the start of the control, the left and right encoder values Er,
El and the accumulated value P of the number of pulses given to the pulse motor
S is reset.

First, in step S21, the left and right encoder values Er and El are read. Next, in step S22, the left and right encoder values Er, El
, The rotational speed N of the drive wheels 32R and 32L is obtained, and the rotational angle θ of the drive unit 3 is obtained by Expression (2). Next, in step S23, the rotation angular velocity Δθ is obtained by subtracting the rotation angle Pθ before the predetermined time t2 from the rotation angle θ obtained in step S22. Next, in step S24, the rotation angle θ is converted into the number of pulses of the rotation drive motor 37 by multiplying the rotation angle θ by a predetermined coefficient c, thereby obtaining a target pulse number P0.

When the drive unit 3 tries to continue rotating at the rotation speed obtained at present, after a predetermined time t2, the drive unit 3
It should have rotated by the angle of Δθ. Therefore, after the next predetermined time t2, the rotation drive motor 37 needs to rotate by the amount of the pulse P0 + ΔP0.
Here, in step S26, the number of pulses P is calculated by subtracting the number of pulses PS applied to the rotary drive motor 37 from P0 + ΔP0 to the present time, and the calculated number of pulses P is given at the next predetermined time t2. Next, the current rotation angle θ is stored as Pθ. Next, in step S28, a predetermined time t2
Is multiplied by the pulse number P to calculate a pulse interval TW. Next, in step S29, the rotation driving motor 37 is driven at the pulse interval TW at the next predetermined time t2. When the rotation drive motor 37 is driven, the value of the pulse number PS is incremented each time a pulse is given. By adjusting the pulse interval to be given to the rotation drive motor 37 for rotating the work unit body 1 according to the rotation angle θ and the rotation angular velocity Δθ by the above processing, the work unit body 1 synchronized with the rotation of the drive unit 3 is adjusted. Rotation is realized.

(3) Example of Operation During Work The autonomous traveling vehicle of this embodiment is cleaned (or waxed) by a combination of the operation of the drive unit 3 and the operation of the work arm 2 based on the above-described five types of control methods. Do the work.
FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment during work. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the autonomous vehicle 100 has a cleaning area CA surrounded by walls W1 and W2 on both sides.
Perform cleaning work while running zigzag through the inside.

First, the vehicle goes straight from the start point ST along the wall W1 (La). Next, it stops when it has advanced by the set distance L0 (Lb). Next, U from the wall W1
During the turn operation, it moves to the right side by a predetermined distance P (Lc). Here, the predetermined distance P is set to a distance with a small overlap portion from the width of the working arm 2. next,
A forward operation is performed (Ld). Next, it stops at the position advanced by the set distance L (Le). Next, it moves right and left by a predetermined distance P while performing a U-turn operation (Lf). Next, a forward operation is performed (Lg). Next, it stops at a position advanced by the set distance L0 (Lh). Next, the above operations from Lf to Lh are repeated. Next, along the wall W2 while performing a U-turn operation (Li). Next, go straight along the wall W2 (L
j). Finally, the vehicle stops at the position advanced by the set distance L0, that is, at the goal point (GL). With the above operation, the cleaning operation of the entire cleaning area CA is completed.

Next, the U-turn operation Lc from along the wall shown in FIG. 10 will be described in detail. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a U-turn operation from along the wall. Note that the arrow on the working unit main body 1 shown in FIG. 11 indicates the front direction of the driving unit 3 arranged at the lower part of the working unit main body 1, and the same applies to the following drawings.

First, as shown in FIG. 11A, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 stops the straight traveling operation. Next, as shown in FIG. 11B, only the drive unit 3 rotates 90 ° clockwise. Next, as shown in FIG. 11C, the working arm 2 advances rightward by a certain distance, for example, a distance that does not hit the wall W1 in the next operation. At the same time, the work arm 2 is returned to the center position. Next, as shown in FIG. 11D, the working unit main body 1 is rotated rightward by 90 °. next,
As shown in FIG. 11E, the working arm 2 is mounted on the wall W1.
Retreat until hit. Next, as shown in (f) of FIG. 11, it moves rightward by the predetermined distance P. next,
As shown in FIG. 11 (g), the entire apparatus is rotated 90 ° clockwise. Finally, as shown in FIG.
Start the movement operation.

Next, the U-turn operation Lf shown in FIG. 10 will be described in detail. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a U-turn operation.

First, as shown in FIG. 12A, the straight traveling operation is stopped. Next, as shown in FIG.
Rotate the entire device 90 ° to the left. Next, as shown in FIG. 12 (c), it moves rightward by the predetermined distance P described above. Next, as shown in FIG. 12D, the entire device is rotated 90 ° to the left. Finally, the moving operation is started as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation Li along the wall W2 while performing the U-turn operation shown in FIG. 10 will be described in detail. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an operation along a wall while performing a U-turn operation. Note that this operation is used when the vehicle travels along the wall when it moves laterally by the predetermined distance P described above.

First, as shown in FIG. 13A, the straight traveling operation is stopped. Next, as shown in FIG.
Rotate the entire device 90 ° to the left. Next, as shown in FIG. 13C, the working unit main body 1 is advanced until the tip of the working unit main body 1 hits the wall W2. Next, as shown in FIG. 13 (d), the vehicle retreats by a predetermined distance. Next, as shown in FIG. 13E, the entire apparatus is rotated 90 ° clockwise. At this time, the working arm 2 is simultaneously moved from the center position to the wall W.
Move to a position where it does not touch 2. Finally, as shown in FIG. 13F, the moving operation along the wall Lj is started.

The autonomous vehicle of this embodiment can work not only in the above-described place but also in a room surrounded by four-sided walls. Further, the same operation can be performed in a region having an arbitrary shape by a combination of the above five types of basic operations. In this case, the work pattern can be programmed in advance,
The setting can be easily performed by using a function for automatically creating a work pattern from teaching or a work map.

(4) Non-contact scanning control In the working example shown in FIG. 10, straight running does not work well in the portions Ld and Lg that move long distance along the wall, and the work is already performed in the process of working in a zigzag manner. In some cases, the area where the operation is performed and the area where the next operation is performed do not overlap, and a part where the operation is redone may occur. This is because, after the U-turn operation, the vehicle does not run parallel because it is not exactly parallel to the wall or slips between the drive wheels 32R, 32L and the floor of the work area. This is because even if the driving wheels are rotated at a constant speed, the vehicle cannot travel straight ahead accurately. Therefore, in the autonomous traveling vehicle of the present embodiment, by non-contact scanning control that performs traveling while following the wall using a non-contact sensor that can measure the distance to the wall in a non-contact manner,
It is always possible to drive straight ahead.

As the non-contact sensor used in this embodiment, an ultrasonic distance measuring sensor, an active type triangulation for projecting a light source, capturing reflected light from an object, and deriving a distance from the position to the object. Various sensors such as a distance sensor and a passive-type triangulation sensor that captures an image of an object by two imaging systems and derives a distance from a phase difference between the two can be used. However, when a passive-type triangulation sensor is used, the object to be measured needs contrast, and when the object is a plain object such as a wall, it is necessary to irradiate pattern light.

Next, non-contact scanning control using the above-described non-contact sensor will be described in detail. The autonomous traveling vehicle of the present embodiment is provided with a non-contact type distance measuring sensor capable of measuring a distance in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction on both sides of the working unit main body 1, and measures distances Dr and Dl to left and right walls, A numerical value (hereinafter, referred to as a distance ratio value) corresponding to a distance to a wall described below is obtained, and the vehicle travels by following this distance ratio value. As a result, in the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately perform the wall following traveling even if an inexpensive sensor is used.

First, the principle of the non-contact scanning travel of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the principle of non-contact scanning traveling control. During traveling, the distances Dr and Dl to the walls on both sides are measured by the left and right distance measurement sensors, and a distance ratio value Rp corresponding to the distance from the autonomously traveling vehicle to the wall is obtained by the following equation.

Rp = Dr / (Dr + Dl) (3) The above distance ratio value may be treated as a numerical value equivalent to the distance from the wall in a place where the wall is parallel, such as a general corridor or room. it can. By doing so, there is an advantage that the value does not change when the autonomous vehicle is parallel to the wall to be followed and when it is not parallel. It should be noted that Rp is not limited to the value of the above equation (3), and that Dr and Dl, such as Dr / Dl,
A value obtained from another equation may be used as long as it is a value corresponding to the ratio to l.

Referring to FIG. 14, first, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the distance ratio value Rp0 at the start of traveling before traveling
Is calculated. Next, as shown in FIG. 14B, the distance ratio value Rp during traveling is calculated. In this case, the autonomous vehicle is not parallel to the wall, but the distance ratio value Rp represents the same distance ratio value as when the autonomous vehicle is parallel to the wall. In this case, since Rp> Rp0, the autonomous vehicle 100 is curved to the right. Next, as shown in FIG. 14C, the distance ratio value Rp during traveling is calculated in the same manner as described above. In this case, the autonomous vehicle 1
00 is parallel to the wall, but Rp> Rp0
And continue to the right. Next, as shown in FIG. 14D, the distance ratio value Rp during traveling is calculated in the same manner as described above. In this case, since Rp <Rp0, the autonomous vehicle 100 is curved to the left. Next, as shown in FIG. 14E, the distance ratio value Rp during traveling is calculated in the same manner as described above. In this case, Rp = Rp0
, The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 is made to go straight.

As described above, the distance to the walls on both sides is measured during traveling, and the distance ratio value Rp at each measurement time point is calculated. The calculated distance ratio value Rp is the distance ratio value Rp0 at the start of traveling.
By controlling so as to be the same as above, accurate straight running along the wall is possible.

Next, the mounting position of the non-contact sensor which is a distance measuring sensor will be described. First, a case where the non-contact sensors are arranged on both sides of the rotation center (hereinafter, referred to as a representative position) of the working unit body 1 will be described. FIGS. 15 and 16 are first and second views showing examples in which non-contact sensors are arranged on both sides of a representative position. FIG.
Shows a case where the autonomous vehicle is parallel to the walls W1 and W2 on both sides, and FIG. 16 shows a case where it is not parallel. In the case shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the walls W1, W2
The distances Dr and Dl from to the representative position are determined by the non-contact sensor 1
It can be obtained by adding the position SS1 of each non-contact sensor from the representative position C0 to the actual distance measurement values Sr1 and Sl1 of 8a and 18b. In this case, when the representative position C0 is located at the same position with respect to the walls W1 and W2, the distance ratio value is the same whether the autonomous vehicle is parallel to the wall (FIG. 15) or inclined (FIG. 16). Is obtained.

Next, a case where the non-contact sensor is arranged in front of the representative position will be described. FIG. 17 and FIG.
First example showing a non-contact sensor arranged in front of a representative position
And a second diagram. FIG. 17 shows a case where the autonomous traveling vehicle is parallel to the walls W1 and W2, and FIG. 18 shows a case where it is not parallel to the walls W1 and W2. The distances Dr and Dl from the walls W1 and W2 to the front representative position C1 in front of the representative position C0 are determined by the actual distance measurement values Sr2 and Sl2 from the noncontact sensors 18a and 18b, respectively. , 18b by adding the distance SS2 to the position.

As shown in FIG. 17, the autonomous traveling vehicle has a wall W1,
The distance ratio value when parallel to W2 is the same as the distance ratio value measured with reference to the representative position C0. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The distance ratio value when not parallel to W2 includes the traveling direction component of the autonomous vehicle, and is a smaller value than the distance ratio value calculated based on the representative position C0. Therefore,
When the representative position C0 is at the position of the distance ratio value Rp0 at the time of starting, when the autonomous vehicle is parallel to the walls W1 and W2, the distance ratio value calculated based on the front representative position C1 is the starting value. When the autonomous vehicle is leaning rightward, the distance ratio value calculated based on the front representative position C1 is smaller than the distance ratio value Rp0 at the start. . Therefore, by arranging the non-contact sensor in front of the representative position as in the present example, it is possible to predict the movement of the representative position C0 of the autonomous vehicle. As a result, by performing the non-contact scanning traveling control using the distance ratio value based on the front representative position C1,
It is possible to reduce the delay of the traveling control and make the autonomous traveling vehicle travel smoothly.

Next, a description will be given of inclination detection processing in the traveling direction using the non-contact sensors shown in FIGS. In operations such as cleaning and wax application, the appearance after the operation is regarded as important. Therefore, when performing such work, it is necessary to control so as to keep the vehicle running straight as parallel to the wall as possible. For this reason, in the autonomous traveling vehicle of this embodiment, the traveling direction inclination VRp with respect to the wall is detected by using the non-contact sensors arranged as shown in FIGS. It is used in the non-contact scanning traveling control described below together with the deviation of the distance ratio value. The non-contact scanning traveling control is repeatedly performed at every predetermined time t3, and the traveling direction inclination VRp is obtained by calculating the distance ratio value PRp from the wall measured before the predetermined time t3 and the current distance ratio value Rp.
From the difference between Further, the distance to the left and right walls is measured at the start of the straight traveling, and a distance ratio value RP0 serving as a reference is obtained in advance, and thereafter, the following non-contact scanning traveling control is performed every predetermined time t3.

Next, the non-contact scanning travel control will be described in detail. FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining non-contact scanning traveling control using the non-contact sensors shown in FIGS. 17 and 18.

Referring to FIG. 19, first, at step S31
In, the distances to the left and right walls are measured using the non-contact sensors 18a and 18b, respectively, and the distances Dr and Dl from the front representative position C1 to each wall are calculated. Next, step S
At 32, the distance ratio value Rp is calculated according to the equation (3). Next, in step S33, the deviation Δ of the distance ratio value which is the difference between the distance ratio value Rp and the reference distance ratio value Rp0.
Calculate Rp. Next, in step S34, the traveling direction inclination VRp is calculated by subtracting the distance ratio value PRp before the predetermined time t3 from the distance ratio value Rp. Next, step S
At 35, a slip detection routine described below is executed.

Next, in step S36, an evaluation function is calculated. Here, the evaluation function is the deviation Δ of the distance ratio value.
Rp is multiplied by a value obtained by multiplying the running direction inclination VRp by a predetermined weight VG and used. If the value of the evaluation function is larger than the predetermined set value v1, the left curve control is performed in step S39, and if the value is between the set value -v1 and the set value v1, the straight traveling control is executed in step S38. If smaller, right curve control is executed in step S37. The curve amount (curve radius) can be increased or decreased according to the value of the evaluation function. Next, in step S40, the current distance ratio value Rp is stored as PRp.

With the above-described control, it is possible to perform control with emphasis not only on the position from the wall but also on the degree of parallelism with the wall arranged parallel to the traveling direction. vice versa,
If control with the above characteristics can be performed,
The control is not limited to the method illustrated in FIG. 19, and control using a table that obtains a curve control amount from the position from the wall and the degree of parallelism with the wall in the traveling direction may be performed.

Next, the slip detection routine will be described in detail. If a slippage occurs between the driving wheel and the floor, there may be cases where the vehicle cannot actually turn or curve too much even when the two wheels are rotated so that the speeds of both the left and right wheels have a fixed ratio in the curve running. In addition, there is a case where the vehicle actually curves in spite of the straight running control. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the influence of slippage occurring during drive control such as curve control or straight-ahead control is determined from the distance measurement result of the above-described non-contact sensor, and the curve control amount is increased or decreased as necessary. .

First, the principle of detecting slippage of the drive wheels will be described. FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a movement locus when traveling on a curve. Assuming that the amount of change ΔT in the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle at the predetermined time t3 is the degree of turning, and the traveling speed of the autonomous vehicle is V, the expected degree of turning ΔT when the vehicle is running in a curve at the speed ratio R of the left and right wheels. Is
Using the curve radius C calculated by the equation (1), the curve radius can be calculated by the following equation.

ΔT = V × t3 / C (4) The unit of the bending degree ΔT is radian, and when the left driving wheel 32L is used as a reference wheel, it turns in the plus direction when turning left.

Further, during traveling, the actual bending degree ΔTr (radian) can be approximately obtained from the following equation from the variation ΔVRp of the traveling direction inclination VRp obtained from the output of the non-contact sensor.

ΔTr = ΔVRp × (Dr + D1) / (V × t3) (5) The bend amount ΔT obtained from the control amount of the curve control is compared with the bend degree ΔTr obtained from the distance measurement value during traveling. If there is no difference in the values, it is considered that no wheel slip has occurred, while if there is a large difference, it is considered that wheel slip has occurred.

Next, a slip detection routine using the above-described wheel slip detection principle will be described in detail. FIG.
20 is a flowchart for explaining a slip detection routine shown in FIG.

First, in step S41, the degree of turning ΔT is obtained from the control amount currently used for traveling. Next, in step S42, the traveling direction gradient PVRp before the predetermined time t3 is subtracted from the traveling direction gradient VRp obtained from the output of the non-contact sensor, and the variation ΔV in the traveling direction gradient is calculated.
Find Rp. Next, in step S43, the actual bending degree ΔTr is obtained from the change amount ΔVRp of the running direction inclination by using the equation (5). Next, in step S44, the actual bending degree ΔTr is compared with the bending degree ΔT obtained from the actual control amount. If the difference between the two is greater than the predetermined set value v2, it is too curved to the left, so
In step S46, the curve control amount (the speed ratio between the left and right wheels) is reduced so as to increase the rightward curve degree. If the difference between the two is between the set values -v2 and v2, it is determined that no wheel slip has occurred, and the vehicle continues traveling. If the difference between the two is smaller than the set value -v2, the curve is excessively rightward.
In 5, the curve control amount is increased so as to increase the degree of curve to the left. Next, in step S47, the current traveling direction inclination VRp is stored as PVRp.

According to the above-described control, when the actual bending degree is larger than the bending degree expected from the control amount (in the case where the vehicle is likely to bend to the left), the intention of the right curve does not curve much or the curve to the left curves. In the event that the vehicle is going to go straight ahead or turns left or turns too far when turning left, the speed ratio R between the left and right wheels is increased so as to increase the degree of curve to the right, realizing the original control operation. can do. On the other hand, if the actual degree of bending is smaller than the degree of bending expected from the control amount (in the case of turning to the right), the intention of the left curve does not curve much or curves to the right, or If the driver intends to go straight ahead and turns too much when turning right, the speed ratio R of the left and right wheels should be reduced so as to increase the degree of leftward turning, and even in this case, the original control operation should be realized. Becomes possible.

(5) Non-Contact Tracking Exception Processing In the autonomous traveling vehicle of the present embodiment using the above-described non-contact sensor, in addition to the above-described non-contact scanning control, when the ranging distance changes suddenly, the ranging distance changes suddenly. In the case where the distance is further stabilized after departure, or when the distance is out of the range in which the distance of the non-contact sensor can be measured, various non-contact scanning exception processing described below is performed.

First, when the distance measurement result of the non-contact sensor changes suddenly, the above-described non-contact scanning travel control is stopped and the vehicle is running straight. Therefore, when traveling while performing work that emphasizes aesthetics after work such as cleaning and wax application, straight traveling is regarded as important, so that dents in walls such as doors of the work area, walls of people, fire hydrants, etc. The vehicle can travel straight without being affected by other objects.

When the distance measurement result of the non-contact sensor changes suddenly and the vehicle is driven straight ahead as described above, and the distance measurement result becomes stable,
The non-contact scanning travel control is restarted using the current distance as a reference distance. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the traveling error in the straight traveling by detecting that the rapid change of the wall has disappeared and performing the non-contact scanning traveling control again using the wall.

Further, when the distance is out of the range in which the non-contact sensor can measure the distance, the autonomous vehicle is controlled to return to the range in which the non-contact sensor can measure the distance. When performing non-contact contour running control using a non-contact sensor, the contour traveling is performed by approaching too close to the wall, and the distance cannot be measured because the distance is too close to the wall than the range of the non-contact sensor. May disappear. In such a case, in the autonomous traveling vehicle of the present embodiment, the non-contact scanning traveling control is continued by controlling the autonomous traveling vehicle to move within the measurement range of the non-contact sensor.

Next, a description will be given of the transition relation of the running state for performing each of the above operations. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a transition relationship between traveling states. Referring to FIG. 22, in order to execute each of the above-described operations, the autonomous traveling vehicle of the present embodiment includes a traveling start mode M1, a reference value storage mode M2, a following traveling mode M3, a straight traveling mode M4, and a curve traveling mode M5.
Are classified into the five driving states.

First, a traveling operation is started in the traveling start mode M1. Next, in the reference value storage mode M2, a reference value Rp0 of the distance ratio value is obtained. In the reference value storage mode M2, when the vehicle enters the reference value storage mode M2 from the start of traveling, the reference value obtained this time is stored and used as the reference value of the following scanning traveling mode M3. When entering the reference value storage mode M2 from a time other than the start of traveling, the reference value obtained this time is compared with the reference value used in the copying traveling mode M3 until the previous time. It is determined that it has returned, and the reference value used in the copying traveling mode M3 until the previous time is used as it is. On the other hand, if the values are different, it is determined that there is a step on the wall,
The reference value obtained this time is stored and used as a reference value for the following scanning traveling mode M3.

Next, in the contour traveling mode M3, the contour traveling is performed so that the distance ratio value becomes the reference value Rp0.
In the straight running mode M4, straight running is performed. In the curve traveling mode M5, when the autonomous traveling vehicle approaches the wall or the like too much to measure the distance to the wall,
Executes curve running in the opposite direction to the non-contact sensor that cannot be measured.

Next, the transition relationship between the modes will be described. If the distance measurement value changes abruptly during execution of the contour running mode M3, it is determined that the wall is not flat, the wall scanning is interrupted, and the mode shifts to the straight traveling mode M4. When the distance measurement value is stable during execution of the straight traveling mode M4, it is determined that there are flat walls on both sides, and the mode shifts to the reference value storage mode M2. If the distance to the wall close to the wall of the non-contact sensor is smaller than the distance measurement limit and the distance cannot be measured by the non-contact sensor on one side when the copying traveling mode M3 is executed, the vehicle travels on a curve. Move to mode M5. further,
When the non-contact sensors on both sides can be measured at the time of executing the curve traveling mode M5, the reference value storage mode M2
Then, the reference value of the distance ratio value is stored.

Next, the reference value storage mode will be described in detail. FIG. 23 is a flowchart for describing processing in the reference value storage mode. First, in step S51, a distance ratio value Rp is obtained. next,
In step S52, it is determined whether or not the shifted original mode is the traveling start mode M1. In the case of the traveling start mode M1, in step S54,
The reference value Rp0 of the distance ratio value is set to Rp, and the process ends.
On the other hand, if it is not the traveling start mode M1, step S
In 53, a reference value Rp0 of the distance ratio value is subtracted from the distance ratio Rp obtained in step S51, and it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the value is greater than a predetermined set value x. If it is larger than the set value x, Rp0 is set to R in step S54.
If p is smaller, the process is terminated.

Next, an operation example according to the mode transition will be described. FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining an operation example according to the mode transition shown in FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 24A, at the start of traveling, a reference value Rp0 of the distance ratio value is obtained and stored. Next, as shown in FIG. 24B, the copying traveling mode M3
, The scanning control is performed such that the distance ratio value becomes the reference value Rp0. Next, as shown in FIG. 24 (c), when there is small unevenness on the wall, the distance measurement value changes suddenly, so that the mode shifts to the straight traveling mode M4. Next, as shown in (d) of FIG. 24, since the distance measurement value changes suddenly immediately after passing through the unevenness of the wall, the straight traveling mode M4 is continued.

Next, as shown in FIG. 24E, after passing through the unevenness of the wall, the distance measurement value is stabilized, so that the mode shifts to the contour traveling mode M3 via the reference value storage mode M2. At this time, since the vehicle has returned to the original wall, the distance ratio value Rp1 measured this time is almost the same as the reference value Rp0 of the distance ratio value at the start of traveling, so the reference value is used as Rp0. . Next, as shown in FIG. 24 (f), in the contour traveling mode M3, non-contact contour traveling control is performed such that the distance ratio value becomes the reference value Rp0.

Next, as shown in FIG. 24 (g), if there is a step on the wall, the distance measurement value changes abruptly, so the mode shifts to the straight traveling mode M4. Next, as shown in (h) of FIG. 24, after passing through the step of the wall, the distance measurement value is stabilized, so that the mode shifts to the copying traveling mode M3 via the reference value storage mode M2. At this time, the distance ratio value Rp2 measured this time is different from the reference value Rp0 of the distance ratio value used last time because the distance ratio value Rp2 measured this time is different from the reference value Rp2 of the distance ratio value Rp2 newly measured. To be stored.

Next, as shown in FIG. 24 (i), in the contour traveling mode M3, non-contact contour traveling control is performed so that the distance ratio value becomes the reference value Rp2. Next, FIG.
As shown in (j), when the autonomous traveling vehicle is too close to the wall during the contour traveling, it is closer to the distance measurement limit on the near side of the non-contact sensor and the distance cannot be measured on one side, and the mode shifts to the curve traveling mode M5. I do. That is, in order to continue the non-contact scanning travel control, the vehicle travels on the side opposite to the approached wall.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 24 (k), when the distance measurement of the non-contact sensors on both sides becomes possible again, the mode shifts to the scanning traveling mode M3 via the reference value storage mode M2. In this case, since the position of the autonomous vehicle has returned to the original position, the distance ratio value Rp3 measured this time is almost the same as the reference value Rp2 of the previous distance ratio value, so the reference value Rp2 is used as it is. Then, the non-contact copying traveling control is continued.

(6) Contact scanning control In the working example shown in FIG.
When performing straight-ahead control at Lj, the vehicle may hit the wall or move away from the wall for the following reasons. This is because, in the non-contact sensor described above, when the distance between the wall and the sensor is short, the distance cannot be measured because the distance is out of the range where the distance can be measured. Therefore, after the U-turn operation, the vehicle does not run parallel because it is not exactly parallel to the wall or slips between the drive wheel and the floor. This is because you cannot travel straight. Therefore, in the autonomous traveling vehicle of this embodiment, the vehicle travels straight along the wall by using a contact type contact sensor capable of measuring a distance to a wall other than the above-described non-contact sensor or in place of the non-contact sensor. That is, in order to perform the cleaning operation to the corners of the wall cleanly, the work arm 2 is controlled along the wall using the contact sensor so as to follow the wall.

Hereinafter, the contact sensor will be described in detail. FIG. 25 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a contact sensor that is a spring-type tactile sensor. The contact sensors are provided on the front and rear sides of the left and right sides of the working unit main body 1 as described below.

Referring to FIG. 25, the tactile sensor is mounted on the base plate 4
1, base plate nail 42, potentiometer 43, shaft 4
4, shaft positioning pawl 45, torsion coil spring 4
6, including the contact 47. The base plate 41 of the contact sensor is fixed to the upper part of the potentiometer 43, and the rotating shaft of the potentiometer 43 is connected to the shaft 44. A contact 47 is provided at the tip of the shaft 44, and contacts the wall, for example. The torsion coil spring 46 is rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft of the potentiometer 43, and fixes the position of the shaft 44 by sandwiching the base plate pawl 42 and the shaft positioning pawl 45.

Next, the operation of the contact sensor configured as described above will be described. FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the contact sensor.

As shown in FIG. 26A, the contact 47
Is not in contact with the wall, the torsion coil spring 46 sandwiches the base plate pawl 42 and the shaft positioning pawl 45, thereby fixing the shaft 44 in the direction of the base plate pawl 42. Next, as shown in FIG.
Contacts the wall W1, the shaft 44 is pushed by the wall W1.
Rotates about the rotation axis of the potentiometer 43. Assuming that the rotation angle is A, the length of the shaft is Ls, and the radius of the contact 47 is d, the distance D from the center of the rotation axis of the potentiometer 43 to the wall W1 is expressed by the following equation.

D = d + Ls × cosA (6) According to the above equation, the wall W1 is determined based on the rotation angle of the potentiometer 43.
Distance can be measured.

Next, contact scanning control using the above-described contact sensor will be described. FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining the principle of contact scanning traveling using the contact sensor shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 27, two contact sensors 4 a to 4 d are attached to front and rear positions on both sides of working unit body 1. In this case, when traveling along the left wall W1, the left and right front contact sensors 4a and 4b are used, and when traveling along the right wall, the right and front contact sensors 4c and 4d are used.

FIG. 27 shows a state where the vehicle is traveling along the left wall W1. In the scanning traveling control using the contact sensor, the distance measurement distances Df and Db during traveling are set to the reference distance D0.
Are controlled to be equal or the running direction inclination K with respect to the wall is detected so that the running direction inclination K becomes zero. Here, assuming that the distance between the front and rear contact sensors is L, the traveling direction inclination K of the autonomous traveling vehicle can be approximately calculated by the following equation.

K = (Df−Db) / L (7) Next, the contact scanning travel control based on the above principle will be described in detail. FIG. 28 is a flowchart for explaining contact scanning travel control using the contact sensor shown in FIG. This control routine is executed at every predetermined time t4 during the contact scanning travel.

First, in step S61, the distances Df and D to the wall are detected by the front and rear contact sensors on the side contacting the wall.
b is measured. Next, in step S62, the distance measurement value Df of the front contact sensor on the side that contacts the wall and the reference distance D
A distance deviation ΔD, which is a difference from 0, is obtained. Next, in step S63, the inclination K in the traveling direction is determined by equation (7). Next, in step S64, an evaluation function is calculated. Here, as the evaluation function, a value obtained by adding a value obtained by multiplying the deviation K of the traveling direction by the predetermined gain KG to the deviation ΔD of the distance is used. If the value of the evaluation function is larger than the predetermined set value v3, in step S67, the left curve control is executed, and
If it is between the set value -v3 and v3, step S66
In step S65, the right curve control is executed in step S65. The amount of curve (curve radius) is increased or decreased according to the value of the evaluation function.

By performing the above control, control is performed using the distance measurement Df of the left front contact sensor and the distance measurement Db of the left rear contact sensor, and the distance measurement value Df is set to the reference value D0.
When it is larger, it can be curved in a direction approaching the wall (leftward), and when it is smaller, it can be curved in a direction away (rightward). Also, the distance measurement value Df and the distance measurement value Db
And the inclination of the autonomous vehicle with respect to the wall is detected,
In the case of Df> Db, the autonomous vehicle is inclined in a direction away from the wall, so that the vehicle runs in a direction approaching the wall (left direction), and in the opposite case, the vehicle runs in a direction away from the wall (right direction). it can. Therefore, even when the distance is too close to the wall to be measured by the non-contact sensor, straight traveling parallel to the wall, that is, contact scanning traveling control can always be accurately performed.

In the case of the contact sensor as well, as in the case of the wall following running by the non-contact sensor, the influence of slippage occurring during driving control such as curve running or straight-ahead control is determined from the distance measurement result of the contact sensor, and if necessary. Alternatively, the curve control amount may be increased or decreased. In this case, the change amount ΔK of the traveling direction inclination K obtained from the output of the contact sensor during traveling approximately represents the actual bending degree ΔTr. Therefore, the degree of bending ΔT obtained from the control amount of the curve control by the equation (4) is compared with the degree of bending ΔTr obtained from the distance measurement value during traveling. If there is no difference between both values, wheel slip occurs. It is determined that there is no slip, and if there is a large difference, it can be determined that the wheel has slipped.
The above-described slip detection processing is performed in steps S63 and S64 shown in FIG.
The contact scanning travel control in consideration of the detection of slip can be realized by inserting between them.

(7) Contact Tracking Exception Processing Next, contact scanning exception processing, which is processing other than the above-described contact scanning travel control, will be described. First, the interruption detection processing of the wall will be described. The wall break detection process is a process of detecting that the wall has broken based on the change speed of the output of the contact sensor. That is, when the wall is broken during the wall following running, the output of the contact sensor vibrates greatly, and this is used to detect that the wall has been broken. When the contact sensor is vibrating, it is not possible to determine whether the contact sensor is in contact with the wall or away from the wall only by the output of the contact sensor. Therefore, when the wall is interrupted during the wall following traveling, the wall following traveling control is stopped and the straight traveling control is executed. At this time, depending on the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle immediately before switching to the straight traveling mode, if the vehicle travels too long, the vehicle may deviate from the straight traveling route. Therefore, the inclination of the autonomous vehicle with respect to the wall is stored from the distance measurement values of the contact sensors immediately before and after the switching to the straight traveling mode, and the vehicle travels straight after steering to correct the inclination.

FIG. 29 is a flow chart for explaining the above-mentioned wall break detection processing. (A) of FIG.
Shows the movement of the contact sensor 4 when passing through the place where the wall W1 breaks, and (b) shows the movement of the sensor angle A obtained from the output value of the potentiometer when passing through the place where the wall W1 breaks. (C)
Indicates the output of the distance value D obtained from the sensor angle when the wall W1 passes through the break. Referring to FIG. 29, in, the contact sensor 4 is in contact with the wall W1 and is separated from the wall W1 at the point of time. Contact sensor 4
When is moved away from the wall, the shaft 44 is returned to the center by the torsion coil spring 47, but vibrates for a predetermined time until it is stabilized. Therefore, potentiometer 43
The sensor angle A and the distance value D obtained from the output of
The waveform is shown between. At the time of vibration, it is meaningless to calculate the distance from the sensor angle A to the wall. However, since the sensor output, for example, the output of the sensor angle A or the distance value D behaves in an oscillating manner, the wall changes due to its change speed. The interruption can be detected.

Next, the contact detection process of the wall will be described. The wall contact detection process is a process of detecting that a wall has been contacted during wall copying traveling. This processing detects contact with a wall based on angle information of a contact sensor. Note that the contact state can be detected with higher sensitivity by directly detecting the angle of the contact sensor than by detecting the angle after conversion into the distance. Further, in this embodiment, after detecting that the contact sensor has come into contact with the wall, after traveling a certain distance, the contact scanning travel control is performed based on the distance information.

The contact detection process of the wall is performed as follows. If the robot touches a wall that is perpendicular to the direction of travel, it is necessary to travel a certain distance and contact a part parallel to the direction of travel before measuring the distance. It is not possible to determine which of a portion perpendicular to the direction and a portion parallel to the direction has been contacted. Therefore, in the present embodiment, control based on distance information is performed after a certain distance has been traveled regardless of whether or not the wall whose contact has been detected is a vertical wall.

Next, the principle of the wall contact detection processing will be described. FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the wall contact detection process. FIG. 30A shows the movement of the contact sensor 4 when passing through a place where the wall W1 is perpendicular to the traveling direction, and FIG. Represents the sensor angle A obtained from the output of the potentiometer 43 when
Represents a distance value D obtained from the sensor angle A when passing through a place where the wall W1 is perpendicular to the traveling direction.

In FIG. 30, the contact sensor 4 is not in contact with the wall W1, but contacts the wall W1 at the point. When the autonomous vehicle continues to move forward after the contact sensor 4 contacts the wall W1, the shaft 44 rotates against the torsion coil spring 47. At this time, the potentiometer 43
The sensor angle A and the distance value D obtained from the output of
The waveform is shown between. When attention is paid to the sensor angle value A and the distance value D (each part surrounded by a circle) immediately after the above, the rate of change of the distance value D is smaller than that of the sensor angle value A, and is a value close to zero. Therefore, the contact of the contact sensor 4 with the wall W1 can be detected faster and more accurately by using the change in the sensor angle value A.

Also, since the distance value D calculated from the sensor angle value A does not represent the distance between the autonomous vehicle and the wall W1, the contact sensor 4 detects that the contact sensor 4 has touched the wall W1. After that, the vehicle travels straight for a predetermined distance, then measures the distance to the wall, and performs the above-mentioned contact scanning traveling control.

Next, the wall contact detection processing will be specifically described. FIG. 31 is a flowchart for explaining the wall contact detection processing. In the wall contact detection processing shown in FIG. 31, the following processing is executed at every predetermined time t5.

First, in step S71, a sensor angle value A is obtained from the output of the potentiometer 43. Next, in step S72, the variation ΔA of the sensor angle value A is obtained by subtracting the sensor angle value PA before the predetermined time t5 from the sensor angle value A. Next, in step S73, it is determined whether the absolute value of the change amount ΔA of the sensor angle value is larger than a predetermined set value v4. If it is larger, it is determined that the user has separated suddenly, and it is detected in step S77 that the wall has been interrupted. On the other hand, if not large, it is determined in step S74 whether the absolute value of the sensor angle value A is larger than a predetermined set value v5 close to 0, and if it is large, it is determined that the contact sensor is in contact with the wall in step S75. to decide. On the other hand, if it is not large, it is determined in step S76 that the contact sensor has slowly moved away from the wall. Next, in step S78, the current sensor angle value A is stored as PA.

By the above processing, it is possible to detect whether the contact sensor is in contact with the wall, whether the wall has been interrupted, or whether or not it has been slowly separated from the wall, based on the value of the sensor angle value A. Thus, the contact state between the wall and the contact sensor can be detected.

Next, a description will be given of a control method for returning to the range of the non-contact sensor when the autonomous vehicle approaches the wall beyond the range of the range of the non-contact sensor. In the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment, in the case of following running using the contact sensor, when detecting that the contact sensor has slowly moved away from the wall, control is performed such that the vehicle enters the measurement range of the contact sensor. Thus, the contact scanning travel control is continued.

Next, a description will be given of the transition relation of the running state for performing the above operation. FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a transition relation of the running state for performing the above operation. In the contact scanning mode M6, the contact scanning traveling control is performed using the contact sensor while contacting the wall. The straight traveling mode M8 is a traveling mode when the wall breaks, and travels straight in a direction parallel to the wall that has been followed. The search mode M7 is a traveling mode when a wall is not found, and performs a curve traveling in the direction of the wall.

In the first contact scanning mode M11, the vehicle is driven using the contact scanning traveling control shown in FIG. 28 using the front and rear contact sensors. In the second contact scanning mode M12, when shifting from the search mode M7 to the contact scanning mode M6,
After traveling straight ahead until the front contact sensor can measure the distance to the wall, the mode is shifted to the first contact copying mode. In the third contact scanning mode M13, when shifting from the straight traveling mode M8 to the contact scanning mode M6, the vehicle travels straight until the front contact sensor can measure the distance to the wall, and then transitions to the first contact scanning mode M11. .

In the first straight traveling mode M14, a straight traveling operation is performed. In the second straight traveling mode M15, when shifting from the contact copying mode M6 to the straight traveling mode M8, the autonomous vehicle makes a curve travel in a direction away from the wall so as to be parallel to the wall that has been followed, and then the first straight traveling. The mode shifts to Mode M15. In the third straight traveling mode M16, the contact scanning mode M6
When the vehicle shifts to the straight traveling mode M8, the vehicle travels in a direction approaching the wall so as to be parallel to the wall on which the autonomous traveling vehicle follows, and then transitions to the first straight traveling mode M14.

Next, transition states from the above modes will be described. At the start, when the front contact sensor is in contact with the wall, the process proceeds to the contact scanning mode M6, and when not, the process proceeds to the search mode M7. In the contact copying mode M6, when the front contact sensor is suddenly separated from the wall, the mode is shifted to the straight traveling mode M8. Further, when shifting from the contact scanning mode M6 to the straight traveling mode M8, if the autonomous vehicle is parallel to the wall with the same distance measurement values of the front and rear contact sensors immediately before leaving, the process shifts to the first straight traveling mode M14. . Further, when shifting from the contact copying mode M6 to the straight traveling mode M8, if the distance measurement value of the front contact sensor is smaller than the distance measurement value of the rear contact sensor, the second straight traveling mode M
Move to 15. Further, when the mode is shifted from the contact scanning mode M6 to the straight traveling mode M8, if the distance measurement value of the front contact sensor is larger than the distance measurement value of the rear contact sensor, the mode is shifted to the third straight traveling mode M16.

In the straight traveling mode M8, when the front contact sensor detects that it has come into contact with the wall, the mode shifts to the contact scanning mode M6. When the front contact sensor slowly moves away from the wall while in the contact copying mode M6, the mode shifts to the search mode M7. Further, when in the search mode M7, when the front contact sensor detects that it has come into contact with the wall, the mode is shifted to the contact scanning mode M6. By shifting each mode as described above, even if the distance exceeds the range of the contact sensor, the steering is returned to the range of the contact sensor, and the contact scanning travel control can always be executed accurately.

Next, an operation example according to the above-mentioned mode transition relation will be described. FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining an operation example according to the mode transition shown in FIG. First, as shown in (a) of FIG. 33, at the start of traveling, the front contact sensor detects that it is separated from the wall, and the search mode M7 is started.
Move to Next, as shown in FIG. 33 (b), the vehicle travels in a curve in the direction approaching the wall in the search mode M7. next,
As shown in FIG. 33 (c), when traveling in the search mode M7, it is detected that the front contact sensor has contacted the wall, and the mode shifts to the second contact scanning mode M12. Next, as shown in (d) of FIG. 33, the mode shifts to the first contact scanning mode M11 via the second contact scanning mode M12, and the copying travel is performed. Next, as shown in (e) of FIG. 33, when the front contact sensor detects a break in the wall during the contour traveling, the mode shifts to the straight traveling mode M8. Next, as shown in (f) of FIG. 33, the outputs of the contact sensors before and after immediately before the detection of the break in the wall are compared, and when the outputs are almost the same, the process proceeds to the first straight traveling mode M14 and goes straight. Execute the run. Next, as shown in FIG. 33 (g), when the front contact sensor detects that the vehicle has come into contact with the wall during straight traveling, the mode shifts to the third contact copying mode M13. Finally, as shown in (h) of FIG. 33, the mode shifts to the first contact copying mode M11 via the third contact copying mode M13, and the copying travel is performed.

(8) Combination of Contact Tracking Traveling Control and Non-Contact Tracking Traveling Control In the above description, the mode is switched to the straight traveling mode when it is detected that the wall has been cut off in the scanning traveling control using the contact sensor. Although traveling is performed, depending on the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle at the time of switching to the straight traveling mode,
If the vehicle goes straight for a long time, the vehicle may deviate from the straight route. Therefore, in the wall tracing control using the contact sensor, after detecting that the wall has been cut off, the non-contact tracing control is performed using the non-contact sensor. Therefore, it is possible to detect that the interruption of the wall has been eliminated, and to follow the traveling again by using the wall, thereby reducing an error in the straight traveling.

Next, a description will be given of the transition relation of the running state for performing the above operation. FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating a transition relation of the traveling state when the contact and non-contact scanning traveling control are used together. Referring to FIG. 34, in the non-contact copying mode M9, the copying travel is performed using the non-contact sensor. When in the contact scanning mode M6, if the front contact sensor suddenly separates from the wall, the distance to the left and right walls is measured by the non-contact sensor, and if measurement is possible, the operation proceeds to the non-contact scanning mode M9. Transition. When in the non-contact copying mode M9, when the front contact sensor detects that the wall has contacted, the mode shifts to the contact copying mode M6. By transiting between the modes as described above, the contact scanning traveling control and the non-contact scanning traveling control can be used together.If the contact sensor can be used, the contact scanning traveling control is performed by the contact sensor, When the sensor cannot be used, the non-contact scanning traveling control can be performed using the non-contact sensor, and the scanning traveling control can always be accurately performed.

Next, an example of operation according to the above mode transition will be described. FIG. 35 is a diagram for describing an operation example according to the mode transition shown in FIG. First, FIG.
As shown in (a) of FIG. 7, the vehicle runs in the contact scanning mode M6 using the contact sensor. Next, as shown in FIG. 35 (b), the front contact sensor detects the interruption of the wall W1 during the contour traveling. Next, as shown in FIG. 35C, the left and right walls W1, W2 are detected by the left and right non-contact sensors.
Measure the distance to In this case, since both the left and right sides can be measured, the mode shifts to the non-contact scanning mode M9. Next, as shown in (d) of FIG. 35, the wall copying traveling control by the non-contact sensor is executed. Next, as shown in (e) of FIG. 35, when the front contact sensor detects that the front contact sensor has come into contact with the wall W1 during the non-contact scanning traveling, the mode shifts to the contact scanning mode M6. Finally, as shown in (f) of FIG. 35, the copying travel is performed in the contact copying mode M6.

(9) Control of Working Arm Next, a method of controlling the working arm 2 will be described. The work arm 2 is controlled by moving the work arm 2 in the direction opposite to the wall so that the tactile sensor attached to the work unit main body 1 can approach a measurable place when performing wall-traveling by the contact sensor. Let it. Then, during the contour running, the work arm 2 adjusts the position of the work arm 2 based on the distance information obtained by the front and rear contact sensors. Therefore, even when the autonomous vehicle is not in a position parallel to the wall, the work arm 2 can be brought into close contact with the wall,
Since the unevenness on the wall can be detected in advance, the work arm does not catch on the projection on the wall.

Next, a specific example of the working arm 2 for performing the above control will be described. FIG. 36 is a top view showing the configuration of the working arm. Referring to FIG. 36, the autonomous traveling vehicle further includes an arm mounting member 25, an arm fixing spring 19, and an arm slide shaft 20. The arm mounting member 25 is slidably held by the slide mechanism 14. The work arm 2 is slidably held by an arm slide shaft 20 installed on an arm mounting member 25. The position of the working arm 2 is determined by being sandwiched by an arm fixing spring 19 arranged on the outer periphery of the arm slide shaft 2. With the above configuration, the working arm 2
Is attached to the working unit main body 1 in a state where it can slide to some extent against a lateral force.

Hereinafter, a first control example of the working arm configured as described above will be described. In this example, two contact sensors are provided on one side at the front and rear, and the position of the working arm 2 is calculated using the two contact sensors. The work arm 2 is attached to the work unit main body 1 via a spring so that the work arm 2 can slide to some extent in the lateral direction with respect to the lateral force as described above.

First, the positional relationship between the working arm 2 and the two front and rear contact sensors will be described. FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the working arm and the contact sensor. FIG.
7, if the distance between the position of the working arm 2 and the center position of the axis of the potentiometer of the front and rear contact sensors 4c and 4d is df and db, the front and rear distance sensors 4c and 4d
The tip positions (xf, yf) and (xb, yb) of d can be approximately calculated by the following equation when there is not much difference between tf and tb from the sensor angles tf and tb.

Xf = df−lf × sin (tf) (8) yf = −lf × cos (tf) −d (9) xb = db−lb × sin (tb) (10) yb = −lb × cos (tb) -d (11) The tip positions (xf, y) of the front and rear contact sensors 4c, 4d
f), a work arm 2 on a straight line passing through (xb, yb).
The position of the work arm 2 is determined by the following equation so that the tip position of the work arm 2 comes.

AM = (yf × xb−yb × xf) / (xb−xf) (12) When traveling along a flat wall, the working arm 2 is moved to the arm position determined by the equation (12). By moving the work arm 2 so that the tip comes, even when the autonomous traveling vehicle is not parallel to the wall or not at a predetermined distance during the copying operation, the work arm 2 is always in contact with the wall. It becomes possible to work while doing. by the way,
If a small protrusion projects from the wall, the work arm 2 passes after the contact sensor gets over the protrusion, but the work arm 2 collides with the small protrusion. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, in this embodiment,
The arm position AM to be moved uses data before the time t8 at which the autonomous vehicle travels the distance from the rear contact sensor 4d to the arm position. In order to realize this delay, in this embodiment, a FIFO (first-in first-out) memory (not shown) is used.
The result of calculating the arm position from the sensor output is pushed to the FIFO memory, and at the same time, the arm position calculated before the predetermined time t8 is read from the FIFO memory, and the tip of the working arm 2 is moved to the read arm position.

Next, a method for controlling the working arm will be described in detail. FIG. 38 is a flowchart for describing the first control method of the working arm described above. The control of the working arm is executed at every predetermined time t6.

First, in step S81, the angle values Af and Ab of the front and rear contact sensors are obtained. Next, in step S82, the angle values A of the contact sensor before and after that obtained are obtained.
f, Ab, arm position A based on equations (8) to (12)
Calculate M. Next, in step S83, the arm position AM is pushed to the FIFO memory. Next, in step S84, a predetermined time t8 is read from the FIFO memory.
The arm position AM0 calculated at the previous time is read. Finally, in step S85, the tip of the working arm 2 is moved to the arm position AM0.

Next, an operation example of the working arm according to the first control method of the working arm will be described. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the working arm by the control method shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 39 (a), while traveling following a flat wall, the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front and rear contact sensors 4a, 4b, and contacts the wall. I have. Next, as shown in FIG. 39 (b), the front contact sensor 4a contacts the projection on the wall. At this time, the arm position is calculated such that the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front and rear contact sensors 4a and 4b. Next, as shown in FIG. 39 (c), the front contact sensor 4a passes over the projection on the wall. Next, an attempt is made to move the working arm 2 to the arm position calculated by the processing shown in FIG.
The work arm 2 is in contact with the wall while sliding against the spring force.

Next, as shown in FIG. 39D, the rear contact sensor 4b comes into contact with the projection on the wall. At this time,
The arm position is calculated such that the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front and rear contact sensors 4a, 4b. Next, as shown in FIG. 37 (e), the rear contact sensor 4b passes over the projection on the wall. However, in this case, since the work arm 2 is moved to the arm position calculated in FIG. 39D immediately before, the work arm does not contact the projection on the wall. Finally, as shown in FIG. 39 (f), the work arm 2 moves over the projection on the wall, and is again moved to a position where the tip of the work arm 2 comes into contact with the wall.

Next, a second control method of the working arm will be described. In the first control method of the work arm, since the protrusion on the wall and the inclination of the autonomous vehicle with respect to the wall are not determined, the copying control and the calculation of the arm position are accurately performed when the wall has the protrusion. May not be possible. Therefore, in the second control method, the front,
Contact sensors are provided at the middle and later three places to detect the inclination of the working unit body 1 and the unevenness of the wall independently, and the position of the working arm is controlled based on the detection results.

First, the positional relationship between the working arm and the six contact sensors will be described. FIG. 40 and FIG.
It is the 1st and 2nd figure which shows the positional relationship of the working arm and six contact sensors. Referring to FIG. 40 and FIG. 41, when traveling along the left wall W <b> 1,
When the vehicle travels following the right wall using the middle and rear three contact sensors 4a to 4c, the three right sensors 4d to 4c are used.
Use f. As shown in FIG. 40, when along a flat wall, the tips of the three contact sensors 4a to 4c are on a straight line. Also, as shown in FIG. 41, when the rear contact sensor 4c is passing over the projection on the wall, the tips of the three contact sensors 4a to 4c are not in a straight line. In this case, the position of the autonomous traveling vehicle from the wall W1 and the inclination of the autonomous traveling vehicle with respect to the wall W1 are calculated using the two contact sensors of the previous contact sensor 4a and the middle contact sensor 4b.

Next, the case where the working arm 2 is moved to a position obtained by subtracting the height h of the protrusion from the arm position AM calculated from the outputs of the three contact sensors 4a to 4c will be described in detail. First, the method of obtaining the arm position AM calculated from the sensor output is as follows. The contact sensor that calculates the arm position selects two contact sensors that are not in contact with the protrusion (contacts the wall) and uses equation (12) so that the tip of the arm is on a straight line passing through the tip. To calculate.

Whether or not a certain contact sensor is in contact with a projection is determined by calculating the position of the tip of the contact sensor. When none of the contact sensors is in contact with the protrusion, the tip positions of the three contact sensors are aligned. When a certain contact sensor comes into contact with the protrusion, the tip positions of the three contact sensors are not aligned on a straight line.

Therefore, when the tip positions of the contact sensors are not aligned, it is necessary to determine which contact sensor is in contact with the protrusion. In this embodiment, the inclination between the autonomous vehicle and the wall is required. However, the determination is made using the fact that it does not change much in a sufficiently short time. That is,
A set of two contact sensors is created from among the three contact sensors, and the inclinations Kfc, Kcb, and Kfb of the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle are determined from each set of the contact sensors. The pair of sensors having the value closest to is determined as a sensor not in contact with the protrusion.

The method for determining the height h of the projection is as follows. The height h of the projection is detected by the rear contact sensor 4c. The difference between the straight line connecting the tip positions of the two contact sensors selected in the above processing and the tip position of the rear contact sensor is determined by the height h of the protrusion at the position of the rear contact sensor.
b. In FIG. 40, hb = 0, and in FIG.
hb = h. In addition, since the position of the rear contact sensor and the tip of the work arm are different, the data from the rear contact sensor to the tip position of the work arm uses the data at the time point t9 before the autonomous vehicle travels. I do. In order to realize this time delay, a FIFO is used similarly to the first control method.
Use memory. More specifically, the height hb of the protrusion at the position of the rear contact sensor at a certain time is pushed to the FIFO memory, and at the same time, the height h of the protrusion calculated a predetermined time t9 before is read from the FIFO memory.

Next, the second arm of the working arm described above is used.
The control method will be described more specifically. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a second control method of the working arm. In the second control method, the predetermined time t
The following processing is executed for each of the seven.

First, in step S91, the previous, middle,
The angle values Af, Ac, Ab of the latter three contact sensors are respectively obtained. Next, in step S92, the inclination angles Kfc, Kcb, and Kfb of the tip positions of the sensor pairs are obtained. Next, in step S93, Kfc ≒ K
It is determined whether or not fb (≒ Kcb), and Kfc ≒ K
If fb, the previous contact sensor and the subsequent contact sensor are selected in step S94, and if Kfc ≒ Kfb is not satisfied, a sensor pair closest to K0 is selected from Kfc, Kcb, and Kfb in step S95. Next, in step S96, the inclination K in the traveling direction selected by the above processing is stored as K0.

Next, in step S97, the arm position AM is calculated from the angle values A1 and A2 of the selected contact sensor. Next, in step S98, the height hb of the subsequent contact sensor is calculated. Next, in step S99, the calculated height hb of the contact sensor is pushed to the FIFO memory. Next, in step S100, the height h of the contact sensor calculated after the point in time before the predetermined time t9 is read from the FIFO memory. Finally, in step S101, the tip position of the working arm 2 is set to AM
-Move so that it comes to the position of -h.

Next, an example of the operation of the working arm according to the second control method will be described. FIG. 43 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the working arm under the control shown in FIG. First, as shown in (a) of FIG. 43, while traveling along a flat wall, the arm position is such that the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front, middle and rear three contact sensors. Is calculated. Next, as shown in FIG. 43B, the front contact sensor 4a comes into contact with the projection on the wall. At this time, the tip of the working arm 2 is at the middle,
The arm position is calculated so as to be on a straight line passing through the tips of b and 4c. Next, as shown in FIG. 43C, the front contact sensor 4a gets over the projection on the wall, and the inside contact sensor 4b contacts the projection on the wall. At this time, the arm position is calculated such that the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front and rear contact sensors 4a, 4c.

Next, as shown in FIG. 43D, the inner contact sensor 4b climbs over the projection on the wall, and the later contact sensor 4c contacts the projection. At this time, the arm position is calculated such that the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front and middle contact sensors 4a and 4b. In this state, the height of the projection is stored. Next, as shown in FIG. 43 (e), the rear contact sensor 4c passes over the wall projection. At this time, the arm position is calculated such that the tip of the working arm 2 is on a straight line passing through the tips of the front and rear contact sensors 4a and 4c, but is stored in the state shown in FIG. Since the work arm 2 is moved by the height of the protrusion, the work arm 2 does not contact the protrusion on the wall. Finally, as shown in FIG. 43 (f), the working arm 2 is over the projection. At this time, the tip of the working arm 2 is in extension of the front, middle and rear contact sensors 4a to 4c and is in contact with the wall.

Although the above-described control of the working arm uses a contact sensor, the same effect can be obtained by using a non-contact sensor in the same manner as described above.

(10) From the above embodiments, the following items can be considered to protect the invention. Item 1. An autonomous traveling vehicle capable of traveling along the object, having a rotatably supported shaft, and an angle measuring means for measuring the angle of the shaft while the tip of the shaft is in contact with the object. A detecting means for detecting that the tip of the shaft has come into contact with the object based on the angle information of the angle measuring means.

In the autonomous vehicle described in item 1, when the tip of the shaft contacts the object, the contact of the tip of the shaft with the object is detected using angle information that changes with higher sensitivity than the distance information. Therefore, the contact state between the shaft and the wall can be detected at higher speed and with higher accuracy.

Item 2. An autonomous traveling vehicle capable of traveling along the object, having a contact that contacts the object,
Distance measuring means for measuring a distance to the object while the contact is in contact with the object, and detecting means for detecting that the contact has contacted the object based on an output of the distance measuring means After detecting that the contactor has contacted the object by the detecting means, advance means for a predetermined distance, and after advancing a certain distance by the advancing means, the object based on the output of the distance measuring means An autonomous traveling vehicle including traveling means for traveling along an object.

[0139] In the autonomous traveling vehicle described in Item 2, since the vehicle travels along the object based on the distance to the object at a point in time when the contact moves forward a predetermined distance after the contact comes into contact with the object. After contacting the parallel portion of the object, the distance to the object can be measured stably and accurately, and the vehicle can travel along the object with higher accuracy.

Item 3. An autonomous traveling vehicle capable of traveling along an object, a contact-type distance measuring unit that measures a distance to the object while making contact with the object, based on an output of the contact-type distance measuring unit. Detecting means for detecting that the object has been interrupted, and non-contact measuring the distance to the object in a non-contact state with the object after detecting that the object has been interrupted by the detecting means An autonomous traveling vehicle including: a distance measuring unit; and a traveling unit that travels along the object based on an output of the non-contact distance measuring unit.

In the autonomous vehicle described in item 3, when the distance between the object and the autonomous vehicle is short, the distance to the object is measured by the contact-type distance measuring means. When the distance becomes long, the distance to the object can be measured by the non-contact distance measuring means, so that the vehicle can always stably run along the object regardless of the distance to the object. .

[0142]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an independent traveling vehicle.
The contact measures the distance to the object while contacting the object, and when this output vibrates , it can detect that the object has been interrupted, so it can measure the short distance to the object The presence or absence of the object can be detected,
It is possible to further reduce the self vehicle without even further limiting the width of the autonomous vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing the entire configuration of the autonomous vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of an autonomous traveling vehicle for cleaning and waxing.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the configuration of the working arm shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing the configuration of the working arm shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a driving unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a straight-ahead control method.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a curve control method.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a third spin turn control method.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation example during operation of the autonomous traveling vehicle.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a U-turn operation from along a wall.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a U-turn operation.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an operation of making a U-turn and following a wall.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the principle of non-contact scanning traveling control.

FIG. 15 is a first diagram showing an example in which non-contact sensors are arranged on both sides of a representative position.

FIG. 16 is a second diagram illustrating an example in which non-contact sensors are arranged on both sides of a representative position.

FIG. 17 is a first diagram illustrating an example in which a non-contact sensor is arranged in front of a representative position.

FIG. 18 is a second diagram illustrating an example in which a non-contact sensor is arranged in front of a representative position.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a non-contact contour running control method using the non-contact sensor shown in FIGS. 17 and 18;

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a movement locus of a curve running.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining a slip detection routine shown in FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a transition relationship between traveling states.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a process in a reference value storage mode.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining an operation example according to the mode transition shown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a contact sensor.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the contact sensor.

FIG. 27 is a view for explaining the principle of contact scanning running using the contact sensor shown in FIG. 25.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart for explaining a method of contact scanning travel control using the contact sensor shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining a break detection process of a wall;

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining the principle of a wall contact detection process.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating a wall contact detection process.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a transition relationship between traveling states.

FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining an operation example according to the mode transition shown in FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a transition relation of a traveling state when both contact and non-contact scanning traveling control are used.

FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining an operation example according to the mode transition shown in FIG. 34;

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mounting portion of a working arm.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a working arm and four contact sensors.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart for explaining a first control method of the working arm.

39 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the work arm by the control shown in FIG. 38.

FIG. 40 is a first diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a working arm and six contact sensors.

FIG. 41 is a second diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the working arm and six contact sensors.

FIG. 42 is a flowchart for explaining a second control method of the working arm.

FIG. 43 is a view for explaining an operation example of the working arm by the control shown in FIG. 42;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Working part main body 2 Working arm 3 Drive part 4a-4f Contact sensor 11 Tank 12 Hose 13 Pump 14 Slide mechanism 15 Motor for slide mechanism 16 Controller 17 Contact sensor 18a, 18b Non-contact sensor 21 Brush 22 Nozzle 23 Hose 24 Brush drive Motors 31F, 31B driven wheels 32R, 32L drive wheels 33R, 33L drive wheel motors 34R, 34L coupling mechanism 35R, 35L encoder 36 rotation support mechanism 37 rotation drive motor 38 controller 41 base plate 42 base plate 43 potentiometer 44 shaft 45 shaft positioning pawl 46 torsion coil spring 47 contactor 100 autonomous vehicle

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-58-22750 (JP, A) JP-A-62-259078 (JP, A) JP-A-4-84207 (JP, A) JP-A-5-205 274031 (JP, A) JP-A-1-207804 (JP, A) JP-A-63-104111 (JP, A) JP-A-59-43409 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 1/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A self-contained traveling vehicle capable of traveling along an object, comprising a contact that comes into contact with the object, wherein the contact is urged in the direction of the object, and A self-contained traveling vehicle comprising: a distance measuring unit that measures a distance to the object while making contact with the object; and a detecting unit that detects that the object is interrupted when an output of the distance measuring unit vibrates .