JPH1055215A - Moving travel vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning robot which can take a proper measures if wheels slip on a floor surface. SOLUTION: The robot is equipped with driving wheels which touch the floor surface, an encoder which detects the rotational quantity of the driving wheel, and a gyrosensor which detects the azimuth of the robot. When the absolute value of the difference between the rotation value θ1 of the robot calculated from the rotational frequency of the driving wheels and the rotation value Eθ2 of the robot measured by the gyrosensor is larger than a predetermined value (YES at #7), an alarm is displayed to the operator (#8 and #9) and the process is temporarily stopped until a start button is pressed (#10 and #11).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile vehicle, and more particularly, to an autonomous mobile work vehicle that travels accurately over a work target area such as cleaning or waxing and performs work on the entire work target area. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an autonomous mobile work vehicle using a direction sensor such as a gyro sensor or a geomagnetic sensor has been known.
In such a working vehicle, the traveling distance is measured from the number of rotations of wheels for traveling. The own position is calculated based on the output of the direction sensor and the measured value of the traveling distance, and the movement to the target point is performed.

There is also known an autonomous mobile work vehicle that measures a distance to a wall using a distance measuring sensor or a tactile sensor and travels along the wall while maintaining a constant distance from the wall.

[0004]

In such a conventional autonomous mobile work vehicle, fine dust or the like may adhere to the drive wheels during traveling, causing slippage between the drive wheels and the floor. Further, when traveling on a wet floor surface or a floor surface immediately after wax application, a slip may occur between the drive wheel and the floor. In such a case, an error occurs in the measured value of the traveling distance. Such an error leads to a delay in running control or an inability to perform running control. As a result, there is a problem that the autonomous mobile work vehicle meanders or deviates from a target route.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile traveling vehicle capable of accurately grasping an abnormality in a traveling state.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile traveling vehicle that can perform an appropriate operation according to a traveling state.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a mobile traveling vehicle has at least one pair of drive wheels for traveling, and detects an orientation of the mobile traveling vehicle. Direction detection sensor, a detection circuit for detecting the amount of rotation of at least one of a pair of drive wheels, and determination of determining an abnormality in the traveling state of the traveling vehicle based on detection results of the direction detection sensor and the detection circuit And a circuit.

[0008] More preferably, the traveling vehicle further includes an output circuit for outputting a warning signal based on a result of the determination by the determination circuit.

[0009] More preferably, the mobile traveling vehicle further includes a stop circuit for stopping the traveling of the mobile traveling vehicle based on a result of the determination by the determination circuit.

According to the present invention, since the abnormality of the traveling state is determined based on the direction of the traveling vehicle and the rotation amount of the drive wheels, a traveling vehicle capable of accurately grasping the traveling state is provided. It is possible to do.

Further, it is possible to provide a mobile traveling vehicle that can take an appropriate action according to a traveling state.

[0012]

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a cleaning robot 1 and its controller 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, cleaning robot 1 measures a distance between contact sensor 7 for detecting contact with a wall or the like and a wall, and performs a copying operation for realizing running along the wall or the like. By rotating the sensors 8a to 8d and the nonwoven fabric,
The apparatus includes a cleaning section 31 for performing a cleaning operation on the floor, a display section 18 for displaying operation guidance, an error message, and the like to the user, and a work start button 90 for starting the work. Further, by inserting the memory card 13 into the cleaning robot 1, the cleaning robot 1 can execute the stored command.

The cleaning robot 1 includes a traveling unit having drive wheels, a vehicle body, and a cleaning unit. The traveling portion and the vehicle body are relatively rotatable. The cleaning section 31 is attached to the vehicle body.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the controller 2. Referring to the figure, controller 2 is used to remotely control cleaning robot 1 and to teach traveling and work. The operation shift button group 40 as an input unit of the controller
A cross cursor button 35 for indicating a direction, a mode switching button 36 for switching a mode, a start button 37 for instructing start of operation of the cleaning robot,
A stop button 38 for instructing to stop the operation, a stop button 39 for temporarily stopping the operation, a cancel button 52 for canceling the setting, and a setting button 53 for setting the input data. , Power switch 4
6 are provided.

The operation shift button group 40 includes a traveling section rotation button 41 for rotating the traveling section only left and right without changing the direction of the vehicle section, and a body section rotating button 42 for simultaneously rotating the vehicle section and the traveling section. A cleaning operation unit slide button 43 for moving the cleaning operation unit 31 left and right with respect to the vehicle body, and a U-turn button 44 for specifying a U-turn operation
And a zigzag button 45 for designating a zigzag run.
And By using these buttons in combination,
Operations such as remote operation of the cleaning robot, teaching of work, and editing of work are performed.

Further, the controller 2 has a display unit 49 composed of a liquid crystal display. Display 49
Displays information necessary for the user, such as input guidance, a command transmitted to the cleaning robot, a result of executing the command by the cleaning robot, and various error messages.
The user looks at the display unit 49 and presses the cross cursor button 3
5 or the setting button 53, it is possible to input data.

The controller 2 is equipped with a communication unit for transmitting a command specified from an input unit (various buttons) to the cleaning robot 1 and receiving an internal state and a peripheral state of the cleaning robot from the cleaning robot. I have. As a communication method between the cleaning robot and the controller, a method using infrared rays, a radio wave, a wire, or the like can be considered, but a method most suitable for an environment where the cleaning robot and the controller are placed can be selected. In the present embodiment, infrared communication is adopted so as not to cause malfunction of other devices due to generation of electromagnetic waves.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the cleaning robot 1 of FIG. Referring to the drawing, the cleaning robot includes a traveling unit, a vehicle body, and a cleaning unit.

The traveling section includes driving wheels 3a and 3b for driving the robot, driving wheel driving motors 60a and 60b for driving the driving wheels, and driving wheel driving motors 60a and 60b for driving the driving wheels. It includes encoders 79a and 79b for calculating the moving distance and the rotation angle, driven wheels 4a and 4b for balancing the robot, and a gyro sensor 78 for measuring the rotation angle of the robot.

The gyro sensor 78 is a rate gyro, measures the rotational angular velocity of the traveling section, and outputs the measured value to the traveling section C.
Output to the PU at a constant period (for example, every 1 millisecond).
That is, the gyro sensor 78 measures the direction in which the robot is going to rotate and the rotational angular velocity thereof from the original traveling direction of the robot. The traveling unit CPU integrates the rotation angular velocity value output from the gyro sensor 78 to calculate the rotation angle of the traveling unit.

The vehicle body includes the above-mentioned contact sensor 7, scanning sensors 8a to 8d, and distance measuring sensors 6a to 6c for detecting distances to the front and right and left obstacles of the robot.

The cleaning section 31 is connected to the vehicle body.
The cleaning unit 31 includes rotors 9a to 9d for rotating each of them to apply a detergent or the like.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan views showing a specific configuration of the traveling section. Referring to the figure, traveling unit 30 includes two drive wheels 3a and 3b, drive wheel drive motors 60a and 60b for driving the drive wheels, and encoders 79a and 79b as described above. I have. Encoder 7
Reference numerals 9a and 79b are used to read the number of rotations of each of the drive wheels 3a and 3b and calculate the distance traveled by the cleaning robot and the rotation angle.

The traveling section is provided with two driven wheels 4a and 4b. The driven wheel bears the weight of the cleaning robot together with the drive wheel. As shown, two driven wheels 4
a and 4b are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center line on an extension of a perpendicular line YY 'of the center line XX'. At least one of the driven wheels is provided with a suspension mechanism (not shown).

Even on a flat floor surface, there are some undulations and irregularities on the floor surface. However, due to this suspension mechanism, the drive wheel always comes into contact with the floor surface even if the floor surface has some undulations or irregularities. Therefore, when the friction coefficient between the floor surface and the drive wheel surface is maintained sufficiently large, the drive wheel does not slip or spin. The suspension mechanism has the effect of guaranteeing stable running and reducing the detection error of the encoder.

As the material of the drive wheel surface, soft urethane is used to increase the coefficient of friction with the floor surface. However, if a large amount of fine dust is attached to the drive wheel surface, or if the vehicle is running on a floor cleaning work surface or a wax application work surface with a cleaning liquid and is wet immediately after work, The coefficient of friction with the drive wheel surface is reduced.
As a result, slipping or idling may occur even when the drive wheels are in contact with the floor. For this reason, it is necessary to keep the surface of the drive wheel clean by always cleaning it, and to create a traveling route so that the robot does not travel on a wet floor surface.

During straight running, the two drive wheel drive motors rotate in the same direction. As a result, the arrow “A” in FIG.
The cleaning robot can move in the 1 "direction.

When performing a rotating operation, the two drive wheel drive motors rotate in opposite directions. Thus, the cleaning robot can rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow “B1” in FIG. During the rotation operation,
As shown in FIG. 5, the driven wheels 4a and 4b change their directions in a direction perpendicular to the perpendicular YY 'so as to be adapted to the rotation operation.

Further, by controlling the drive ratio of the two drive wheels, it is possible to perform a curve running.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle body part rotating mechanism for relatively rotating the running part and the vehicle body part.

As shown, the running frame 66 is fixed to the bearing inner race 61 by a bearing inner race holder 67. Further, a vehicle body rotation driving gear 63 is fixed to the bearing outer ring 62 by a bearing outer ring holder 64. Further, a vehicle body frame 65 is fixed to the bearing outer ring holder 64.

Further, a vehicle body section rotating motor 68 is mounted on the traveling section frame 66. Body rotation motor 68
Drives the body part rotation drive gear 63 via a gear.
Further, a potentiometer (not shown) is attached to the body part rotation drive gear via a gear. For this reason,
It is possible to accurately detect the rotation angle of the vehicle body with respect to the traveling unit.

With such a configuration, the vehicle body is configured to be independently rotatable with respect to the traveling unit.

In this embodiment, a stepping motor is employed as the vehicle body rotating motor 68. However, a servo motor may be used instead of the stepping motor.

With this body part rotating mechanism, the body part is moved from about -90 ° to + 9 ° with respect to the rotation center ZZ ′ axis with respect to the traveling part.
Can rotate up to 0 °.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the cleaning robot 1 shown in FIG. Referring to the drawing, cleaning robot 1 is mainly composed of a traveling control unit 32 for controlling the traveling of the robot and a cleaning operation control unit 33 for controlling the cleaning operation.

The traveling control unit 32 includes a traveling unit CPU 27 for controlling the processing of the traveling unit, and left and right driving wheel drive motors 60.
drive control units 14a and 14 for performing drive control of
b, a vehicle body rotation control unit 6 for controlling the driving of a vehicle body part rotation motor 68 to relatively rotate the vehicle body part and the traveling part
9.

The traveling section CPU 27 includes encoders 79a and 79b for detecting the rotation amounts of the left and right driving wheels, a gyro sensor 78 for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the traveling section, and a peripheral part of the cleaning robot. And a distance measuring sensor 6 (6a to 6c) for recognizing the environment of the vehicle.

The cleaning operation control section 33 includes a work section CPU 12 for controlling the processing of the cleaning operation section, a display control section 19 for controlling display on the display section 18, and a voice output section 29 for outputting a voice message. An input control unit 17 for controlling input from the input unit 16, a memory card reading unit 77 for reading the memory card 13, and a controller. A communication unit 11 for communicating between the pumps, a pump control unit 23 for controlling a pump 22 for dropping detergent, and a rotor 9.
(9a to 9d), a cleaning unit drive control unit 26 that drives a cleaning unit moving motor 25 for moving the cleaning work unit, and a power supply circuit 21.

The cleaning operation control unit 33 includes a contact sensor 7, a copying sensor 8 (8a to 8d), and a battery 20.
And are connected.

The working unit CPU 12 and the traveling unit CPU 27 are connected to each other. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the controller 2.

Referring to the figure, the controller includes a controller control unit CPU 51 for controlling the controller,
A display control unit 81 for controlling the display unit 49, an input control unit 47 for controlling an input unit 80 including the above-described buttons and the like, and a communication unit 48 for communicating with the cleaning robot 1. , A communication control unit 82 for controlling the communication unit, a battery 83, and an external interface 50.

The controller 2 can be connected to an external device such as a personal computer or a printer via the external interface 50.

Next, a method of using the cleaning robot will be described. The usage method of the cleaning robot includes "teaching" for recording the work content on the memory card using the controller, and "reproduction" for causing the robot to execute the work content recorded on the memory card.

First, the user operates the cleaning robot remotely using the controller to perform work in an actual work area. When the work is completed, a series of work is recorded on the memory card. This operation is called teaching.

After the work content is once recorded on the memory card, the user moves the cleaning robot to the start point of the work area, and sets the memory card on which the work in the work place is recorded on the cleaning robot. Thereafter, when the user presses the work start button on the cleaning robot, the cleaning robot executes the work recorded on the memory card. This operation is called reproduction. After completing all the operations recorded on the memory card, the cleaning robot automatically stops.

FIG. 9 shows a typical traveling route of the cleaning robot 1 according to the present embodiment, which is a traveling route in which a zigzag traveling is performed in a rectangular working area having walls on both sides such as a corridor. It is a figure showing a course.

As shown in the figure, the robot starts work from a start point A in the work area, and sequentially proceeds to the right while performing zigzag travel. Work end point L
Work is done until. That is, the zigzag travel is configured by reciprocating motion at a predetermined interval.

The first outbound trip shown in FIG. 9 (A → B)
Is a running path along the left wall. In this traveling path, the cleaning robot 1 advances the left scanning sensor 8a, 8b along the left wall while contacting the left scanning sensor 8a, 8b with the wall and measuring the distance and angle to the wall (this traveling is referred to as "left scanning traveling"). ").

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the cleaning robot 1 for explaining the control of the above-described left copying travel.

Referring to the drawing, the copying sensors 8a to 8d, which are contact sensors, are mounted on the left and right sides of the cleaning robot 1 at two locations in front and back.

When the vehicle travels along the left wall, the left and right front and rear scanning sensors 8a and 8b are used. When the vehicle travels while following the right wall, the following right and left scanning sensors 8c and 8d are used.
Is used.

At the time of scanning by the contact-type scanning sensor,
Control is performed so that the reference distance (D0) is equal to the distance measurement result during traveling. Further, the inclination (K1) of the traveling direction with respect to the wall is detected, and the cleaning robot is controlled so that the inclination becomes zero.

Assuming that the distance between the front and rear scanning sensors is L1, the distance measurement result of the front scanning sensor is Df, and the distance measurement result of the rear scanning sensor is Db, the inclination K1 in the traveling direction of the robot is expressed by the following equation (1). It can be calculated approximately.

K1 = (Df−Db) / L1 (1) FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control when the vehicle runs on the left side while following the contact scanning.

At the time of contour running, the processing shown in FIG. 11 is executed at predetermined time intervals (t4). In step # 61, the distance (Df, Db) to the wall is measured by the front and rear scanning sensors on the side in contact with the wall.

In step # 62, a deviation (ΔD) of the distance measurement, which is a difference between the distance value (Df) of the front scanning sensor and the reference distance (D0) is obtained.

At step # 63, the inclination K1 of the traveling direction is calculated by the equation (1). In step # 64, an evaluation function is calculated. The evaluation function weights the deviation (ΔD) of the distance with the inclination amount (K1) in the traveling direction (KGa).
in). The value of the evaluation function is the set value v
If it is greater than 3, left curve control is performed in step # 67, and if the value of the evaluation function is between set values -v3 and v3, straight-ahead control is performed in step # 66. If it is smaller than the set value -v3, right curve control is performed in step # 65. The amount of curve (curve radius)
It is increased or decreased according to the magnitude of the value of the evaluation function.

By performing control in this manner, control having the following features becomes possible, and straight running parallel to the wall is realized.

Feature 1: Distance value D of the left front scanning sensor
f, control is performed using the distance measurement value Db of the left rear scanning sensor. When Df is larger than the reference value D0, the vehicle travels in a direction approaching the wall (leftward). When it is small, the vehicle travels in a direction away from the vehicle (to the right).

Feature 2: The inclination of the cleaning robot with respect to the wall is detected based on the difference between Df and Db. When Df> Db, the cleaning robot is inclined in a direction away from the wall, so that the curve traveling is performed in a direction approaching the wall (leftward). In the opposite case, the vehicle travels in a direction away from the wall (rightward).

Referring again to FIG. 9, when the cleaning robot advances from point A to point B by following the left running, the cleaning robot temporarily stops. The distance from point A to point B is recorded on the memory card by teaching.

Next, the cleaning robot performs a right U-turn operation near the left wall. Hereinafter, a right U-turn operation near the left wall will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

First, in FIG.
Rotate 0 °. This allows the cleaning robot to move in the lateral direction.

In order to rotate only the traveling portion to the right, the right driving wheel is moved backward and the left driving wheel is moved forward. Thereby, a right spin turn is performed. In addition, by rotating the vehicle body counterclockwise with respect to the traveling unit at a rotational angular velocity equal to the spin turn, a rotation operation of only the traveling unit is realized.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the robot moves rightward to a position where the vehicle body can be turned clockwise by 90 °. This moves the robot away from the wall.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12 (c), the vehicle body is turned 90 ° clockwise with respect to the traveling part.

Next, referring to FIG. 13D, the reverse movement is performed until the rear portion of the cleaning robot contacts the left wall.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13 (e), the vehicle travels forward to the center position (point C in FIG. 9) of the traveling path following the zigzag traveling and temporarily stops.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13 (f), the image is rotated 90 ° to the right. Thus, the right U-turn operation near the left wall is completed.

Returning to FIG. 9, the first return trip (C → D) from point C to point D is performed. Since the robot is away from the walls on both sides on this traveling path, the copying sensors 8a to 8d cannot be used. In this case, control is performed so that the vehicle runs parallel to the walls while measuring the distance to the walls on both sides using the left and right distance measurement sensors 6b and 6c.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the processing in the case where the vehicle moves forward by measuring the distance between the walls on both sides.

Distance measuring sensors 6b and 6c for measuring the distance to the walls 87a and 87b in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the cleaning robot 1 are provided on both sides of the robot. From the distances Dr and Dl to the left and right walls, a numerical value (distance ratio value) corresponding to the distance between the wall and the robot is obtained. Straight running is performed using the distance ratio value. This makes it possible to accurately follow the wall using an inexpensive sensor.

Referring to the figure, the distances (Dr, Dl) to the walls on both sides are measured by the left and right distance measuring sensors during traveling. Distance ratio value (R
pos) is determined by equation (2).

Rpos = Dr / (Dr + Dl) (2) In a place where walls are parallel, such as a general corridor or a room, this value can be treated as a numerical value equivalent to the distance from the wall. Also, there is an advantage that the value of Rpos does not change when the robot is parallel to the wall to be followed or when it is not parallel.

During traveling, the distance to the walls on both sides is measured,
A distance ratio value (Rpos) at that time is calculated. By traveling so that the value becomes the same as the distance ratio value (Rpos0) at the start of traveling, traveling following the wall becomes possible.

In the figure, at position R, the value of Rpos0 at the start of traveling is calculated. At position S, the value of Rpos is calculated during travel. In this case, the cleaning robot is not parallel to the wall, but the value of Rpos represents a distance ratio value from the right wall. In this case, since Rpos> Rpos0, the vehicle travels to the right.

At the position T, the value of Rpos is calculated during running. Also in this case, since Rpos> Rpos0, the curve continues to the right.

At the position U, the value of Rpos is calculated during traveling. In this case, since Rpos <Rpos0, a curve is made to the left.

At the position V, the value of Rpos is calculated during running. In this case, since Rpos = Rpos0, straight traveling is performed.

Referring again to FIG. 9, when the cleaning robot reaches point D from point C, it temporarily stops. Next, a left U-turn operation is performed.

In the left U-turn operation, the robot first moves 9 to the left.
It rotates by 0 ° and then advances by the distance of the zigzag travel path to the point E. Next, a 90 ° rotation to the left is performed.

Thereafter, the vehicle travels in parallel with the wall from the point E to the point F while measuring the distance to the walls on both sides. Thereafter, the vehicle reaches the point J while repeating the right U-turn, the distance measurement traveling on both side walls, and the left U-turn. At point J, the cleaning robot rotates 90 ° to the right and then proceeds toward the right wall. Before proceeding for the distance of the zigzag travel path, the contact sensor 7 provided in front of the robot turns right. The cleaning robot pauses upon contact with the wall.

Next, after the cleaning robot moves backward by a predetermined distance and separates from the wall, the cleaning robot rotates 90 ° to the right and touches the wall with the contact sensor 8.
Copy the wall at the position where a and 8d contact. After that, the above-described left copying travel is performed from the point K to the point L, and when the point L is reached, the cleaning robot ends the operation.

Further, the cleaning robot according to the present embodiment includes (1) at the start of work, (2) right or left rotation of only the traveling section, and (3) right or left U-turn or right-turn. At the time of left rotation, the difference between the measured rotation angle of the traveling unit using the gyro sensor and the calculated rotation angle of the traveling unit calculated from the rotational speeds of the left and right drive wheels is calculated. If the difference (comparison value) is large, it is determined that the traveling state is abnormal, and the cleaning robot issues a warning signal.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 9, the cleaning robot according to the present embodiment performs the following operation in addition to the above-described cleaning operation.

At point A, when the work start button 90 of the cleaning robot 1 is pressed by the user, the cleaning robot 1
Before starting traveling, only the traveling section rotates 90 ° clockwise and 90 ° counterclockwise to perform a slip detection operation in the floor state. Note that this slip detection operation is not always necessary. First, only the running section is rotated 90 ° right. At this time, the rotation angle of the 90 ° rotation is calculated by Expression (3) based on the number of rotations of the drive wheels from the start of rotation. When the value of the rotation angle calculated value theta ₁ of the running portion became 90 °, rotation of the driving unit is stopped.

Θ ₁ = 360 · α · d / D1 (3) where α is the number of rotations of the left and right drive wheels from the start of rotation, and is measured by encoders 79a and 79b at a resolution of 1/200 rotation. Is done. Since it is a spin turn, the rotation speeds of the left and right drive wheels are controlled to have the same value only when the directions are reversed.

D is the diameter of the driving wheel, D1 is the distance between the left and right driving wheels, and π is the pi. On the other hand, from the start of rotation to the stop of rotation, the actual rotational angle measurement value θ ₂ of the traveling section is measured by integrating the rotational angular velocity value output from the gyro sensor 78 with a sampling time of 1 msec.

The rotation angle calculation value θ ₁ of the traveling unit calculated from the rotation speed of the drive wheel is based on the assumption that there is no slip between the drive wheel and the floor. If a slip occurs between them, there will be a difference between θ ₁ and θ ₂ .

This difference will be compared by using equation (4). | Θ ₁ −θ ₂ |> θ ₀ (4) If the condition of Expression (4) is satisfied, it is determined that a slip has occurred during rotation of the traveling unit. At this time, the display unit 18
Then, a warning display of "slip occurred" is performed. At the same time, the voice output unit 29 gives a voice warning of "slip occurrence". At this time, the cleaning robot temporarily stops.

Θ ₀ is “2” in this embodiment.
° is set to ". That is, the rotation angle calculation value theta ₁ calculated from the drive wheel rotation speed, the absolute value of the difference between the rotational angle measure theta ₂ which is measured by the gyro sensor, exceeds 2 ° In this case, it is recognized that a slip has occurred.

Here, the absolute value of the difference between θ ₁ and θ ₂ is θ ₀
If no slip is detected in the following, only the traveling section rotates 90 ° counterclockwise. At this time, similarly, θ
The values of ₁ and θ ₂ are obtained, and the two are compared. If the difference exceeds θ ₀ , a warning display of “slip occurrence” and a voice warning of “slip occurrence” are issued. When a warning is issued, the cleaning robot temporarily stops.

If the slip is not detected even in the left rotation, the robot next performs the left-hand running and goes to the point B in FIG.

In the above description, in the slip inspection operation before the start of the work, the rotation operation of only the traveling unit is performed as the rotation operation of the cleaning robot. The reason is that the vehicle body unit and the traveling unit are integrated. This is because, if the rotation operation is performed in a different manner, if there is an obstacle such as a wall near the cleaning robot, a collision with the wall may occur. In this embodiment, such a danger does not occur because only the traveling section rotates.

Next, when the vehicle reaches the point B in the left-hand running, in order to prepare for performing the lateral movement at the point B, only the traveling part is rotated by 90 ° to the right (FIG. 12 (a)). Also at this time, the values of θ ₁ and θ ₂ are obtained. If the absolute value of the difference exceeds θ ₀ by comparing the two,
A warning of "occurrence of slip" is displayed, and a warning of "occurrence of slip" is issued by voice. Then, the cleaning robot temporarily stops.

Here, if the slip is not detected, the cleaning robot reaches the point C by performing the lateral movement, the right rotation of the vehicle body by 90 °, the backward movement, and the forward movement as described above. Then, the cleaning robot performs a right 90 ° rotation. In this case, performs the rotates integrally the driving portion and the body member, also obtains a value of theta ₁ and theta ₂ at this time, compares the two, the absolute value of the difference exceeds a theta ₀ In this case, a warning display of "slip occurrence" and a warning of "slip occurrence" by voice are issued. When a warning is issued, the cleaning robot temporarily stops.

Since both the drive wheels and the gyro sensor are mounted on the traveling section, rotation of only the vehicle body does not relate to slip detection. That is, the slip detection involves the rotation of the traveling unit. Therefore, slip detection can be performed in either case, whether the rotation of the traveling unit alone or the rotation of the traveling unit and the vehicle body unit.

In the following, at the time of the 90 ° rotation operation at each point of D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K,
The values of θ ₁ and θ ₂ are obtained. Then, a comparison between θ ₁ and θ ₂ is performed, and when the difference exceeds θ ₀ ,
A warning display of "slip occurrence" and a voice warning of "slip occurrence" are issued, and the cleaning robot 1 is temporarily stopped.

When the user is warned of slip detection and the cleaning robot 1 is temporarily stopped, the surface of the drive wheels is wiped off with a cloth to remove dust and the like on the surface. Then, the user returns the cleaning robot to the place where the cleaning robot has temporarily stopped, and presses the work start button 90 again. Thereby, the work can be continuously performed.

If the operation is a cleaning operation using a cleaning liquid or a wax application operation, and the vehicle has been operated once and the floor is still wet, and a slip occurs, the user re-instructs the operation. And so on.

In this way, the user of the apparatus can immediately know the slip generated on the cleaning robot. This makes it possible for the cleaning robot 1 to reliably work within the designated work range.

In the above description, zigzag traveling in a rectangular area having walls on both sides has been described as an example of the work. In other traveling patterns, the work start button 90 is similarly pressed by the user. First, the present invention can be similarly implemented by first rotating only the traveling section, thereby performing a slip inspection, and then performing a slip inspection every time the traveling section is rotated during work.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are flowcharts of the slip inspection operation in the present embodiment.

As described above, the slip inspection subroutine shown in this flowchart is executed during the rotation operation of the traveling unit.

Referring to the figure, in step # 1, the leftward or rightward rotation of the traveling unit is started. In step # 2, the rotation speed α of the drive wheel from the start of rotation is determined. α is an encoder 79 for measuring the number of rotations of the drive wheels from the start of rotation.
a, 79b are obtained by integrating the number of output pulses. In step # 3, and determines a rotation angle measure theta ₂ of the travel unit by the gyro sensor. The value of θ ₂ is obtained by integrating the rotational angular velocity value output from the gyro sensor 12 from the start of rotation.

In step # 4, the rotation angle calculation value θ ₁ of the traveling section is obtained from the rotation speed α of the driving wheels by the equation (3).

[0110] In step # 5, theta ₁ is discriminated whether exceeds 90 °, it does not exceed the flow returns to step # 2, theta ₁ is repeated until ♯4 steps # 2 to greater than 90 °.

At step # 6, the rotation operation stops. In step # 7, the absolute value of the difference between theta ₁ and theta ₂ is determined whether exceeds theta _0, if not exceeded, exit slip test subroutine advances to the next working process. If so, proceed to step # 8.

At step # 8, a warning display of "slip occurred" is performed. At step # 9, a voice message "occurrence of slip" is output.

In step # 10, the operation of the robot is temporarily stopped. In step # 11, the operation is stopped until the operation start button (start button) 90 is pressed, and if the operation start button is pressed, the slip inspection subroutine ends and the process proceeds to the next operation process.

FIGS. 17 and 18 are flowcharts showing a slip inspection process performed by the cleaning robot according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The structure of the device of the cleaning robot according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

In the first embodiment, when the rotation of the running section is stopped, the rotation is stopped based on the calculated rotation angle θ _{1. In} the second embodiment, the rotation is stopped. the measured value θ ₂ are carried out in the original.

When the rotation operation is controlled based on θ ₂ , if the degree of slip is large, the measured rotation angle θ ₂ may not reach the target value forever.
Therefore, it is necessary to determine an upper limit value of the rotation angle calculation value θ ₁ and stop the rotation operation even when θ ₁ exceeds the upper limit value.

However, if θ ₂ reaches the target value before the degree of slip is small and θ ₁ reaches the upper limit value, it is possible to accurately rotate to the target angle. There is an advantage that the process can be performed accurately. In this embodiment, the upper limit of θ ₁ is set to 10
It is set to 0.

Referring to FIG. 17, in step # 21, left rotation or right rotation is started. In step # 22, the rotational speed α of the drive wheel from the start of rotation is determined. α is an encoder 79 for measuring the number of rotations of the drive wheels from the start of rotation.
a, 79b are obtained by integrating the number of output pulses.

In step # 23, a measured value of the rotational angle θ ₂ of the traveling section by the gyro sensor is obtained. theta ₂ value is determined by integrating the rotational angular velocity value outputted from the gyro sensor 78 from the start rotating.

[0121] In step # 24, the rotation angle calculation value theta ₁ of the running portion from the rotation number α of the drive wheels by the formula (3) is obtained.

[0122] In step # 25, theta ₂ is discriminated whether exceeds 90 °, greater than the flow proceeds to step ♯32 if not, whether theta ₁ is greater than 100 ° is determined.

[0123] In step ♯32, θ ₁ is returned to the step ♯22 does not exceed the 100. Step θ until θ ₂ exceeds 90 ° or θ ₁ exceeds 100 °
The process from 22 to step # 24 is repeated.

If θ ₂ exceeds 90 ° in step # 25, or if θ ₁ exceeds 100 ° in step # 32, the flow advances to step # 26.

Steps # 26 to の following step # 26
The processing of step 31 is performed in steps # 6 to # 1 of the first embodiment.
Since the processing is the same as that of the first processing, the description will not be repeated here.

FIG. 19 is a part of a flowchart of the slip inspection process of the cleaning robot according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In the first and second embodiments described above,
When a slip is detected, the robot is stopped after issuing a warning. However, in this embodiment, if a slip is detected and the slip amount is small, the robot is stopped only by issuing a warning. Continue working without.

In the third embodiment, the discrimination value for slip detection is set to two levels, and there are provided a step of performing only a warning after slip detection and a step of performing warning and temporary stop after slip detection.

In the slip inspection according to the third embodiment, first, the same processing as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 17 is performed. That is, steps # 21 to # 21 in FIG.
The processes in # 26 and # 32 are the same in the second embodiment and the third embodiment.

After the rotation stop processing in step # 26,
The processing from step # 41 shown in FIG. 19 is executed.

Referring to the figure, in step # 41, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the difference between θ ₁ and θ ₂ exceeds θ _T0. If not, the slip inspection subroutine is terminated. Proceed to the next work step. Step # 4 if exceeded
Proceed to 2.

At step # 42, a warning display of "slip occurred" is performed. At step # 43, a voice message "occurrence of slip" is output.

At step # 44, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the difference between θ ₁ and θ ₂ exceeds θ _T1 which is a value larger than θ _T0 . If not, the slip inspection subroutine ends, and the process proceeds to the next work process. If it exceeds, go to step # 45.

In step # 45, the operation of the robot is temporarily stopped. At step # 46, the process waits until the work start button 90 is pressed, and if the work start button is pressed, the slip inspection subroutine ends and the process proceeds to the next work process.

In this embodiment, “2 °” is set as the value of θ _T0 and “5 °” is set as the value of θ _T1 . In other words, the rotation angle calculation value theta ₁ calculated from the drive wheel rotation speed, the absolute value of the difference between the rotational angle measure theta ₂ which is measured by the gyro sensor, the slip occurs if it exceeds 2 ° Recognize and give a slip warning. However, if the absolute value is 5 ° or less, it is determined that there is no major problem in the work, and the work is continued.

As described above, by detecting the slip of the drive wheel with respect to the floor and issuing a warning to the user,
The user can be assisted in taking appropriate measures to prevent slippage. Therefore, a large slip of the cleaning robot can be prevented, and accurate running and accurate rotation can be ensured. Thus, it is possible to provide a cleaning robot capable of maintaining high operation quality without any remaining operation.

[0137] Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the absolute value of the difference has been decided to display the "slip occurrence" as the slip warning, the theta ₁ and theta ₂ is a slip angle value in addition to this, the display And voice output.

The rotation angle at the time of the slip inspection is 90 °.
However, the angle may not be 90 ° as long as the angle can detect slip.

In the second embodiment, the upper limit value of θ ₁ during rotation is set to 100 °. However, if the value is equal to or more than the value obtained by adding the allowable slip angle to the target rotation angle, 1 is set.
The angle may not be 00 °. Further, the driving speed of the driving wheel 3 is measured by the driving wheel speed measuring encoders 79a and 79b to calculate the traveling distance and the traveling unit rotation angle. Since the rotation speed of the wheel 3 is proportional to the rotation speed, an encoder may be connected to the shaft of the drive wheel drive motor 60. Thereby, the rotation speed of the drive wheel drive motor 60 can be measured. The traveling distance or the rotation angle of the traveling unit may be calculated from the measured value of the number of revolutions of the driving wheel drive motor.

In the above embodiment, a warning is issued when a slip (a kind of abnormality in the running state) occurs,
Although the operation is stopped, the rotation angle and traveling direction of the robot may be corrected based on a signal from the gyro sensor.

Further, in the above embodiment, a gyro sensor is used to detect the azimuth of the robot, but a geomagnetic sensor or the like may be used.

Further, in the embodiment, the gyro sensor uses the rate gyro and calculates the azimuth of the robot by software. However, the gyro sensor may directly measure the rotation angle by using the rate integrating gyro.

Further, the slip is detected at the time of the spin turn, but the slip may be detected even at the time of going straight. For example, when traveling straight, the rotational speeds of the left and right drive wheels are the same. As described above, when the rotation speeds of the drive wheels are the same on the left and right, when the azimuth detection sensor detects a change in azimuth of a predetermined angle or more, it may be determined that a slip has occurred and a warning is issued.

In the above embodiment, the rotation speeds of the left and right driving wheels are measured during rotation. However, since the rotation speeds of the left and right driving wheels are the same during the spin turn, the rotation speed of one driving wheel is measured. Only the number may be measured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning robot 1 and a controller 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the controller 2. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a cleaning robot.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration of a traveling unit during straight traveling.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a configuration of a traveling unit during a rotation operation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle body part rotating mechanism that relatively rotates the traveling part and the vehicle body part.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the cleaning robot 1.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the controller 2.

FIG. 9 is a plan view for explaining a zigzag traveling operation of the cleaning robot.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation of traveling along a wall on the left side.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing in left-hand running.

FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining a right U-turn operation.

FIG. 13 is a view following FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a process of performing straight traveling while measuring a distance to left and right walls.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a slip inspection process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a slip inspection process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart following FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a slip inspection process according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning robot 3a, 3b Drive wheel 14 Drive control unit 18 Display unit 19 Display control unit 29 Audio output unit 60a, 60b Drive wheel drive motor 78 Gyro sensor 79a, 79b Encoder

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A traveling vehicle having at least one pair of driving wheels for traveling, an azimuth detection sensor for detecting an azimuth of the traveling vehicle, and rotation of at least one of the pair of driving wheels. A mobile traveling vehicle comprising: a detection unit configured to detect an amount; and a determination unit configured to determine an abnormality in a traveling state of the mobile traveling vehicle based on detection results of the direction detection sensor and the detection unit. 2. The mobile vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit that outputs a warning signal based on a result of the determination by the determination unit. 3. The mobile traveling vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising stop means for stopping traveling of the mobile traveling vehicle based on a result of the determination by the determination means.