JPS63241610A - Method for controlling running of self-running robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a self-running robot closer to a wall by turning only running direction of wheels by 90 deg. without changing of the direction of the self-running robot and making the robot run sideways along the wall or an obstacle when the self-running robot comes close to the wall and it can not carry out a U-turn. CONSTITUTION:When the self-running robot comes so close to the wall of a room or the obstacle that it can not execute the U-turn, it is made to run sideways along the wall or the obstacle by turning only directions of the wheels 1 and 4 by 90 deg. without changing the direction of the robot. The running distance in running sideways is changed according to the distance from the robot's own position to the wall of the room or the obstacle.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a self-propelled robot, and particularly to a self-propelled robot suitable for approaching the edge of a wall in a room or an obstacle. This invention relates to a travel control method.

[Conventional technology]

For example, as a method for cleaning the walls of a room,
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 5-97608, a suction lever that can be moved left and right with respect to the traveling direction is provided, and
If it is not possible to move the suction port brush in a lateral direction, the method is to move only the suction port brush by the necessary distance in the horizontal direction. However, this method does not take into account the fact that the addition of the suction port brush device requires time for control, and that the larger body of the automatic vacuum cleaner makes it difficult to respond to the surrounding environment.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The prior art requires a suction loplash device and a device to drive it. Therefore, when driving straight or U-turn,
Since it is necessary to control the movement of the robot and to control the drive of the suction brush in consideration of the position and drive timing of the suction port brush, the control becomes complicated and takes a long time.

Moreover, the robot itself will also become larger. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the ability to avoid running around walls and obstacles in the room is poor.

An object of the present invention is to simplify the cleaning mechanism without providing a suction lever that moves transversely to the direction of travel as in the prior art, and to enable accurate approach to the edges of walls and obstacles using a simple travel control method. An object of the present invention is to provide a traveling control method for a self-propelled robot that can eliminate unfinished work such as cleaning or painting the edges of walls and obstacles.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is for the self-propelled robot to approach the wall of the room and
If the self-propelled robot is unable to turn, it can be achieved by turning only the running direction of its wheels through 90 degrees without changing the direction of the self-propelled robot, and causing it to run sideways toward a wall or obstacle.

[Effect]

When the self-propelled robot approaches a wall or obstacle in the room and cannot make a U-turn, do not change the direction of the robot.
Turn the wheels 90 degrees and drive sideways toward a wall or obstacle. The traveling distance of this horizontal movement is changed depending on the distance from the robot's own position to the wall or obstacle of the room. Therefore, in the above-described lateral travel, since there is no turning of the front and rear ends of the robot in a U-turn, the self-propelled robot can come closer to a wall or an obstacle than in the case of a U-turn.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, using an example of a self-propelled cleaning robot for the purpose of cleaning.

゛　3　.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a self-propelled cleaning robot, where 1 is a left wheel, 2 is a left wheel drive motor, 3 is a lateral travel drive section for the left wheel, 4 is a right wheel, and 5 is a right wheel drive. A motor, 6 is a lateral drive unit for the right wheel, 7 is an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, 8 is a rotating disk, 9 is a rotating shaft of the rotating disk 8, 10 is a parabolic antenna fixed to the rotating disk, 11 is an ultrasonic A sonic radar rotation motor, 12 an encoder for the ultrasonic radar, 13 a gyro, 14 a vacuum cleaner, 15 a dust suction port, 16 a vacuum cleaner motor, 17 a measurement circuit section, 18 a traveling control section, and 19 a control power supply. , 20 is a driving power source, 21 is a robot body frame, 22 is a caster, and 23 is a robot body.

In FIG. 3, the robot body frame 21 has a left wheel 1. A right wheel 4 and casters 22 are provided at the center of the front. Detailed views of the lateral travel drive section 3 of the left wheel 1 and the lateral travel drive section 6 of the right wheel 4 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In FIG. 4, l is the aforementioned left wheel, 2 is the left wheel drive motor, 4 is the right wheel, and 5 is the right wheel. 24 are wheels 1 and 4
25, 4, and 26 are bevel gears, 27 and 28 are worm gears, 29 is a worm gear shaft, 30 is a left wheel drive bevel gear, 31 is a right wheel rotation bevel gear, 32 is a 33 is a right wheel rotation axis; 34 is a rotation switch that detects that the left and right wheels have turned 900 degrees; 35 is a return switch that detects that the left and right wheels have returned to the 0° position; 36 is a wheel rotation switch. It is a detection cam. Reference numeral 21 denotes the robot body frame to which these parts are fixed or installed. FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along line AA in FIG. 4. In Fig. 5, 1 is the left wheel, 2 is the left wheel drive motor, 21 is the robot body frame, 27 is a worm gear, 29 is a worm shaft, 30 is a bevel gear for rotating the left wheel, 32 is a rotation axis, and 32α is a rotation This is the center of the shaft. 36 is the wheel rotation detection cam, which is fixed to the rotation axis 32α. 37 is a wheel drive shaft, 38 and 39 are bevel gears fixed above and below the wheel drive shaft 37, 40 is a gear fixed to the left wheel 1, 41 is a foil gear that meshes with the worm gear 27, and 43 is the axis 32cL of the rotation shaft It is fixed to the main body frame 21 with a bearing that rotatably supports the main body frame 21. 44 is
A left wheel encoder 45 measures the number of rotations of the wheel 1 and the wheel drive shaft 370, and 45 is a connecting portion that connects the shaft 37 and the shaft of the encoder 44. The lateral running part 6 of the right wheel 4 is 36 in FIG.
They have the same configuration except that they do not have the detection cam.

In FIG. 5, the left wheel 1 is connected to a left wheel drive motor 2 and a left wheel encoder 44 via a gear 40, a wheel drive bevel gear 39, a wheel drive shaft 37, and gears 38 and 30. The right wheel 4 is also connected to the right wheel drive motor 5 shown in FIG. 4 in the configuration shown in FIG. Thereby, the left wheel 1 and the right wheel 4 are driven by separate motors, and the rotational speeds of these wheels are measured by separate encoders.

When the self-cleaning robot moves horizontally toward the wall, the robot body frame 21 and the robot body 23 (described later)
The running direction of the left wheel 1 and right wheel 40 is turned by 90 degrees without changing the direction of movement of the self-propelled cleaning robot, so that the robot runs sideways. The method for turning this wheel through 90° will be described below.

This 90° turn in the running direction of the left wheel 1 and right wheel 40 is as follows:
This is done by driving the wheel turning motor 24 shown in FIG.

When the wheel turning motor 24 rotates, the bevel gears 25, 2
6, the worm shaft 9 is rotated, and the left and right worm gears 27 and 28 are rotated simultaneously. As the worm gear 270 rotates, the wheel gear 41 meshing with the worm gear 27 shown in FIG. Turn around CC. This turning direction is a right turn. Although FIG. 5 shows the 90° turning drive section of the left wheel 1, the 90° turning driving section of the left wheel 4 also has the same configuration as that in FIG. 27
The worm gear 28 shown in FIG. 4, which rotates at the same time, rotates about the axis CC. Also, left wheel 1 and right wheel 4
The 90° turning angle about the axis CC of the turning shaft 32 is determined by the rotation of the detection cam 36 fixed to the turning axis 32α shown in FIG. is ONL, this ON signal is detected by the wheel turning angle detection circuit 52 shown in FIG. 6, and the signal data is transmitted to the central processing section 46. In the central processing unit 46, the detection cam 36
When the ON signal is input, the driving of the wheel turning motor 24 is stopped, and the left and right wheels complete the 90° turn.

7. The robot body frame 21 is equipped with an ultrasonic radar. The ultrasonic radar rotation motor 11 shown in FIG. 1 and the rotating shaft 9 of the rotating disk 8 are connected, and the rotation of the rotating disk 11 causes the rotating disk 8 and the parabolic antenna 10 to rotate around the rotating shaft 9. The parabolic antenna 10 and the ultrasonic transceiver 7 transmit and receive ultrasonic waves with sharp directivity shown by broken lines. An ultrasonic radar encoder 12 is connected to the rotating shaft 9, and the ultrasonic radar encoder 12 detects the direction in which ultrasonic waves are emitted from the parabolic antenna. The ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 7 are reflected when they hit the walls or obstacles in a room, and the reflected ultrasonic waves that return to the parabolic antenna 10 are received by the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver and are converted into ultrasonic waves. The position of the wall or obstacle is measured from the time from when the ultrasonic wave is emitted until it is received and the emission direction of the ultrasonic wave detected by the ultrasonic radar encoder 12.

Further, the robot body frame 21 is provided with a jig 013 for measuring angular changes in the traveling direction of the self-propelled cleaning robot shown in FIG. Vacuum cleaner 14. Measurement circuit section 17 Travel control section 1
Control power supply for 8 19. It is equipped with a driving power source 8, 20, etc., and an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 72 of the ultrasonic radar. The robot body 23 covers everything other than the parabolic antenna 10. The vacuum cleaner 14 is provided with a dust suction port 15 having a width approximately equal to the width of the vacuum cleaner motor 16 and the robot body frame 21, and absorbs dust of the width of the robot body frame 21 as the self-propelled cleaning robot moves.

FIG. 6 is a system block diagram showing the entire travel control system in FIG. 3, and 46 is a central processing unit (CPU);
47 is a memory, 48 is an ultrasonic radar detection circuit, 49 is a radar encoder measurement circuit, 50 is a gyro measurement circuit, 5
1 is a wheel encoder measurement circuit, 52 is a wheel 90° turning angle detection circuit, and other parts are shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.
The same symbols as in the figure are given.

The measurement circuit section 17 in FIG. 3 is the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 7 in FIG.
a radar encoder measurement circuit 49 that measures data from the ultrasonic radar encoder 12, a gyro measurement circuit 50 that measures data from the gyro 13, and a left wheel encoder 44. and a wheel encoder measurement circuit 51 that measures data of the right wheel encoder 44α, and a 9♂ turning switch 3.
4 and a wheel turning angle detection circuit that detects the signal from the return switch 35.

On the other hand, the travel control section 18 includes the central processing section 46 and a memory 47. The central processing unit 46 includes an ultrasonic radar detection circuit 48. Radar encoder measurement circuit 49. Gyro measurement circuit 50. Data from the wheel encoder measurement circuit 51 and the wheel rotation angle detection circuit 52 are periodically taken in to calculate the self-position of the self-propelled cleaning robot and the positions of walls and obstacles in the room, and the results are stored in the memory 47. Depending on this result, the left and right wheel drive motors 2 and 5 and the wheel rotation motor 2
4, vacuum cleaner motor 16 and ultrasonic radar rotation motor 1
A control signal such as 1 is formed.

Next, a method of controlling the above self-propelled cleaning robot will be described.

As shown in Fig. 7, the running control of this embodiment basically runs the robot by repeating straight ahead and U-turn. This is to move it laterally.

1 and 2 are flowcharts showing an embodiment of a method for controlling a self-propelled robot according to the present invention.

In Figure 1, when the self-propelled cleaning robot starts operating,
The central processing unit 46 clears the contents of the memory 47, starts the vacuum cleaner motor 16 to start cleaning, and sets a control flag (hereinafter referred to as a U-turn flag) for causing the self-propelled cleaning robot to make a U-turn in the next step. ) and a control flag (hereinafter referred to as the lateral movement flag) that allows the robot to move sideways toward walls and obstacles (hereinafter referred to as lateral movement).
Reset.

In the next step, the self-position of the self-propelled cleaning robot in the room is detected. This self-position is measured at regular time intervals based on the output signals of the left wheel encoder 44, the right wheel encoder 44α, and the gyro 13. The left wheel encoder 44 outputs data (pulse number) representing the left wheel 10 rotation speed, and the wheel encoder measurement circuit 51 measures the travel distance of the left wheel 1 from this data. Similarly, the right wheel encoder 44α outputs data (number of pulses) representing the rotational speed of the right wheel 4, and the wheel encoder measurement circuit 51 measures the travel distance of the right wheel 4 from this data.

The gyro 13 also measures the amount of angular change in the direction of movement of the self-propelled cleaning robot at regular time intervals.

The travel distance of the left and right wheels and the amount of angular change in the direction of travel are taken into the central processing unit 46, and the self-position coordinates are calculated.

Reference numeral 53 in FIG. 7 shows the locus of the self-position coordinates detected above, and the self-position data is obtained as X-Y coordinates.

This X-Y coordinate is determined when the self-propelled cleaning robot is placed on the floor of a room to perform work, and the position where it is placed is the origin 0, and the direction the robot is facing at that time is y. The direction perpendicular to this axis is the X axis. An angle on the X-Y coordinates in the direction of movement of the robot is calculated by accumulating the amount of change in angle measured by the gyro 13. Then, at regular time intervals, the self-position coordinates of the self-propelled cleaning robot are calculated one after another by the product of the average travel distance of the left and right wheels and the trigonometric function of the angle on the X-Y coordinates in the traveling direction. .

・ 12. In the next step, the positions of walls and obstacles are detected. The positions of walls and obstacles are measured using the ultrasonic radar data shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. Ultrasonic transceiver 7 in Figure 3
The parabolic antenna 10 emits and receives ultrasonic waves while rotating above the robot. Therefore, when the parabolic antenna 10 faces a wall or an obstacle perpendicular to the ultrasonic emission direction, the ultrasonic waves emitted by the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 7 are reflected by this vertical surface, and the parabolic antenna 10 and the ultrasonic waves It is received by the transceiver 7. Therefore, after the ultrasonic wave is emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 7, it is reflected by the vertical surface of a wall or obstacle, and is received again by the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 7. The distance from the robot's self-position to a wall or obstacle is measured. Further, the direction of the wall or obstacle is measured by the ultrasonic radar encoder 2 by measuring the direction in which ultrasonic waves are emitted from the parabolic antenna 10 and received. The position coordinates of this wall or obstacle are stored in the memory 47 of FIG. 6, an example of which is shown in FIG. Figure 7 shows the positions of the walls of the rectangular room detected while the robot starts running from the lower left corner of the room and repeatedly moves straight and makes U-turns. , 54 is the left wall, 55
is the data of the upper wall, 56 is the right wall, and 57 is the data of the front wall.

In the next step, the positional coordinates of the self-propelled cleaning robot and the wall or obstacle obtained below are stored in the memory 47, a scene map representing the positional relationship of the wall or obstacle is created, and the self-propelled cleaning robot Draw a driving route. An example is shown in FIG.

In the next step, it is determined whether there is a wall or obstacle in the direction of movement of the self-propelled cleaning robot that can prevent it from moving straight. As explained above, the self-propelled cleaning robot travels while repeatedly going straight and making U-turns, but the central processing unit 46 calculates the distance between the robot and the wall or obstacle in the direction of travel based on the scene map shown in FIG. The running route is constantly monitored, and when this interval becomes close to the front end dimension of the robot body 23, it is determined that a wall or obstacle is present. If there is no wall or obstacle in front of you, move the robot straight ahead, rotate the 15. right wheel motor at the same time, and turn the gear 30° gear 38. in Figure 5. Wheel drive shaft 37. Gear 39. This is done by transmitting power to the gear 40 in this order to drive the left wheel 1 and the right wheel 4. Unless it is determined that there is a wall or an obstacle in front of the robot, the process is to detect the position of the robot using the straight-running connector B.

Obstacle position detection 1. Memory of position data to scene map;
The operation of determining whether there is an obstacle ahead and issuing a command to run straight is repeated, causing the self-propelled cleaning robot to run straight. During this straight running, the robot's position coordinates and the position coordinates of the wall or obstacle are detected, and each position coordinate is sequentially stored in the memory 4.
7, and in the memory 47, the scene map shown in FIG. 7 gradually becomes more detailed, and the travel route of the self-propelled cleaning robot is also drawn there.

If it determines that there is a wall or obstacle in front of it while traveling straight, the next step is to stop the self-propelled cleaning robot and
Set a flag (referred to as a turning flag) to indicate that the vehicle is turning or traveling sideways.

In the next step, a U-turn and a reversal in the lateral travel direction are performed. As explained earlier, a self-propelled cleaning robot repeatedly runs straight and makes U-turns until it approaches a wall or obstacle, and when the robot approaches a wall or obstacle,
Although the vehicle is caused to run laterally to the edge of a wall or obstacle, the first U-turn direction is to the right, as shown by a trajectory 53 in FIG. 7, but the next U-turn is to the left. In other words, U
Each time it turns, its direction alternates between right and left, and as a result, the self-propelled cleaning robot travels in the X-axis direction while reciprocating in the Y-axis direction. At the point 57 in Figure 7 when the robot approaches a wall and moves sideways, it is necessary to decide which direction to move sideways, and the direction of this sideways movement is the same as the U-turn direction of the previous U-turn. Specify the opposite direction. That is, since the previous U-turn at 58 is a left U-turn, the direction of lateral travel at 57 in FIG. 7 is specified to be the opposite direction to the right.

If the previous U-turn is a right U-turn, the direction of lateral travel is specified to the left.

In the next step, it is determined whether a U-turn is possible.

Here, the method of U-turn of the self-propelled cleaning robot will be explained with reference to FIG. Figure 8 is an example of a right U-turn, where 1α is the left wheel before the U-turn, 1h is the left wheel after the U-turn, 4α is the right wheel,
23α is the robot body before the U-turn, 23h is the robot body after the U-turn, 61α is the position of the center point of the left and right wheels, which is the self-position of the self-propelled cleaning robot, before the U-turn.
61h is the self position after the U-turn, 62α and 62A are the left front tip of the robot body, and 63α and 63h are the left rear tip of the robot body.

To make a right U-turn, the right wheel 4α is stopped, the left wheel 1α is driven in the forward direction, and the robot body 23α is turned to the right wheel 4α.
Rotate around the center. By making this U-turn,
The width of the dust suction port 15 of the vacuum cleaner 14 is the robot body 23α.
, 23b, the cleaning ranges before and after the U-turn overlap by Eh. This U-turn is an area determined by the distance from the tip of the robot body 23α, 23b to the wheel axis and the rotation range of the front tip 62α, 62b and rear tip 63α, 63h of the robot body around the right wheel 4a)k. a1 hI Possible when there are no walls or obstacles within C1dl. If a U-turn is possible, a U-turn flag is set to command a U-turn, and the process returns to B. During a U-turn, the robot position coordinates shown in Fig. 1 are detected, the position of the obstacle is detected, 2 the position data is stored in the scene map, the judgment is made as to whether the next turn is being made, yes, the judgment is made as to whether the turning has ended, and the judgment is made to the NO1 connector B. Repeat the return action. When the U-turn is completed, the determination as to whether the turning has ended becomes YES, and then the turning flag is reset, and the operation shifts to the straight-ahead travel, and the vehicle is again driven straight in the direction of arrow 65 in FIG.

In the case of the above U-turn, a cleaning residue having a width Eα is left on the edge of the wall 64.

In the previous step, it was determined whether a U-turn was possible, and if the wall or obstacle was located in the area shown in Figure 8 (Zl bI C1dl),
If you cannot make a U-turn, move to the next step, moving sideways toward the wall or obstacle. Here, the operation of lateral travel will be explained. Figure 9 shows an example of traveling sideways to the right; IC is the left wheel before traveling horizontally, and 1d is only the wheel 9 for horizontal traveling.
1e is the left wheel after turning 0 degrees to the right, 1e is the left wheel after traveling sideways toward the wall 69, 1f is the rear wheel approaching the wall, and 9 is the left wheel.
The left wheel after turning 0 degrees to the left and returning the running direction of the wheel to the same direction of movement of the robot as before the lateral movement, 4C is the right wheel before lateral movement, 4d is the wheel only turning 90 degrees to the right to make it lateral movement. The right wheel after turning, 4e is the right wheel after traveling sideways toward wall 69, and 4f is the rear wheel approaching the wall, only the rear wheel was turned 900 degrees to the left and the running direction was returned to the same direction as before traveling sideways. The rear right wheel, 23C is the robot body before traversing, 23d is the robot body after approaching the wall 69 while traversing sideways, 67C and 67d are lateral traveling on the axis CC of the left wheel rotation axis 32α in FIG. 68C and 68d are the positions before and after approaching the wall, 68C and 68d are the positions before lateral movement and after approaching the wall, and 660 is the position considered to be the self-position of this self-propelled cleaning robot.
The above-mentioned left wheel turning axis center 67C and right wheel turning axis center 68C
is the center point of This 66C is also made to coincide with the rotation axis of the rotation axis 9 of the parabolic antenna 10 of the ultrasonic radar shown in FIG. 1, so that the self-position coordinates and the detected position of the wall or obstacle are related. 66d.

Similarly, the turning axes 67d and 68d of the left and right wheels after approaching the wall are
is the center point of 69 is the wall of the room. Sideways running・1
9. To operate, first move the left wheel 1c and right wheel 4c to the axis 67 to 1d and 4d without changing the direction of the robot body 230.
c; Rotate 90 degrees to the right around 68C. The 9d turning method of the left and right wheels is carried out by driving the wheel turning motor 24 shown in FIG. 4 and turning the turning shaft 32 shown in FIG. It is detected by the rotation switch 34.

Next, the distance from the robot's self-position point 66c to the wall 69 is calculated from the data of the wall 56 on the right side of the scene map in FIG. Depending on the distance to the wall, the left wheel 1d and right wheel 4d in FIG.
Make it run sideways towards . This horizontal movement causes the robot body 23d to approach the wall 69 up to Lc. Next, the left wheel 1t and the right wheel 4e are turned 90° to the left to 1f and 4f, contrary to the above-mentioned 90° right turn, and the running direction of the left and right wheels is returned to the state before traversing. Next, the robot body 23d of the left wheels 1f and 41 is 1691c? I move it backwards. The backward traveling continues until a wall 58 or an obstacle is detected behind, as shown from 59 to 60 in FIG.

・20・ The above is the operation of lateral travel, but before starting lateral travel, the above-mentioned travel distance l of lateral travel must be determined. Returning to the flowchart in Figure 1, if it is determined that a U-turn is not possible in the previous step,
In the next step, it is determined whether lateral travel is possible and the lateral travel distance is determined. The calculation method for this lateral travel distance l is shown in Fig. 2.
FIG. 2 shows a subroutine of the process of determining the lateral travel distance shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, L and l represent lengths, L is the distance from the self-position point of the self-propelled cleaning robot to the wall of the room shown at 57 in FIG. 7 and 660 in FIG. The minimum distance to the wall that allows U-turn in the figure, Ll) is the length obtained by subtracting the cleaning overlap width Eh explained earlier from the width of the robot body 23 in Figure 8, and l and c are the lengths in Figure 9. The width of the gap between the robot body 23d and the wall after the robot body 23d has traveled sideways, and l indicates the travel distance to be traveled laterally.

In Figure 2, the distance traveled when traveling sideways! is Lh depending on the distance from the self-propelled cleaning robot's self-position to the wall.
In the range of <L≦Lα, the length is determined to be 3Lb, which is the width of the robot body 23 minus the cleaning overlap width Eh. If the distance to the wall is in the range LC<L≦L, 6, the travel distance l is the distance to the wall minus the gap Lc between the robot body and the wall after sideways travel. L
-Lc is determined.

Furthermore, if the distance to the wall LfJ''-L<Lc, it is determined that sideways travel is not possible, and the next travel distance l is set to /=0.

If lateral travel is possible, then a flag (referred to as a lateral travel flag) for instructing lateral travel is set, and the process returns to connector B.

During horizontal travel, the robot position coordinates shown in Figure 1 are detected.

Obstacle position detection 1. Memory of position data to scene map;
Judging whether there is a flag during the next turn, ye? Repeat the operations of turning, running, turning, running, breaking the train, and returning to NO1 connector B.

In the scene map in the memory shown in FIG.
He recovered and drove backwards from 59 to 60.

At the end of sideways travel, the judgment of the turning route shown in Figure 1 is ygy.
Then, the next turning flag is reset and the process returns to connector B.

When the lateral travel ends and you reach point 60 in Figure 7, it is no longer U.
It is not possible to turn or go backwards (and since the area in front has already been cleaned by running from 59 to 60, there is no need to drive straight. Therefore, in the process shown in Figure 1, the judgment as to whether there is an obstacle in front is YES). (Traveling routes 53 and 57 in Figure 7
, 59 and 60 are regarded as one of the obstacles), whether a U-turn is possible or whether NO2 sideways travel is possible is determined as No, and in the next step it is determined whether the road is being cleaned.

This determination is made by searching for uncleaned areas from the scene map shown in the example of FIG. 7, which is formed in the memory 47 of FIG. 6, and the route traveled by the self-propelled cleaning robot. In the case of FIG. 7, it is determined that cleaning has been completed, but there may be uncleaned areas if there are obstacles in the room or if the room is not rectangular. When an uncleaned area is found, the self-propelled cleaning robot runs to the uncleaned area, then returns the process to connector A, and performs the above-mentioned operations such as going straight, U-turn, and sideways toward the uncleaned area. be exposed.

, 23 degrees or more, in this embodiment, the self-propelled cleaning robot can easily and accurately approach the edge of a wall or obstacle (LC in Figure 9). You can eliminate unfinished cleaning.

In addition, in the example, only simple drive control such as turning and rotating the left and right wheels while traveling sideways is required, and the conventional operation control of the suction port brush and changes in the external shape of the robot due to the suction port being exposed are taken into consideration. There is no need for travel control, the time required to judge and decide on the travel method can be shortened, and the robot body can also be made smaller because a drive device for the suction rod is not required. Therefore, it is possible to quickly respond to changes in the position data of surrounding walls and obstacles and the scene map data obtained by the ultrasonic radar.

Note that although walls have been described in FIGS. 1, 2, and 7 to 9, the same applies to obstacles. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the self-propelled robot is equipped with a vacuum cleaner, but it is clear that the self-propelled robot may also perform other tasks such as painting.

, 24. [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the self-propelled robot can easily and accurately approach the edge of a wall or an obstacle.

In addition, there is no need to control work equipment such as vacuum cleaners and painting equipment mounted on the self-propelled robot, and only the wheels need to be controlled, simplifying control. This simplification allows the self-propelled robot to be made smaller. By simplifying these controls, simplifying work equipment, and downsizing the self-propelled robot, it is possible to quickly judge and determine the method of travel of the self-propelled robot, and it is possible to quickly make judgments and decisions about the way the self-propelled robot moves, and to respond to walls and obstacles in the room. This has the effect of making it possible to quickly change the motion of a running robot and significantly shorten working time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are flowcharts showing an embodiment of the self-propelled robot travel control method according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a specific example of the self-propelled robot, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the wheel drive device of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a system block diagram showing the entire travel control system of the self-propelled robot shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. FIG. is an explanatory diagram showing the scene map data recognized by the control device of the self-propelled robot, Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the U-turn method of the self-propelled robot, and Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the traveling method of the self-propelled robot of the present invention. FIG. 1.1α~1f...Left wheel, 2...Left wheel motor, 3.6...Transverse travel drive section, 4,4α~4f...Right wheel, 5...Right wheel motor, 7 ...Ultrasonic transceiver, 10... Parabolic antenna, 12... Ultrasonic radar encoder, 13... Gyro, 14... Vacuum cleaner, 15
...Garbage suction port, 17...Measuring circuit section, 18
...Travel control unit, 21...Robot body frame, 24...Wheel rotation motor, 27, 28...Worm gear, 29...Worm shaft, 32...Wheel rotation axis, 324...・Turning axis center, 34... Turning switch, 35... Return switch, 36... Wheel turning angle detection cam, 37... Wheel drive shaft, 30, 38, 39, 40... Bevel gear , 44
, 44α...Wheel encoder, 46...Central processing unit, 52...-Wheel turning angle detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wheel turning drive device that turns the wheels without changing the direction of the self-propelled robot body, a turning angle measuring device that measures the wheel turning angle, and a wheel travel distance measuring device;
A direction measuring device that measures the traveling direction, an ultrasonic object detecting device that measures the distance and direction to an object using ultrasonic waves, and self-position coordinates and ultrasonic object detection obtained from the traveling distance measuring device and the direction measuring device. A self-propelled robot is equipped with a storage device that stores the position coordinates of an object obtained from the device, and a control device that controls the wheel rotation drive device based on the data stored in the storage device. When approaching an object such as a wall or an obstacle, without changing the direction of the self-propelled robot body, the wheel rotation drive device is rotated to 9 degrees based on the angle measured by the rotation angle measuring device.
The wheels are rotated by 0 degrees so that the running direction of the wheels is perpendicular to the direction of the self-propelled robot body, and the wheels are rotated by the self-position coordinate data of the self-propelled robot stored in the storage device and objects such as obstacles. The feature is that the self-propelled robot moves a distance corresponding to the distance from its own position to the object based on the position coordinate data of the object, and approaches the object laterally, such as a wall or an obstacle in the room. A method for controlling the movement of a self-propelled robot.