KR20110060705A - Remotely controlled robot system with enhanced heading determination performance and remote controller in the system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A remote-controlled robot system with enhanced steering determination performance and a remote controller used for the same are provided to allow an operator to recognize a wider range of front situation by displaying situation recognition information which is formed by overlapping image information and distance information. CONSTITUTION: A remote-controlled robot system(10) comprises a remote-controlled robot(20) and a remote controller(30). The remote-controlled robot comprises a first communication module(200), a camera(220), a distance sensor unit(230), and a robot control unit(210). The distance sensor unit scans obstacles and spaces to detect information on distances to surrounding obstacles. The robot control unit transmits image information input through the camera and distance information input through the distance sensor unit to the remote controller through the first communication module. The remote controller comprises a second communication module(300), an remote control interface unit(330), and an operation control unit(310). The remote controller and the remote-controlled robot communicate with each other through the first and the second communication modules. The remote control interface unit offers steering information and velocity information about the remote-controlled robot. The operation control unit creates situation recognition information from the image information and the distance information, outputs the situation recognition information on the screen of a display unit, and transmits the steering information and velocity information to the remote-controlled robot.

Description

Remotely controlled robot system with enhanced heading determination performance and remote controller in the system}

The present invention relates to a remote control robot system and a remote control device used therein, and more particularly, to a remote control robot system using a distance sensor, image information, haptics technology, and the like to improve steering determination performance, and to use the same. Being a remote controller.

The self-driving performance level of the current useful robots operates smoothly at the level of the remote control within the visible or invisible range and performs its mission or function. In this respect, the remote controller's maneuverability is essential for the robot to overcome the unknown environment, drive efficiently, and perform the tasks given to the robot.

In the case of the visible remote control, the remote control robot operates while watching the movement and movement of the remote control robot, or in the non-visible area, receives the image of the front view through the camera mounted on the remote robot and controls the robot. In particular, in the case of the non-viewing tele remote controller, when the front view image from the robot has a narrow viewing angle and poor reception image quality, the remote control performance of the remote control is degraded and the driving and usability of the remote robot in the non-visible region is reduced. In addition, there is a tendency to decrease rapidly. This causes problems such as collision and isolation of the remote robot.

In addition, the existing remote controller has a narrow viewing angle that the operator can see through the remote controller due to the narrow viewing angle of the camera mounted on the robot, and the perspective of the robot and the obstacle must be understood only through the camera image. Since it cannot be grasped correctly, the problem that the running performance at the time of remote control falls.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide the remote controller with distance sensor information, such as ultrasonic sensors or laser sensors mounted on remote mobile robots, to solve the narrow viewing angle of the camera and to prevent the robot and obstacles. It is to provide a remote control robot system that can improve the driving performance of the remote control robot by accurately understanding the perspective of the remote control.

Another object of the present invention to provide a remote controller that can improve the steering performance of the remote control robot by using the distance sensor information, such as ultrasonic sensors or laser sensors provided from remote mobile robots.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a remote controller capable of recognizing inadequate current steering operation for a remote control robot using haptic technology in a joystick in charge of steering control.

A first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem relates to a remote control robot system comprising a remote control robot and a remote controller for controlling the operation of the remote control robot, the remote control robot is in communication with the remote controller A first communication module; A camera for capturing an image of a robot moving direction; A distance sensor configured to scan obstacles and spaces in a robot traveling direction and detect distance information with surrounding obstacles; And a robot controller configured to transmit image information input from the camera and distance information input from the distance sensor to the remote controller through the first communication module.

The remote controller includes a second communication module for communicating with the remote control robot; A display unit; A remote control interface unit for generating and providing steering information and speed information for the remote control robot according to the driver's operation; Receives image information and distance information from the robot control unit through the second communication module, generates situation awareness information using the received image information and the distance information, and displays the situation awareness information on the screen of the display unit. And a steering controller configured to generate a robot driving control signal using the steering information and the speed information input from the remote controller interface unit and to transmit the robot driving control signal to the remote controller.

The situation awareness information includes image information and distance information, and matching information matching the image information and distance information. The situation awareness information is displayed on the screen in a form in which the image information and distance information overlap.

In the remote control robot system according to the first aspect, the remote control interface unit of the remote controller includes a force feedback unit or a tactile feedback unit, and the remote control interface unit is a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal provided from the control unit. It is driven in accordance with, the control unit preferably generates a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal in accordance with the distance information with the obstacle in the robot traveling direction to provide to the remote controller.

In the remote control robot system according to the first feature described above, the distance sensor of the remote control robot is preferably composed of an ultrasound scanner or a laser scanner.

A remote controller according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a second communication module for communicating with a remote control robot; A display unit; A remote control interface unit for generating and providing steering information and speed information for the remote control robot according to the driver's operation; Receives image information and distance information from the remote control robot through the second communication module, generates situation awareness information using the received image information and the distance information, and displays the situation awareness information on the screen of the display unit. And a steering controller configured to generate a robot driving control signal using the steering information and the speed information input from the remote controller interface unit and to transmit the robot driving control signal to the remote controller. The situation recognition information includes image information and distance information, Consisting of matching information for matching the image information and distance information, the situation awareness information is displayed on the screen in the form of overlapping image information and distance information.

In the remote controller according to the aforementioned second feature, the remote control interface unit of the remote controller includes a force feedback unit or a tactile feedback unit, and the remote control interface unit is configured according to a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal provided from the control unit. The driving controller may be configured to generate a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal according to distance information and azimuth information of an obstacle present in a robot traveling direction, and provide the generated force feedback signal to the remote controller.

In the case of using a conventional remote controller, the operator determines and steers the driving route using only two-dimensional image information. In this case, since the perspective of the robot's forward path is unfamiliar to the operator, frequent collisions and isolation during remote operation make it difficult to operate smoothly, and remote control is more difficult in narrow passages and office environments. You lose.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention recognizes a distance sensor (ultrasound or laser sensor) distance information with the obstacle and the space in the front of the robot driving direction, it is possible to recognize a wider range of forward situation. . In addition, the remote controller according to the present invention displays the situation recognition information by overlapping the image information and distance information on the screen, the operator recognizes a wide range of situations in front of the robot to determine the steering direction of the operator required for remote control It can help you visually and effectively.

In addition, the remote controller according to the present invention adopts a haptic technology to the remote control interface for controlling the steering and speed of the remote control, although the steering determination performance through the situation awareness information as described above is not appropriate, If steering in the wrong direction is attempted, the controller gives feedback of the joystick's tactile and force information so that it can sense that the current steering operation is inappropriate.

The remote controller according to the present invention improves the steering determination performance and increases the usability of the joystick for steering commands, thereby allowing the operator to easily and stably determine the driving path of the non-viewing zone and operate the robot.

In the present invention, by introducing the haptics (Haptics) feedback to the steering control of the remote controller by feedback of the tactile sense and force according to the steering decision performance improvement information, the joystick in the case that the operator tries to steer in a direction that is obstacles or difficult to drive The tactile sense of force and the feedback of force are felt in that direction, and the robot's driving in the steering direction which is currently sensibly manipulated by the operator can feel the possibility of collision or isolation. Therefore, according to the present invention, the operator can not only steer the steering decision support information for optimal driving in the form of fusion of image information and distance information, but also has a direction or obstacle inferior in driving stability despite such information. When the steering command is issued in the direction, the haptic (tactile and force) feedback information of the joystick is received, so that the steering decision and the robot remote control can be more efficiently helped.

Due to the increased visual and tactile operability of the above-mentioned remote controller, it showed the effects of determining optimal driving steering angle, invisible obstacle recognition / avoidance driving performance, and haptic feedback-based manipulator operability.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the structure and operation of the remote control robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, since the present invention aims to improve the steering performance of the remote control robot system, description will be made mainly on the technical configuration related to the steering performance improvement, and the description of the technical configuration not related to the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall remote control robot system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a remote control robot system 10 according to the present invention includes a remote control robot 20 and a remote controller 30. The remote control robot 20 captures an image in front of the driving direction in real time and transmits it to the remote controller, scans obstacles and spaces in front of the remote controller and transmits it to the remote controller, and transmits the robot drive control signal transmitted from the remote controller. Driven accordingly. The remote controller 30 overlaps the image information and distance information transmitted from the remote control robot on the screen and outputs the robot controller, and transmits a robot driving control signal input from the control panel to which the haptic technology is applied to the remote control robot. Hereinafter, the structure and operation of the remote control robot and the remote controller will be described in detail.

First, the remote control robot 20 includes a first communication module 200, a robot controller 210, a camera 220, and a distance sensor unit 230. The first communication module 200 wirelessly transmits and receives data with the remote controller 30. The camera 220 captures an image of the front of the driving direction of the remote control robot and provides it to the robot controller. In this case, the range of the image imaged is determined according to the viewing angle of the camera. The distance sensor unit 230 detects the distance between the obstacle and the space in front of the driving direction of the remote control robot and provides it to the robot controller. The distance sensor unit may use an ultrasound scanner or a laser scanner, and in the case of using an ultrasound scanner or a laser scanner, the distance sensor unit may scan and provide distance information about a 180 ° azimuth in front of the remote control robot. The robot controller 210 transmits the image information provided from the camera and the scanned distance information provided from the distance sensor unit to the remote controller using a first communication module, and transmits the robot from the remote controller. Analyze the control signal to control the operation of the remote control robot.

The remote controller 30 includes a second communication module 300, a steering control unit 310, a display unit 320, a remote control interface unit 330, and a power supply unit 340. The second communication module 300 wirelessly transmits and receives data with the remote control robot 20. Therefore, the first wireless communication module of the remote control robot and the second communication module of the remote controller are set to use the same communication protocol in the same frequency band to transmit and receive data with each other. 3 exemplarily shows a remote controller according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The steering controller 310 analyzes the image information and distance information received from the remote control robot through the second communication module 300 and outputs the image information and distance information on the screen of the display 320. The steering controller generates contextual awareness information by matching image information corresponding to a narrow viewing angle with scanned distance information having a wide azimuth, and outputs the contextual awareness information on a screen of the display unit. FIG. 2 exemplarily shows context awareness information displayed on a screen of a remote controller according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the situation awareness information is information in which image information and scanned distance information are overlapped, and the image information and distance information are output in the form of overlapping on the screen. At this time, since the distance information is obtained by using a laser scanner or an ultrasound scanner of the remote control robot, obstacles and spaces existing within a 180 ° azimuth angle of the front of the remote control robot on the screen of the display unit using the distance information. To indicate the separation distance from the As such, by displaying the image and distance information of the corresponding image together on a single screen, the operator can check the exact separation distance from the obstacle through the screen, and not only a narrow viewing angle but also a wide azimuth region Distance information can be confirmed. As a result, in the past, it took a lot of time because the image of the remote control robot after moving the direction of the remote control in order to check the left and right space, but the system according to the present invention is easy to see the left and right space of the robot through the displayed distance information I can figure it out. Thus, the system according to the present invention reduces the time to check the left and right spaces on average to shorten the time to reach the entire target point.

The remote control interface unit 330 controls the steering and the speed of the remote control robot, a steering wheel having a force feedback unit and a tactile feedback unit for applying haptic technology, a joystick, and the like are used. The remote control interface unit 330 generates steering information and speed information according to the operator's operation, and transmits the steering information and the speed information to the steering controller, and the steering controller transmits the steering information and the speed information to the remote control robot. When the steering information and the speed information are input from the remote control interface unit, the steering controller detects distance information with an obstacle existing in a direction corresponding to the input steering information, and the detected distance information is a preset safety distance. If smaller, it is determined that the current steering operation is inappropriate, and generates a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal and transmits it to the remote control interface unit.

When the force feedback signal or the tactile feedback signal is input from the steering control unit, the remote control interface unit drives the force feedback unit or the tactile feedback unit to recognize that the present steering operation is inappropriate.

The tactile feedback unit is provided with a vibration motor, etc., so that the operator recognizes that the steering operation is inappropriate through tactile vibration of the motor. Vibration motors can produce a variety of tactile types by varying the amplitude, frequency, and propagation time.

The force feedback unit controls the movement of the remote control interface unit by the operator to allow the operator to recognize that the steering operation of the remote control interface unit is inappropriate. The force feedback unit attaches the motor to the joystick of the remote controller so that the force feels the steering wheel of the joystick when steering the obstacle in the direction of the obstacle, or in the case of the steering wheel, the brake is applied to the direction to turn the wheel. It is configured to feel the force to turn, or in the case of the stick of the joystick, to apply the braking to tilting the stick in a specific direction to feel the force when the stick is operated.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, this is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present invention, and those skilled in the art do not depart from the essential characteristics of the present invention. It will be appreciated that various modifications and applications which are not illustrated above in the scope are possible. And differences relating to such modifications and applications should be construed as being included in the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

 The remote control robot system and the remote controller according to the present invention are applied to, and utilized in, existing fire protection and disaster support professional service robots, firefighter assistant robots, fire extinguishing robots, disaster support robots, disaster area life search robots, military reconnaissance / surveillance robots, and the like. This is possible.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall remote control robot system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 exemplarily shows context awareness information displayed on a screen of a remote controller according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a configuration diagram exemplarily showing a remote controller according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: remote control robot system

20: remote control robot

30: remote controller

200: first communication module

210: robot control unit

220: camera

230: distance sensor

300: second communication module

310: control unit

320: display unit

330: remote control interface unit

340: power supply

Claims (5)

In the remote control robot system comprising a remote control robot and a remote controller for controlling the operation of the remote control robot, The remote control robot A first communication module in communication with the remote controller; A camera for capturing an image of a robot moving direction; A distance sensor configured to scan distances and obstacles in a robot traveling direction and detect distance information with surrounding obstacles; And a robot controller configured to transmit image information input from the camera and distance information input from the distance sensor to the remote controller through the first communication module. The remote controller A second communication module in communication with the remote control robot; A display unit; A remote control interface unit for generating and providing steering information and speed information for the remote control robot according to the driver's operation; Receives image information and distance information from the robot control unit through the second communication module, generates situation awareness information using the received image information and the distance information, and displays the situation awareness information on the screen of the display unit. And a steering control unit for outputting steering information and speed information inputted from the remote control interface unit to a remote control robot. The contextual awareness information includes image information and distance information, and matching information for matching the image information and distance information. The contextual awareness information is displayed on the screen in a form in which the image information and the distance information overlap each other. Remote Control Robot System. The remote control interface unit of the remote controller includes a force feedback unit or a tactile feedback unit, and the remote control interface unit is driven according to a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal provided from the control unit. The remote control robot system, characterized in that for generating a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal according to the distance information and the orientation information with respect to the obstacle present in the robot traveling direction to the remote controller. The remote control robot system of claim 1, wherein the distance sensor of the remote control robot is configured as an ultrasound scanner or a laser scanner. A second communication module in communication with the remote control robot; A display unit; A remote control interface unit for generating and providing steering information and speed information for the remote control robot according to the driver's driving; Receives image information and distance information from the remote control robot through the second communication module, generates situation awareness information using the received image information and the distance information, and displays the situation awareness information on the screen of the display unit. A steering control unit for outputting and transmitting steering information and speed information input from the remote control interface unit to a remote control robot; The situation awareness information includes image information and distance information, and matching information matching the image information and distance information. The situation awareness information is displayed on the screen in a form in which the image information and distance information overlap each other. Remote controller characterized in that. The remote control interface unit of the remote controller includes a force feedback unit or a tactile feedback unit, and the remote control interface unit is driven according to a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal provided from the control unit. And generates a force feedback signal or a tactile feedback signal according to distance information and azimuth information of an obstacle present in a robot traveling direction, and provides the generated remote feedback signal to the remote controller.

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