JP2003252146A - Remote operation system of traveling carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote operation system of a traveling carrier capable of automatically avoiding collision or the like against a forward obstacle and being smoothly operated regardless of the skill of an operator. <P>SOLUTION: The front part of the traveling carrier 1 is provided with a camera 16 for catching as a video a scene before the traveling carrier 1, and a sensor 17 for detecting a distance to the forward obstacle. A collision avoiding controller 20 is constituted by connecting a controller 5 to an image processing device 18 for processing by image the video caught by the camera 16 and determining the forward obstacle and to a converter 19 for calculating a three- dimensional position of the forward obstacle based on the distance to the forward obstacle detected by the sensor 17. When it is determined by calculation by the collision avoiding controller 20 that the carrier collides against the forward obstacle if it continues to run, a deceleration/stop command is outputted to a driving device 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control system for a traveling vehicle. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in various factories, nuclear power plants, and the like, it is common to load and transport goods on a traveling vehicle. [0003] In the prior art, an industrial camera (ITV) is attached to the front of the traveling vehicle so that the operator can operate the traveling vehicle while checking the image of the industrial camera in a remote driver's cab. Has become. [0004] However, in the case where a path of another conveyed object or a sidewalk through which an operator crosses the traveling route of the traveling vehicle, as described above, the remote operation is performed. If the operator drives the traveling trolley while checking only the image of the industrial camera in the room, the field of view is narrow, and there may be a delay in finding other obstacles such as transported objects and workers in front of the vehicle. Since it is difficult to grasp the sense of distance, it is difficult to determine the timing for decelerating the traveling vehicle, and the operator is required to be skilled. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a remote control system for a traveling bogie that can automatically avoid a collision with an obstacle in front of the vehicle and can smoothly operate regardless of the skill of an operator. It is assumed that. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a remote driving system for a traveling vehicle driven by operation in a remote driver's cab, comprising: a camera for capturing a scene in front of the traveling vehicle as an image; A sensor for detecting a distance to an obstacle ahead,
The image captured by the camera is image-processed to determine a forward obstacle, and its three-dimensional position is calculated based on the distance to the forward obstacle detected by the sensor. If it is determined that this is the case, the present invention relates to a remote control system for a traveling vehicle, comprising: a collision avoidance control device that outputs a deceleration / stop command to a drive device. According to the above means, the following effects can be obtained. When the traveling vehicle is driven by operation in the remote driver's cab, a scene in front of the traveling vehicle is captured as an image by a camera, and a distance to an obstacle in front is detected by a sensor. The image captured by the camera is image-processed to determine a forward obstacle, and its three-dimensional position is calculated based on the distance to the forward obstacle detected by the sensor. If so, a deceleration / stop command is output to the drive device, and the traveling vehicle decelerates / stops. As a result, even if a path of another conveyed object or a sidewalk through which an operator passes on the traveling route of the traveling vehicle, the operator can view the image of the industrial camera in the remote operator's cab as in the conventional case. Unlike running the traveling trolley while checking only, there is no need to worry about delays in finding other obstacles such as other conveyed objects or workers, and decelerate and stop the traveling trolley at the appropriate timing. Is possible, and skill is not required for the operator. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is a traveling vehicle, 2 is a remote cab, and a traveling vehicle 1 is a motor 3 for rotating wheels (not shown).
And a control device 5 such as a sequencer for outputting a control command to the drive device 4. A current collector 7 is brought into contact with a trolley wire 6 connected to a power supply. By doing so, power is supplied to the control device 5 and the drive device 4 via the power line 8, and a signal line 9 is provided in the remote cab 2 to the control device 5 on the side of the traveling vehicle 1. A control device 10 such as a sequencer for exchanging signals via the terminal or wirelessly, and the control device 1
CPU 11 such as a personal computer connected to the
1 is provided with an operation desk 12 on which buttons and levers for operating the traveling vehicle 1 are arranged, and a camera monitor 13 and a CRT 14 connected to the CPU 11. By operating the buttons and levers of the operation desk 12 while checking the screen display of the CRT 13 and the CRT 14, a control command is transmitted from the control device 10 via the CPU 11 to the control device 5
The control device 5 outputs a control command to the drive device 4 so that the traveling vehicle 1 travels on a rail or a floor surface (not shown). still,
When the connection between the control device 5 and the control device 10 is performed not by wireless but via the signal line 9, the signal line 9 is fed and wound by the cable reel 15 in conjunction with the movement of the traveling vehicle 1. It has become. In the illustrated example, a camera 16 (two in the illustrated example) for capturing a scene in front of the traveling vehicle 1 as an image is attached to a front portion of the traveling vehicle 1 and a distance to an obstacle in front of the vehicle. 17 such as a laser sensor for detecting
And an image processing apparatus 1 for performing image processing on a video captured by the camera 16 to determine a forward obstacle.
8 and a converter 19 for calculating a three-dimensional position of the obstacle based on the distance to the front obstacle detected by the sensor 17 and connecting to the control device 5 to form a collision avoidance control device 20 However, if it is determined by the arithmetic processing in the collision avoidance control device 20 that the vehicle will continue to travel and collide with an obstacle ahead, the driving device 4
To output a deceleration / stop command. FIG. 2 shows a system flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. When a collision with the preceding obstacle is determined, a prestored travel road map is used, and deceleration is started. At the time of determining whether it is the distance to be stopped and whether to determine the distance to stop, the traveling vehicle 1
And if the traveling vehicle 1 continues traveling without fear of collision with an obstacle in front of the vehicle, interlock monitoring (state / failure processing) is performed. While the process is continued, if the traveling is stopped based on the signals from the camera 16 and the sensor 17, the process is stopped via the interlock monitoring (status / failure process), and the obstacle in front is no longer present. In such a case, the processing is restarted. Next, the operation of the above illustrated example will be described. At the time of driving the traveling vehicle 1 by operating in the remote driver's cab 2, the camera 16 captures a scene in front of the traveling vehicle 1 as an image, and the sensor 17 detects the distance to the obstacle ahead of the vehicle to avoid collision. In the control device 20, the image captured by the camera 16 is subjected to image processing,
A forward obstacle is determined, and its three-dimensional position is calculated based on the distance to the forward obstacle detected by the sensor 17, and if it is determined that the vehicle will collide with the forward obstacle when traveling is continued, A deceleration / stop command is output to the device 4, and the traveling vehicle 1 decelerates / stops. If it is determined that there is no danger of colliding with an obstacle ahead even if the vehicle continues running, the driving device 4 is decelerated.
The stop command is not output, and the traveling vehicle 1 continues traveling. As a result, even if a path of another conveyed object or a sidewalk through which an operator passes on the traveling route of the traveling vehicle 1, the operator can use the industrial camera in the remote operator's cab 2 as in the related art. Traveling cart 1 while checking only the video of
Unlike the operation of the vehicle, there is no concern that the detection of other obstacles in front of other conveyed objects or workers will be delayed, and the traveling vehicle 1 can be decelerated and stopped at an appropriate timing. Skill is no longer required. In this way, a collision with an obstacle ahead can be automatically avoided, and a smooth operation can be performed regardless of the skill level of the operator. It should be noted that the remote control system for a traveling vehicle according to the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example described above, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. As described above, according to the remote control system for a traveling vehicle according to the present invention, a collision with an obstacle in front can be automatically avoided, and a smooth operation can be performed regardless of the skill level of the operator. The excellent effect that a good driving | operation can be performed can be produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a system block diagram illustrating an example of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a system flow diagram of an example of an embodiment of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 traveling cart 2 remote cab 3 motor 4 driving device 5 control device 10 control device 11 CPU 12 operation desk 13 camera monitor 14 CRT 16 camera 17 sensor 18 image processing device 19 converter 20 collision avoidance control device

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A remote driving system for a traveling vehicle driven by operation in a remote driver's cab, comprising: a camera that captures an image of a scene in front of the traveling vehicle as an image; A sensor for detecting a distance, image processing of a video captured by the camera, determination of an obstacle ahead, calculation of a three-dimensional position of the obstacle based on a distance to the obstacle detected by the sensor, and running. And a collision avoidance control device for outputting a deceleration / stop command to a drive device when it is determined that the vehicle will collide with an obstacle in front of the vehicle.