JP2006030173A - Distance-measuring apparatus and autonomous traveling device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distance measuring apparatus for measuring the distance of an object to be measured (obstacle) over a wide range of directions, without requiring any movable sections. <P>SOLUTION: The distance-measuring apparatus for detecting an obstacle over a wide range by transmitting ultrasonic waves over a wide range comprises a plurality of ultrasonic vibrators 2, 3 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; a transmission means 4, consisting of a drive means 4c for driving the ultrasonic vibrator 2 for transmission and an directional reflection means 4a for horizontally reflecting ultrasonic waves in all directions; a clocking means 6 for clocking time, until the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmission means 4 are received, after being reflected by an obstacle; and a distance measuring means 7 for calculating the distance to the object to be measured from time clocked by the clocking means 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a distance measuring device that measures a distance from a measured object from a reflected wave from the measured object using ultrasonic waves, and an autonomous traveling device equipped with the distance measuring device.

  Conventionally, when this type of distance measuring device is mounted on an autonomous traveling device, it is variable in the horizontal direction, or can be rotated in the vertical direction, or can be moved up and down, and a plurality of such distance measuring devices are installed (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

6 and 7 show a conventional autonomous traveling device, in which a driving wheel 21 and a follower wheel 22 are provided in a lower portion of the main body 20 of the autonomous traveling device, and the main body 20 can be moved forward and backward in the directions of arrows A1 and A2. It has become. Further, the main body 20 of the autonomous traveling device can be turned by changing the rotation speed or the rotation direction of the left and right drive wheels 21. The body 20 of the autonomous traveling device emits ultrasonic waves toward the right side, the front side, and the left side, and receives the reflected wave reflected by the object to be measured (obstacle). Distance measuring devices 23 to 25 for measuring the presence / absence and the distance to the object to be measured are attached. The distance measuring devices 23 to 25 sequentially measure the distances to the right, front, and left objects to be measured. Autonomous traveling is performed avoiding the measurement object. Further, the distance measuring devices 23 to 25 have a viewing angle θ that enables distance measurement as shown in FIG.
JP 2000-214927 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, when the distance measuring device is mounted on the autonomous traveling device, the distance measuring device is configured to be variable in the horizontal direction, rotated in the vertical direction, or movable up and down to widen the measurement range. Therefore, the structure of the movable part is complicated, and there is a problem that the movable part is vulnerable to an impact or the like when getting over the object to be measured and is easily damaged. In addition, there is a problem that a large number of distance measuring devices need to be arranged in the autonomous traveling device.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a distance measuring device capable of measuring the distance of an object to be measured (obstacle) in a wide range direction without requiring a movable part. To do.

  Further, the present invention is an autonomous traveling device that can detect an object to be measured in a wide range of directions with a small distance measuring apparatus, accurately measure the distance to the object to be measured, and perform avoidance traveling of the object to be measured. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the distance measuring device according to the present invention transmits ultrasonic waves from a transmitting ultrasonic transducer via omnidirectional reflecting means for reflecting ultrasonic waves in all horizontal directions. It is what I do.

  As a result, the distance of the object to be measured in a wide range of directions can be measured without requiring a movable part.

In addition, the autonomous traveling device of the present invention includes a distance measuring device that performs an omnidirectional reflection unit that reflects ultrasonic waves in all directions in the horizontal direction, and controls the traveling unit based on the distance measured thereby. It is a thing.

  As a result, an autonomous traveling device that detects an object to be measured in a wide range of directions with a small number of distance measuring devices, accurately measures the distance to the object to be measured, and performs avoidance traveling of the object to be measured can be provided.

  The distance measuring device of the present invention can measure the distance of an object to be measured in a wide range without requiring a movable part.

  In addition, the autonomous traveling device of the present invention can detect an object in a wide range of directions with a small distance measuring device, accurately measure the distance to the object to be measured, and perform avoidance traveling of the object to be measured. it can.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic transducer for transmission that transmits ultrasonic waves toward an object to be measured, an ultrasonic transducer for reception that receives a reflected wave from the object to be measured, and the ultrasonic transducer for reception Received signal processing means for processing the received signal, time measuring means for measuring the time from when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted until it is received by the received signal processing means, from the time measured by the time measuring means to the object to be measured A distance calculating unit that calculates the distance of the ultrasonic wave, and transmitting the ultrasonic wave from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer via an omnidirectional reflecting unit that reflects the ultrasonic wave in all horizontal directions By using the measuring device, the distance of the object to be measured in a wide range of directions can be measured without requiring a movable part.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the omnidirectional reflecting means has a parabolic rotator shape formed by rotating a part of a parabola, so that the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer is transmitted. Can be reflected in all directions in a substantially horizontal direction by narrowing the visual field in the vertical direction.

  According to a third aspect of the invention, in particular, in the second aspect of the invention, since the ultrasonic transducer for transmission is installed at the focal position of the parabola in the omnidirectional reflection means, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer for transmission is The vertical field of view can be narrowed down and reliably reflected in almost all horizontal directions. For example, the receiving ultrasonic transducer does not receive unnecessary received waves reflected from the floor, It is possible to accurately measure a distance even with a low measurement object.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, in any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, by including a reflection direction limiting unit that limits a reflection direction of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the omnidirectional reflection unit to a specific direction, The user can limit the reflection direction of the ultrasonic wave according to the purpose of use, and the usability is improved.

In the fifth invention, in particular, in the fourth invention, the reflection direction limiting means is a parabolic reflector, so that the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer is reflected by the parabola of the omnidirectional reflection means. Further, it is further reflected in the opposite direction (direction in which the reflection direction of the ultrasonic wave is to be limited) by the reflection direction limiting means, and the ultrasonic wave direction can be efficiently limited.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the transmitting ultrasonic transducer is installed at a position on the line passing through the focal point of the parabola in the reflection direction limiting means, so that the opposite direction (super The ultrasonic signal is accurately reflected in the same direction (in the direction in which the reflection direction of the sound wave is to be limited), and the ultrasonic direction can be efficiently limited.

In a seventh aspect of the invention, in particular, the distance measuring device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects is provided in a main body having a running means, and the running means is controlled based on the distance measured by the distance measuring device. Thus, it is possible to detect a wide range of objects to be measured with a distance measuring device that does not require a movable part, accurately measure the distance to the object to be measured, and control the traveling means. In addition, since the distance measuring device has no moving parts, it is resistant to impacts when climbing and durability is improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment)
1 to 5 show a distance measuring device and an autonomous traveling device in an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 1 of the autonomous mobile device includes a distance measuring device having the following means. That is, the distance measuring apparatus includes a transmission ultrasonic transducer 2 that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the object to be measured, a reception ultrasonic transducer 3 that receives reflected waves from the measurement object, and a transmission ultrasonic transducer. Transmission means 4 for driving 2 to generate ultrasonic waves, control means 5, reception signal processing means 6 for performing processing of amplification and detection of reception signals of the ultrasonic transducer for reception 3, and transmission ultrasonic waves by the transmission means 4 Time measuring means 7 for measuring the time from when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the vibrator 2 until the reception signal processing means 6 detects the received signal, and the distance to the object to be measured is calculated from the time measured by the time measuring means 7. The distance calculating means 8 is provided. The control means 5 receives the output of the distance calculation means 8 and controls the transmission means 4 and the drive means 11.

  The main body 1 of the autonomous traveling device includes driving means including driving means 9 that drives the driving wheel 9, the driven wheel 10, and the driving wheel 9 to drive the main body 1, and is controlled by the control means 5.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the transmitting means 4 includes an omnidirectional reflecting means 4a for reflecting ultrasonic waves from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 2 in all horizontal directions, and this omnidirectional reflecting means. There is provided a reflection direction limiting means 4b for limiting the reflection direction of the ultrasonic wave reflected through 4a to a specific direction (mainly forward direction in the present embodiment). The omnidirectional reflecting means 4a has a parabolic rotating body formed by rotating a part of a parabola, and the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 2 is positioned on a line passing through the focal point of the parabola in the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a. It is installed. The reflection direction limiting means 4b is a parabolic reflector. The omnidirectional reflection means 4a, the reflection direction limiting means 4b, and the support portion of the transmission ultrasonic transducer 2 are integrally formed, and the transmission ultrasonic transducer 2 passes through the parabolic focus of the reflection direction limitation means 4b. It is installed on the line. As a result, the center (vertex A) of the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a is located on a line passing through the focal point of the reflecting direction limiting means 4b.

  The operation and action of the distance measuring device and the autonomous traveling device configured as described above will be described below.

  First, when the transmission ultrasonic transducer 2 is driven by the transmission unit 4, the distance measuring apparatus receives the ultrasonic wave reflected by the object to be measured by the reception ultrasonic transducer 3 and amplifies the reception signal processing unit 6 to amplify it. This process is performed to detect reception of ultrasonic waves. The time measuring means 7 measures the time from when the transmission means 4 transmits the ultrasonic wave until the reception signal processing means 6 detects the reception. The distance to the object to be measured is calculated by the distance calculating means 8 from the time measured by the time measuring means 7.

  The control means 5 controls the transmission means 4 to transmit ultrasonic waves, or controls the drive means 11 based on the distance to the measurement object calculated by the distance calculation means 8 to move the drive wheels 9 to move the main body 1. Move.

  Here, the transmission means 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transmission of ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer for transmission 2 is performed via omnidirectional reflection means 4a that reflects ultrasonic waves in all directions in the horizontal direction. That is, it is reflected by the paraboloid of the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a, and is reflected in all directions in a substantially horizontal direction while narrowing the visual field of the ultrasonic wave in the vertical direction. The ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 2 and passing through the focal point (dotted arrows a and b) are horizontally transmitted from the end of the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 2 and do not pass through the focal point (dotted line). Arrows c and d) are reflected slightly upward. As shown in FIG. 5, since the center (vertex) of the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a is located on a line passing through the focal point of the reflecting direction limiting means 4b, which is a parabolic reflector, it is reflected by the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a. Among the ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic wave reflected in the direction of the reflection direction limiting unit 4b is reflected in the same direction in the direction of the ultrasonic transmission direction D by the reflection direction limiting unit 4b as a parabolic reflector (dotted arrow in FIG. 5). h to k).

  Of the ultrasonic waves reflected by the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a, the remaining ultrasonic waves that have not been reflected in the direction of the reflecting direction limiting means 4b are transmitted as they are (dotted arrows eg in FIG. 5). Therefore, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 2 is reflected by the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a and the reflecting direction limiting means 4b, transmitted to a wide range in the horizontal direction of the ultrasonic transmitting direction D, and the movable part is passed through. Without being necessary, the distance of the object to be measured in a wide range of directions can be measured.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 2 is reflected in all directions in the horizontal direction by the omnidirectional reflecting means 4a, and is arbitrarily set by the reflecting direction limiting means 4b. By transmitting ultrasonic waves in the direction, the distance of the object to be measured in a wide range of directions can be measured without requiring a movable part.

  As described above, the distance measuring device and the autonomous traveling device according to the present invention can measure the distance of an object to be measured in a wide range of directions without the need for a movable part, and can be used in a wide range with a small distance measuring device. Since the object to be measured can be detected and the distance to the object to be measured can be accurately measured to avoid the object to be measured, it can be applied to a cleaning robot, a monitoring robot, a transfer robot, or the like.

The block diagram of the distance measuring device and autonomous running device in embodiment of this invention Longitudinal sectional view showing the transmitting means part of the same distance measuring device Sectional view by the AA line of FIG. Sectional drawing for description of omnidirectional reflecting means in the same distance measuring device Sectional drawing for description of the reflection direction limiting means in the same distance measuring device Side view of a conventional autonomous traveling device Top view of the conventional autonomous traveling device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Transmission ultrasonic transducer 3 Reception ultrasonic transducer 4 Transmission means 4a Omnidirectional reflection means 4b Reflection direction limiting means 5 Control means 6 Received signal processing means 7 Timing means 8 Distance calculation means 9 Driving wheel (traveling means) )
10 Follower wheel (traveling means)
11 Driving means (traveling means)

Claims (7)

An ultrasonic transducer for transmission that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the object to be measured, an ultrasonic transducer for reception that receives a reflected wave from the object to be measured, and a reception signal of the ultrasonic transducer for reception are processed Received signal processing means, time measuring means for measuring the time from when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted until it is received by the received signal processing means, and distance for calculating the distance from the time measured by the time measuring means to the object to be measured A distance measuring apparatus including a calculating unit, wherein the transmission of the ultrasonic wave from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer is performed through an omnidirectional reflecting unit that reflects the ultrasonic wave in all horizontal directions. The distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the omnidirectional reflecting means has a parabolic rotator shape formed by rotating a part of a parabola. The distance measuring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting ultrasonic transducer is installed at a focal position of a parabola in the omnidirectional reflecting means. The distance measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising a reflection direction limiting unit that limits a reflection direction of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the omnidirectional reflection unit to a specific direction. The distance measuring device according to claim 4, wherein the reflection direction limiting means is a parabolic reflector. 6. The distance measuring apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the transmitting ultrasonic transducer is installed at a position on a line passing through the focal point of the parabola in the reflection direction limiting means. An autonomous traveling device comprising the distance measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in a main body having a traveling device, and controlling the traveling device based on a distance measured by the distance measuring device.

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