JP2006195969A - Apparatus for generating movement path for autonomous mobile robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for generating a movement path for an autonomous mobile robot that can simplify information processing when the robot moves to a designated destination. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for generating the movement path for the autonomous mobile robot has map data 7 in which positions of nodes as candidate passing-through points and position of an obstacle in a movement area of the robot, an edge setting processing part 11a for setting an edge as a line which connects nodes to each other based on a predetermined standard and along which the robot should pass, a current position detecting part 13 for outputting the current position of the robot on a map, a user terminal 13 by which an operator inputs a destination for the robot on the map, and a path arithmetic processing part 11b for calculating a path connecting the set edges to each other and leading the edges to the destination from the current position. For the apparatus, the edge is set only for nodes located within a predetermined distance from respective nodes and free from an obstacle on the way. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a movement path generation apparatus for an autonomous mobile robot, and more particularly to a movement path generation apparatus for an autonomous mobile robot that can realize simplification of programming and reduction of the load of arithmetic processing.

In an autonomous mobile robot, the ability to move smoothly while avoiding a fixed object to an instructed target position in an environment with a fixed object on the floor is important. As a method to give such a capability to the robot, create an obstacle database that records the position of the fixed object detected based on the visual information of the robot on the map, and program the movement path with reference to the map It is known (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-266345 A

  However, in an environment where a passage is not substantially defined, such as a showroom or an attraction stage, setting a movement route when a destination point is designated is unexpectedly troublesome. This is because a robot with a destination point specified on a plane that does not have a special passage simply sets a route that connects a straight line from the current position to the specified destination point, and is on that route. This is because it is common to perform autonomous control so that only obstacles are avoided. In other words, according to this conventional control, the vehicle travels straight ahead just before the obstacle and moves around the obstacle so as to leave a predetermined distance from the obstacle, so the movement time tends to be wasted. there were.

  Although it is possible to build a program to make self-judgment with visual information, the algorithm for route setting becomes complicated, and the load of calculation processing increases, so the power consumption becomes excessive and the autonomous system equipped with the battery Practical application as a mobile robot is extremely difficult.

  The present invention has been devised to solve such problems of the prior art, and the main purpose of the present invention is an autonomous mobile robot that can simplify information processing when moving to a specified destination. It is to provide a movement path generation device.

  In order to provide a movement path generation device for an autonomous mobile robot that can solve such a problem, claim 1 of the present invention provides the position of a plurality of nodes as route candidate points in the movement area of the robot and at least one obstacle. Map management means (map data management unit 7) for managing a map describing information related to the position of an object and an edge as a straight line to be passed by a robot that connects nodes to each other based on a predetermined standard Edge setting means (edge setting processing unit 11a), current position detection means (current position detection unit 15) for detecting the current position of the robot on the map, and input means (user) for setting the destination of the robot on the map For calculating a route from the current position to the destination so as to optimize a predetermined reference by connecting the terminal 13) and the set edges. A path calculation unit (route calculation processing unit 11b), wherein the edge setting unit sets an edge only for a node within a predetermined distance from each node and having no obstacle on the way. To do. Particularly, in the invention of claim 2, the edge setting means recognizes the current position of the robot on the map as an additional node other than a node preset in the map, and the additional node is determined based on a predetermined criterion. And a function for setting an additional edge as a straight line to be passed by a robot connected to a preset node, and the calculation means and the edge setting means are added in addition to the edge based on the preset node. The feature is that the edge is also targeted.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the criterion to be optimized by the computing means includes time, distance or energy consumption, and according to the invention of claim 4, the node can be detected by the robot. As described above, the landmarks included in the moving area are included.
Further, the invention of claim 5 is characterized in that the input means is adapted to set at least one waypoint as an additional node to be passed by the robot. The means includes a display means for displaying an image of a moving area of the robot, and the invention according to claim 7 is such that the current position detection means is provided in the robot and transfers the information to the input means. It was characterized by that.

  According to such a configuration of claim 1 of the present invention, the route candidate points (nodes) that can be passed safely and the route (edge) that connects the route candidate points can be set in advance, so that the robot If you follow, you can safely reach the target point. In addition, since edges are set only between nodes that are relatively close to each other without setting edges for all combinations between all nodes, it is possible to minimize route candidates at the time of route generation. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and flexibly generate a smooth movement route without excessive load such as arithmetic processing. In particular, according to the configuration of the second aspect, it is possible to freely set the starting point and the arriving point of the robot, and to make the behavior of the robot more free.

Further, according to the configuration of claim 3, it is possible to generate a highly rational movement route, and according to the configurations of claims 4 and 5, it is possible to further diversify the route setting. According to the configuration of the sixth aspect, the operator can issue an instruction regarding generation of the movement path of the robot via the graphic user interface, and the movement path of the robot can be generated easily and accurately. Become.
Furthermore, according to the configuration of the seventh aspect, the robot can move while automatically correcting its own position. Therefore, it is possible to easily eliminate the disadvantage that the deviation amount increases when moving over a long distance. can do.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an autonomous mobile robot to which the present invention is applied. The robot 1 is provided with a speaker 2, a video camera 3, and a microphone 4. An image signal from the video camera 3 is input to the image processing unit 5, and an audio signal from the microphone 4 is input to the sound processing unit 6. An audio signal that is input and generated by an appropriate synthesized speech generation means is output from the speaker 2.

  The video camera 3 includes a monochrome or color image sensor, and pan (left-right direction) and tilt (up-down direction) operations are performed by a motor. The image output from the video camera 3 is digitized by a frame grabber, and a moving object is extracted from the difference between two frames continuously or at an arbitrary interval. Further, distance information to the target can be obtained by stereoscopic viewing from the images of the pair of left and right video cameras 3. Further, image processing for identifying the human face is performed by obtaining the contour of the person and the position of the moving body based on the optical flow from the image information.

  The sound processing unit 6 makes it easy to extract the target sound by removing background noise and reverberation components, and determines whether the sound is generated by a person from the rising part of the sound or is an impact sound in which some objects collide with each other. presume. Further, a process of specifying the sound source position based on the sound pressure difference between the pair of microphones 4 and the sound arrival time difference is performed.

  On the other hand, the robot 1 stores map data describing an area unsuitable for the robot's activity, such as the placement of a fixed object in the moving area of the robot, or the location of the transformer or the vicinity of the heating element, for example. The map data management unit 7 that records the positions of a plurality of nodes as route candidate points in the movement area of the robot input by the operator from the user terminal described later, and the ID, name, sex, date of birth, blood type, etc. Personal data management unit 8 storing personal information consisting of general information, occupation information such as company name, affiliation, job title, telephone number, e-mail address, terminal information, and face data for face recognition, and map as appropriate Parameter data that stores control parameters based on environmental data such as lighting type, brightness, average noise level, reverberation characteristics, and floor hardness for each segmented area Various information from the robot support server 10 and a management unit 9 is provided.

  In the robot 1, the task setting unit 11 defines the behavior mode of the robot 1 based on the image, sound, map, environment, and individual information, and issues a behavior command to be performed to the behavior control unit 12. The task setting unit 11 is directly input with the image processing signal from the image processing unit 5 and the audio signal from the sound processing unit 6, and receives an action correction instruction corresponding to a change in the surrounding situation of the robot 1. Depart to twelve.

  The task setting unit 11 is connected to a user terminal 13 including a personal computer having an input device such as a keyboard and a touch panel and a monitor such as a liquid crystal display. This is used as a user interface for remotely operating the robot 1 by an operator instructing the start / stop / origin return of the robot 1, and the image of the video camera 3, sound from the microphone 4, or control parameters. It is used to monitor the operation status of the robot itself, such as the setting status. Furthermore, the operator can arbitrarily register various information and control parameters as new or updated. The task setting unit 11 is connected to each node registered in the map data management unit 7 based on a predetermined standard, and an edge setting processing unit 11a that sets an edge as a line that the robot should pass, and a setting And a route calculation processing unit 11b for calculating a route from the current position satisfying a predetermined standard to the destination by connecting the generated edges.

  In the behavior control unit 12, an action instruction value set based on a predetermined operation command from the task setting unit 11 is given to an actuator or the like provided in the limb joint unit 14 to control the movement of the robot 1. In particular, the leg receives instructions of the stride and the number of steps (gait) and controls the leg joint based on the instructions.

  The current position detection unit 15 detects the direction change angle and the movement distance of the robot 1, estimates the latest self-position from the detected value from the gyrocompass and the like, and uses the map data management unit 7 to store the current position data. To the task setting unit 11. Thus, the course is corrected while comparing the target point and the self position.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of the movement area E of the robot. This plan view is based on the map data stored in the map data management unit 7, and the positions of the fixed objects F1 to F4 recognized as obstacles and the landmarks L1 and L2 provided with optical marks on the floor surface, for example. Is displayed on the monitor screen of the user terminal 13, and is configured to be a graphic user interface through which an operator inputs instruction information with a mouse pointer or the like. Note that the area recognized as having an obstacle is not limited to a place where a fixed object is installed, but also includes an area unsuitable for the activity of the robot described above.

  The operator can arbitrarily set and register on the screen the passing point of the robot as a node on this plan view (for example, point a to point f in FIG. 3). Here, the node set and registered by the operator may include the landmarks L1 and L2 described above. Further, in the region where the robot is scheduled to act, the distance from one node to the next node needs to be set so as to be within a threshold value described later. That is, the position of each node is set and registered so that the interval between adjacent nodes does not exceed the threshold.

  The robot moves along the path connecting the nodes registered in this way, that is, along the edge. This edge is set to satisfy two conditions. The first condition is that an edge is set only from a certain node toward a node at a distance within a predetermined threshold. The second condition is to exclude an edge that passes through an area or obstacle that is not suitable for the robot to pass. Hereinafter, a processing flow for setting an edge that satisfies this condition will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the counter i is set to 0 (ST1), and the node N0 is searched. In order to generalize this, it is assumed that the search is performed from the node Ni. If the presence of the node Ni is confirmed as a result of the search (ST2: YES), the node Ni is acquired (ST3). If the node Ni is not found here (ST2: NO), the node is not set / registered, so this process is terminated. Next, all nodes Nj different from the node Ni are sequentially searched from j = i + 1 (ST4), and if it exists (ST5: YES), the node Nj is acquired (ST6).

  Next, an edge is set. This edge is connected only to a node Nj whose distance from the node Ni as a base point is smaller than a predetermined threshold T, for example, a distance of 5 m as a unit suitable for route determination. (ST7: YES). That is, the node Nj existing in the range within the threshold (5 m) from the node Ni is searched. Along with this, a node Nj is searched between the node Ni and the node Nj that has no obstacle that prevents the passage of the robot, or a region that is not suitable for the robot to approach due to high heat ( ST8: YES). If the node Nj satisfying these conditions is acquired, the edge Eij is registered between the node Ni and the node Nj (ST9), and the process proceeds to step ST10. Conversely, if the retrieved node Nj is too far (ST7: NO) or there are obstacles between them (ST8: NO), the process flow proceeds to ST10 without registering an edge.

  In step ST10, the counter is set to j = j + 1, and the process returns to ST5, and the above steps are repeated until there is no node Nj that satisfies the above condition with the node Ni as a base point. For example, in FIG. 5, the node c and the node d for the node b satisfy the above-mentioned condition, so that an edge can be registered between them. However, the node e for the node b is too far away to register an edge between them. . Further, since there is an obstacle F2 between the node d and the node f or between the node e and the node f, an edge cannot be registered. When the node Nj that can register the edge Eij with the node Ni is exhausted, the counter is set to i = i + 1 (ST11), the node as the base point is moved to the next, and the processing flow from ST2 is repeated. In this way, by repeating the above steps until the node Ni serving as the base point connecting the edges Eij is exhausted (ST2: NO), the robot passes through the nodes Ni and Nj as shown in FIG. All the power edges Eij are registered. It should be noted that the operator may set and register nodes at such a density that does not get stuck in the edge setting in units of the threshold T, for example, 5 m.

  When setting the route on which the robot actually moves, the current position and destination of the robot are first set on the map data. These positions do not necessarily match the registered node positions. Further, one or more waypoints may be set as desired. Hereinafter, a process of setting and registering an edge that connects the current position, destination, and waypoint of the robot to the node registered in the above-described process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the robot's current position UN0 (for example, HP in FIG. 7) and destination UN1 (for example, point A in FIG. 7), and further via-point UN2 as necessary are input (ST21), and these are registered (ST22). Next, the counter k is set to 0 (ST23), and the node UN0 is searched. In order to generalize this, it is assumed that the node UNk is searched. If the existence of the node UNk is confirmed (ST24: YES), the node UNk is acquired (ST25). Next, the already registered node Nj is sequentially searched (ST26), and it is determined whether or not it exists (ST27). If the node Nj exists, it is determined whether or not the node Nj does not match the node UNk (ST28). If the node Nj does not match the node UNk (ST28: YES), the node Nj is acquired (ST29).

  When a robot moves from a specific position such as a current location, destination, or waypoint outside a pre-registered node or edge network to a pre-registered node or edge network, the node in the network Of these, it is reasonable to select a node as close as possible to the specific position. Therefore, among the acquired nodes Nj, edges are registered only for nodes that satisfy two conditions. As a first condition, it is assumed that the distance between the node UNk and the node Nj is smaller than a predetermined threshold T, for example, a distance of 5 m as a unit suitable for route determination (ST30). That is, the node Nj existing in the range of the distance within the threshold T from the node UNk is searched. The threshold T can be set to a value different from the threshold used in the processing flow shown in FIG. 4 as necessary. As a second condition, a search is made for a node Nj where there is no obstacle between the node UNk and the node Nj or there is no area that is not suitable for the robot to pass due to high fever (ST31). If the node Nj satisfying such conditions is acquired, the edge UEkj is registered between the node UNk and the node Nj (ST32), the process flow proceeds to ST33, the counter is set to j = j + 1, and the process returns to ST27. Search for a new node Nj.

  If all the nodes Nj have been searched in ST27, the counter is set to k = k + 1 and the process returns to ST24 to search for a new node UNk. If all the nodes UNk are searched in ST24, all the edges Eij and UEkj through which the robot can pass are registered. Therefore, the edge from the current position to the destination using a known method The shortest course that passes through Eij and UEkj is calculated (ST35). FIG. 7 shows an edge UEkj that reaches the network from a specific position such as a current position HP, a destination A, or a transit point (not shown) outside the network in addition to the already registered node Nij or edge Eij network. (Claim 2).

  For example, when a command to move from the current position HP to the destination point A is input on the monitor on which the plan view is displayed, a route HP that can reach the point A with the shortest distance while connecting the registered edges, for example, HP to c to e. Since L2 to A are automatically searched, the robot may move by following the route sequentially. Note that the setting of the movement route is not always appropriate because the difference in the flatness of the floor, the degree of inclination, the degree of congestion, etc. is not taken into account only by the distance on the map. It may not be. Therefore, it is preferable to calculate an evaluation value considering the required time and energy consumption, and to select a route having the highest evaluation value (claim 3). The evaluation value calculation criteria may be set in advance by the operator, or the result of actual movement of the robot may be accumulated as an experience value so that the value is reflected at the next time.

  On the other hand, the robot autonomously moving in this way moves while recognizing the moving distance and direction based on the displacement amount of the gyrocompass and the actuator, but the self-position calculated by the current position detector 15 is an estimated value to the last, It does not represent absolute coordinates on the moving plane. Therefore, the landmarks L1 and L2 installed directly on the floor surface as absolute coordinates are prepared in appropriate places, and when the moving distance exceeds a predetermined value, a route is sure to pass through one of the landmarks L1 and L2. Is set, and the current position is corrected when passing through the landmarks L1 and L2, so that accumulation of errors during movement can be avoided (claim 4). The landmarks L1 and L2 are not limited to those visually recognized, but may be a magnetic signal transmitter installed on the floor.

  Further, it may be impossible to pass between certain nodes in the route map by rearranging furniture. In order to cope with such a situation immediately, it is preferable that the operator can arbitrarily delete and change the registered edge (claim 5). For example, if the edges c to e are deleted when the edge between the node c and the node e becomes impassable for some reason, the target point A from the current position HP is reached at the shortest distance without passing through the edges c to e. The routes HP to b to d to L1 to f to A are selected as the routes that can be reached.

  As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to perform a complicated calculation for avoiding obstacles as in the prior art, and the calculation amount is enormous with all settable edges as calculation targets. Without doing so, the shortest course from the initial position to the destination can be determined easily and quickly. In particular, if the number and positions of nodes to be set are determined in a planned manner, the present invention can be implemented more suitably.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the robot with which this invention is applied. It is a layout figure which shows the movement area of the robot with which this invention is applied. FIG. 6 is a layout diagram illustrating a state in which nodes are set / registered. It is a processing flowchart regarding the registration of the edge by this invention. It is a layout figure explaining the state where the edge was registered. It is a flowchart in connection with the process which sets the movement path | route of the robot to a target point. It is a layout figure explaining the state where the movement route of the robot to a target point was set up.

Explanation of symbols

7 Map data (map management means)
11a Edge setting processing unit 11b Route calculation processing unit 13 User terminal (input means)
15 Current position detection unit (current position detection means)
L1 ・ L2 Landmark F1 to F3 Fixed object a to f Node (via candidate point)

Claims (7)

A movement path generation device for an autonomous mobile robot,
Map management means for managing a map describing information related to positions of a plurality of nodes and at least one obstacle position set in advance as via candidate points in the movement area of the robot;
Edge setting means for setting an edge as a straight line to be passed by a robot that connects the nodes to each other based on a predetermined criterion;
Current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the robot on the map;
Input means for setting the destination of the robot on the map;
Path calculating means for calculating a path from the current position of the robot to the destination so as to optimize a predetermined reference by connecting the edges;
The movement path generation apparatus for an autonomous mobile robot, wherein the edge setting means sets the edge only for a node that is within a predetermined distance from each node and has no obstacle in the middle. The edge setting means recognizes the current position of the robot on the map as an additional node other than a node set in advance in the map, and sets the additional node as the node set in advance based on a predetermined criterion. It has a function to set an additional edge as a straight line that the connecting robot should pass,
The autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the route calculation unit and the edge setting unit target the additional edge in addition to the edge based on the preset node. Travel path generator.   The movement path generation device for an autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the reference to be optimized by the calculation means includes time, distance, or energy consumption.   4. The movement path generation device for an autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the node includes a landmark installed in the movement area so that the node can be detected by the robot. .   5. The movement of an autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the input means is adapted to set at least one waypoint as an additional node to be routed by the robot. Route generator.   6. The movement path generation apparatus for an autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the input means includes display means for displaying an image of a movement area of the robot.   The movement of the autonomous mobile robot according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the current position detection means is provided in the robot and transfers the information to the input means. Route generator.

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