JP2006239797A - Robot charging and guiding system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot charging and guiding system, steadily guiding a robot to a charging device only by non-directional guide signal without a directional guide signal. <P>SOLUTION: In this robot charging and guiding system, the robot is guided to the charging device and charged. The charging device 40 includes: a sound wave transmitting part 47 for transmitting a non-directional guide sound wave signal. The robot 20 includes: at least two sound wave receiving parts 33, 34 independently receiving a guide sound wave signal from the sound wave transmitting part 47 at positions spaced from each other; a charging device position specifying part 37 transmitting a guide sound wave signal on the basis of the guide sound wave signals received from the respective sound wave receiving parts 33, 34 and specifying the position of the charging device 40; and a moving mechanism 35 for moving the robot 20 to the position specified by the charging device position specifying part 37. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot charging induction system that performs charging by guiding an autonomous mobile robot equipped with a charging power source as a power source to a charging device.

  In recent years, autonomous mobile robots that perform various operations and operations such as surveillance robots, cleaning robots, and pet robots have been used. Such an autonomous mobile robot usually uses electric power as a power source, but in order to prevent the robot's actionable range from being restricted by the power supply power cord, it is equipped with a charging power supply and the remaining capacity is reduced. Charging is performed using a charging device.

  Autonomous mobile robots equipped with a charging power supply originally have a self-propelled function, so when a decrease in the remaining amount of charging power is detected, a moving mechanism using legs and wheels is driven to automatically charge the robot. It is desirable to move to (charging station). Therefore, a guidance system for autonomously guiding the robot to the charging device has been devised.

For example, a system that guides a robot to a power supply location by infrared guidance (see Patent Document 1), a system that guides the charging apparatus by wireless signal and image recognition from a charging device (see Patent Document 2), and non-distant guidance A system (refer to Patent Document 3) that performs a directional induction signal and guides it with a directional induction signal using radio waves, sound waves, or light when approaching a charging device is disclosed.
JP 2004-275716 A JP 2003-1577 A Utility Model Registration No. 3064884

However, in a guidance system using an optical guidance signal such as an infrared guidance method as in Patent Document 1, when an obstacle exists between the light source and the robot, the guidance signal is not transmitted to the robot, and appropriate guidance is performed. Can not be.
The radio wave induction method as in Patent Document 2 needs to be used under the radio wave method, and there are limitations on the selection of the wavelength of the radio wave. Also, in the image recognition guidance method, as in the case of the infrared guidance method, if there is an obstacle, the target image cannot be obtained and appropriate guidance cannot be performed.
Moreover, in the system like patent document 3, it can guide | invade with the directional induction | guidance | derivation signal by an electromagnetic wave, a sound wave, and light in the step which approached the charging device, but it is necessary to guide | invade with a non-directional signal in the distance far apart Since two kinds of guiding means are required, the structure becomes complicated. It is difficult to accurately identify the position of the charging device when approaching the charging device simply by guiding the entire region from the far field to the proximity region using only non-directional radio waves, sound waves, and light guiding signals.

  Therefore, the present invention is not an optical or electromagnetic guidance system, unlike the conventional guidance system, and it is steadily a robot that uses only a non-directional guidance signal without using a directional guidance signal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot charge induction system that can guide a battery charger to a charging device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, the present invention is a robot charging induction system for charging a robot equipped with a charging power source as a power source by guiding it to a charging device, and the charging device includes a sound wave transmission unit for transmitting a non-directional induced sound wave signal. The robot transmits at least two sound wave receiving units that independently receive the guided sound wave signals from the sound wave transmitting units at positions separated from each other, and transmits the guided sound wave signals based on the induced sound wave signals received by the sound wave receiving units. A charging device position specifying unit for specifying the position of the charging device and a moving mechanism for moving the robot to the position specified by the charging device position specifying unit are provided.
According to the present invention, the charging device transmits a non-directional guided sound wave signal to guide the robot. On the other hand, the robot includes at least two sound wave receiving units, and each sound wave receiving unit independently receives the guided sound wave signal at a position spaced apart from each other. The induced sound wave signals received by each sound wave receiving unit differ in sound pressure and phase difference depending on the distance and direction from the sound wave transmitting unit. The charging device position specifying unit detects the sound pressure and the phase difference by comparing the induced sound wave signals received by the sound wave receiving units, and based on the sound pressure and the phase difference, transmits the sound wave of the charging device that is the sound source. Specify the position and distance of the part. Then, the moving mechanism moves the robot toward the position specified by the charging device position specifying unit.

  Here, the robot of the present invention is, for example, a monitoring robot that patrols the inside of a factory or a house, a cleaning robot that cleans a building or a room, a care for a physically handicapped person or an elderly person in a hospital / facility or home Robots for various purposes, such as a nursing robot that performs a pet, a pet robot that functions as a pet animal, and the like.

  In addition, audible sounds, ultrasonic waves, and millimeter waves can be used as the non-directional induced sound wave signal transmitted from the charging device, but when a guided sound wave is transmitted in a place where a person is present, the person does not care. In order to do so, it is preferable to use non-audible sounds. In an environment where there are many obstacles, it is preferable to use a sound wave signal on the short wavelength side as much as possible in order to make the sound wave signal easily circulate.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the sound wave receiving unit is attached to the housing of the robot so as to easily receive the guided sound wave signal from the sound wave transmitting unit. In addition, it is advantageous that the distance between the sound wave receiving units is as far as possible when the positions are specified from the difference in sound pressure and phase difference.

  Two sound wave receivers are sufficient, but if the increase in the number of parts does not matter, three or more may be provided in the robot housing. In this case, the position of the sound wave transmitting unit may be specified based on the guided sound wave signals respectively received by the three or more sound wave receiving units. For example, among the three or more sound wave receiving units, the received guided sound wave It is also possible to select the two sound wave receivers having the highest sound pressure of the signal and specify the position of the sound wave transmitter based on the induced sound wave signal received by the two selected sound wave receivers.

  According to the present invention, since the robot can be guided to the charging device using only the non-directional sound wave signal, even if there is an obstacle between the position of the robot and the charging device (the sound wave is an obstacle). The structure can be simplified because it is not necessary to use a directional induction signal together. In addition, since radio waves are not used, there is no limitation of the Radio Law. In addition, since the side that transmits the guided sound wave is the charging device side, even if the sound wave is constantly transmitted, there is no possibility that the sound cannot be transmitted due to insufficient power.

(Means and effects for solving other problems)
In the above invention, the guided sound wave signal transmitted from the sound wave transmitting unit includes an identifiable signal pattern, the robot further includes a signal pattern storage unit that stores the signal pattern of the guided sound wave signal, and the charging device position specifying unit stores the signal pattern. The induced sound wave signal and noise may be identified by referring to the signal pattern stored in the unit.
According to this, since the induced sound wave signal transmitted by the sound wave transmission unit includes a signal pattern, even when noise is mixed, by referring to the specific signal pattern stored in the signal pattern storage unit, The induced sound wave signal can be extracted by removing noise, and thereby the exact position of the charging device can be specified.

In the above invention, the robot charging guidance system includes a plurality of charging devices, the sound wave transmitting unit of each charging device transmits a guiding sound wave signal having a different signal pattern, and the charging device position specifying unit is based on the signal pattern. The position of the charging device that is to guide the robot may be specified.
According to this, since each charging device transmits an induced sound wave signal having a different signal pattern, the charging device position specifying unit of the robot stores the induced sound wave signal received by each sound wave receiving unit in the signal pattern storage unit. With reference to the stored signal pattern, the charging device recognizes the signal pattern. And the induced sound wave signal of the signal pattern of the charging device to be induced is extracted, and the position of the charging device from which the corresponding induced sound wave signal is transmitted is specified based on the sound pressure and the phase difference. In this way, the robot can be guided to the desired charging device.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, a robot charge induction system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a monitoring robot that patrols and monitors a preset area will be described as an example. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a robot charge induction system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external configuration diagram thereof.
First, the external appearance of the system will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the robot charging guidance system 10 includes a robot 20 and a charging device 40.
The robot 20 has a flat cylindrical housing 21 and is provided with a wheel 222 (or a leg mechanism) for movement at the bottom. A pair of microphones 23 and 24 are attached to the left and right symmetrical positions of the housing 21 at a distance. On the bottom surface of the housing 21, a connector 25 is attached for electrical connection with the charging device 40 during charging. The robot 20 is also equipped with various sensors such as a temperature sensor, an odor sensor, and a monitoring camera necessary for the monitoring function, but illustration and detailed description thereof are omitted (when the monitoring function is executed). The microphones 23 and 24 are used as sound sensors).

The charging device 40 includes a housing 42 in which a step portion 41 is formed, and a connector 43 for electrically connecting to the connector 25 on the robot 20 side at the time of charging is provided near the center of the upper surface of the step portion 41. It is attached.
In addition, a speaker 44 that transmits a non-directional guided sound wave signal is attached to an upper central portion of the housing device 42. From the speaker 44, a guided sound wave signal having a unique signal pattern that can be distinguished from noise is transmitted.

  When the robot 20 and the charging device 40 are docked for charging, the housing 21 overlaps the stepped portion 41, and the connector 25 and the connector 43 are in contact with each other.

Next, the configuration of this system will be described in detail with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
The robot 20 includes a control unit 30 formed by a CPU and a memory, a charging power source 31, a power receiving unit 32 that receives power using a connector 25, a first sound wave receiving unit 33 that receives sound waves by the microphone 23, and a sound wave by the microphone 24. And a moving mechanism 35 that moves the robot 20 using wheels, a motor, and a power transmission mechanism. The charging device 40 includes a charging device main body 45 that performs charging with electric power supplied from a commercial power line, a power feeding unit 46 that supplies power to the robot 20 using the connector 43 during charging, and an induced sound wave that is transmitted from the speaker 44. It is comprised from the sound wave transmission part 47 which controls a signal.
The sound wave transmitting unit 47 always transmits a guided sound wave signal having a unique pattern as shown in FIG.

  The control contents of the control unit 30 of the robot 20 will be described separately for each function. The remaining capacity detection unit 36 for detecting the remaining capacity of the charging power source, the charging device position specifying unit 37 for specifying the position of the charging device 40, and the charging device And a signal pattern storage unit 38 for storing the induced sound wave signal pattern transmitted from 40.

  The remaining capacity detection unit 36 sequentially monitors the voltage between the terminals of the charging power supply 31, and determines that charging is necessary when the voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold voltage, and controls to switch to a mode for charging operation.

When the charging device position specifying unit 37 enters the mode for the charging operation, the sound pressure or phase difference of the induced sound wave signals received by the microphone 23 (first sound wave receiving unit 33) and the microphone 24 (second sound wave receiving unit 34). Based on the above, the current direction of the robot 20 with respect to the speaker 44 (sound wave transmission unit 47), or the direction and distance are calculated. The position specification (direction and distance specification) based on the sound pressure of the induced sound wave signal and the position specification (direction specification) based on the phase difference of the induced sound wave signal will be described.
When obtaining the direction by sound pressure, the robot 20 is placed in advance at a reference position where the distance from the speaker 44 (sound wave transmission unit 47) is known, and a reference signal with known sound pressure is transmitted, as shown in FIG. The relationship between sound pressure and distance is stored (or a relational expression is obtained). When the direction is actually obtained, the sound pressure is measured, the distance between the microphone 23 and the sound wave transmission unit 47, the distance between the microphone 24 and the sound wave transmission unit 47, and the distance between the microphone 23 and the microphone 24 are obtained. Since it is known (determined by the mounting positions of the two microphones), the sound source direction is grasped by triangulation. In this case, the distance to the sound source can also be grasped.
When obtaining the direction based on the phase difference, the phase difference between the induced sound wave signal received by the microphone 23 shown in FIG. 3B and the induced sound wave signal received by the microphone 24 shown in FIG. Before and after, it is ascertained whether the sound source is left or right, and the traveling direction of the robot is determined so that the phase difference is not always small, so that it approaches the sound source direction. In this case, the direction can be grasped with higher accuracy than when the direction of the charging device 40 is grasped by sound pressure, but the distance cannot be grasped.

If only the direction can be grasped, guidance is possible without necessarily grasping the distance. For example, by providing a collision prevention mechanism that functions when the robot approaches the charging device (for example, a sensor that detects the approach), it can be safely guided to the charging device. It is more preferable to guide the robot using both sound pressure and phase difference data, since it is possible to guide the robot accurately and safely after grasping the above.
The charging device position specifying unit 37 refers to the signal pattern stored in the signal pattern storage unit 38 and is received by the microphone 23 (first sound wave receiving unit 33) and the microphone 24 (second sound wave receiving unit 34). Filtering processing is performed to remove noise from the sound wave signal (which may contain noise) and extract only the induced sound wave signal.

  The signal pattern storage unit 38 stores a signal pattern of the induced sound wave signal shown in FIG. 3A transmitted from the speaker 44 (sound wave transmission unit 47). As described above, the charging device position specifying unit 37 compares the pattern stored in the signal pattern storage unit 38 with the sound wave signal received by the sound wave receiving units 33 and 34, thereby reducing the noise component of the received sound wave signal. Filtering is performed so that only the induced sound wave signal from the charging device 47 can be accurately extracted. FIG. 3D shows a waveform when noise is superimposed on the induced sound wave signal, and FIG. 3E shows the induced sound wave signal after the noise is filtered.

Next, the robot guidance operation by this system will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation procedure executed by the robot charge induction system of the present invention.
When the robot 20 is started and the operation is started (s101), a normal operation for executing the original function of the robot is performed (s102). In this example, since a monitoring robot is used, a monitoring operation for patroling a predetermined area is performed.
During normal operation, the remaining amount of the charging power source 31 is checked at regular time intervals (s103). When charging is not necessary, normal operation is continued. When the remaining amount is low, the speaker 44 of the charging device 40 (sound wave The induced sound wave signal transmitted from the transmitting unit 47) is received (s104).
At this time, if the guided sound wave signal cannot be received, the robot 20 is moved by the moving mechanism 35 to search for a position where the sound wave can be received (s105). When the sound wave signal is received, it is compared with the signal pattern stored in the signal pattern storage unit 38 to perform a filtering process for removing the noise component and extracting the induced sound wave signal (s106). Then, based on the sound pressure and phase difference of the extracted guided sound wave signal, the direction of the sound source, that is, the direction of the charging device is grasped (s107). At this time, the distance as well as the direction may be grasped from the sound pressure data as necessary. When the direction of the sound source, that is, the charging device 40 is grasped, the moving mechanism 35 moves the robot 20 toward the charging device 40 (s108).
It is confirmed whether the robot 20 has reached the charging device 40 (s109). If not, the process returns to s104, and the same approaching operation is repeated. When it reaches, the charging operation is started (s110). With the above operation, the robot 20 can be charged. When the charging is finished, the process returns to s102 and the normal operation is repeated.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a robot charge induction system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a second charging device 50 is further added to the system configuration described in FIG. 1, and a plurality of charging devices are arranged in the system. The robot 20 and the charging device 40 are the same as those in FIG.

  The charging device 50 has the same basic structure as the charging device 40, and is a power supply that supplies power to the robot 20 using the connector 53 during charging and a charging device body 55 that performs charging with power supplied from a commercial power line. Unit 56 and a sound wave transmission unit 57 for controlling the induced sound wave signal transmitted from the speaker 54. However, the signal pattern of the induced sound wave signal transmitted from the sound wave transmitting unit 57 is a unique pattern different from that of the charging device 40. Further, the charging device main body 55 may have the same performance as the charging device main body 45 or a different performance. For example, one can be used as a charging device main body for high-speed charging and the other as a charging device main body for normal charging, and can be used properly depending on the situation.

  The signal pattern storage unit 38 of the robot device 20 stores both the signal pattern of the charging device 40 and the signal pattern of the charging device 50, and compares them with the signal pattern of the signal received by the charging device position specifying unit 37. In addition, the charging sound wave signal from which charging device can be immediately grasped.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the guiding operation according to the present embodiment. When the robot 20 is started and the operation is started (s201), a normal operation for executing the original function of the robot is performed (s202).
During the normal operation, the remaining amount of the charging power source is checked at regular time intervals (s203). When there is no need for charging, the normal operation is continued. When the remaining amount is low, the charging device 40 or the charging device 50 makes a call. The guided acoustic wave signal is received (s204).
At this time, if the guided sound wave signal cannot be received, the robot 20 is moved by the moving mechanism 35 to search for a position where the sound wave can be received (s205). When the sound wave signal is received, a filtering process is performed to remove the noise component and extract the induced sound wave signal by comparing with the signal pattern stored in the signal pattern storage unit 38 (s206). Further, it is determined whether or not the extracted signal pattern is from the charging device on the side to be reached (s207). If it is a signal pattern from a charging device that is not the side to be reached, the process returns to s205, moves again, and moves to a position where another sound wave signal can be received. If it is a signal pattern from the charging device on the side to be reached, the direction of the sound source, that is, the direction of the charging device is grasped based on the sound pressure or phase difference of the extracted induced sound wave signal (s208). At this time, the distance as well as the direction may be grasped from the sound pressure data as necessary. When the direction of the desired charging device is grasped, the robot 20 is moved toward the charging device 40 by the moving mechanism 35 (s209).
It is confirmed whether or not the robot 20 has reached the desired charging device (s210). If not reached, the process returns to s204 and the same approaching operation is repeated. When it reaches, the charging operation is started (s211). With the above operation, the robot 20 can be guided to the desired charging device 40 or the charging device 50 to perform desired charging. When the charging is completed, the process returns to s202 and the normal operation is repeated.

In the above embodiment, the system includes one robot 20, the charging device 40, and the charging device 50. However, the number of charging devices may be further increased and each may have a unique signal pattern.
Further, a plurality of robots may be used. When a plurality of robots are used, the charging devices used for charging may be different for each robot. For example, different signal patterns may be registered for each robot and guided to the charging device of the registered signal pattern. Of course, all the robots may be able to charge from any of the charging devices.
Thus, since each robot can identify the charging device by the signal pattern, it may be guided to the optimal charging device depending on the purpose.

  The present invention can be used in a charge induction system for charging a robot equipped with a charging power source.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a robot charge induction system that is an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external view of a robot charge induction system that is an embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining a robot guidance sound wave signal. The figure explaining the relationship between sound pressure and distance. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure by the robot charge induction system of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the robot charge guidance system which is other one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure by the robot charge induction system of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Robot charge induction system 20 Robot 21 Case 23, 24 Microphone 30 Control part 31 Charging power supply 33 1st sound wave reception part 34 2nd sound wave reception part 35 Moving mechanism 37 Charging apparatus position specification part 38 Signal pattern memory | storage part 40 Charging apparatus 44 Sound wave transmitter 45 Charging device body

Claims (3)

A robot charge induction system for charging a robot equipped with a charging power source as a power source by guiding it to a charging device,
The charging device includes a sound wave transmitting unit that transmits a non-directional guided sound wave signal,
The robot receives at least two sound wave reception units that independently receive the induced sound wave signals from the sound wave transmission units at positions separated from each other, and charging that transmits the induced sound wave signals based on the induced sound wave signals received by each sound wave reception unit A robot charging guidance system comprising: a charging device position specifying unit for specifying a position of the device; and a moving mechanism for moving the robot to a position specified by the charging device position specifying unit. The guided sound wave signal transmitted by the sound wave transmitting unit includes an identifiable signal pattern, the robot further includes a signal pattern storage unit that stores the signal pattern of the guided sound wave signal, and the charging device position specifying unit is stored in the signal pattern storage unit. The robot charge induction system according to claim 1, wherein the induced sound wave signal and the noise are identified by referring to the obtained signal pattern. The robot charging guidance system has a plurality of charging devices, the sound wave transmitting unit of each charging device transmits a guiding sound wave signal having a different signal pattern, and the charging device position specifying unit attempts to guide the robot based on the signal pattern. The robot charging induction system according to claim 1, wherein the position of the charging device is specified.

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