JP2006350601A - Moving monitoring robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the capability of guard by making it difficult to predict and discriminate an intensively monitored place and a non-intensively monitored place on a patrol route. <P>SOLUTION: This moving monitoring robot 2 collects security information by moving autonomously by a movement means along a specified movement route. A storage part 21 of the moving monitoring robot 2 stores in advance a significant position monitored to be a position where the robot always stops on the movement route. A stop position table processing part 22 is equivalent to a stop position generation part and generates the specified number of stop positions at random where the robot stops on the movement routs before it starts moving along the movement route. A movement control unit 13 controls a movement means 11 on the basis of its own current position so that the robots stops at the position for a specified period of time when the current position coincides with the significant position to be monitored or the stop position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile monitoring robot that collects security information by moving a predetermined moving path with a moving means, and more particularly, to a technique for improving monitoring capability by making it difficult to predict the movement of the robot.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mobile monitoring robot that includes various security sensors, circulates a predetermined route, and collects security information is known.

Such a movement monitoring robot is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. This prior art document discloses a moving body that stops a predetermined time when it moves along a predetermined patrol route and reaches a warning position, and activates a security sensor during the stop to monitor an abnormal situation at the warning position. ing. This moving body resumes the movement of the patrol route when a predetermined time elapses at the alert position, and ends all operations when the patrol end position is reached.
JP-A-8-44985 (page 3-4, FIG. 2, FIG. 3)

  However, since the moving body disclosed in Patent Document 1 stops only in the guard position in the patrol route, the third point of observation from the outside is where the emphasis is being monitored in the patrol route. May be guessed by a person. For this reason, there is a problem that a place where monitoring is focused and a place where monitoring is not performed are easily overlooked, which is not preferable in terms of security.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile monitoring robot that makes it difficult to guess a place to be monitored on a patrol route and a place that is not so.

  The movement monitoring robot according to the present invention autonomously moves along a predetermined movement route by a moving means and collects security information. The movement monitoring robot includes a storage unit that stores in advance an important monitoring position that is a position that must be stopped on the movement path, and a predetermined stop that stops on the movement path before starting movement along the movement path. A stop position generation unit that randomly generates a number of stop positions, a position determination unit that determines its current position, and if the current position matches the important monitoring position or the stop position, the position is stopped for a predetermined time. A movement control unit for controlling the moving means.

  With this configuration, a predetermined number of stop positions other than the important monitoring positions are set at random, and the moving means is controlled to stop at the important monitoring positions and the stop positions. Since the mobile monitoring robot stops at positions other than the important monitoring position, and the stop position changes at random, it is possible to make it difficult to guess a focused monitoring place on the patrol route and a place other than that.

  The storage unit may previously store candidate positions to be stopped as a plurality of stop position candidates, and the stop position generation unit may randomly select from the stop position candidates as a stop position. With this configuration, a plurality of stop position candidates are set in addition to the important monitoring position, and stop positions are randomly selected from the plurality of stop position candidates.

  More specifically, the movement monitoring robot has at least one important monitoring position and information on a plurality of stop position candidates set in advance on the movement route, and a stop having information on a stop position selected from the plurality of stop position candidates. A storage unit that stores a position table; a position determination unit that determines that the current position is the important monitoring position or the stop position; and the important monitoring position or the stop position according to a determination result of the position determination unit The movement control unit for stopping the movement by the moving unit for a predetermined time, a random number generation unit for generating a random number, and a stop position randomly selected from the plurality of stop position candidates based on the random number, and the stop position table And a stop position table generating unit that stores the information. With such a configuration, the stop position can be suitably set randomly by processing the stop position table.

  In the mobile monitoring robot of the present invention, the storage unit further stores in advance a stop time list in which a plurality of stop time candidates are stored, and the predetermined time is randomly selected from the stop time list with respect to the stop position. The time when the stop time is elected is sufficient. More specifically, the stop position generation unit selects a stop time from the stop time list based on a random number for the stop position selected from the plurality of stop position candidates, and stores the stop time as the stop time of the stop position. If the current position is the stop position, the movement control unit may stop the movement by the moving means during the stop time stored corresponding to the stop position.

  With this configuration, the stop time at each stop position is set at random. Since the stop time varies depending on the location, this also makes it difficult to guess the important monitoring location on the patrol route and the location that is not. In addition, by changing the stop time at random, the movement of the mobile monitoring robot becomes irregular and becomes more difficult to predict, and the security capability can be further improved.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a monitoring system. The monitoring system is a mobile monitoring robot that autonomously moves along a predetermined movement route by a moving means to collect security information, and a monitoring that communicates with the mobile monitoring robot. Including the center.

  In the monitoring system of the present invention, the mobile monitoring robot may have the above configuration, and the stop position may be generated by the mobile monitoring robot.

  The monitoring system may be configured to provide the mobile monitoring robot with a stop position table generated at the monitoring center. As a configuration of the monitoring system in this case, the monitoring center includes a storage unit that stores in advance an important monitoring position that is a position where the movement monitoring robot always stops on the movement path, and the movement center on the movement path. Communication for transmitting a stop position generation unit that randomly generates a predetermined number of stop positions at which the movement monitoring robot stops, and transmitting the important monitoring position and the stop position generated by the stop position generation unit to the movement monitoring robot The mobile monitoring robot includes a communication unit that receives the important monitoring position and the stop position from the monitoring center, a position determination unit that determines its current position, and the current position is the important position. A movement control unit that controls the moving means so as to stop at the position for a predetermined time if the position coincides with the monitoring position or the stop position. In this configuration, a stop position is generated at the monitoring center, and the stop position is transmitted from the monitoring center to the mobile monitoring robot. Also with this configuration, the stop position changes randomly, and the above-described advantages of the present invention can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to make it difficult to guess the important monitoring place on the patrol route and the place where it is not, so that the security can be improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a monitoring system using a mobile monitoring robot according to the present invention. The monitoring system 1 includes a mobile monitoring robot 2 and a monitoring center 3, and the mobile monitoring robot 2 and the monitoring center 3 can communicate with each other. As an overview of the monitoring system 1, the mobile monitoring robot 2 moves along a patrol route set in a predetermined environment serving as a guard area, and stops at a predetermined important monitoring position for a predetermined time during the movement, Security information is collected during the patrol process including moving and stopping. Here, in addition to the important monitoring position, the mobile monitoring robot according to the present embodiment randomly selects a point to stop moving from a plurality of points set in the patrol route, and guards while stopping at the corresponding position. Collect information and go around.

  The movement monitoring robot 2 includes an obstacle detection unit that detects surrounding objects, a security sensor that detects abnormalities such as a fire, an imaging unit that captures surrounding conditions, an image processing unit that detects moving objects from captured images, and the like. When security information is collected and it is determined that an abnormal situation has occurred, an abnormal signal is transmitted to the remote monitoring center 3. The obstacle detection unit, the security sensor, and the imaging unit function as a first security information collection unit, and the image processing unit functions as a second security information collection unit. In the case of the present embodiment, the first security information collecting means is configured to always collect security information not only in the important monitoring position but also during the patrol route. On the other hand, the second security information collecting means collects the security information at the important monitoring position, and collects different types of security information from the security information collected by the first security information collecting means. .

  In order to collect the security information, the mobile monitoring robot 2 stores the existing objects in the security area in advance, and scans the surroundings during the patrol to detect other than the existing objects, or to be detected. When an object is not detected, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred. The mobile monitoring robot 2 determines that an abnormality has occurred when an intruder or a fire is detected by operating a security sensor such as a human body detection sensor or a fire sensor during patrol. Furthermore, when the mobile monitoring robot 2 reaches a predetermined important monitoring position during the traveling, the mobile monitoring robot 2 stops the traveling for a predetermined time, performs image processing on the captured image, and monitors the surroundings by image sensing to detect a moving object.

  The monitoring center 3 is provided with a center device 4, the center device 4 is connected to a communication network 5, a wireless base station 6 is further connected to the communication network 5, and the wireless base station 6 is connected to the mobile monitoring robot 2. Wirelessly communicate with. As a result, the monitoring center 3 communicates with the mobile monitoring robot 2 via the communication network 5 and the wireless base station 6. Then, the controller monitors the guard area based on information transmitted from the mobile monitoring robot 2 via the communication network 5 and the wireless base station 6.

  The center device 4 includes a display unit configured by a liquid crystal monitor, a CRT, and the like, an input unit configured by a keyboard, a joystick, a pointing device, and the like, and a computer including a CPU and the like, and controls the center device 4 And a communication unit that communicates with the mobile monitoring robot 2. The display unit displays position information of the mobile monitoring robot 2, an image taken by the mobile monitoring robot 2, information on an abnormality detected by the mobile monitoring robot 2, and the like. The input unit is operated by a controller, thereby inputting information such as a predetermined command and a reference schedule for patrol. The control unit expands the signal received from the movement monitoring robot 2 and displays it on the display unit, and transmits a control signal to the movement monitoring robot 2 based on the command input from the input unit.

  In the monitoring center 3, when an abnormality signal is received from the mobile monitoring robot 2, the controller confirms the information on the abnormality, and when the presence of the abnormality is recognized, a control signal is transmitted to the mobile monitoring robot 2 to deal with the abnormality. In this abnormality handling process, for example, a control signal for remotely operating the movement monitoring robot 2 is sent.

  Next, the configuration of the movement monitoring robot 2 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the movement monitoring robot 2 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the movement monitoring robot 2 includes a moving means 11, a guide detection unit 12, a movement control unit 13, a self-position detection unit 14, an obstacle detection unit 15, a security sensor 16, an imaging unit 17, an image processing unit 18, It comprises an abnormality determination unit 19, a timing unit 20, a storage unit 21, a stop position table processing unit 22, a communication unit 23, a control unit 24 that controls these units, and a battery 25 that supplies power to each unit. The configuration of each part will be described below.

  The moving means 11 is composed of motors 33 and 34 that independently drive the right wheel 31, the left wheel 32, and the left and right wheels. The movement monitoring robot 2 has four wheels as shown in FIG. 1, and two of them, a right wheel 31 and a left wheel 32, function as drive wheels. These driving wheels rotate and the movement monitoring robot 2 travels. The straight traveling speed and the turning traveling speed are controlled by the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels, and the turning direction is also controlled. The rotational speeds of the left and right wheels are independently controlled by the movement control unit 13.

  Instead of controlling the left and right wheels independently as described above, a method of controlling the turning angle by controlling the steering angle may be adopted. Further, instead of wheel driving, a method of independently controlling the left and right crawlers may be employed.

  The guide detection unit 12 detects a guide unit that instructs a patrol route that is a movement route of the movement monitoring robot 2. FIG. 3 is a view showing a guarded area where the mobile monitoring robot 2 is used, and FIG. 3 shows guide means. As shown in the figure, a white line tape 101 as a guide means is fixedly provided over the entire length of the route in a patrol route in which a predetermined mobile robot 2 circulates in the guard area. The movement monitoring robot 2 detects the white line tape by the guide detection unit 12 and recognizes the patrol route.

  In addition to the white line tape 101, an instruction marker 103 as point instruction means is fixedly provided at a predetermined point in the patrol route. The instruction marker 103 is a white rectangular mark that is provided at a plurality of points in the tour route such as the boundary of the section set in the tour route and the important monitoring position, and teaches each point to the mobile robot 2. The important monitoring position may also serve as the boundary of the section, and may be provided separately from the boundary of the section. The movement monitoring robot 2 detects the instruction marker 103 by the guide detection unit 12 and recognizes an important monitoring position and other points set in the patrol route.

  Here, the boundary of a section is, for example, a point where a straight line changes to a curve and vice versa, an arbitrary point on a circular route such as on a straight line or a curve, or a point where a route branches. The important monitoring position is a position where a preset important monitoring target exists, and is a position where the mobile monitoring robot 2 stops for a predetermined time during patrol and monitors the surroundings.

  Information on the position where the instruction marker 103 is installed is stored in advance in the storage unit 21 as part of the route information. In the route information, a unique marker number is assigned to each indication marker 103, and information on the corresponding indication marker 103 is included in the route information corresponding to each marker number. The route information includes information for specifying the instruction marker 103 at the boundary of the section and the instruction marker 103 at the important monitoring position. In addition, information such as a section number and coordinate information of each indication marker 103 are also associated with the marker number. Details of the route information will be described later.

  In the present embodiment, marker positions other than the important monitoring positions are treated as stop position candidates, a stop position is selected from the stop position candidates, and the mobile monitoring robot 2 stops at the stop position and the important monitoring position. Will do.

  The guide detection unit 12 includes a white line detection camera 41 and a road surface information extraction unit 42. The white line detection camera 41 is installed on the bottom surface of the movement monitoring robot 2 so that the road surface can be photographed. The road surface information extraction unit 42 is realized by a computer of the movement monitoring robot 2 and has an image processing function. From the captured image of the white line detection camera 41 by processing such as edge extraction and Hough conversion, the road surface information extraction unit 42 The white line tape 101 and the instruction marker 103 that should guide the route are detected and output to the control unit 24.

  Then, the control unit 24 determines the start point and end point of each section of the cyclic route based on the detection information of the instruction marker 103 input from the road surface information extraction unit 42 of the guide detection unit 12 when traveling on the cyclic route. To detect. That is, the number of detections of the pointing marker 103 is counted, and the current section is determined by determining the marker number of the pointing marker detected based on the number of detections and the path information.

  At this time, the control unit 24 determines whether or not the detected indication marker 103 is an important monitoring position or a stop position based on the stop position table. The stop position table is a table in which stop position markers selected from the important monitoring position marker and other instruction markers are recorded. Here, the control unit 24 functions as a position determination unit that determines that the current position is the important monitoring position or the stop position. If the current position is the important monitoring position or the stop position, the control unit 24 stops traveling and measures the time. 20 starts counting the stop time. If the position is an important monitoring position, the image processing unit 18 is operated, and the captured image input from the imaging unit 17 is processed to monitor the surroundings and detect a moving object. The image processing unit 18 performs image processing on the captured image to extract a moving object, and detects an intruder based on the image feature amount of the moving object.

  In addition, the guide detection part 12 is not limited to the said structure, Moreover, a guide means and a point instruction | indication means are not limited to said structure. For example, you may comprise the guide detection part 12 with a magnetic sensor, an electromagnetic induction sensor, etc. In this case, the guide detection unit 12 may be configured to detect a guide unit installed on the patrol route, a magnetic guide as a point indicating unit, an electromagnetic induction guide, and an RF tag. It is preferable that the guide unit, the point instruction unit, and the guide detection unit 12 can be selected depending on the installation environment.

  Further, a plurality of points such as the boundary between the route and the section on the route and the important monitoring position may be stored in the form of the coordinate information on the environment map without providing the guide unit or the point instruction unit on the route. The mobile monitoring robot 2 recognizes the patrol route and each point on the route from the position information calculated by the dead reckoning or GPS and the environment map stored in the storage unit 21 and travels according to the recognition result. 2 may be configured. In this case, the control unit 24 determines the current position and the current section based on input from the self-position detection unit 14 or a GPS reception unit (not shown) instead of the input from the guide detection unit 12.

  The movement control unit 13 is a means for controlling the drive motors 33 and 34 of the moving means 11. The movement control unit 13 controls the drive motors 33 and 34 so as to move along the white line tape 101 according to, for example, well-known PID control according to the detection output of the white line tape by the guide detection unit 12.

  In addition, the movement control unit 13 controls the movement speed based on the traveling information in accordance with the detection of the current section by the control unit 24. The moving speed is stored in the route information. The movement control unit 13 stops driving the moving unit 11 when the movement monitoring robot 2 reaches the stop position while moving on the patrol route.

  The self-position detection unit 14 includes resolvers 51 and 52 and a position calculation unit 53, and functions as a position recognition unit. Resolvers 51 and 52 are installed in motors 33 and 34, respectively, and detect the absolute position of the motor rotation shaft. The resolvers 51 and 52 are one form of rotation amount detection means. The rotation amount detection means is not limited to this, and may be constituted by a rotary encoder or the like.

  The position calculation unit 53 calculates the rotation amount of each of the left and right wheels 31 and 32 from the rotation amount of the motor rotation shaft obtained from the resolver output, and the current position coordinates and posture (robot direction) of the robot on the environment map described later. Is calculated. In this process, the travel distance and the angle change are obtained from the wheel rotation amount, and the position and posture at each time point are captured from these pieces of information. The angle change is calculated from the difference between the rotation amounts of the left and right wheels and the wheel interval. Such position detection is a technique generally known as dead reckoning (autonomous navigation).

  In addition, the position calculation unit 53 corrects the self position obtained by dead reckoning in response to the detection of the pointing marker 103.

  The obstacle detection unit 15 includes an obstacle sensor 61 and an obstacle determination unit 62. The obstacle sensor 61 is sensor means for detecting the relative position of the obstacle. The obstacle sensor 61 irradiates an exploration signal such as a laser beam, a visible ray, an ultrasonic wave, and an infrared ray on the traveling direction of the mobile monitoring robot 2 and its surroundings, and receives a reflection regression signal from the obstacle as a detection signal.

  The obstacle determination unit 62 calculates the relative position of the obstacle from the output of the obstacle sensor 61 and outputs it to the control unit 24. The obstacle determination unit 62 calculates the time from irradiation of the search signal by the obstacle sensor 61 to detection of the reflected regression signal, and the relative distance and relative angle from the irradiation angle of the search signal or the incident angle of the reflection signal to the obstacle. Based on these, the relative position of the obstacle is calculated and output to the control unit 24.

  The security sensor 16 is means for detecting an abnormality of crime prevention and disaster prevention in the security area. Various sensors are known as sensor means for detecting crime prevention and disaster prevention. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which an ultraviolet sensor that detects ultraviolet rays generated when a fire occurs is provided as a security sensor. .

  The mobile monitoring robot 2 determines the occurrence of a fire based on the output of the security sensor 16. Here, as an ultraviolet sensor, the thing of a sunlight blind type which detects the ultraviolet-ray with a wavelength of 190-260 nm which is not contained in sunlight is preferable.

  In addition, the security sensor 16 is not restricted to the structure mentioned above, You may be based on another detection means. For example, the security sensor 16 includes a human body sensor that detects a human body using a known infrared ray or microwave, a fire sensor that detects heat or smoke, and the like, and may detect an intruder or a fire. Of course, two or more of the sensors described above may be provided as the security sensor 16.

  The imaging unit 17 is an imaging unit that is mounted on the movement monitoring robot 2 and images the surroundings of the robot. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the imaging unit 17 is housed in a hexagonal prism housing at the top of the robot. In the housing, six image pickup units are accommodated in six directions, so that the entire visual field in the horizontal direction is covered. An image captured by the imaging unit 19 is buffered in the storage unit 21 and transmitted from the communication unit 23 to the monitoring center 3.

  As described above, the image processing unit 18 performs image processing on the captured image input from the imaging unit 17 to monitor the surroundings and detect a moving object. The image processing unit 18 performs image processing on the captured image to extract a moving object, and detects an intruder based on the image feature amount of the moving object. In this process, the captured image input from the imaging unit 17 is compared with a past image to obtain a difference, and a luminance value change amount between the images is obtained. If the change in luminance value is greater than or equal to the threshold value, a moving object is detected. Furthermore, a feature quantity such as the size and moving speed of the moving object is obtained, and this feature quantity is compared with a reference feature quantity representing an intruder, and if the two match (if the difference is within a predetermined range), the intrusion occurs. A person is detected.

  The abnormality determination unit 19 is a means for determining the presence or absence of an abnormal situation by detecting an object that has entered or disappeared into the security area, the occurrence of a fire, or the like based on the outputs of the obstacle detection unit 15 or the security sensor 16. The abnormality determination unit 19 outputs an abnormality signal to the control unit 24 when detecting the occurrence of an abnormal situation.

  The abnormality determination unit 19 compares the existing object information indicating the position of the existing object stored in the storage area 21 and the output of the obstacle detection unit 15 to determine whether there is an abnormal situation. That is, the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that an intruder exists and an abnormality has occurred when an object is detected by the obstacle detection unit 15 at a position where no existing object exists. Moreover, the abnormality determination part 19 determines with the abnormality which the existing object lose | disappeared when the existing object was not detected by the obstruction detection part.

  Further, the abnormality determination unit 19 determines whether or not the output of the security sensor 16 exceeds a threshold value for determining that a fire has occurred, and determines that an abnormality has occurred if the threshold value is exceeded. .

  Furthermore, the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that an abnormality has occurred when an intruder is detected by the image processing unit 18, and also outputs an abnormality signal to the control unit 24 at this time.

  The timer 20 is a means for detecting the current time. The timer 20 is a means for measuring a predetermined time. The timer unit 20 is realized by a clock function of a computer.

  The storage unit 21 stores information used for various processes in the movement monitoring robot 2. The information stored in the storage unit 21 includes route information 71 indicating information on a patrol route, an environment map 72 indicating a guard area in a two-dimensional coordinate system, a stop time list 73 that is a list of stop time candidates, An important monitoring position and a stop position table 74 indicating stop positions are included.

  As the route information 71, the section number of each section (section from the instruction marker 103 at a certain section boundary to the instruction marker 103 at the next section boundary) in the cyclic path corresponding to the marker number of the instruction marker 103 at the section boundary. The section end point (marker number), the moving speed of each section, the branch moving direction, the section distance measured in advance, and the azimuth difference (angle difference) between the start point and end point of the section are stored. Further, the route information 71 includes information on the marker number of the pointing marker 103 that is an important monitoring position and the monitoring time at that position (as described above, the important monitoring position is set as the section boundary). May be). Further, the route information 71 includes coordinate information of each indication marker 103 of the section boundary and the important monitoring position.

  The route information 71 may be configured by a table of information for each indication marker. In this table, various types of information for each indicated marker as described above are associated with the marker number, thereby expressing the route information. The marker number is associated with the number (number of detections) of the instruction marker 103 that should be detected before the corresponding marker, and the control unit 24 counts the number of detections, thereby sequentially detecting each instruction marker 103. The marker number is specified.

  The environment map 72 is map information of a security area. The environment map 72 stores existing object information that is position information of existing objects in the guard area. The existing object information is specified and stored by the coordinates of the environment map 72, and thereby the position of the existing object is specified. The existing object information may be acquired from the output of the obstacle detection unit 15 when the movement monitoring robot 2 is run in advance. Existing property information may be input in advance from the survey drawing of the guard area.

  Note that the environment map 72 may be configured by partitioning the environment map 72 with a grid for each predetermined distance, setting an identification number for each grid, and such a grid and the identification number. In this case, the existing object information may be attribute information of each grid of the environment map 72. The presence / absence of an existing object is registered as attribute information of each grid, and the position of the existing object is specified.

  The stop time list 73 is data storing a plurality of stop time candidates. The stop time list 73 is used in the process of determining the stop time at the stop position. The stop time is randomly selected from a plurality of stop time candidates.

  The stop position table 74 is shown in FIG. The stop position table 74 is information that stores the stop position, and is information that indicates whether or not to stop on each indication marker 103 when the patrol route is visited. In the stop position table 74, corresponding to each marker number, the position coordinate, whether it is an important monitoring position (ON or OFF of the important monitoring position flag), whether it is a stop position (ON or OFF of the stop position flag), The stop time is stored. The marker number for which the stop position flag is ON is selected at random, and the stop time is selected at random from the stop time list 73 that is set in advance by storing a plurality of stop time lengths.

  In addition, the storage unit 21 may store other information used for patrol such as patrol schedule information. The traveling schedule information is a traveling schedule within a predetermined period such as one day or one week, and has information on a traveling start time defined for each traveling number. The tour number is a number assigned to each tour in order to distinguish each tour that is performed a plurality of times within a predetermined period.

  The stop position table processing unit 22 corresponding to the stop position generation unit generates the stop position table 74 as control information when actually traveling on the patrol route and performing the patrol work based on the route information 71 of the storage unit 21. . As shown in FIG. 4, the stop position table 74 is information indicating whether or not to stop on each indication marker when the patrol route is visited.

  The stop position table processing unit 22 is activated at a predetermined timing. The stop position table processing unit 22 includes a random number generation unit 81 and a stop position table generation unit 82. The random number generator 81 generates and outputs a random number in response to a request from the stop position table generator 82. The stop position table generation unit 82 functions as a stop position generation unit, generates a stop position by randomly selecting an instruction marker 103 other than the important monitoring position based on a random number, and generates a stop position table storing this And stored in the storage unit 21.

  In this process, the position of the instruction marker 103 other than the important monitoring position existing on the patrol route is a stop position candidate, and a stop position is selected from a plurality of stop position candidates. For example, an integer random number is generated, and a stop position is selected according to the random number. It may be determined by a random number what number to select from among a plurality of stop position candidates (instruction markers 103 other than the important monitoring position). The stop position flag of the instruction marker 103 of the selected stop position is turned on and stored as a stop position (the default stop position flag is OFF). This process is repeated until a predetermined number of stop positions are selected.

  The stop position table generation unit 82 further sets a stop time for each stop position and writes it in the stop position table 74. The stop time is randomly selected based on a random number from a stop time list 73 set by storing a plurality of stop time candidates having a plurality of time lengths in advance. At this time, for example, an integer random number is generated, and what number to select from among a plurality of stop time candidates may be determined by the random number.

  The stop position table 74 is preferably generated separately for each tour. A stop position table used for the next round may be generated at a predetermined timing. Further, a plurality of stop position tables 74 may be generated at a time corresponding to a plurality of times (for example, one day).

  The communication unit 23 is a wireless communication unit that transmits and receives signals to and from the monitoring center 3 via the wireless base station 5 and the communication network 6. The communication unit 23 compresses the image captured by the imaging unit 17 and transmits it to the monitoring center 3 together with the position information detected by the self-position detection unit 14. The communication unit 23 transmits an abnormality signal to the monitoring center 3 when the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that there is an abnormality. The communication unit 23 demodulates the control signal received from the monitoring center 3 and inputs the demodulated signal to the control unit 24.

  The control unit 24 is a means for controlling each component configuration of the movement monitoring robot 2 and is configured by a computer including a CPU and the like. In addition, what can be computer-processed by each part structure mentioned above may be implement | achieved by the same computer. For example, the road surface information extraction unit 42, the movement control unit 13, the position calculation unit 53, the obstacle determination unit 62, the image processing unit 18, the abnormality determination unit 19, the timing unit 20, the stop position table processing unit 22, and the like are the same computer. May be realized. As for the movement control, a higher command value for motor control may be calculated and transmitted to the motor drive circuit. The storage unit 21 may be realized by a memory of the computer, an external storage device, or the like.

  Next, the operation of the movement monitoring robot 2 according to the present embodiment will be described. As an overall operation of the movement monitoring robot 2, the stop position table 74 is generated prior to patrol. When the patrol timing comes, the patrol operation is performed according to the stop position table 74 generated in advance. Hereinafter, these operations will be sequentially described.

  First, generation processing of the stop position table 74 will be described. The movement monitoring robot 2 is normally set to the standby mode with the battery 25 charged. In this state, when the control unit 24 detects the arrival of a preset stop position table generation time based on the current time obtained by the time measuring unit 20, or when a control signal from the monitoring center 3 is received, The position table processing unit 22 generates a stop position table 74.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating the stop position table 74. The stop position table processing unit 22 generates a stop position table 74 for each tour (for each tour number). FIG. 5 shows a process of generating the stop position table 74 for one circulation number.

  First, when the generation of the stop position table 74 is started, the stop position table generation unit 82 of the stop position table processing unit 22 reads the route information 71 from the storage unit 21 (S11), and each indication marker 103 included in the cyclic route. Get information about. Then, the stop position table generation unit 82 refers to the route information 71, turns on the important monitoring position flag corresponding to the marker number of the instruction marker 103 that becomes the important monitoring position, and sets the monitoring time of this important monitoring position to The position stop time is written and set in the stop position table 74 (S12). The monitoring time is obtained from the route information. At this time, the important monitoring position flag is set to OFF for the marker number of the pointing marker 103 that is not the important monitoring position.

  Next, the stop position table generating unit 82 turns OFF the stop position flag of each indication marker 103 in the stop position table 74 (S13). Then, the stop position table generation unit 82 causes the random number generation unit 81 to generate a random number (S14), and selects the instruction marker 103 that becomes the stop position based on the random number (S15). Here, the stop position table generation unit 82 displays the instruction marker 103 whose important monitoring position flag and stop position flag are OFF (that is, the instruction marker 103 set as the important monitoring position and the instruction marker 103 already set as the stop position. From the indication markers 103) of the marker numbers to be excluded, the indication marker 103 that is the stop position is selected at random by a random number. The stop position table generation unit 82 sets the stop position flag corresponding to the selected marker number to ON (S16), and the stop position randomly selected and generated thereby is recorded in the stop position table 74.

  Next, the stop position table generation unit 82 sets a stop time corresponding to the instruction marker 103 (marker number for which the stop position flag is turned ON) selected as the stop position. A plurality of candidates for the length of time to be set as the stop time are stored in advance in the stop time list 73 as stop time candidates. Here, the stop position table generation unit 82 again causes the random number generation unit 81 to generate a random number (S17), selects a time length (stop time candidate) from the stop time list based on this random number (S18), and in step S16 A stop time is set in association with the marker number for which the stop position flag is set to ON (S19). The stop time is written in the corresponding position of the stop position table 74.

  Next, the stop position table generating unit 82 determines whether or not the number of markers whose stop position flag is ON is smaller than a predetermined stop position setting number n (S20). If the determination in step S20 is Yes, the number of stop positions has not reached the set number n, and the process proceeds to step S14. The stop position is selected again based on the random number, and the stop time at the stop position is selected. When the number of stop positions reaches the set number n, the determination in step S20 is No, and the generation process of the stop position table 74 ends.

  In this way, the movement monitoring robot 2 repeats selection of the stop position and the stop time by the set number n times according to the above procedure, generates the stop position table 74, and stores it in the storage unit 21.

  The stop position table generation unit 82 repeats the above process a plurality of times as necessary, and generates a plurality of stop position tables 74 corresponding to a plurality of circulation numbers. A plurality of stop position tables 74 may be generated together. The stop position table 74 for each tour number may be generated individually, for example, at an appropriate timing before the start of the tour for the relevant number.

  In this way, the mobile monitoring robot 2 of the present invention has a stop position based on a random number in order to stop at a random point in addition to a position (important monitoring position) that is set to stop at all times in the patrol route. Set and memorize.

  In the above processing, the stop position and stop time are set in each loop of FIG. As a modification, first, a set number n of stop positions are selected. Here, random number generation and stop position selection are repeated n times. Then, stop times for n stop positions are selected. Again, random number generation and stop time selection are generated n times. A similar stop position table 74 is also generated by this processing.

  Next, the control at the time of patrol will be described. The mobile monitoring robot 2 makes a patrol when the control unit 24 detects the arrival of a preset patrol start time based on the current time obtained by the time measuring unit 20 or by receiving a control signal from the monitoring center 3. Set to mode and start patrol.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control procedure during patrol. When the movement monitoring robot 2 starts patrol, the movement monitoring robot 2 operates the obstacle detection unit 15 to spatially scan the surroundings. In addition, the mobile monitoring robot 2 operates the security sensor 16 to monitor the presence or absence of an intruder or a fire. Furthermore, the movement monitoring robot 2 operates the imaging unit 17 to image the surrounding situation. The captured image acquired by the imaging unit 17 is buffered in the storage unit 21 and transmitted to the monitoring center 3.

  Then, the movement monitoring robot 2 receives the signal from the guide detection unit 12 and starts driving the movement route along the white line tape 101 by driving the movement unit 11 by the movement control unit 13 when the movement is started. (S31). At this time, the current position is detected by the detection of the pointing marker 103 by the guide detection unit 12 and the output of the self-position detection unit 14. The white line tape 101 is detected from the image of the white line detection camera 41, and the movement control unit 13 independently controls the rotation of the motors 33 and 34 so that the white line tape 101 always faces a predetermined angle at a predetermined position of the image.

  If the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that an abnormality has occurred based on the input from the obstacle detection unit 15 or the security sensor 16 during traveling on this patrol route (S32, Yes), the mobile monitoring robot 2 stops traveling ( (S33), an abnormal signal is transmitted to the monitoring center 3 (S34).

  If it is not determined to be abnormal in step S32, the control unit 24 detects the current position from the information input from the guide detection unit 12 (S35). If it is determined from the detected current position that the set traveling route has ended (S36, Yes), the movement is stopped (S37), and the obstacle detection unit 15, the security sensor 16, and the imaging unit 17 are activated. Is stopped, the patrol is ended, and the standby mode is entered. At this time, the stop position table 74 corresponding to the current tour number is deleted.

  On the other hand, if the traveling of the patrol route is not completed (S36, No), it is determined whether or not the detected position is the stop position based on the current patrol stop position table 74 stored in the storage unit 21 ( It is determined whether or not it is an important monitoring position (S39). At this time, the control unit 24 functions as a position determination unit that determines that the current position is an important monitoring position or a stop position. When it is neither the stop position (S38, No) nor the important monitoring position (S39, No), that is, when the guide detection unit 12 has not detected the instruction marker 103 that is the stop position or the important monitoring position, the movement control unit 13 continues to drive the moving means 11 (S40). The rotations of the drive motors 33 and 34 are controlled so that the movement monitoring robot 2 moves at a predetermined movement speed. And it returns to step S32 and the movement of a cyclic route is continued.

  If the current position is the stop position in step S38, that is, if the input from the guide detection unit 12 indicates the pointing marker 103 that is the stop position, the movement monitoring robot 2 stops traveling (S51) and stops. The stop time of the corresponding stop position stored in the position table 74 is read (S52), and the stop time is started to be measured using the output of the time measuring unit 20 (S53). When the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that an abnormality has occurred based on the input from the obstacle detection unit 15 or the security sensor 16 during the stop (S54, Yes), the time measurement ends (S55), and the control unit proceeds to step S34. 24 transmits an abnormal signal to the monitoring center 3.

  If no abnormality is detected in step S54, the timing is continued and it is determined whether or not the stop time has elapsed (S56). If the stop time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S54. If the stop time has elapsed (S56, Yes), the time measurement ends (S57). And the movement control part 13 restarts the drive of the movement means 11 so that the movement monitoring robot 2 may drive | work at the preset moving speed (S58). The movement of the traveling route is resumed, and the process returns to step S32.

  On the other hand, if the current position is the important monitoring position in step S39, that is, if the input from the guide detection unit 12 indicates the instruction marker 103 of the important monitoring position, the mobile monitoring robot 2 stops traveling (S61). ), The stop time that is the monitoring time of the relevant important monitoring position stored in the stop position table 74 is read (S62), and the stop time is started to be measured using the output of the timer 20 (S63). Further, the control unit 24 of the movement monitoring robot 2 activates the image processing unit 18 at the start of timing (S64).

  The image processing unit 18 extracts a moving object from the captured image acquired by the imaging unit 17 and detects an intruder based on the image feature amount of the moving object. When the image processing unit 18 detects an intruder, the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that an abnormality has occurred (S65). In step S <b> 65, the abnormality determination unit 19 determines an abnormality based on inputs from the obstacle detection unit 15 and the security sensor 16.

  When the movement monitoring robot 2 is stopped at the important monitoring position, when the abnormality determination unit 19 determines that an abnormality has occurred based on inputs from the obstacle detection unit 15, the security sensor 16, and the image processing unit 18 (S65, Yes). Then, the time measurement is completed (S66), the process proceeds to step S34, and the control unit 24 transmits an abnormal signal to the monitoring center 3.

  If no abnormality is detected in step S65, the timing is continued and it is determined whether or not the stop time has elapsed (S67). If the stop time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S65. If the stop time has elapsed (S67, Yes), the time measurement ends (S68), and the control unit 24 stops the operation of the image processing unit 18 (S69). And the movement control part 13 restarts the drive of the movement means 11 so that the movement monitoring robot 2 may drive | work at the preset moving speed (S70). The movement along the patrol route is resumed, and the process returns to step S32.

  As described above, when the traveling of the patrol route is completed, the determination in step S36 is Yes, the movement monitoring robot 2 is stopped (S37), and the obstacle detection unit, the security sensor, and the imaging unit are stopped. Then, the patrol is finished and the standby mode is entered. At this time, the patrol stop position table is deleted.

  As described above, the mobile monitoring robot of the present invention stops at a position set at random in addition to a position (important monitoring position) set to always stop and focus on monitoring in the patrol route. Thus, it is possible to make it difficult to guess the important monitoring location on the patrol route and the other location, and it is therefore difficult to distinguish the important monitoring location from the outside. In addition, the stop time is set irregularly, and this also makes it difficult to estimate the important monitoring position and the movement of the robot.

  The monitoring system 1 including the mobile monitoring robot 2 of the present embodiment has been described above. Next, a modified example of the monitoring system 1 will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the movement monitoring robot 2 includes the stop position table processing unit 22 and the movement monitoring robot 2 generates the stop position table has been described. However, the center device 4 of the monitoring center 3 includes a storage unit that stores route information, a stop time list, and a stop position table, and further includes a stop position table processing unit 22 (random number generation unit 81 and stop position table generation unit 82). The monitoring system may be configured to generate a stop position at random by the center device 4 to generate a stop position table, and transmit the stop position table from the center device 4 to the mobile monitoring robot 2. The movement monitoring robot 2 is configured to store the received stop position table and perform the above-described patrol operation with reference to the stop position table.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a predetermined number of stop positions are set at random in addition to the preset important monitoring positions, and the moving means is controlled to stop at the important monitoring positions and the stop positions. . The mobile monitoring robot stops even at positions other than the important monitoring position, and the stop position changes randomly. In the patrol route, in addition to the position set to always stop and focus on monitoring (important monitoring position), it stops at a randomly set position, so focus on where in the patrol route. It is difficult to guess whether it is, and it is possible to prevent a third party from seeing a focus monitoring place on the patrol route and a place that is not so. As a result, security can be improved.

  In addition, according to the present invention, candidate positions to be stopped are stored in advance as a plurality of stop position candidates, and the stop position generation unit randomly selects the stop position candidates as stop positions. As a result, a plurality of stop position candidates other than the important monitoring position are set, a stop position is randomly selected from the plurality of stop position candidates, and an appropriate stop position can be set.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, the stop time at each stop position is set at random. Since the stop time varies depending on the location, this also makes it difficult to guess the important monitoring location on the patrol route and the location that is not. In addition, by changing the stop time at random, the movement of the mobile monitoring robot becomes irregular and becomes more difficult to predict, and the security capability can be further improved.

  According to the present invention, the mobile monitoring robot may include an image processing unit that processes an image generated by the imaging unit when it stops at the important monitoring position and detects a moving object. At the monitoring position, further security information can be collected by image processing in addition to monitoring using a normal sensor or the like.

  Further, as described above as a modification, the stop position may be generated at the monitoring center and transmitted from the monitoring center to the mobile monitoring robot. This configuration also provides the above-described advantages.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course, those skilled in the art can modify the above-mentioned embodiment within the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the movement monitoring robot according to the present invention is useful as a robot that moves along a movement route and collects security information.

It is a figure which shows the monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the movement monitoring robot which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the guard area where a movement monitoring robot is used with guide means, such as a white line tape. It is a figure which shows the example of a stop position table. It is a flowchart which shows the preparation process of a stop position table. It is a flowchart which shows the patrol operation | movement of a movement monitoring robot.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Monitoring system 2 Mobile monitoring robot 3 Monitoring center 11 Moving means 12 Guide detection part 13 Movement control part 14 Self-position detection part 15 Obstacle detection part 16 Security sensor 17 Imaging unit 18 Image processing part 19 Abnormality determination part 20 Timing part 21 Memory | storage Unit 22 stop position table processing unit 23 communication unit 24 control unit 81 random number generation unit 82 stop position table generation unit

Claims (4)

A mobile monitoring robot that collects security information by autonomously moving by means of moving along a predetermined movement route,
A storage unit that stores in advance an important monitoring position, which is a position that always stops on the moving path;
A stop position generation unit that randomly generates a predetermined number of stop positions to stop on the movement path before starting to move along the movement path;
A position determination unit for determining its current position;
A movement control unit that controls the moving means to stop at the position for a predetermined time if the current position matches the important monitoring position or the stop position;
A mobile surveillance robot characterized by comprising: The storage unit stores in advance candidate positions to be stopped as a plurality of stop position candidates,
The movement monitoring robot according to claim 1, wherein the stop position generation unit randomly selects a stop position from the stop position candidates. The storage unit further stores in advance a stop time list in which a plurality of stop time candidates are stored,
The movement monitoring robot according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time is a time when a stop time is randomly selected from the stop time list for the stop position. A monitoring system including a movement monitoring robot that autonomously moves along a predetermined movement route by a moving means and collects security information, and a monitoring center that communicates with the movement monitoring robot,
The monitoring center is
A storage unit that stores in advance an important monitoring position that is a position where the movement monitoring robot always stops on the moving path;
A stop position generator that randomly generates a predetermined number of stop positions at which the movement monitoring robot stops on the movement path;
A communication unit that transmits the important monitoring position and the stop position generated by the stop position generation unit to the mobile monitoring robot;
With
The mobile monitoring robot is
A communication unit for receiving the important monitoring position and the stop position from the monitoring center;
A position determination unit for determining its current position;
A movement control unit for controlling the moving means to stop at the position for a predetermined time if the current position matches the important monitoring position or the stop position;
A monitoring system characterized by comprising:

Images