JP2007253275A - Moving robot and cleaning method of moving robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a moving robot in which dust on the surface of the moving robot is removed to prevent an environment in a moving destination from being polluted at low costs without limiting an entrance and an exit, and also to provide a cleaning method of the moving robot. <P>SOLUTION: The moving robot has a vibration generating device 4, and vibrates a surrounding sheath 2 of the moving robot 1 by the vibration generating device 4 to remove the dust 6 attached to the sheath 2. Alternatively, an arm 17 has a grip part 18 at its end, the grip part 18 grips a cleaning tool 20 to make it contact to the sheath 2 of the robot 1, so as to remove the dust 6 attached to the sheath 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile robot and a cleaning method thereof.

  When a general robot that performs a movement operation such as a transfer robot or a service robot moves to a different environment such as indoors or outdoors, the user cleans the exterior of the robot at the entrance of the room. However, since it is dangerous to approach a robot that is in operation, there is a problem that the entire robot or the drive unit must be turned off to stop the operation of the robot, and it takes time to clean and the operating rate decreases. there were.

In response to such a problem, in the case of human beings, an air shower device is disclosed that removes dust by applying wind to an operator when entering a clean room (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the air shower device disclosed in Patent Document 1. In FIG.
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 101 denotes a human who is going to enter the clean room through the air shower device 100 installed at the entrance of the clean room. Reference numeral 102 denotes a first nozzle that ejects clean air having a constant speed, and reference numeral 103 denotes a second nozzle that intermittently ejects clean air having a high wind speed.
The air shower device 100 has a control unit and a sensor unit (not shown). The sensor unit determines whether or not the human 101 is in the air shower device 100, and sends a signal to the control unit when it is determined that it is. While the signal is sent from the sensor unit, the control unit ejects clean air having a constant speed from the first nozzle and intermittently ejects clean air having a high wind speed from the second nozzle.

  With the configuration described above, when a person enters an air shower installed at the doorway, a strong wind is intermittently applied to the person from the strong wind nozzle to remove the dust, and the dust is swept away by a steady wind. In this way, dust attached to the worker is removed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-238834 (page 4-6, FIG. 1)

However, when considering applying the air shower device described in Patent Document 1 to a mobile robot that moves between different environments such as indoors and outdoors through a plurality of doorways, the air shower device is large and fixed, An air shower device is required at each entrance of the robot. Therefore, there is a problem that a great cost is required for installation.
If the cost is to be reduced without increasing the number of air shower devices, the robot entrance / exit is limited, resulting in a decrease in productivity.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and is an inexpensive mobile robot and mobile robot that can remove dust on the surface of the mobile robot and prevent environmental contamination of the destination without limiting the entrance / exit. The purpose is to provide a cleaning method.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is configured as follows.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a mobile robot having a moving mechanism includes a vibration generating device, wherein the vibration generating device vibrates the exterior of the mobile robot to remove dust attached to the exterior. And
The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the vibration generating device is a speaker.
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the vibration generating device generates vibration outside a human audible range.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method for cleaning a mobile robot provided with a moving mechanism, the mobile robot is provided with a vibration generating device, and the vibration generating device vibrates an exterior of the mobile robot and adheres to the exterior. It is characterized by removing dust.
The invention according to claim 5 is provided with an arm having a plurality of degrees of freedom and a moving mechanism. In the mobile robot that moves by the moving mechanism, the arm has a gripping portion at a tip, and grips a cleaning tool by the gripping portion. Then, it is brought into contact with the exterior of the mobile robot, and dust adhering to the exterior is removed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, dust is separated by the vibration of the exterior of the mobile robot, so that environmental pollution at the destination is prevented and an air shower device is not used. An entrance / exit can be installed.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the dust can be removed by vibrating the exterior using the speaker, the configuration of the robot can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the vibration generating device generates vibration outside the human audible range, dust can be removed quietly without noise. Further, if the vibration generating device continuously generates vibration outside the human audible range, it is possible to prevent dust from being attached in addition to the effect of removing dust.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the dust is detached by the vibration of the exterior, the dust attached to the exterior can be removed. In addition, environmental pollution at the destination can be prevented.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the cleaning tool is gripped by the grip portion at the tip of the arm and brought into contact with the exterior, dust and dirt can be removed. In addition, while preventing environmental pollution at the destination and not using an air shower device, it is possible to install entrances to and from a plurality of clean rooms at low cost.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mobile robot, which is covered with an exterior 2. Further, inside the mobile robot, there are a control unit 3 that controls the operation of the mobile robot, a moving mechanism 5 that is driven by the control unit 3, a vibration generator 4 that vibrates in response to a command from the control unit 3, and an entrance / exit between different environments. A sensor 7 for detection is provided.
Here, as an example, it is assumed that the mobile robot 1 passes through an entrance / exit between an environment with much dust and an indoor environment with little dust, and the vibration generator 4 is fixed to the motor 10 and the motor 10 fixed to the inner wall of the exterior 2. It is assumed that the weight 11 is included. The sensor 7 is a magnetic sensor that detects a magnetic tape (not shown) installed at the entrance.

The mobile robot 1 moves by driving the moving mechanism 5 in response to a command from the control unit 3 and performs various operations. At this time, dust 6 generated from the surrounding environment adheres to the exterior 2. When the mobile robot 1 moves to a different environment, the sensor 7 detects the magnetic tape attached to the entrance and outputs it to the control unit 3. The controller 3 drives the motor 10 according to a preset program with the recognition signal as a trigger. Since the weight 11 is fixed to the motor 10 with its center of gravity decentered from the rotation axis of the motor 10, vibration is generated with the rotation of the motor 10, and the vibration is transmitted to the exterior 2, and the exterior 2 is also Vibrate.
Thus, since the exterior 2 vibrates at the entrance / exit between different environments, the dust 6 adhering to the exterior 2 is removed from the exterior. As a result, it is possible to prevent the environmental pollution of the indoor environment with less dust. Furthermore, since an air shower device is unnecessary, the entrance / exit can be installed at a lower cost than the conventional method.

Here, the vibration generator shown in the present embodiment may be a speaker. In this case, since the speaker used when the mobile robot generates a voice message and the vibration generating device that vibrates the exterior 2 can be made common, the configuration of the mobile robot can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
Also, if the motor 10 is rotated at a frequency outside the human audible range, or if a frequency outside the human audible range is generated from the speaker, the sound of the exterior 2 vibrating will not be heard by humans, so that Can be removed. In addition to the effect of removing dust by rotating the motor 10 at a frequency outside the human audible range or generating a frequency outside the human audible range from the speaker at all times during the operation of the mobile robot. Dust adhesion can be prevented.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a mobile robot, which is covered with an exterior 2. Further, inside the mobile robot, there are a control unit 3 that controls the operation of the mobile robot, a moving mechanism 5 that is driven by the control unit 3, a motor 15 that is also driven by the control unit 3, a movable unit 16 that is fixed to the motor 15, A sensor 7 for detecting an entrance / exit between different environments is provided.
Here, as an example, it is assumed that the mobile robot 1 passes through an entrance / exit between an environment with much dust and an indoor environment with little dust, and the sensor 7 is a magnetic sensor that detects a magnetic tape (not shown) installed at the entrance / exit. To do.

The mobile robot 1 moves by driving the moving mechanism 5 in response to a command from the control unit 3 and performs various operations. At this time, dust 6 generated from the surrounding environment adheres to the exterior 2. When the mobile robot 1 moves to a different environment, the sensor 7 detects the magnetic tape attached to the entrance and outputs it to the control unit 3. The controller 3 uses the recognition signal as a trigger to drive the motor 15 according to a preset program. The operation of the motor 15 is set so that the movable part 16 collides with the exterior 2, and the exterior 2 vibrates because the movable part 16 collides with the exterior 2 and gives an impact.
Thus, since the exterior 2 vibrates at the entrance / exit between different environments, the dust 6 adhering to the exterior 2 is removed from the exterior. As a result, it is possible to prevent the environmental pollution of the indoor environment with less dust. Furthermore, since an air shower device is unnecessary, the entrance / exit can be installed at a lower cost than the conventional method.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a mobile robot, which is covered with an exterior 2. The mobile robot includes a control unit 3 that controls the operation of the mobile robot, a moving mechanism 5 that is driven by the control unit 3, a plurality of motors 15 that are also driven by the control unit 3, and a link that is fixed to the motor 15. An arm portion 17 and a hand portion 18 are provided.
Further, a sensor 7 for detecting an entrance / exit between different environments and a camera 19 for photographing the surrounding environment are provided. A cleaning tool 20 is placed at the entrance.
Here, as an example, it is assumed that the mobile robot 1 passes through an entrance / exit between an environment with much dust and an indoor environment with little dust, and the sensor 7 is a magnetic sensor that detects a magnetic tape (not shown) installed at the entrance / exit. To do. In addition, it is assumed that the cleaning tool placed at the entrance is a cloth.

The mobile robot 1 moves by driving the moving mechanism 5 in response to a command from the control unit 3 and performs various operations. At this time, dust 6 generated from the surrounding environment adheres to the exterior 2. When the mobile robot 1 moves to a different environment, the sensor 7 detects the magnetic tape attached to the entrance and outputs it to the control unit 3. The control unit 3 uses the recognition signal as a trigger to photograph the cloth placed at the entrance according to a preset program with the camera 19 to measure the position, and drives the motor 15. Since the operation of the motor 15 is set so that the hand unit 18 grips the cloth and moves along the exterior 2, the exterior 2 is rubbed with the cloth by the operation of the hand unit 18 and the arm unit 17.
Thus, since the exterior 2 is rubbed with the cloth at the entrance / exit between different environments, the dust 6 and dirt adhering to the exterior 2 are removed from the exterior. As a result, it is possible to prevent the environmental pollution of the indoor environment with less dust. Furthermore, since an air shower device is unnecessary, the entrance / exit can be installed at a lower cost than the conventional method.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the sensor 7 is a magnetic sensor. However, the present invention is not limited to this method as long as an entrance / exit between different environments can be detected, and an infrared light source attached to the entrance / exit is captured by the infrared sensor. Other methods may be used.

  The present invention is not limited to mobile robots and can be applied to various electronic devices and machines such as food processing apparatuses, machine tools, and televisions.

The figure showing the structure of the mobile robot of 1st Example of this invention. The figure showing the structure of the mobile robot of 2nd Example of this invention. The figure showing the structure of the mobile robot of 3rd Example of this invention. The figure showing the structure of the air shower apparatus of a prior art example

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile robot 2 Exterior 3 Control part 4 Vibration generator 5 Movement mechanism 6 Dust 7 Sensor 10 Motor 11 Weight 15 Motor 16 Movable part 17 Arm part 18 Hand part 19 Camera 20 Cleaning tool
100 air shower device 101 human 102 first nozzle 103 second nozzle

Claims (5)

In a mobile robot equipped with a moving mechanism,
A mobile robot comprising a vibration generation device, wherein the vibration generation device vibrates an exterior of the mobile robot and removes dust attached to the exterior.   The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generator is a speaker.   The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generating device generates vibration outside a human audible range. In a cleaning method for a mobile robot equipped with a moving mechanism,
A method for cleaning a mobile robot, comprising: providing a vibration generation device to the mobile robot; and vibrating the exterior of the mobile robot by the vibration generation device to remove dust attached to the exterior. In a mobile robot comprising an arm having a plurality of degrees of freedom and a moving mechanism, and moving by the moving mechanism,
The mobile robot is characterized in that the arm includes a gripping portion at a tip, and a cleaning tool is gripped by the gripping portion and brought into contact with the exterior of the mobile robot to remove dust attached to the exterior.

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