JP2008234636A - Patrol robot and autonomous travel method of patrol robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable autonomous travel automatically changing a route when an obstacle is detected in a travel route. <P>SOLUTION: In this patrol robot 1, by indication of a travel management means 1d, a route generating means 1c generates patrol route information up to the next target designation point from a present point, and an autonomous travel control means 1e autonomously travels on a patrol route based on the patrol router information. When stopping by detecting a nonpassible router in the middle of travel, the travel management means 1d sets a stopped position as the present point, and makes a route regenerating means 1c regenerate the patrol route by removing the nonpassible route from a travel possible route. Indication is given to the autonomous travel control means 1e, to travel on a changed patrol route. When reaching the target designation point, the designation point is patrolled by autonomously travelling while making the patrol route with this point as the present point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a traveling robot and an autonomous traveling method of the traveling robot, and more particularly to a traveling robot that travels around a predetermined point and an autonomous traveling method of the traveling robot.

  In recent years, robots have been used in a wide range of applications, from conventional industrial applications to agency work for human tasks performed in offices, public facilities, warehouses, and the like. Traditional industrial robots should have been able to provide limited functions within a limited space. However, robots that are applied to work such as offices and public facilities move places and perform various tasks at each point. Is required to do. Hereinafter, a robot that patrols the designated points set in advance and performs the work designated in advance at each designated point is referred to as a patrol robot.

  By the way, when the traveling robot travels along a designated route, it is assumed that an obstacle is placed on the route and the route cannot be passed. Here, the situation where “there is an obstacle and cannot pass through the designated path” refers to a situation where the obstacle avoidance function by the robot sensor provided in the patrol robot works and the path cannot be traveled. Conventionally, when the patrol robot cannot pass the designated route, it notifies the monitoring device that the designated route is not allowed to pass, and the operation mode of the own device is changed from autonomous running to the remote operation mode, and it is in a state of waiting for an instruction. It was. For this reason, in order to continue the work, the user who has detected that the traveling robot has become unable to pass the route via the monitoring device operates the traveling robot by remote control, or a new route It was necessary to instruct.

A robot that automatically detects a predetermined work area such as a room and autonomously travels in the work area to perform cleaning work.When there is an obstacle in the work area, it automatically runs around the obstacle. A method has been proposed in which the shape of the obstacle is acquired, the work area is divided based on the acquired information, and autonomous driving is performed to fill the area for each divided area excluding the obstacle (for example, a patent) Reference 1).
JP 2003-345437 A (FIG. 1)

  However, patrol robots applied to work in such offices and public facilities are used in environments where people work together with people, unlike environments where conventional industrial robots are placed. There are many cases. The travel route of the robot is often shared with a person, and the travel route has many factors that become obstacles to the travel of the robot, such as luggage temporarily placed by the person and the person who is working. For example, if the obstacle is a fixed obstacle such as a shelf, the user who receives the notification via the monitoring server will not become an obstacle again if the route setting is changed. However, permanent countermeasures cannot be taken for obstacles that occur temporarily, and the burden on the user increases, for example, remote operation is required to avoid obstacles each time an obstacle is detected.

  In addition, there may be a place where a traveling robot traveling on a set route is urged to confirm. Even in such a case, the user needs to perform a remote operation to move to a target location.

  In this way, in a system using a conventional patrol robot, if a temporary obstacle or a sudden movement request to a place that is not on the specified route occurs, the route change operation must be performed manually each time. The convenience was bad.

  Note that the autonomous mobile robot described in Patent Document 1 detects a fixed obstacle such as a wall or furniture, determines a work area excluding the obstacle, and copes with a temporary obstacle. It is not a thing.

  The present invention has been made in view of such points, and when a failure is detected on a preset travel route due to a temporary obstacle or the like, the route is automatically changed to autonomous travel. An object of the present invention is to provide a traveling robot and an autonomous traveling method thereof that can improve the convenience of the user as a result.

  In the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a traveling robot as shown in FIG. 1 is provided. The patrol robot has map / tour information storage means (in the figure, database, hereinafter referred to as DB), route information storage means (DB), route generation means, travel management means, and autonomous travel control means, and is designated in advance. Patrol the designated point. The patrol means that the designated point is sequentially moved for a certain purpose, and includes the case where the designated point is one point.

  The map / tour information storage means (DB) stores map information and tour information. The map information is information representing a travelable route within the circulation target range including the designated point in a predetermined map expression format. In the patrol information, information including the position of the designated point expressed in a predetermined map expression format and the patrol order set as necessary is set. The route information storage means (DB) stores route information relating to a patrol route that patrols the designated point. When the route generation instruction is input, the route generation unit generates the traveling route information by connecting the travelable route from the current point to the target designated point based on the map information and the tour information, and the route information storage unit (DB ). When the traveling instruction is input, the autonomous traveling control means autonomously travels the traveling route based on the traveling route information generated by the route generating means, and when it is detected that the route cannot be passed on the traveling route, To stop. The travel management means, when the autonomous travel control means reaches the target designated point, instructs the route generation means to generate a route to the next target designated point with the target designated point as the current location. On the other hand, when the target designated point has not been reached, the route that has been stopped is regarded as the current point, the route that the autonomous travel control means has determined to be impassable is removed from the travelable route, and a route generation instruction is issued to the route generation unit. Go and change the patrol route. Then, the generated traveling instruction for the changed patrol route is output to the autonomous traveling control means.

  According to such a traveling robot, the travel management means outputs a route generation instruction to the target designated point with the current position as the current location to the route generation means. Based on the map information and the tour information stored in the map / tour information storage means (DB), the route generation means generates the tour route information from the current point to the next target designated point, and the route information storage means ( DB). The autonomous traveling control means autonomously travels the traveling route based on the traveling route information generated by the route generating unit to the target designated point according to the traveling instruction from the traveling management unit. At this time, if it is detected that the patrol route cannot pass, traveling is stopped. The travel management means, when the target designated point has not been reached, sets the stopped position as the current point, removes the route that the autonomous travel control means has determined to be impassable from the travelable route, and instructs the route generation unit to generate a route I do. As a result, the route generation means generates a modified patrol route from which the inaccessible route is removed. The traveling management means instructs the autonomous traveling control means to travel, and the autonomous traveling control means travels on the changed patrol route. When the target designated point is reached, the travel management unit sets the target designated point as the current point, and instructs the route generation unit to generate a route to the next target designated point. Then, the traveling instruction of the traveling route to the designated point of the next target generated is output to the autonomous traveling control means and is caused to travel.

  Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the autonomous traveling method of a traveling robot that patrols a pre-designated point, the traveling management unit of the traveling robot determines a travelable route within a traveling target range including the designated point as a predetermined map. After acquiring map information expressed in an expression format, and travel information including the position of a designated point expressed in a predetermined map expression format and a tour order set as necessary, and storing it in the map / tour information storage means The step of issuing a route generation instruction with the current position as the current point, and the route generation means of the traveling robot, when the route generation instruction is input, from the current point to the target designated point based on the map information and the traveling information The travel route information is generated by connecting the two travelable routes and stored in the route information storage means, and the travel management means issues a travel instruction for the travel route based on the generated travel route information. When the traveling instruction is input, the autonomous traveling control means of the traveling robot autonomously travels the traveling route based on the generated traveling route information, and travels when it is detected that the traveling route cannot pass. When the autonomous driving control means has reached the target designated point by the autonomous running control means, the step of stopping and the route generation means to generate a route to the next target designated point with the target designated point as the current point If the target designated point has not been reached, the current position is taken as the stop position, the route that the autonomous travel control means has determined to be impassable is removed from the travelable route, and the route generation means is instructed to generate a route. And changing the patrol route to generate a patrol route by the route generating means until the patrol of the designated point set in the patrol information is completed. Autonomous method of cyclic robot and repeating the al steps are provided.

  According to such an autonomous traveling method of the traveling robot, a traveling route from the current point to the next target designated point is generated and autonomous traveling is performed. When the target designated point is reached as it is, a patrol route to the next designated point is generated with the target designated point as the current point. On the other hand, when an inaccessibility is detected in the middle of a patrol route and stopped, the current position is taken as the stop position, and the patrol route to the target designated point is generated again by removing the route in which the inaccessibility is detected from the travelable route. . Then, the vehicle travels autonomously on the generated patrol route.

  The disclosed traveling robot and its autonomous traveling method automatically create a traveling route from the current point to the next target designated point based on the map information and the traveling information, and autonomously travel the created traveling route. At this time, if a route that cannot be passed is detected and stopped, the stop point is set as the current location, the route that cannot be passed is removed from the travelable route, and the route is generated again. Run. When the target designated point is reached, the above procedure is repeated until all the designated points are circulated with this point as the current point, so that if there is a failure, it is possible to circulate all the designated points. As a result, even if a failure occurs, the user does not need to intervene, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the concept of the invention applied to the embodiment will be described, and then the specific contents of the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the invention applied to the embodiment.

  The traveling robot 1 according to the present invention includes a map / touring information DB 1a that stores map information and traveling information, a route information DB 1b that stores information related to a traveling route, a route generation unit 1c that generates a traveling route, and a traveling that performs traveling management. It has a management means 1d, an autonomous running control means 1e for controlling autonomous running, and a communication means 1f for exchanging data with the remote server 2, and circulates and designates a designated point set by the remote server 2 connected by wireless communication. A predetermined process is executed at the point.

  The map / tour information DB 1a stores map information and tour information acquired from the remote server 2 via wireless communication. The map information is information representing a travelable route within a predetermined circulation target range including a designated point in a predetermined map expression format that can be identified by the autonomous travel control means 1e. For example, the position and size of the travelable route are defined by coordinate data that can be recognized by the autonomous travel control means 1e. In addition, the connection relationship between the travelable routes is defined. The tour information is information in which a designated point, that is, a point where a predetermined work is performed or a point that must be passed is designated, and the position is defined in a map information expression format. Further, when performing work, the work content is set, and if necessary, the order in which the designated point is visited is set. Details of the map information and the patrol information will be described later.

  The route information DB 1b stores route information referred to in the autonomous traveling process, such as the traveling route information related to the traveling route and the uncirculated route information related to the uncirculated route that could not travel due to the occurrence of the failure. In the traveling route information, information indicating a traveling route from the current point set based on the map information and the traveling information to the next target designated point is set. In the uncirculated route information, information on a route that could not be traveled due to a failure is set.

  In response to a route generation instruction from the travel management unit 1d, the route generation unit 1c generates a circular route from the current point to the next target designated point, and stores it in the route information DB 1b as cyclic route information. If the current point is the starting point at the start of processing or the designated point set in the tour information, the next target designated point is determined based on the tour information. And based on map information, the driving | running | working path | route from the present location to the designated point of the next target is connected, and cyclic | annular route information is produced | generated. In addition, since the method of connecting a travelable route and generating a cyclic route is well known, detailed description thereof is omitted here. When the current location is not the designated location, the patrol route is generated with the target designated location as it is. Further, when an uncirculated route is stored in the route information DB 1b, the uncirculated route is incorporated into the cyclic route at an arbitrary timing after traveling the changed cyclic route.

  The traveling management unit 1d manages the generation of a traveling route for traveling around a designated point by the route generating unit 1c and the traveling of the traveling route by the autonomous traveling control unit 1e. First, using the current position as the current point, the route generation unit 1c is instructed to generate a route to the next target designated point, and the route information is obtained. Then, a traveling instruction is output to the autonomous traveling control means 1e so as to travel on the traveling route based on the traveling route information. When the target designated point is reached in this way, the reached designated point is set as the current point, and a route generation instruction to the next target designated point is output to the route generating unit 1c. Repeat this procedure until all designated points have been visited. On the other hand, when the target designated point has not been reached, that is, when the route to the next designated target point cannot be traveled due to an obstacle on the route, the current position where it is stopped Is set as the current location and the inaccessible route is removed from the travelable route, and a route generation instruction is issued to the route generation means 1c. As a result, a modified patrol route excluding the inaccessible route is generated. Further, the route that could not pass at this time is stored in the route information DB 1b as an uncirculated route. And a driving | running | working instruction | indication is output to the autonomous driving | running | working control means 1e, and it makes it drive | work the change circuit route which the path | route production | generation means 1c produced | generated. After reaching the target designated point, the process returns when the target designated point is reached.

  The autonomous traveling control unit 1e controls a traveling unit (not shown) in order to travel on the determined patrol route according to the traveling management unit 1d. At this time, when it is detected that there is an obstacle on the patrol route and the vehicle cannot be passed, the vehicle stops and notifies the travel management means 1d.

The remote server 2 will be described.
The remote server 2 includes a management information DB 2a, a terminal interface 2b, an instruction transmission unit 2c, an information reception unit 2d, and a reception information DB 2e.

  In the management information DB 2a, management information including map information / touring information distributed to the traveling robot 1 is stored. The terminal interface 2b controls data exchange with a user terminal device connected via a network (not shown). For example, a remote operation instruction sent from the terminal device is notified to the traveling robot 1, and information collected by the traveling robot 1 is transmitted to the terminal device. The instruction transmission unit 2 c transmits an instruction to the traveling robot 1 input via the terminal interface 2 b to the traveling robot 1. The information receiving means 2d acquires traveling information of the traveling robot 1, information collected while traveling by the traveling robot 1, and the like, and stores it in the received information DB 2e. In addition, when there is a request for such information from the terminal device, the information stored in the reception information DB 2e is provided. The reception information DB 2e stores travel information and collection information acquired from the traveling robot 1 by the information reception means 2d.

The operation of the traveling robot having such a configuration and the remote server and the autonomous traveling method will be described.
The map information of the patrol target range of the patrol robot 1 and the patrol information defining the designated point to patrol are accumulated in the management information DB 2a of the remote server 2. These pieces of information are stored in the management information DB 2a after being edited and set in accordance with instructions from the terminal device connected via the terminal interface 2b. This is distributed to the target patrol robot 1, and the patrol robot 1 stores the acquired map information and patrol information in the map / patrol information DB 1a.

  In the patrol robot 1, when a patrol instruction is input, the travel management unit 1d activates the route generation unit 1c, and targets a predetermined designated point set in the patrol information as a target from the current point to the target designated point. A cyclic route is generated and stored in the route information DB 1b. The target designated point is determined by the order of the tour based on the tour information. After the traveling route is generated, the autonomous traveling control unit 1e starts processing and autonomously travels on the traveling route in accordance with an instruction from the traveling management unit 1d. If it can move to the designated point normally, the processing decided there is performed. Then, the process from the route generation is repeated with the designated point that has arrived as the current point and the designated point in the next round of the tour route information as the target designated point.

  On the other hand, when there is an obstacle on the patrol route, the autonomous traveling control means 1e detects that it cannot pass and stops moving. The travel management means 1d that stops halfway and detects that it has not arrived at the target designated point determines an uncirculated route that could not be visited from the current point, and stores it in the route information DB 1b as uncirculated route information. Then, the stop point is set as the current point, and the route that is determined not to pass is removed from the travelable route, and the route generation unit 1c is instructed to generate a route. Thereby, the route generation means 1c generates a traveling route using another route that is not excluded from the travelable route. Thus, a modified patrol route that travels on another route that is not disabled is obtained. Subsequently, the traveling management unit 1d outputs a traveling instruction to the autonomous traveling control unit 1e, travels on the changed patrol route, and moves to the target designated point.

  Note that the uncirculated route recorded in the route information DB 1b is a fixed time after the route generation means 1c goes around any other timing, for example, all other cyclic routes, or after a route change is performed. It is incorporated into the patrol route again at the timing after elapse. As a result, it is finally attempted to travel on all designated patrol routes. If the obstacle on the uncirculated route is temporary, it can be traveled when traveling again, so it is deleted from the registration of the uncirculated route. On the other hand, since the obstacle may not be removed, the traveling of the uncirculated route may be tried a certain number of times, and if the traveling cannot be performed, the fact that the uncirculated route remains may be notified and the traveling process may be terminated.

  Further, when a designated point is added by interruption from the user during the patrol, a tour route is generated with the added designated interrupt point as the next target designated point, and the patrol route is visited. After the process at the designated interrupt point is completed, the patrol route is restored.

  In this way, since the route is generated for the purpose of the next designated point to be visited, the starting point, the designated point that has arrived, or the failure detection point is set as the current point. It can travel autonomously. As a result, the patrol robot 1 allows the user to perform a remote operation when the patrol route needs to be changed, such as when a temporary obstacle occurs on the patrol route or when a designated point is inserted by interruption. Even if it is not performed, it is possible to change the patrol route appropriately and patrol the designated point. As a result, the burden on the user can be reduced and the convenience can be improved.

  Hereinafter, referring to the drawings, the embodiment is applied to a traveling robot monitoring system in which a traveling robot travels a predetermined area in a predetermined order to collect image data and transmits the image data to a monitoring terminal. And will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the traveling robot monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The traveling robot monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a robot 100 that circulates a specified traveling point, a remote server 200 that exchanges information by wireless communication with the robot 100, and a terminal that is connected to the remote server 200 via a network 400. It has apparatus 301,302.

Based on the map information and the patrol information acquired from the remote server 200, the robot 100 patrolls the designated designated points and performs imaging at each reached designated point to generate image data.
The remote server 200 is connected to the robot 100 by wireless communication, and is connected to the terminal devices 301 and 302 via the network 400. The database 210 to be connected stores travel information and image data collected from the robot 100 together with map information and patrol information distributed to the robot 100. In accordance with instructions sent from the terminal devices 301 and 302 connected via the network 400, information stored in the database 210 is read and updated, and an operation command is output to the robot 100.

  The terminal devices 301 and 302 are connected to the remote server 200 via the network 400, and read the map information and patrol information of the robot 100 stored in the database 210 of the remote server 200 in response to a user operation input, and display screens Display information, change and setting input, and update map information and patrol information. The user obtains image data or the like stored in the database 210 or collected in real time by the robot 100 from the remote server 200 and displays it on the display screen or remotely operates the robot 100 via the remote server 200. Instructions can also be given.

Next, a tour target range of the robot 100 monitored by the tour robot monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 3 is a tour route diagram showing an example of a tour target range according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a route expressed in a map form as shown in FIG. 3 is referred to as a route map.
The travelable route in the predetermined circulation target range is managed by being divided into predetermined regions. In the example of the figure, the circulation target range indicated by the bold line is divided and numbered from 1 to 29 in order. Each divided area corresponds to a travelable route, and an assigned identification ID (numbers 1 to 29 in this example) is shown at the lower left of each travelable route in the figure. Hereinafter, the route from the lower left travelable route to the upper right travelable route will be expressed as route 1, route 2, route 3,..., Route 28, route 29 in order. In addition, the part shown with the oblique line is an area | region which cannot drive | work.

  Further, when the paths can pass, it is assumed that the paths are connected by a connector. For example, the path 1 is connected to the path 2 by the connector CN1-2, and the path 6 is connected to the connector CN1-6. This indicates that traveling from route 1 to route 2 or route 6 is possible. When there is an obstacle that prevents traffic, the connector is temporarily disconnected to change the route. In the example of this map, when traveling from the traveling point A to the traveling point B, there is an obstacle on the route 4 and it is not possible to proceed to the route 5, so the connector CN4-5 is temporarily disconnected to change the traveling route. . In the following description, the route change process is referred to as reroute.

  In addition, for convenience, the designated point that the user wants to visit the point is a designated point that requires work at that point, and a designated point that does not work but needs to pass is designated as a passing point. Let's represent. The map shows that shooting is performed in the upward direction at the traveling point A, shooting in the right direction at the traveling point B, and shooting in the right direction at the traveling point C.

On the map, the current location of the robot is indicated by a double circle (◎), and the obstacle is indicated by a cross (×).
In the traveling robot monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the robot located at the point indicated by 経 路 in the route 1 is circulated in the order of the circulatory point A, the circulatory point B, and the circulatory point C, and the designated direction at each circular point Let's shoot.

Next, a detailed configuration of the traveling robot will be described.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the control unit of the traveling robot according to the present embodiment. The figure shows only the control part and its peripheral part of the patrol robot, and the traveling part and the like are omitted.

  The entire control unit of the traveling robot 100 is controlled by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101. A random access memory (RAM) 102, a hard disk drive (HDD) 103, a graphics processing device 104, an input interface 105, a communication interface 106, and a traveling unit interface 107 are connected to the CPU 101 via a bus 108. Yes.

  The RAM 102 temporarily stores at least part of an OS (Operating System) program and application programs to be executed by the CPU 101. The RAM 102 stores various data necessary for processing by the CPU 101. The HDD 103 stores the OS and application programs. A monitor 109a incorporated in the main body is connected to the graphic processing device 104, and an image is displayed on the screen of the monitor 109a in accordance with a command from the CPU 101. For example, an image captured by the imaging device 109b can be displayed. The input interface 105 is connected to the imaging device 109b, and operates the imaging device 109b in accordance with a command from the CPU 101 to acquire image data. The acquired image data is transmitted to the remote server 200 or the graphic processing device 104 via the communication interface 106 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101. The communication interface 106 transmits / receives data to / from the remote server 200 connected by wireless communication. The traveling unit interface 107 outputs a traveling instruction of the traveling robot 100 to the traveling unit in accordance with a command from the CPU 101. Further, when traveling information such as obstacle detection is input from the traveling unit, the CPU 101 is notified via the bus 108.

  With such a hardware configuration, the processing functions of the present embodiment can be realized. 4 shows the hardware configuration of the control unit of the traveling robot, the hardware configuration of the remote server 200 or the terminal devices 301 and 302 is the same.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a software configuration example of the traveling robot according to the embodiment of the present invention. The figure shows only the part related to the cyclic processing.
The patrol operation of the patrol robot 100 includes map information 111 and patrol information 112 stored in the map / tour information DB 110, patrol plan information 121, patrol route information 122, and uncirculated route information 123 stored in the route information DB 120. Based on this, the travel management unit 130, the route generation unit 140, the autonomous travel control unit 150, and the image information acquisition unit 160 execute each processing procedure.

  The map information 111 and the tour information 112 are acquired from the remote server 200 and stored in the map / tour information DB 110. The traveling plan information 121, the traveling route information 122, and the uncirculated route information 123 are information used for traveling management, and are appropriately updated by each processing unit. Details of each information will be described later.

  The travel management unit 130 includes processing modules of a travel management unit 131, a tour planning unit 132, and a tour point processing control unit 133. The travel management unit 131 instructs the route generation unit 140 to generate a tour route from the current point to the target tour point or passing point. Similarly, when it is necessary to change the cyclic route, the route generation unit 140 is instructed to generate a route. When the traveling route is generated in this way, the traveling control unit 150 is instructed to travel on the traveling route, and the traveling is managed. When the failure detection is notified, this route is registered in the uncirculated route information 123 as an uncirculated route, and a reroute process for changing the cyclic route is instructed to the cyclic route generation processing unit 141. The tour planning unit 132 sets the order of passing the tour points and passing points based on the tour information 112 and the processing at the tour points, and registers them in the tour planning information 121. The patrol plan is updated as appropriate by the occurrence of an uncirculated route or the insertion of a patrol point at an interrupt. The traveling point processing control unit 133 performs control for executing a predetermined process when the traveling point is reached. Here, it is assumed that processing for acquiring image information is performed.

  The route generation unit 140 includes a cyclic route generation processing unit 141, a route deduplication processing unit 142, an uncirculated route insertion processing unit 143, and an interrupt cyclic point insertion processing unit 144. The traveling route generation processing unit 141 generates a traveling route from the current point to the target traveling point or passing point in response to an instruction from the travel management unit 131. At this time, the route deduplication processing unit 142, the non-circular route insertion processing unit 143, and the interrupting cyclic point insertion processing unit 144 are activated as necessary to set a cyclic route. The route deduplication processing unit 142 excludes duplicate routes from the circulation route so as not to repeatedly travel on the same route. When an uncirculated route is set in the cyclic route information 122, the route insertion processing unit 143 performs processing for inserting the uncirculated route into the cyclic route. The interrupting cyclic point insertion processing unit 144 performs processing for inserting the interrupting cyclic point into the cyclic route when the cyclic point is set by interruption by remote operation.

  The autonomous traveling control means 150 autonomously travels toward the target traveling point along the designated traveling route. When an obstacle is detected on the route and it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass, the driving is interrupted and stopped. During traveling, when an obstacle is found by the robot sensor equipped in the traveling robot 100 and avoidance by the obstacle avoidance action is impossible, it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass.

The image information acquisition unit 160 acquires image data in a designated direction according to the cyclic point processing control unit 133.
In addition, when accessing each information stored in map / patrol information DB110 and route information DB120 from each process part, it shall carry out via the file operation part 170. FIG.

Next, information stored in the map / tour information DB 110 and the route information DB 120 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of map information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The map information 1110 includes attached information and map data.
The attached information is information indicating where the map information is a map. In the example of the figure, “Area (ABC building)” and “Floor (2nd floor)” are set, and it can be seen that this map information is for “2nd floor of ABC building”.

  In the map data, “Passage (path) that defines the travelable route of the traveling robot” and “Connector (connector)” that defines the connection relationship of the travelable route are set. In “Passage”, the given ID, the position and size (origin, shape, coordinates) of the travelable route, and the ID of the connector to be connected are set for each travelable route in which the area is divided. . The figure is map data of the cyclic route diagram shown in FIG. 3. For example, the travelable route 1 identified by PA001 has an origin position of (0, 0), and coordinates (1) to (6). This is an area surrounded by six straight lines connecting the vertices. Further, the connector CN1-2 in which the ID of CN010002 is set and the connector CN1-6 in which CN010006 is set are connected to other travelable routes. In “Connector”, an ID of each connector and an ID of a travelable route connected by the connector are set. For example, the connector CN1-2 (ID = CN001002) connects the travelable route 1 (ID = PA001) and the travelable route 2 (ID = PA002). This travelable route is connected to generate a tour route.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the traveling information according to the embodiment of this invention.
In the traveling information 1120, a traveling point or a passing point set by the user within the traveling target range of the traveling route diagram illustrated in FIG. 3 is set. The passing point does not need to be worked, but is set when you want to pass through it. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, it is assumed that the “tour point” includes a passing point. In addition, no. It is assumed that they are performed in the order of numbers.

  The traveling information 1120 includes, for each traveling point, “ID (identifier)”, “name (cyclic point name)”, “type (attribute, 1/0 = circular point / passing point)”, “position (position information)”. , “Task (work to be performed at the round point)” is set. For example, no. The position coordinates of the cyclic point A (ID = T01) set to 1 are (x = 37.683, y = 55.898), and the operation “GetUpperImage” is performed here.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a tour plan diagram and tour plan information.
The tour planning unit 132 generates the tour plan based on the tour information 112. In the traveling plan diagram that represents the traveling plan in a diagram, the name of the point that is the starting point or the ending point of the traveling route is described in a frame, and the traveling direction is represented by an arrow. The traveling plan diagram 1211 in this example represents a traveling plan “Circuit point A → Circuit point B → Passing point C”. This tour plan is generated by the tour planning unit 132 based on the tour information 1120 shown in FIG.

  In the traveling plan information 1210, each traveling point ID and the traveling point type are set in order from the first traveling point based on the traveling plan. For example, first, it is set to go to the circuit point A identified by T01.

  Note that the traveling plan is appropriately changed when the traveling point is set by interruption or when an uncirculated route is generated, so that the traveling plan information 1210 is also updated accordingly. Although details will be described later, at this time, not only the arrangement order but also the circulation point type is appropriately changed according to the circulation plan.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cyclic route connection diagram and cyclic route information.
The tour route is generated by the tour route generation processing unit 141 based on the map information 1110 and the tour plan information 1210. The traveling route generation processing unit 141 connects the travelable routes from the current point to the target traveling point, and generates a traveling route. A travelable route that constitutes a patrol route is called a route. The cyclic route connection diagram showing the cyclic route is a diagram for visualizing the cyclic route expressed by the route and the connector through the cyclic route. The name of the route is indicated in an ellipse frame, and the connector is indicated by an arrow. At the same time, the positions of the patrol point and the current point described in the patrol plan are also shown. The traveling route connection diagram 1221 in the figure shows a traveling route created based on the traveling plan shown in FIG. 8, and when the route 2 with the traveling point A is the current point and the destination target is the traveling point B. It shows the patrol route. Based on the map information 1110, in order to move from the traveling point A to the traveling point B, the traveling route [path 2, connector CN2-3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path 4, connector CN4-5, path 5] Indicates that the route is taken.

  The traveling route information 1220 is information representing the traveling route in a table format, and is stored in the route information DB 120. The traveling robot 100 travels with reference to the traveling route information 1220. The “current circuit point” is the target target circuit point, and is the circuit point B here. In the following description, the target circuit point is referred to as “current circuit point”.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of uncirculated route information according to the embodiment of this invention.
In the uncirculated route 1230, when an uncirculated route is generated, the route, the route change time, and the number of trials for trying to travel again on the uncirculated route are set.

The configuration of each piece of information described above is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. Any format may be used as long as similar contents can be expressed.
Hereinafter, the autonomous traveling operation in the traveling robot 100 will be described.

First, an outline of the autonomous running process will be described in the case where no obstacle is detected.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a tour planning diagram and a tour route diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a traveling plan diagram, and (B) is a traveling route diagram. In addition, although the connector is not displayed in the (B) circuit diagram, it is assumed that each travelable route is connected by a connector as shown in FIG. The same is true for the following patrol route diagrams.

  In the following description, it is assumed that traveling information having a definition of “touring in order of traveling point A, traveling point B, and traveling point C and capturing an image at each traveling point” is distributed from the remote server 200. Further, the map information 111 is distributed together with the tour information 112 and stored in the map / tour information DB 110.

  When an instruction to start a tour is input, the travel management unit 131 of the travel management unit 130 activates the tour planning unit 132. The tour planning unit 132 creates a tour plan based on the tour information 112, arranges pairs of tour point IDs and types in the order of tour, and stores them in the route information DB 120 as tour plan information 121. Here, as shown in (A) Traveling plan diagram, a traveling plan for traveling in the order of traveling point A (501-1) → circulating point B (502-1) → circulating point C (503-1) is set. The In addition, since the tour point represented by the tour plan is a target point on the travel route, it may be set a plurality of times depending on the generated tour route. Therefore, the number indicating the patrol point on the patrol plan map is indicated by adding a sub-number that is incremented by 1 each time it is set as the target point to the number assigned to the patrol point in the map-like patrol route map. To do. In the example of FIG. 11, it is represented as a traveling point A 501 in the traveling route diagram, and is represented as a traveling point A 501-1 when initially set in the traveling plan diagram. If the traveling point A is added to the traveling plan diagram, the number increases to the traveling points A 501-2 and 501-3. In the following, numbers are similarly assigned to the traveling plan diagrams. Subsequently, a tour route is generated from the current point according to the tour plan. The travel management unit 131 instructs generation of a route from the current point of the robot to the next round point A. (B) In the example of the traveling route diagram, the current point 601 of the robot is on route 1 and the traveling point A 501 is on route 2. In response to the route generation instruction from the travel management unit 131, the traveling route generation processing unit 141 generates a traveling route from the current point 601 to the traveling point A501 based on the map information. In general, the route is set as the shortest route, and here, a cyclic route 701 is set in which the route 1 goes from the route 1 to the route 2 through the connector CN1-2.

  When the traveling route 701 is generated in this way, the traveling management unit 131 activates the autonomous traveling control means 150 and outputs a traveling instruction so as to travel on the traveling route 701. The autonomous traveling control means 150 autonomously travels on the traveling route 701 and notifies the traveling management unit 131 when it reaches the traveling point A501. The travel management unit 131 activates the traveling point processing control unit 133, and the traveling point processing control unit 133 controls the image information acquisition unit 160 to acquire image data. The image data is transmitted to the remote server 200 via a communication processing unit (not shown).

  When the processing of the traveling point processing control unit 133 is completed, the traveling management unit 131 instructs the route generation to the next traveling point B502 with the traveling point A501 as the current point. The cyclic route generation processing unit 141 generates a cyclic route 702 that passes through the connector CN2-3, the route 3, the connector CN3-4, the route 4, the connector CN4-5, and the route 5 in the same manner as the cyclic route 701. Then, the autonomous traveling control means 150 travels on the traveling route 702 and performs a predetermined work at the traveling point B502.

  Further, a round route to the next round point C 503 is generated with the round point B 502 as the current point. In the same manner as described above, a cyclic route 703 is generated that passes through the connector CN5-8, the route 8, the connector CN8-13, the route 13, the connector CN13-16, the route 16, the connector CN16-21, and the route 21 in order. The robot autonomously travels along the route 703. Then, when the traveling point C503 is reached, the work determined at the traveling point C is performed.

FIG. 12 is a circuit path connection diagram of the circuit path diagram of FIG.
Each time the traveling route generation processing unit 141 arrives at a traveling point in accordance with a traveling plan, the traveling route generation processing unit 141 generates a traveling route from the traveling point to the next traveling point. In this example, a tour route to the next tour point is generated at the current point 601, the tour point A501, and the tour point B502. In the example shown in the figure, a cyclic route 701 [route 1, connector CN1-2, route 2] from the current point 601 to the cyclic point A and a cyclic route 702 [route 2, connector CN2- from the cyclic point A to the cyclic point B are shown. 3, path 3, connector CN 3-4, path 4, connector CN 4-5, path 5] and cyclic path 703 from the cyclic point B to the cyclic point C [path 5, connector CN 5-8, path 8, connector CN 8- 13, path 13, connector CN 13-16, path 16, connector CN 16-21, path 21], and as a result, a cyclic path connecting all the cyclic points is generated as shown in the figure.

  Actually, there may be a case where the generated patrol route cannot be traveled due to a temporary obstacle or the like. For example, it is assumed that an obstacle is temporarily placed on the route 4 on the patrol route shown in FIG. 11B and the passage from the route 4 to the route 5 becomes impossible. When the autonomous traveling control means 150 detects an obstacle or the like and finds that it cannot pass, the autonomous traveling control means 150 stops traveling and notifies the traveling management unit 131 of it. The travel management unit 131 performs a reroute process for changing the tour route so that the user can arrive at the target tour point without going through the inaccessible route.

The above operation will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of traveling management processing for the traveling robot according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  After the map information and the patrol information are distributed from the remote server 200, the patrol management start is instructed, and the process is started. Note that the processing procedure shown below is executed when the travel management unit 131 controls the whole and activates other processing units.

[Step S <b> 1] The tour planning unit 132 creates a tour plan based on the tour information 112 and stores the tour plan information 121 in the tour route information DB 120.
[Step S <b> 2] Based on the tour plan information 121, an unexecuted tour point that has not yet been incorporated in the tour route is detected, and information related to this tour point is set in the “current tour point” of the tour route information 122. When an unexecuted circuit point is not detected, no execution is performed. In addition, when it was registered on the patrol route but could not travel on the patrol route due to the inability to pass, the tour points that could not arrive through this route remained unexecuted, and whether there were any unexecuted patrol points. Is determined including the rounding point of the arrival point of the inaccessible route.

  [Step S3] It is determined whether or not an unexecuted circuit point is detected by the process of step S2. If it is not detected, it is determined that all the round points have been visited, and the process is terminated. If an unexecuted circuit point is detected, the process proceeds to the next step.

  [Step S <b> 4] The traveling route generation processing unit 141 generates a traveling route from the current point to the “current traveling point” set in step S <b> 2 based on the traveling plan information 121 and the map information 111. The generated tour route is stored in the route information DB 120 as the tour route information 122.

  [Step S5] The autonomous traveling control means 150 performs autonomous traveling based on the traveling route information 122 generated in step S4. When the “current patrol point” is reached, the end of travel is notified. In addition, when there is an obstacle on the way and the vehicle cannot pass, it stops and notifies the stop of traveling.

  [Step S6] It is determined whether or not it has arrived at the “current circuit point”. We arrived at the current patrol point when there were no obstacles. On the other hand, the current patrol point has not been reached when an obstacle is detected and traffic is stopped. When it has arrived, the process proceeds to the next step, and when it has not arrived, the process proceeds to step S8.

  [Step S7] When arriving at the current circuit point, if it is the circuit point that has arrived and the work is defined, the task processing is performed and then the process returns to step S2 to process the next circuit point. repeat.

  [Step S8] When the current round point has not been reached, reroute processing is performed. In the reroute process, the traveling route is changed so as to remove the travelable route that cannot be passed, and the process of traveling on the changed modified traveling route is repeated until reaching one of the traveling points. Details of the processing will be described later.

By executing the above processing procedure, even if there is a temporary obstacle on the tour route, it is possible to visit all the set tour points.
Hereinafter, the reroute process will be described in detail. First, as (1), a description will be given of a reroute process when the passage of a patrol route that has been set by detecting an obstacle becomes impossible. However, simply connecting the circulable points that can pass through may cause the same route to be duplicated and incorporated into the cyclic route, or an uncirculated route not included in the cyclic route may occur. Therefore, as (2), a process for deleting an overlapping cyclic path generated by the reroute process will be described, and as a process (3), an uncirculated path insertion process for inserting an uncirculated path into the cyclic path will be described. The reroute process is performed not only when an obstacle is detected, but also when the administrator instructs the addition or change of a patrol point during traveling. As (4), an interrupt circuit point insertion process for inserting an interrupt circuit point into a circuit route when a circuit point is suddenly set during traveling will be described. Furthermore, depending on the route, there may be cases where the next obstacle cannot be reached due to the same obstacle. As (5), a process for grouping cyclic points that cannot be reached while a certain route cannot pass will be described. When an obstacle is detected, the connector is disconnected and reroute processing is performed. As (6), the management process of the connector disconnection time will be described.

(1) Reroute processing In the flowchart shown in FIG. 13, when the current route point is not reached, the route route that has been unable to pass is removed, and the reroute processing for generating the changed route route for traveling to the current route point is performed. Be started. Hereinafter, a process when the vehicle cannot travel due to an obstacle placed on the route while traveling on the patrol route shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a cyclic route generated by the reroute process. (A) shows the original tour plan, and (B) shows the tour route diagram (obstacle detection).
(A) The original tour plan is a tour plan generated based on the tour information 112 stored in the map / tour information DB 110 before a failure is detected, and is the same as FIG. In the example of the figure, a plan is set in which the tour is in order of the tour point A 501-1, the tour point B 502-1, and the tour point C 503-1.

  The traveling robot generates a traveling route based on the traveling plan and autonomously travels. From the cyclic point A to the cyclic point B, as shown in (B) cyclic path diagram, the cyclic path 702 [path 2, connector CN2-3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path 4, connector CN4-5, Autonomous traveling is started on a cyclic route of [Route 5]. However, the obstacle 801 is detected on the route 4 and cannot proceed further. The autonomous traveling control means 150 stops at the current point 602 in the figure, and notifies the traveling management unit 131 of the traveling stop. The traveling management unit 131 collates the stopped point with the current circuit point, and has not yet arrived at the current circuit point, and therefore temporarily disconnects the connector CN4-5 scheduled for the next passage (impossible to pass). At the same time, the stopped current point 602 is set as the starting point, the target traveling point is set as the traveling point B, and the reroute process is started.

  The traveling route generation processing unit 141 generates a traveling route that travels from the current point 602 (route 4) to the traveling point B, but the connector CN4-5 that connects the route 4 and the route 5 is disconnected. Changed circular path 751 indicated by the dotted line [connector CN3-4, path 3, connector CN3-7, path 7, connector CN7-11, path 11, connector CN11-12, path 12, connector CN12-13, path 13, connector CN8-13, path 8, connector CN5-8, path 5] are generated.

  The traveling management unit 131 instructs the autonomous traveling control means 150 to travel on the changed patrol route 751. By the way, by traveling on the modified patrol route 751, it arrives at the patrol point B, but the route that should pass through the original patrol route is not traveled, and the uncirculated route 901 [currently shown by the one-dot chain line in the figure] A point 602, a connector CN4-5, and a route 5] are generated. The uncirculated route refers to a route that does not pass due to the route being rerouted among the cyclic routes generated in the original tour plan (plan based on the tour information). Therefore, the current point 602 and the traveling point B are added to the traveling plan in order to travel the uncirculated route 901 later.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a patrol plan and a patrol route changed by the reroute process. (C) is a circuit plan diagram after reroute, and (D) is a circuit connection diagram after reroute.
(C) As shown in the travel plan after reroute, the current point that is the start point of the uncirculated route 901 after the last tour point C503-1 shown in FIG. 602-1 (corresponding to the current location 602 in FIG. 14) and the end point patrol point B502-2 are set. In addition, since the operation | work in the cyclic point B is performed when it arrives at the cyclic point B 502-1 by the change cyclic route 751, it only needs to drive | work the uncirculated route 901 at the end. Therefore, the traveling point type of the traveling point B 502-2 that arrives the second time is set as the passing point.

  (D) The cyclic route [route 2, connector CN2-3, route 3, connector CN3-4, route 4, connector CN4-5, route 5] arranged vertically in the circuit diagram of the route after reroute is the original This is a patrol route based on the patrol plan. This is called the original cyclic route, and in the cyclic route connection diagram, the routes are arranged side by side in the straight direction. In the figure, the original traveling route actually traveled is indicated by a solid line, a newly generated changed traveling route is indicated by a dotted line, and an uncirculated route is indicated by a one-dot chain line.

  Thus, when traveling from the traveling point A to the traveling point B, if a temporary obstacle is detected at the current point, the traveling route is generated and autonomous traveling is performed. It is possible to proceed to the traveling point B without needing it. In addition, since the uncirculated route is registered in the tour plan so as to travel later, the traveling process can be terminated after traveling all the tour routes set by the user.

The processing procedure will be described using a flowchart.
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the reroute process.
The process is started when the current roundpoint is not reached.

  [Step S11] A connector that was scheduled to pass on the original patrol route but could not pass due to an obstacle is temporarily disconnected (impossible to pass). For example, in the example of FIGS. 14 and 15, since an obstacle is placed on the path 4, the connector CN4-5 is temporarily disconnected.

  [Step S12] Reroute is performed with the stopped position as the current location and the current tour location as it is. Since the inaccessible connector is disconnected, this route is removed and a modified patrol route is generated. In the example of FIGS. 14 and 15, the route returns to the route 3 through the connector CN 3-4, and a dotted-line changing circulation route 751 is generated. Depending on the configuration or the condition of the obstacle, there may be cases where rerouting is not possible.

  [Step S13] It is determined whether the reroute in step S12 is successful. If successful, the process proceeds to the next step, and if not successful, the process proceeds to step S17.

  [Step S14] Since the reroute is successful, the current point and the tour point are added to the end of the tour plan. At this time, the round point set last is a passing point. For example, in the example of FIG. 15, the current point 602-1 and the arrival target round point B (passing point) 502-2 are added after the last round point C503-1 of the original round plan.

  [Step S15] Autonomously travels on the changed route. If there are no obstacles, the vehicle travels on the modified patrol route and arrives at the patrol point. On the other hand, when an obstacle is detected also on the changed patrol route, it stops without arriving at the patrol point.

  [Step S16] It is determined whether or not the circuit has arrived. If it has arrived, the process is terminated, and the process of proceeding to the original route (from the arriving circuit point to the destination route) is performed. If not, the process proceeds to step S18.

  [Step S17] When the reroute cannot be performed, that is, the changed tour route cannot be generated, the current point and the tour point are added to the end of the tour plan. At this time, since the changed tour route reaching the tour point is not established (it cannot go to the tour point), the last tour point type maintains the tour point. Then, the process proceeds to step S19.

  [Step S18] If there is an obstacle in the changed route and the route cannot be reached, the passage of the last route type (pass point) set in Step S14 is deleted and returned to the route point.

  [Step S19] The next round point (the round point next to the current round point set in the round plan) is added to the end of the round plan, and the current round point is set, and the process proceeds to step S12. . In other words, it is not possible to go to the route point of the arrival target of the route that could not be passed first (there was no change route, or the change route could not be reached due to a failure), so the traveling to this route point was given up. Then, a tour route that travels to the next tour point is generated. The unpatented route is set at the end of the tour plan and travels later.

The process of step S18 and step S19 is demonstrated using drawing.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a tour route and a tour plan when there is an obstacle on the tour route after the reroute. (E) is a patrol route diagram (the changed patrol route has an obstacle), and (F) is a patrol plan diagram after reroute.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, when an obstacle 801 is placed on the traveling route 702 traveling from the traveling point A 501 to the traveling point B 502, the obstacle 801 is avoided to the traveling point B 502. A traveling route 751 to be changed is generated. If the obstacle 802 is placed in the middle of the changed patrol route 751 and the traffic cannot be made, the next patrol point C503 is set and the patrol point B502 is returned from the passing point to the patrol point without going to the patrol point B502 ( This corresponds to step S18). Then, a changed tour route 752 toward the tour point C503 is generated (corresponding to step S19).

  In this case, as shown in (F) Travel plan after reroute, the route does not go to the tour point B 502-1 after the tour point A 501-1, but goes to the tour point C 503-1. Therefore, in order to pass the original travel route 702, a traveling plan is set so that the current point 602-1 and the traveling point B502-2 are passed after the traveling point C503-1. The reason why the traveling point B502-2 is returned to the traveling point is that this is the arrival of the first traveling point B502. Furthermore, on the original tour route, the tour route that travels from the tour point B 502 to the tour point C 503, which should have traveled, becomes the non-travel route 902. Therefore, in order to travel on the uncirculated route 902, the next cyclic point C503-2 is added to the end of the cyclic plan. In addition, since it goes to the round point C503 by the change round route 752, the round point type of the round point C503-2 to be added last is a passing point.

  If the searched route cannot be traversed by a temporary obstacle, etc., by executing the above processing procedure, a modified route that avoids the obstacle is generated and the specified route point is visited. be able to. In addition, in order to travel on a tour route that could not be traveled due to traveling on a modified tour route, all current points where obstacles were detected and the current tour point at that time were added to the end of the tour plan. It is possible to end the process by traveling on the patrol route.

(2) Cyclic route duplication deletion processing after reroute By the way, (1) The modified cyclic route generated by the reroute processing and the non-circular route may partially overlap depending on the route configuration. appear. Since traveling on the same route a plurality of times is wasteful in terms of time and cost, the embodiment of the present invention further performs a process of deleting an overlapping route from an uncirculated route.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining an example of an overlapping route in the cyclic route after the reroute. (A) is a first tour plan diagram, and (B) is a tour route diagram.
In this example, as shown in (A) the first cyclic plan, a cyclic plan is generated in which the cyclic point D504-1, the cyclic point E505-1, and the cyclic point F506-1 are circulated in this order based on the cyclic information. Suppose.

  The overlapping route will be described with reference to (B) cyclic route diagram. Obstacles placed on the route 2 when traveling on the route [connector CN1-2, route 2, connector CN2-3, route 3, connector CN3-4, route 4] from the route point D504 toward the route point E505 The vehicle cannot travel to the route 2 due to 803 and stops at the current point 604 in the route 1. The reroute processing is started, and the modified patrol path 753 [connector CN1-6, path 6, connector CN6-9, path 9, connector CN9-10, path 10, connector CN10-11, path 11, connector CN11-7, path 7 , Connector CN7-3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path 4] are generated. (1) According to the reroute processing, since the uncirculated route is set as the current circulating point from the current point, the uncirculated route 903 is [connector CN1-2, route 2, connector CN2] from the current point 604 to the circulating point E. −3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path 4]. Therefore, an overlapping route 913 [region 3, connector CN3-4, region 4] indicated by a two-dot chain line is generated between the uncirculated route 903 and the changed route 753. Therefore, processing for deleting this overlapping route 913 is performed.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of the deduplication processing for the cyclic route after the reroute. (C) is a cyclic route connection diagram after reroute, (D) is a cyclic plan diagram after reroute, and (E) is a cyclic plan diagram after duplicate deletion.

  (B) As shown in the circuit connection diagram after reroute, the circuit [connector CN1-2, path 2, connector CN2-3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path from the circuit point D504 to the circuit point E505] 4], since there is an obstacle in the route 2, the connector CN1-2 is temporarily disconnected, and the modified patrol route 753 is generated based on the map information. At this time, as shown in (D) circuit plan after reroute, the current point 604-1 and the current circuit point E505-2 are added after the last circuit point F506-1 of the original circuit plan. Then, for the traveling point E505-2, the traveling point type is changed to a passing point. As a result, the traveling robot can travel the last section from the current point 604-1 to the traveling point (passing point) E505-2 as the uncirculated route 903.

  In the duplicate deletion process, the uncirculated path 903 [connector CN1-2, path 2, connector CN2-3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path 4] and the modified cyclic path 753 [connector CN1-6, path 6, connector CN6-9, path 9, connector CN9-10, path 10, connector CN10-11, path 11, connector CN11-7, path 7, connector CN7-3, path 3, connector CN3-4, path 4] And detect overlapping parts. (D) As shown in the cyclic route connection diagram after the reroute, the section of [Area 3, Connector CN3-4, Area 4] is set for both the uncirculated route 903 and the changed cyclic route 753. Therefore, the redundant route 913 [region 3, connector CN3-4, region 4] is deleted from the uncirculated route 903 [connector CN1-2, route 2, connector CN2-3, route 3, connector CN3-4, route 4]. The uncirculated route is set to [connector CN1-2, route 2, connector CN2-3]. Therefore, the start point (current point 604) and end point (circulation point E505) of the uncirculated route added at the end of the tour plan are set as the start point (connector CN1-2) and end point (connector CN2-) of the non-matching route. Rewrite to 3). As a result, (D) the circuit plan after reroute becomes (E) the circuit plan after deduplication.

The above processing procedure will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the duplicate deletion process after reroute.
After the reroute process is performed, for example, in the flowchart of the reroute process in FIG. 16, the process arrives at the rounding point in step S16 and is started before the process is terminated.

  [Step S21] The new and old routes generated in the section between the start point (current point) and the end point (current tour point) are compared. Here, the new route refers to the modified patrol route generated by the reroute. The old route refers to a cyclic route that is generated based on the original cyclic plan and before the failure is detected, and corresponds to an uncirculated route.

  [Step S22] It is determined whether or not there is an overlap between the new route (changed route) and the old route (uncirculated route). When there is no overlap, the process is terminated, and when there is an overlap, the process proceeds to the next step.

  [Step S23] The overlapping part is deleted from the route added at the end of the patrol plan by the reroute processing. Specifically, the start point and end point of the uncirculated route added at the end of the tour plan are replaced with the start point and end point of the non-matching route.

  By executing the above processing procedure, when the changed cyclic route generated to avoid the obstacle and the non-circular route overlap, the overlapping portion is deleted from the non-circular route. As a result, it is possible to prevent travel on a useless route and to reduce time and cost.

(3) Uncirculated route insertion processing In the above description, the start point and end point of an uncirculated route are added to the end of the cyclic plan, and the uncirculated route is traveled after the original cyclic plan is completed. It was.

However, if the untraveled route is always traveled last, there will be a case where it takes a long time to travel.
For example, in the traveling plans shown in the examples of FIGS. 18 and 19, the vehicle travels to the traveling point F506 and then returns to the position of the connector CN1-2 to travel on the uncirculated route. The distance required to move from the round point F506 to the connector CN1-2 is much longer than the distance required to move from the round point E505 to the connector CN1-2. Therefore, the movement to the connector CN1-2 can be reduced in both time and cost if it is performed from the circuit point E505 rather than from the circuit point F506.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the traveling on the uncirculated route is performed when the moving distance to the head of the uncirculated route becomes the shortest.
FIG. 21 is a cyclic route diagram illustrating a process of inserting an uncirculated route after reroute with the shortest route. (A) The cyclic route diagram is the same as the cyclic route in the cyclic route diagrams shown in FIGS. 11 and 14.

  An obstacle 801 in the route 4 of the route 702 from the route point A501 to the route point B502 is detected, and the changed route 751 [connector CN3-4, route 3, connector CN3 that goes to the route point B502 while avoiding the route 4 is detected. -7, path 7, connector CN7-11, path 11, connector CN11-12, path 12, connector CN12-13, path 13, connector CN8-13, path 8, connector CN5-8, path 5 (circular point B) ] Is generated. In addition, in order to travel an uncirculated route 901 [current point 602, connector CN4-5, route 5] having the current point 602 as a starting point and the circulating point B502 as an end point, the uncirculated route 901 is next to the last circulating point C503. The starting point (current point 602) and the end point (cyclic point B) are set in the cyclic plan.

  Therefore, the traveling robot 100 that has traveled to the traveling point B502 through the modified traveling route 751 travels from the traveling point B502 to the traveling point C503 by the traveling route 703 and arrives at the traveling point C503, and then travels toward the uncirculated route 901. Become. However, as is clear from the figure, the travel distance can be shortened from the traveling point B502 toward the uncirculated route 901 than from the traveling point C503 toward the uncirculated route 901.

  In the present embodiment, at the end of the reroute process, the distance to the uncirculated route 901 is calculated for the current position where the patrol robot 100 stops and each point that is set in the patrol plan from now on. Then, the calculated distances are compared, and the uncirculated route is inserted before the cyclic route having the determined point with the shortest distance as the start point.

  For example, in the example shown in the figure, when the vehicle travels on the changed traveling route 751 and arrives at the traveling point B502, the distance between the traveling point B502 and the uncirculated route 901, the traveling point C503 that is the next traveling point, The distance to the circulation route 901 is calculated. The distance between each point and the uncirculated route 901 is calculated, for example, by adding the distance between the point and the start point of the uncirculated route and the distance between the point and the end point of the uncirculated route. The distance between the cyclic point B502 and the non-circular route 901 is the distance between the cyclic point B502 and the current point 602, which is the starting point of the non-circular route 901, and the end point of the cyclic point B502 and the non-circular route 901 (here Then, the distance to the traveling point B502 itself) is added up. The same processing is performed for the circuit point C503, and the calculated distances are compared. In this case, since the traveling point B502 is closer to the uncirculated route 901, the uncirculated route 901 is inserted before the traveling route 703 from the traveling point B502 to the traveling point C503.

This will be described with reference to a cyclic route connection diagram.
FIG. 22 is a cyclic route connection diagram for explaining the process of inserting the uncirculated route after the reroute with the shortest route.

  (B) As shown in the cyclic route connection diagram, in order to avoid an obstacle in the route 4 in the course of the cyclic route 702 from the cyclic point A501 to the cyclic point B502, the modified tour using the route 4 as the route change point A path 751 is generated. Then, the vehicle travels on the changed patrol route 751 to the patrol point B502 and arrives at the patrol point B502, which is the current location. At this time, a route passing through the route 4, the connector CN4-5, and the route 5 that should originally pass is an uncirculated route 901.

  (1) In the reroute process, the vehicle travels on the traveling route 703 and goes to the traveling point C503. However, if it must travel on the uncirculated route 901, it wants to travel on the shortest distance. For this purpose, it is preferable to travel on the uncirculated route 901 from the point where the distance to the uncirculated route 901 is the shortest. Therefore, the distance from the uncirculated route 901 is calculated for the current point (circular point B502) and the future cyclic point C503 so that the unrecovered route can be reached in the shortest time. The distance is calculated by calculating the distance between the start point (route change point) and the end point (circulation point B502), and adding the calculated values. Then, the point with the shortest distance is selected. Here, the circuit point B502 is selected.

  In addition, when there are scheduled traveling points after the traveling point C503, the distances from all the scheduled traveling points to the uncirculated route are calculated, and traveling from the nearest traveling point to the uncirculated route is performed. Make it. In addition, the objects whose distances are calculated include not only the traveling points but also passing points set in the traveling plan, connectors, and the like.

Next, the insertion process of an uncirculated route will be described with reference to a traveling plan diagram.
FIG. 23 is a cyclic plan diagram for explaining processing for inserting an uncirculated route after reroute with the shortest route. (C) is a cyclic plan diagram after reroute, and (D) is a cyclic plan diagram after insertion by the shortest path.

  (C) The tour plan diagram after reroute is a tour plan diagram after the changed tour route 751 for avoiding the obstacle is set. Here, the change point 602-1 that is the start point of the uncirculated route 901 and the tour point (changed to the passing point) B502-2 that is the end point are set after the last tour point C503-1. ing.

  (D) The cyclic plan diagram after the shortest route insertion shows the cyclic route diagram after the route from the cyclic point B502 to the non-circular route 901 is determined to be the shortest route and the non-circular route 901 is inserted. ing. An uncirculated route 901 is inserted into a route that travels on a cyclic route from the round trip point B 502-1 that is the shortest distance to the round trip point C 503-1.

As a result, the entire traveling distance can be made the shortest and the uncirculated route can be visited, so that the time and cost required for the tour can be suppressed.
FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the process of inserting the uncirculated route after the reroute with the shortest route.

When the vehicle travels on the changed patrol route and arrives at the target point, the process is started.
[Step S31] The distance from the current point of arrival to the uncirculated route is calculated. The distance to the uncirculated route is calculated by adding the distance between the start point of the uncirculated route and the current point and the distance between the end point of the uncirculated route and the current point.

[Step S32] The distance to the uncirculated route is calculated for each point of the traveling plan that has not yet traveled. The calculation of the distance is the same as in step S31.
[Step S33] The distance from the current point calculated in step S31 to the uncirculated route is compared with the distance calculated from step S32 to the uncirculated route, and the point having the shortest distance is extracted.

[Step S34] An uncirculated route is inserted into the cyclic route starting from the extraction point extracted in Step S33.
By executing the above processing procedure, the traveling of the uncirculated route is started from the point where the distance becomes the shortest.

  In the above description, the point where the uncirculated route is to be inserted is set when traveling on the changed cyclic route and reaching the cyclic route. However, the reroute process is executed at the insertion point of the selected uncirculated route. If it is a point to travel in a short time, it is highly likely that the obstacle has not been removed. Therefore, when the reroute process is performed, an uncirculated route may be set at the end of the circulation plan, and the insertion process of the uncirculated route may be performed after a predetermined time has elapsed. Also, if the obstacle is not temporary, you can not run even if you try again, so set the specified number of trials, and if the number of trials exceeds the specified value, Do not travel on uncirculated routes during patrols.

Hereinafter, the procedure will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for determining whether to insert an uncirculated route. When setting a changed tour route while avoiding an obstacle, the non-turn route is set so as to travel after the last tour point of the tour plan, and the change time is set in the unturned route information 123. Then, for example, the following processing procedure is performed in the route generation (step S4) processing in the processing procedure shown in FIG. It is assumed that the processing is performed in order from the highest level registration by setting a pointer at the highest level of the uncirculated route information 123.

  [Step S41] The uncirculated route information 123 after the designated pointer indicates is read to check whether there is an uncirculated route registration. If there is no registration, the process ends. If there is a registration, set the pointer there and proceed to the next step.

  [Step S42] When there is registration in the uncirculated route information 123, the change time is read out to determine whether or not a preset waiting time has elapsed. If not, the pointer is advanced and the process returns to step S41 to search for the next registration. If it has elapsed, the process proceeds to the next step.

  [Step S43] If the waiting time has elapsed, the number of trials of the uncirculated route is read, and the number of trials is compared with a specified value. The number of trials is counted up when the travel management unit 131 or the autonomous travel control means 150 travels on an uncirculated route. If the number of trials is equal to or greater than the specified value, the pointer is advanced to the next, and the process returns to step S41 to search for the next registration. If it is below the specified value, the process proceeds to the next step.

  [Step S44] If the waiting time since the setting of the registered non-circular route has elapsed and the number of trials is equal to or less than the specified value, an insertion process of inserting the non-circular route into the shortest route is performed. Execute. Processing is performed in the same procedure as in FIG. After the processing is completed, the pointer is advanced, and the process returns to step S41 to search for the next registration.

By executing the above processing procedure, it becomes possible to travel on an uncirculated route with the shortest route when there are no obstacles.
Also, if the number of trials exceeds the specified value, it is determined that traffic is not possible in the current round, and insertion and addition of uncirculated paths are stopped. In addition, when the administrator confirms that there are no obstacles, the uncirculated route information 123 can be manually updated via the network. At this time, the vehicle travels on an uncirculated route based on the updated information.

(4) Interrupt cyclic point insertion processing The above description relates to a cyclic route change process that is performed when a temporary obstacle is placed on the cyclic route and the passage becomes impossible. By the way, the flexible change of the patrol route is not limited to the case where traffic is impossible. For example, while the traveling robot is traveling, there may be a request such as “I do not have the following traveling plan but want to hurry the traveling robot to perform a predetermined work”.

FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram illustrating a process for inserting an interrupt circuit point into a circuit path.
(A) The cyclic route diagram is the same as the cyclic route in the cyclic route diagrams shown in FIGS. 11 and 14.
It is assumed that the user's instruction “to hurry toward the traveling point G510” is input to the traveling robot 100 via the remote server 200 while traveling on the traveling route 702 from the traveling point A501 to the traveling point B502. Hereinafter, the tour point designated by the interrupt is referred to as an interrupt tour point.

  The traveling robot 100 receives the command and performs a reroute process using the stopped stop point 610 as a start point so as to go to the interrupt tour point G510. The travel management unit 131 issues a route generation instruction to the traveling route generation processing unit 141 with the stop point 610 as the current point and the target current traveling point as G510, in the same manner as when the traffic is impossible.

  The cyclic route generation processing unit 141 generates a changed cyclic route 761 with the stop point 610 as the start point and the interrupt cyclic point G510 as the end point. The traveling management unit 131 instructs the autonomous traveling control unit 150 to travel on the generated modified traveling route 761, autonomously travels on the modified traveling route 761 by the autonomous traveling control unit 150, and arrives at the interrupting traveling point G <b> 510. Thus, after arriving at the interrupt circuit point G510 instructed by the interrupt, if requested by remote operation, the requested work is executed.

  After execution of the requested work, the traveling management unit 131 returns the traveling robot 100 from the current point (possibly because it may be moving in the requested work) to the original patrol route, so that the starting point Is set as the interrupt patrol point G510, and the target point is set as the stop point 610, and the changed patrol route is generated. In this case, it is assumed that a reverse route is generated from the first changed tour route 761. Then, the autonomous traveling control unit 150 causes the changed traveling route 761 to travel toward the stop point 610 and returns to the stopping point 610 in the middle of the original traveling route 702.

Then, a changed patrol route from the stop point 610 to the patrol point B502 that was the original target point is generated and travels to the patrol point B502.
This will be described with reference to a cyclic route connection diagram.

FIG. 27 is a circuit route connection diagram for explaining processing for inserting an interrupt circuit point into a circuit route.
(B) As shown in the cyclic route connection diagram, an interrupt instructing traveling to the cyclic point G510 is input on the route 4 in the middle of the cyclic route 702 from the cyclic point A501 to the cyclic point B502, and then stopped. Then, the stop point of the route 4 is set as the start point, and the tour route 750 [route 3, connector CN3-7, route 7, connector CN7-11, route 11, connector CN11-15, route 15 to the designated tour point G510. , Connector CN15-19, path 19, connector CN19-23, path 23, connector CN23-27, path 27, connector CN27-28, path 28 (interrupt circuit point G)] are generated.

Next, description will be made with reference to a traveling plan diagram.
FIG. 28 is a tour plan diagram for explaining processing for inserting an interrupt tour point into a tour route. (C) is a tour plan before interruption, and (D) is a tour plan after interrupt.

(C) In the traveling plan diagram before interruption, a traveling plan including a traveling point A 501-1, a traveling point B 502-1, and a traveling point C 503-1 is generated based on the traveling information.
Since interrupt circuit point 510-1 is designated while traveling from circuit point A 501-1 to circuit point B 502-1 according to this circuit route, the travel is stopped and the next target circuit point is set as circuit point G 510-1. To do. Therefore, the next target of the cyclic point A 501-1 is the interrupt cyclic point G 510-1. Further, the next target point is set as the stop point 610-1 to return to the original patrol route. For this reason, the next target of the interrupt circuit point G510-1 is the stop point 610-1. In this way, the route to the tour point G510-1 inserted by interruption between the route from the tour point A501-1 to the tour point B502-1, which is the original tour route, and the route to the stop point 610-1 Is an interrupt patrol path 910.

  FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing for inserting an interrupt tour point into a tour route. A patrol point (interrupt patrol point) to be patrolled quickly is designated by the interrupt process, and the process is started.

  [Step S51] When the designation of an interrupt circuit point is input, the current circuit point (current circuit point) is set as an interrupt circuit point, the next circuit point is set as a stop point, and the next circuit point ( The original current circuit point is set to the next circuit point after the next circuit point). As a result, an interrupt route that returns to the interrupt route point is inserted into the route route to the original current route point.

  [Step S52] A modified patrol route is generated. Here, a route from the stop point to the interrupt route point is generated according to the setting in step S51. Then, the autonomous traveling control means 150 travels along the generated changed patrol route.

[Step S53] When the vehicle travels on the changed tour route generated in Step S52 and arrives at the interrupt tour point, the instructed work is executed.
[Step S54] The stopping point stopped in step S51 is set as the next tour point, and a modified tour route is generated. Here, a patrol route toward the stop point is generated.

[Step S55] Travel along the changed patrol route generated in Step S54 and return to the stop point.
By executing the above processing procedure, it is possible to automatically travel through the interrupt circuit point set by the interrupt and return to the original circuit route.

  By the way, there may be a case where the interrupt cyclic route generated by the above procedure overlaps with the original cyclic route. In this case as well, (2) a process of deleting an overlapped portion is performed in the same manner as the process of deleting a redundant route after a reroute.

FIG. 30 is a circuit diagram illustrating a process for deleting an overlapping route with the interrupt circuit route. The figure shows an example in which the interrupt route point is different from the cyclic route diagram of FIG.
Similarly to FIG. 26, while traveling on the traveling route 702 from the traveling point A 501 to the traveling point B 502, the user's instruction “to hurry toward the traveling point H 512” is input to the traveling robot 100 via the remote server 200. Suppose.

  The traveling robot 100 receives the command and performs reroute processing so as to go to the interrupt circuit point H512, and generates a modified circuit path 762 having the stop point 610 as the start point and the interrupt circuit point H512 as the end point. Then, the vehicle travels autonomously on the changed patrol route 762 and arrives at the interrupt patrol point H512. Thus, after arriving at the interrupt circuit point H512 instructed by the interrupt, if requested by remote operation, the requested work is executed.

  Subsequently, the traveling robot 100 is returned from the current position to the original traveling route. Here, assuming that the user has not moved in the work requested by the interrupt instruction, the route changes from the interrupt circuit point H512 to the changed circuit path 762 in the reverse direction. By the way, this modified patrol path 762 [path 12, connector CN12-13, path 13, connector CN13-8, path 8, connector CN5-8, path 5, connector 4-5, path 4] It overlaps with the original cyclic route 702 [route 4, connector CN4-5, route 5]. Therefore, the redundant route 921 [route 4, connector CN4-5, route 5] is deleted from the changed tour route 762 that returns to the stop point 610.

  In this example, when the overlapping route 921 is deleted, the traveling route from the stop point 610 to the traveling point B502 is deleted. Therefore, the interrupt circuit point H512 returns to the circuit point B502, and in the path generation, the path from the interrupt circuit point H512 to the circuit point B502 is generated. In addition, although the cyclic route 703 that connects the cyclic point B502 and the cyclic point C503 partially overlaps with the changed cyclic route 762, it cannot be deleted because it does not reach the cyclic point B.

This will be described with reference to a cyclic route connection diagram.
FIG. 31 is a circuit route connection diagram for explaining processing for deleting an overlapping route with the interrupt circuit route.

  During traveling from the traveling point A 501 to the traveling point B 502, the interruption traveling point H 512 is instructed and stops on the route 4. Then, a modified patrol route 762 from the stop point 610 to the interrupt patrol point H512 is generated. After arriving at the interrupt circuit point H512, the process returns to the original stop point 610. The changed route 762 and the route 702 from the stop point 610 to the next route B (502) are the route 4, the connector CN4-5, and the route 5 as the overlapping route 921. Therefore, the duplicate route 921 is deleted and the process proceeds to the original stop point 610. Here, it returns not to the stop point 610 but to the patrol point B502.

This will be described with a traveling plan diagram.
FIG. 32 is a cyclic plan diagram for explaining processing for deleting an overlapping route with the interrupt cyclic route.
(C) is a cyclic plan diagram after generation of an interrupt cyclic route, and (D) is a cyclic plan diagram after deletion of duplicate routes.

  (C) As shown in the tour planning diagram after the generation of the interrupt tour route, the interrupt tour route 911 that travels around the interrupt tour point H512-1 is generated and returns to the original stop point 610-1. Here, when the interrupt patrol route 911 and the patrol route from the stop point 610-1 to the patrol point B 502-1 are compared with each other, the duplication portion is deleted.

In this example, as shown in the (D) cyclic plan diagram after deletion of the duplicated route, the routine does not return from the interrupt cyclic point H512-1 to the stop point 610-1, but returns to the cyclic point B502-1.
A processing procedure will be described with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing for deleting an overlapping route with the interrupt cyclic route. Arriving at the interrupt circuit point, processing is started.
[Step S61] The interrupt tour route from the interrupt tour point to the stop point is compared with the route from the stop point to the next tour point.

  [Step S62] If there is no overlap between the interrupt route for returning to the stop point and the route from the stop point to the next tour point, the process is terminated. If there is an overlapping part, the process proceeds to the next step.

  [Step S63] If there is an overlap between the interrupt route for returning to the stop point and the route from the stop point to the next tour point, the route that goes from the stop point (current location) to the next tour point The duplicate part is deleted from, and the process ends.

  By executing the above processing procedure, even when an interrupt cyclic route is inserted, the redundant cyclic route is deleted. As a result, the patrol robot can be patroled efficiently.

(5) Grouping processing of traveling points When an obstacle is detected by the autonomous traveling control means 150 while the robot 100 travels on a traveling route, as shown in FIG. Processing is performed. If the traveling route obtained by the reroute processing travels and the traveling point cannot be reached yet, the traveling management unit 131 gives up this traveling point to the traveling route generation processing unit 141 so as to go to the next traveling point. Instructions and reroute processing is performed. However, when the next obstacle cannot be reached due to the same obstacle, the robot 100 may travel uselessly until the obstacle is removed. A specific example will be described.

FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating an example of the reroute process when the vehicle cannot travel to a plurality of circuit points due to an obstacle. (A) is a first tour plan diagram, and (B) is a tour route diagram.
In the cyclic route diagram of (B), as in FIG. 3, the travelable route is divided into predetermined areas, and numbers are assigned in order from 1 to 10. Each path is connected by a connector (not shown). CN1-2 is a connector connecting path 1 and path 2, CN2-3 is a connector connecting path 2 and path 3, CN2-9 is a connector connecting path 2 and path 9, and CN3- is a connector connecting path 3 and path 4 4. CN4-5 is a connector that connects path 4 and path 5, CN5-6 is a connector that connects path 5 and path 6, CN6-7 is a connector that connects path 6 and path 7, and a connector that connects path 7 and path 8 CN7-8, a connector connecting the path 8 and the path 9 is CN8-9, and a connector connecting the path 8 and the path 10 is CN8-10.

  (A) As shown in the first tour plan diagram, it is assumed that a tour plan is generated in which the robot 100 is visited in the order of tour point A 501-1, tour point B 502-1, and tour point C 503-1. Based on this tour plan, the tour route [route 1, connector CN1-2, route 2, connector CN2-3, route 3, connector CN3-4, route 4 (circulation point A501), connector CN4-5, route 5 (tour) Point B502), connector CN5-6, path 6 (circular point C503), connector CN6-7, path 7, connector CN7-8, path 8, connector CN8-10, path 10] are generated.

  Assume that an obstacle 801 is placed on the route 3 and an obstacle 802 is placed on the route 7. The robot 100 travels on a traveling route 704 [route 1, connector CN1-2, route 2, connector CN2-3, route 3] toward the traveling point A501. Since the obstacle 801 is detected on the route 3, the travel management unit 131 disconnects the connector CN3-4 and instructs the traveling route generation processing unit 141 to perform the reroute processing. Here, a modified patrol route 771 of [connector CN2-9, route 9, connector CN9-8, route 8, connector CN8-7, route 7,...] Is generated. However, when traveling to the route 7, the obstacle 802 is detected, and the vehicle cannot pass. Therefore, the traveling management unit 131 gives up traveling to the traveling point A501, sets the traveling point B502 as the current traveling point of the traveling target, and issues an instruction to the traveling route generation processing unit 141. The cyclic route generation processing unit 141 includes a modified cyclic route 772 [connector CN7-8, route 8, connector CN8-9, route 9, connector CN2-9, route 2, connector CN2-3, route 3, connector CN3-4, Route 4] is generated, and the autonomous traveling control means 150 starts traveling. However, the obstacle 801 is detected on the route 3, and the changed circulation route 773 [connector CN2-9, route 9, connector CN9-8, route 8, connector CN8-7, route 7,. It is generated in the same way as when traveling toward. Further, the same processing is performed for the circuit point C503. As a result, the above-mentioned movement is repeated until there are no more traveling points in the section between the obstacle 801 and the obstacle 802, and the traveling time of the traveling route increases or the battery is wasted. There's a problem. In the example of the figure, a serious problem occurs when the distance of the route 9 is long or when the number of circulation points on the route blocked by the obstacle 801 and the obstacle 802 is large.

  Therefore, as in the example of the figure, when it becomes impossible to reach a certain circuit point due to an obstacle, such as a circuit point arranged on a route without a branch point, the circuit points that cannot be reached at the same time are grouped. The group to which each traveling point belongs is registered in the traveling information 112 as traveling point attribute information, for example. When it is determined that a certain traveling point in the group cannot be reached, the rerouting process is performed by removing all the traveling points from the group as candidates for the next target traveling point.

  FIG. 35 is a circuit diagram illustrating reroute processing for grouped circuit points. (C) The route described in the cyclic route diagram is the same as the cyclic route in the (B) cyclic route diagram shown in FIG.

  Here, the cyclic point A501a, the cyclic point B502a, and the cyclic point C503a are registered in the same group (group 1). For the group number assigned to each traveling point, for example, the attribute item relating to each traveling point of the traveling information 1120 shown in FIG. 7 is increased by 1, and the group number is registered in advance there.

  Here, the robot 100 travels on the traveling route 704 toward the traveling point A 501a, but cannot travel due to the obstacle 801, travels on the modified traveling route 774 generated by the reroute processing, and reaches the route 7, It is the same as in the case of FIG. 34 that the obstacle is not allowed again due to the obstacle 802. Therefore, the traveling management unit 131 gives up traveling to the traveling point A 501a and tries to select the next traveling point B 502a. However, when the attribute of the tour point B502a is examined based on the tour information, it is found that the tour point B502a is the same group as the tour point A501a. Therefore, the traveling point B502a is canceled and the traveling point C503a is selected. However, since the round point C503a is also in the same group, the selection is canceled. In this way, the tour points of the same group are canceled sequentially. Then, a traveling point (not shown) that has passed through the section between the obstacle 801 and the obstacle 802 is set as the current traveling point, and the rerouting process is instructed to the traveling route generation processing unit 141. In this way, a modified tour route 775 is generated, and the robot 100 travels along the modified tour route 775.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the reroute process in the case where the grouped tour points are included. After the patrol plan is created, the process is started.
[Step S71] A group number storage area for storing the group number of the cyclic point to be processed is initialized. Based on the tour plan information 121, the next tour point information is extracted from the tour information 112 and set to the current tour point. Then, the movement is started toward the current patrol point.

[Step S72] A traveling route to the current traveling point is generated to autonomously travel and move toward the traveling point.
[Step S73] When the autonomous traveling control unit 150 stops traveling, the traveling management unit 131 determines whether an obstacle has been detected and stopped. If an obstacle is detected and stopped, the process proceeds to step S74. If an obstacle is detected and not stopped, the process proceeds to step S77.

[Step S74] When an obstacle is detected and stopped, a reroute route that travels to the current patrol point while avoiding the obstacle is generated.
[Step S75] It is determined whether or not a reroute route has been generated by the processing in step S74. When the reroute route is generated, the process returns to step S72, and a process of traveling along the reroute route and moving to the circuit point is performed. If no reroute route is generated, this means that there is no tour route to move to this tour point, so the group number of the tour point is stored in the group number storage area, and the process proceeds to step S78.

  [Step S77] It is determined whether or not the robot is stopped because the robot has reached the patrol point. If the circulation point has been reached, the process proceeds to step S78. If the traveling point has not been reached, the process returns to step S72 to move to the next traveling point.

  [Step S78] When the traveling point is reached or there is no route to move to the traveling point, information on the next traveling point is extracted from the traveling information 112 based on the traveling plan information 121 and set to the current traveling point. To do. When the next round point is not detected, it is determined that all round points have been visited.

  [Step S79] It is determined whether or not all the tour points have been visited. If all the tour points have been visited, the process ends. If not, the process proceeds to step S80.

[Step S80] The group number of the next tour point is extracted from the tour information.
[Step S81] The group number of the next tour point extracted in step S80 is compared with the group number of the tour point that has given up the arrival stored in step S76. If they match, the process returns to step S78 to repeat the process for the next round point. If they do not match, the process returns to step S71, and the processes from the initialization of the group number storage area are repeated.

  As a result of the above processing, a tour point that belongs to the same group as the group number of the tour point that gave up the tour is not set as the next tour point. Thereby, useless movement of the robot can be omitted, and the time required for patrol and battery consumption can be suppressed.

(6) Management Process for Connector Disconnection Time As shown in FIG. 16, when an obstacle is detected in a route scheduled to pass, the connector connected to the route is temporarily disconnected and reroute processing is performed. In this process, the connector is temporarily disconnected to remove the route from the candidates for the cyclic route, but in practice, the route cannot be passed until the obstacle is removed. That is, the connector continues to be disconnected. For this reason, if the connector is only temporarily disconnected, there is a possibility that it will be impossible to pass again trying to travel there immediately. However, the time that the obstacle stays there is not uniform due to the type of the obstacle and the characteristics of the route. In the case of the type of obstacle, for example, if the obstacle is a moving body such as a person, it is considered that the time for staying there as an obstacle is short. Further, when the route is a traffic route such as a person, the obstacle is highly likely to be a moving object, and similarly, the time until the obstacle is removed is considered to be short. As described above, it is difficult to uniformly determine the connector cutting time. However, if the connector cutting time is appropriately managed, the robot can be circulated more efficiently.

  FIG. 37 is a diagram showing an example of connector disconnection time information. Here, it is assumed that connector disconnection time information is added to the map information. The figure shows that the connector information (Connector) portion of the map information shown in FIG. 6 is replaced with map information (connector) 1111.

  In the map information (connector) 1111, a state (STATE) 1112 and an invalid time (Disable Time) 1113 are added to the connector information of the map information 1110 shown in FIG. In the state (STATE) 1112, either valid (passable state) or invalid (disconnected state) of the connector is set. In the invalid time (Disable Time) 1113, a time for invalidating the connector (connector disconnection time) is set. For example, when an obstacle is detected, the traveling management unit 131 sets “invalid (0)” in the state (STATE) 1112 and “invalid time (60)” in the invalid time (Disable Time) 1113, and invalidates it. Wait for time to pass. When the invalid time has elapsed, the value of the state (STATE) 1112 is set to “valid (1)”. In the reroute process, the value of the state (STATE) 1112 is monitored. This prevents this connector from being incorporated into the circuit during the invalid time.

  The map information (connector) 1111 may store the definition of the invalid time set by the administrator, and manage the state (STATE) and the invalid time (Disable Time) in another storage area. .

As a result, when an obstacle is detected, the route can be removed from the candidates for the cyclic route for a certain period of time, and useless travel can be prevented. An example will be described.
FIG. 38 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the reroute process using the connector disconnection time. (D) The route of the cyclic route diagram (connector disconnection) is the same route as the cyclic route of the (B) cyclic route diagram shown in FIG.

  In the method using the grouping process of the tour points shown in FIG. 35, the tour points that cannot be reached simultaneously by the obstacle are grouped, and the tour is performed efficiently while avoiding the tour points that cannot be reached. Here, it will be described that the same effect can be obtained by disconnecting the connector of the route that has become impassable for a certain period of time.

  The robot 100 travels on the patrol route 704 toward the patrol point A 501, but is not allowed to pass due to the obstacle 801 on the route 3 as in FIG. Here, the connector CN3-4 (781) connecting the path 3 and the path 4 is disconnected for a predetermined time, and the reroute process is performed. As in FIG. 35, the vehicle travels along the modified patrol route 774 generated by the reroute process, reaches the route 7, and becomes impossible to pass again due to the obstacle 802. Therefore, the connector CN6-7 (782) connecting the path 7 and the path 6 is disconnected for a predetermined time. Then, the user gives up traveling to the traveling point A501 and tries to select the next traveling point B502a. However, since the connector CN3-4 (781) and the connector CN6-7 (782) are disconnected, a circuit route to the circuit point B502a cannot be generated, and the circuit point B502a is cancelled. Similarly, the circuit point C503a is also canceled. In this way, the traveling points that must travel through either the connector CN3-4 (781) or the connector CN6-7 (782) are sequentially canceled. Then, a traveling point (not shown) passing through a section between the obstacle 801 and the obstacle 802 is set as the current traveling point, and reroute processing is performed. In this way, a modified tour route 775 is generated, and the robot 100 travels along the modified tour route 775.

  By performing the above processing, the connector once disconnected is continuously disconnected for a certain period of time, and a traveling route that travels through this connector is not generated. Thereby, useless movement of the robot can be omitted, and time required for patrol and battery consumption can be suppressed.

  By the way, as described above, the time during which an obstacle stays there is not uniform. If the set connector disconnection time is shorter than the time until the obstacle is removed, the obstacle has not yet been removed when the connector is enabled, so the reroute process must be performed again because the vehicle cannot travel. It may be necessary. On the other hand, if the set connector disconnection time is longer than the time until the obstacle is removed, the route that can actually be traveled cannot be used as the tour route. May not be generated. Therefore, it is desirable that the connector disconnection time can be appropriately set according to the type of obstacle.

  Therefore, the traveling management means 130 is provided with a moving object detecting means to detect whether the obstacle is a moving object, such as a person, and when it is a moving object, the connector disconnection time is set short, and otherwise, the connector disconnection is performed. Set a longer time. In order to detect a person, for example, there is a method in which an obstacle is photographed by the imaging device 109b, a face is detected by analyzing the obtained image, and if a face is detected, it is determined that the person is a person. Similarly, it is also possible to detect whether or not the obstacle is a moving object by analyzing images obtained by continuously capturing the obstacle. Such a detection method is already known, and any one of them is used in the disclosed robot 100, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In general, when work such as construction or cleaning is performed on the aisle, a panel notifying that work is being performed is arranged at a predetermined place including the section where the work is performed, and work is being performed for passers-by Is informed. Information that can be read by the robot 100 is set on this panel, and the traveling of the robot 100 can be controlled based on the read information. Such a panel is referred to as a travel restriction panel.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a specific example of the travel restriction panel. (A) shows a travel restriction panel with a tag, and (B) shows a travel restriction panel with a marker.
The travel restriction panel 2100 with a tag (A) has an IC tag 2101 mounted at a predetermined position. Information such as scheduled work time is registered in the IC tag 2101 before the work starts. The robot 100 is connected to the IC tag 2101 by wireless communication, and reads the scheduled work time registered in the IC tag 2101. Then, the connector disconnection time is set based on the read scheduled work time.

  (B) A marker-limited travel limit panel 2200 is provided with a marker 2201 and a scheduled work time display 2202 at predetermined positions. The marker 2201 and the scheduled work time display 2202 are display boards that work visually and notify the contents thereof, and the scheduled work time display 2202 displays the scheduled work time. The robot 100 that has detected the marker 2201 reads the scheduled work time display 2202 next to the marker 2201 using optical means. Then, the connector disconnection time is set based on the read scheduled work time.

  Thus, by setting the connector cutting time based on the scheduled work time read from the travel restriction panels 2100 and 2200, it is possible to set an appropriate connector cutting time.

FIG. 40 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the travel restriction panel. The route in this circuit diagram is the same as the circuit in the circuit diagram (B) shown in FIG.
Here, it is assumed that the construction is being performed on the route 4 including the periphery of the traveling point A (501). The travel restriction panels 2001 and 2002 are installed so as to sandwich the section of the route 4.

  The robot 100 travels along the route 1, the connector CN1-2, the route 2, the connector CN2-3, and the route 3 toward the circuit point A501. Read the scheduled time. Then, in accordance with the read scheduled work time, the connector disconnection time of the connector CN3-4 is set, and the reroute process is performed. Subsequently, since the connector CN3-4 is disconnected, the rerouted path 2, the connector CN2-9, the path 9, the connector CN9-8, the path 8, the connector CN7-8, the path 7, the connector CN7-6, the path 6. Travels with the connector CN5-6, reaches the route 5, and detects the travel restriction panel 2002. Similarly, the information on the travel restriction panel 2002 is read, and the connector disconnection time of the connector CN4-5 is set according to the read scheduled work time.

When the scheduled work time is not set or cannot be read, a predetermined value is set as the connector disconnection time.
By performing the above processing, the connector is disconnected in the section sandwiched between the travel restriction panels 2001 and 2002 until the scheduled work time read from the travel restriction panels 2001 and 2002 is completed. Thereby, useless movement of the robot can be omitted, and time required for patrol and battery consumption can be suppressed.

  The above processing functions can be realized by a computer. In that case, a program describing the processing content of the function that the patrol robot should have is provided. By executing the program on a computer, the above processing functions are realized on the computer. The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. Examples of the magnetic recording device include a hard disk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape. Optical disks include DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), DVD-RAM, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWritable), and the like. Magneto-optical recording media include MO (Magneto-Optical disk).

  When distributing the program, for example, portable recording media such as a DVD and a CD-ROM in which the program is recorded are sold. It is also possible to store the program in a storage device of a server computer and transfer the program from the server computer to another computer via a network.

  The computer that executes the program stores, for example, the program recorded on the portable recording medium or the program transferred from the server computer in its own storage device. Then, the computer reads the program from its own storage device and executes processing according to the program. The computer can also read the program directly from the portable recording medium and execute processing according to the program. Further, each time the program is transferred from the server computer, the computer can sequentially execute processing according to the received program.

(Supplementary note 1) In a patrol robot that patrols a predesignated point,
Map information representing a travelable route within a tour target range including a designated point in a predetermined map representation format, a position of the designated point represented in the predetermined map representation format, and a circulation order set as necessary A map / tour information storing means for storing the tour information,
Route information storage means for storing route information relating to a patrol route that patrols the designated point;
When a route generation instruction is input, the route information is generated by connecting the travelable route from the current point to the target designated point based on the map information and the route information, and stored in the route information storage means. Route generation means;
When a traveling instruction is input, the traveling route based on the traveling route information generated by the route generating means autonomously travels to the target designated point and travels when it is detected that the traveling route cannot pass. Autonomous running control means to stop,
When the autonomous travel control means has reached the target designated point, the route generation means is instructed to generate a route to the next target designated point with the target designated point as the current point, and the target If the vehicle has not reached the designated point, the current position is taken as the stop position, and the route determined by the autonomous travel control means to be impassable is removed from the travelable route, and a route generation instruction is given to the route generation means. A traveling management means for changing the traveling route and outputting a traveling instruction for the generated modified traveling route to the autonomous traveling control means;
A traveling robot characterized by comprising:

(Supplementary Note 2) When it is detected that the traveling route cannot be passed, the travel management unit sets the route determined to be inaccessible to the route information storage unit as an uncirculated route that has not been visited. Remember,
The route generation means, when the uncirculated route is stored in the route information storage means, is a circuit that incorporates the uncirculated route at the time of generation of any arbitrary circular route after arriving at the target designated point. Generate a route,
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein

(Additional remark 3) The said route generation means produces | generates the said cyclic route which drive | works the said non-circular route after all the round trips to the said designated point set to the said cyclic information are complete | finished.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein

(Additional remark 4) The said route generation means compares the said non-circular route with the said non-circular route by comparing the said non-circular route with the said non-circular route re-generated when the non-passable route is detected, and it overlaps. If there is a route to be deleted, the overlapping route is deleted from the uncirculated route.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein

(Supplementary Note 5) When the route generation means travels on the changed patrol route and arrives at the target designated point, the route generation means calculates the distance from the designated point that has arrived and the designated point that has not yet been visited to the uncirculated route. Calculate and compare, and insert the uncirculated route into the cyclic route from the designated point determined to be closest to the uncirculated route to the next designated point,
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein

(Supplementary Note 6) The route generation means adds the distance from the designated point to the start point of the uncirculated route and the distance from the end point of the uncirculated route to the designated point, thereby adding the uncirculated route. To calculate the distance to
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 5, wherein

(Additional remark 7) The said designated point used as the object of insertion of the said uncirculated route is set when the other uncirculated route is generated in addition to the designated point initially set based on the cyclic route information. Including the start point of another non-circular route, or the end point of the other non-circular route,
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 5, wherein

(Supplementary Note 8) The travel management unit further stores a route change time when the traveling route is changed together with the uncirculated route,
The route generation means incorporates the uncirculated route into the cyclic route when a predetermined time has elapsed from the route change time.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein

(Supplementary Note 9) The route generation means sets the uncirculated route so that it travels after all the designated points have been visited when the modified cyclic route is generated, and the predetermined time has elapsed. The uncirculated route is inserted into the circular route from the designated point where the distance to the uncirculated route is the shortest.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 8, wherein

(Supplementary Note 10) When the travel management means outputs a travel instruction to the uncirculated route, the travel management means stores the number of trials for which the travel was tried in the uncirculated route information,
The route generation means reads the number of trials set in the uncirculated route information and compares it with a predetermined specified value set in advance, and when the number of trials exceeds the predetermined specified value, Do not perform the process of incorporating the route into the cyclic route,
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein

(Additional remark 11) If the said travel management means receives the instruction | indication of the said designated point by interruption instruction | indication input in the middle of driving | running | working on the said patrol route, it will stop the driving | running | working by the said autonomous travel control means, and let the stopped stop point be a starting point. The route generation means is instructed to generate a route with the designated interrupt point designated as the next target designated point as an interrupt,
The route generation unit generates a modified patrol route by connecting a travelable area from the stop point to the interrupt designated point.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein

(Additional remark 12) The travel management means outputs a travel instruction for traveling on the modified patrol route generated by the route generation means to the autonomous travel control means, and when it arrives at the interrupt designated point, Outputting a traveling instruction to travel toward the stop point to the autonomous traveling control means;
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 11, wherein

(Additional remark 13) When the said route production | generation means performs a route production | generation by using the said interruption designated point as a starting point, the said change cyclic route from the said stop point to the said interruption designated point, and the said interruption designated point from the said stop point. Comparing with the tour route to the target designated point before being set, if there is an overlapping part, it is duplicated from the tour route to the target designated point before the interrupt designated point is set from the stop point Delete part,
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 11, wherein

(Supplementary Note 14) When a predetermined designated point cannot be reached, other designated points that cannot be reached at the same time are divided into the same group, and a group number that identifies the group including the designated point is used as attribute information of the designated point. Register in the patrol information about the designated point,
The travel management means extracts the group number of the target designated point that could not be reached from the patrol information when the target designated point could not be reached, and the same group number as the extracted group number The other designated points belonging to the above are excluded from candidates for the next target designated point, and a route generation instruction is given to the route generation means.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein

(Supplementary Note 15) The travel management unit removes the route that the autonomous travel control unit has determined to be impassable from the travelable route as being impassable for a predetermined time, and the route has the predetermined time. So that it is not incorporated into the patrol route until it elapses, and when the predetermined time has elapsed, the route is added to the travelable route;
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein

(Supplementary Note 16) When the autonomous traveling control means senses an obstacle, it stops traveling,
The travel management means includes moving object detection means for detecting whether or not the obstacle is a moving object when the autonomous traveling control means detects the obstacle, and the obstacle is detected by the moving object detection means. When it is detected that the object is a moving object, a time during which the path in which the obstacle is detected is disabled is set to be shorter than the predetermined time,
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 15, wherein

  (Supplementary Note 17) The patrol robot includes an imaging unit, and the moving body detection unit analyzes image data of the obstacle taken by the imaging unit and detects whether the obstacle is a person. The patrol robot according to supplementary note 15, wherein

(Supplementary Note 18) The obstacle is a panel provided with information providing means for providing scheduled work time information that can be read by the patrol robot, and arranged on the route during a predetermined work,
The travel management means acquires the scheduled work time information from the information providing means when the autonomous travel control means detects an obstacle provided with the information providing means, and based on the acquired scheduled work time Setting a time period during which the path in which the obstacle is detected is disabled.
The patrol robot according to Supplementary Note 15, wherein

(Additional remark 19) The said information provision means is a marker which provides the said work scheduled time information as visual information,
The travel management means reads the scheduled work time information recorded on the marker by optical means.
Item 18. The patrol robot according to appendix 18.

(Supplementary Note 20) The information providing means is an IC tag that stores the scheduled work time information.
The travel management means communicates with the IC tag to acquire the scheduled work time information.
Item 18. The patrol robot according to appendix 18.

(Supplementary note 21) In the autonomous traveling method of a traveling robot that patrols a predesignated point,
The traveling management unit of the traveling robot includes map information representing a travelable route within a traveling target range including the designated point in a predetermined map expression format, a position of the designated point represented in the predetermined map expression format, and necessary Obtaining the tour information including the tour order set according to and storing it in the map / tour information storage means, and then instructing the route generation with the current position as the current location;
When the route generation means of the traveling robot receives the route generation instruction, the traveling route information is obtained by connecting the travelable route from the current point to the target designated point based on the map information and the traveling information. And storing in the route information storage means;
The travel management means outputting a traveling route traveling instruction based on the generated traveling route information;
The autonomous traveling control means of the traveling robot autonomously travels the traveling route based on the generated traveling route information when the traveling instruction is input, and travels when it is detected that the traveling route cannot pass Step to stop and
When the travel management unit reaches the target designated point by the autonomous travel control unit, the route generation unit instructs the route generation unit to generate a route to the next target designated point with the target designated point as the current point. When the target designated point is not reached, the route that has been determined to be the current point and the autonomous traveling control unit determines that the autonomous traveling control unit cannot pass is removed from the traveling route, and the route generating unit Instructing the route generation to change the patrol route;
And the step of generating the tour route by the route generation unit is repeated until the tour of the designated point set in the tour information is completed.

It is a conceptual diagram of the invention applied to embodiment. It is the figure which showed the structure of the traveling robot monitoring system of embodiment of this invention. It is the circulation route figure which showed an example of the circulation object range of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of the control part of the traveling robot of this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the software structural example of the traveling robot of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the map information of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the cycling information of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the traveling plan figure and the traveling plan information. It is the figure which showed an example of a cyclic route connection figure and cyclic route information. It is the figure which showed an example of the uncirculated route information of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the patrol plan figure of the embodiment of this invention, and its patrol route figure. FIG. 12 is a circuit route connection diagram of the circuit diagram of FIG. 11. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the traveling management process of the traveling robot of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the cyclic route produced | generated by the reroute process. It is the figure which showed the patrol plan and patrol path | route changed by the reroute process. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the reroute process. It is the figure which showed the patrol route and patrol plan when there is an obstacle in the patrol route after reroute. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the overlap route in the cyclic route after a reroute. It is a figure which shows an example of the duplication deletion process of the cyclic route after a reroute. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the duplication deletion process after a reroute. It is a cyclic route figure explaining the process which inserts the non-circular route after a reroute by the shortest route. It is a cyclic route connection diagram explaining the process of inserting the non-circular route after reroute with the shortest route. It is a cyclic plan figure explaining the process which inserts the uncirculated path | route after a reroute by the shortest path | route. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the process which inserts the uncirculated path | route after a reroute by the shortest path | route. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the process which performs execution determination of the insertion process of an uncirculated path | route. It is a circuit diagram explaining the process of inserting an interrupt circuit point into a circuit path. It is a circuit route connection diagram explaining the process of inserting an interrupt circuit point into a circuit route. FIG. 10 is a tour planning diagram for explaining processing for inserting an interrupt tour point into a tour route. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the process which inserts an interruption circuit point in a circuit path. It is a circuit route diagram explaining the process which deletes an overlapping route with an interruption circuit route. It is a circuit route connection diagram explaining the process of deleting an overlapping route with an interrupt circuit route. It is a cyclic | annular plan figure explaining the process which deletes an overlapping path | route with an interruption cyclic path | route. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the process which deletes an overlapping route with an interruption patrol route. It is the figure which showed an example of the reroute process when it cannot drive | work to a some rounding point with an obstruction. It is a cyclic route figure explaining the reroute process with respect to the grouped cyclic point. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the reroute process in case the grouped cyclic point is included. It is the figure which showed an example of the connector cutting time information. It is a circuit diagram which showed an example of the reroute process using connector disconnection time. It is the figure which showed the specific example of the travel restriction panel. It is the circuit route figure which showed the example of arrangement | positioning of a travel restriction panel.

Explanation of symbols

1 patrol robot 1a map / patrol information DB (database)
1b Route information DB (database)
1c Route generation means 1d Travel management means 1e Autonomous travel control means 2 Remote server 2a Management information DB (database)
2b terminal interface 2c instruction transmitting means 2d information receiving means 2e received information DB (database)

Claims (10)

In a patrol robot that patrols a pre-specified point,
Map information representing a travelable route within a tour target range including a designated point in a predetermined map representation format, a position of the designated point represented in the predetermined map representation format, and a circulation order set as necessary A map / tour information storing means for storing the tour information,
Route information storage means for storing route information relating to a patrol route that patrols the designated point;
When a route generation instruction is input, the route information is generated by connecting the travelable route from the current point to the target designated point based on the map information and the route information, and stored in the route information storage means. Route generation means;
When a traveling instruction is input, the traveling route based on the traveling route information generated by the route generating means autonomously travels to the target designated point and travels when it is detected that the traveling route cannot pass. Autonomous running control means to stop,
When the autonomous travel control means has reached the target designated point, the route generation means is instructed to generate a route to the next target designated point with the target designated point as the current point, and the target If the vehicle has not reached the designated point, the current position is taken as the stop position, and the route determined by the autonomous travel control means to be impassable is removed from the travelable route, and a route generation instruction is given to the route generation means. A traveling management means for changing the traveling route and outputting a traveling instruction for the generated modified traveling route to the autonomous traveling control means;
A traveling robot characterized by comprising: When it is detected that the traveling route cannot pass, the travel management unit stores the route determined to be inaccessible in the route information storage unit as an uncirculated route in which no tour is performed,
The route generation means, when the uncirculated route is stored in the route information storage means, is a circuit that incorporates the uncirculated route at the time of generation of any arbitrary circular route after arriving at the target designated point. Generate a route,
The patrol robot according to claim 1. The route generation means compares the changed cyclic route that has been regenerated by detecting the inaccessible route and the uncirculated route, and there is an overlapping route in the uncirculated route and the changed cyclic route. In this case, the redundant route is deleted from the uncirculated route.
The patrol robot according to claim 2. When the route generating means travels on the changed patrol route and arrives at the target designated point, the route generation means calculates the distance from the designated point that has arrived and the designated point that has not yet been visited to the uncirculated route and compares them. And inserting the uncirculated route into the cyclic route from the designated point determined to be closest to the uncirculated route to the next designated point,
The patrol robot according to claim 2. The travel management means further stores a route change time when the patrol route is changed together with the non-patrol route,
The route generation means incorporates the uncirculated route into the cyclic route when a predetermined time has elapsed from the route change time.
The patrol robot according to claim 2. When the travel management means outputs a travel instruction to the uncirculated route, the travel management means stores the number of trials for which the travel was tried in the uncirculated route information,
The route generation means reads the number of trials set in the uncirculated route information and compares it with a predetermined specified value set in advance, and when the number of trials exceeds the predetermined specified value, Do not perform the process of incorporating the route into the cyclic route,
The patrol robot according to claim 2. The traveling management means stops the traveling by the autonomous traveling control means when receiving an instruction of the designated point by an interruption instruction input while traveling on the patrol route, and the interruption is instructed by using the stopped stopping point as a starting point. The route generation means is instructed to generate a route with the interrupt designated point as the next target designated point,
The route generation means generates a changed patrol route by connecting a travelable area from the stop point to the interrupt designated point.
The patrol robot according to claim 1. When the predetermined designated point cannot be reached, other designated points that cannot be reached at the same time are divided into the same group, and a group number that identifies the group including the designated point is used as attribute information of the designated point. Register in the patrol information,
The travel management means extracts the group number of the target designated point that could not be reached from the patrol information when the target designated point could not be reached, and the same group number as the extracted group number The other designated points belonging to the above are excluded from candidates for the next target designated point, and a route generation instruction is given to the route generation means.
The patrol robot according to claim 1. The travel management unit removes the route that the autonomous travel control unit has determined to be impassable from the travelable route as being impassable for a predetermined time, and the route until the predetermined time has elapsed. So that the route is not incorporated into the traveling route, and the route is added to the travelable route when the predetermined time has elapsed.
The patrol robot according to claim 1. In the autonomous traveling method of a patrol robot that patrols a predetermined point,
The traveling management unit of the traveling robot includes map information representing a travelable route within a traveling target range including the designated point in a predetermined map expression format, a position of the designated point represented in the predetermined map expression format, and necessary Obtaining the tour information including the tour order set according to and storing it in the map / tour information storage means, and then instructing the route generation with the current position as the current location;
When the route generation means of the traveling robot receives the route generation instruction, the traveling route information is obtained by connecting the travelable route from the current point to the target designated point based on the map information and the traveling information. And storing in the route information storage means;
The travel management means outputting a traveling route traveling instruction based on the generated traveling route information;
The autonomous traveling control means of the traveling robot autonomously travels the traveling route based on the generated traveling route information when the traveling instruction is input, and travels when it is detected that the traveling route cannot pass Step to stop and
When the travel management unit reaches the target designated point by the autonomous travel control unit, the route generation unit instructs the route generation unit to generate a route to the next target designated point with the target designated point as the current point. When the target designated point is not reached, the route that has been determined to be the current point and the autonomous traveling control unit determines that the autonomous traveling control unit cannot pass is removed from the traveling route, and the route generating unit Instructing the route generation to change the patrol route;
And the step of generating the tour route by the route generation unit is repeated until the tour of the designated point set in the tour information is completed.

Images