JP2011088721A - Autonomous travel robot and control system of autonomous travel robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control system of an autonomous travel robot capable of traveling, without imparting a sense of unease to an elevator user, by using the same elevator. <P>SOLUTION: This control system of the autonomous travel robot 1 includes a driving motor of driving wheels 11R and 11L and a motor control means for controlling driving of the driving motor, and is provided for moving using an elevator 100, and includes a getting-on space existence discriminating means 17 arranged in the autonomous travel robot 1 and discriminating the existence of a getting-on space of the autonomous travel robot 1 set in a car from the outside of the car 101 of the elevator 100 while opening-closing doors 103a and 103b of the elevator 100 are opened. The motor control means allows the autonomous travel robot 1 to get on the car 101 by driving the driving motor when the getting-on space existence discriminating means discriminates that there is a getting-on space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an autonomous traveling robot that moves to a desired floor using an elevator installed in a building having a plurality of floors such as a high-rise building and a factory, and an autonomous traveling robot control system.

  Conventionally, as an autonomous traveling robot using an elevator, for example, a self-propelled cleaning robot is known. This self-propelled cleaning robot, for example, uses an elevator used by a general user as in Patent Document 1, calls a car, etc., and gets on and off the elevator on a desired floor of the building. It has become.

  As described above, when using an elevator used by a general user, conventionally, from the viewpoint of safety, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, the target elevator is operated in a robot-only operation mode or a user-only operation. Switch to the mode so that the general user will not ride in the robot-only operation mode, and the self-propelled cleaning robot will not ride in the user-only operation mode. To control.

JP 2000-339030 A JP 2009-051617 A

  As described above, in the conventional autonomous traveling robot control system, the autonomous traveling robot and a general user are prevented from getting on the same car at the same time. For this reason, for example, in the case of cleaning work by a self-propelled cleaning robot, it is usually performed at night when a general user does not exist in the building.

  However, in recent years, not only cleaning, but depending on the work contents of the autonomous traveling robot, it may be desired that a general user performs work during a daytime or the like existing in the building. In this case, in order to efficiently perform the operation by the autonomous traveling robot, it is conceivable that the autonomous traveling robot is simultaneously placed in the same car as a general user and moved to a desired floor.

  However, the conventional control system moves the autonomous traveling robot in the robot dedicated operation mode as described above, and it is assumed that the user is not in the elevator car during the robot dedicated operation mode. It has become. During the robot dedicated operation mode, when the elevator is called by the autonomous traveling robot and the elevator door is opened, the autonomous traveling robot is put on the car and stopped at a predetermined position.

  For this reason, when the conventional traveling system is applied to move the autonomous traveling robot in the same car as a general user at the same time, the autonomous traveling robot moves into the elevator car when it is in the elevator car. I will get on without taking into consideration the state of. In other words, regardless of whether or not there is a space in the car that can be boarded, when the elevator arrives and the door is opened, the car is boarded. For this reason, there is a concern about giving anxiety to elevator users, particularly users who are in the elevator.

  The present invention has been made in view of such points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an autonomous traveling robot and an autonomous traveling robot control system that can move using the same elevator without giving anxiety to the elevator user. .

  An autonomous traveling robot that achieves the above object includes a drive motor that rotationally drives a drive wheel, motor control means that controls driving of the drive motor so as to move according to preset route information, and an elevator door When the vehicle is in an open state, the vehicle has a riding space presence / absence judging means for judging the presence / absence of a riding space of the autonomous mobile robot set in the car from outside the elevator car, and the motor control means When the means determines that there is a boarding space, the driving motor is driven so that the autonomous traveling robot gets on the car.

  According to this, the autonomous traveling robot is provided with a riding space presence / absence judging means for judging the presence / absence of the riding space of the autonomous running robot set in the car from the outside of the elevator car when the elevator door is opened. When the presence / absence discriminating unit determines that there is a boarding space, the user gets on the elevator car, so that the user can move using the same elevator without feeling uneasy to the elevator user.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control system for an autonomous traveling robot that achieves the above-mentioned object, and a driving motor that rotationally drives a driving wheel and a driving motor that drives the driving motor to move according to preset route information. A control system for an autonomous traveling robot that moves using an elevator, the motor control means for controlling, and is provided in the autonomous traveling robot when the elevator door is open. Boarding space presence / absence determining means for determining the presence or absence of the boarding space of the autonomous mobile robot set in the car from the motor control means, when the boarding space presence / absence determining means determines that there is a boarding space, A driving motor is driven to place the autonomous traveling robot on the car.

  According to this, the autonomous traveling robot is provided with a riding space presence / absence judging means for judging the presence / absence of the riding space of the autonomous running robot set in the car from the outside of the elevator car when the elevator door is opened. When the presence / absence discriminating unit determines that there is a boarding space, the user gets on the elevator car, so that the user can move using the same elevator without feeling uneasy to the elevator user.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous traveling robot control system according to the second aspect, when the autonomous traveling robot determines the presence / absence of the riding space in the car by the riding space presence / absence determining means, It is provided with the alerting | reporting means which alert | reports that it gets on.

  According to this, it is possible to alert the elevator user to recognize that the autonomous traveling robot uses the same elevator, and the user actively moves in the elevator car so that the autonomous traveling robot moves. It is expected that a boarding space will be formed, and the probability that the autonomous mobile robot can get on can be increased.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous traveling robot control system according to the second or third aspect, the autonomous traveling robot can close the open / close door based on a determination result of the riding space presence / absence determining means. Transmission means for transmitting a signal, wherein the elevator receives the opening / closing door closing signal from the transmission means, and the opening / closing door based on the opening / closing door closing signal received by the receiving means. Closing door opening / closing means, and the transmission means transmits the opening / closing door closeable signal in the elevator car when the boarding space presence / absence determining means determines that there is a boarding space, and determines whether the boarding space is present or not. When the means determines that there is no boarding space, the open / close door closing signal is transmitted outside the elevator car.

  According to this, the elevator door can be safely closed both when the autonomous mobile robot is in the elevator car and when it is not in the elevator car.

  According to the present invention, the autonomous mobile robot determines whether or not there is a boarding space for the autonomous mobile robot in the elevator car, and gets on the car when there is a boarding space. Without using the same elevator.

It is a schematic block diagram of the control system of the self-propelled cleaning robot which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the principal part of the self-propelled cleaning robot of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating one operation example of the boarding space detection part of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the operation control system of the elevator of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the basic operation | movement of the elevator based on the car call by the self-propelled cleaning robot of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the boarding operation | movement to the elevator of the self-propelled cleaning robot of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a self-propelled cleaning robot will be described as an example of an autonomous traveling robot. However, the present invention is not limited to a self-propelled cleaning robot, and moves to a desired floor of a building using an elevator. The present invention can be applied to various autonomous traveling robots.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system for a self-propelled cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. The self-propelled cleaning robot 1 includes a pair of left and right drive wheels 11R and 11L, a front caster 12, and a rear caster 13 at the bottom, and further includes a cleaning rotary brush and a blower fan (not shown). Further, the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 includes a bumper 14 and a notification unit 17 in the front part, and an infrared communication port 15 and a boarding space detection unit 16 in the upper part.

  On the other hand, in the elevator 100, the in-car transmission / reception means 111 is attached in the car 101 so as to be communicable with the infrared communication port 15 of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1, and the hall transmission / reception means 112 is attached to the hatch on each floor. The in-car transmission / reception means 111 and the hall transmission / reception means 112 are connected via an interface device 113 to an elevator control device 115 that controls the operation of the elevator 100. Further, the car 101 is provided with a car door 103a, and the hatch on each floor is provided with a hall door 103b.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a main part of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1. The self-propelled cleaning robot 1 includes a CPU 50 that controls the entire operation. Connected to the CPU 50 are a data memory 51 for storing cleaning data of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 and a main controller 52. The main controller 52 includes an operation panel 53 for input, a gyroscope 54 for autonomous traveling, a bumper sensor 55 for collision detection, a magnetic sensor 56 and magnetic mark reader 57 for position detection, and an obstacle sensor. The optical sensor 58, the above-described infrared communication port 15, the boarding space detection unit 16, and the notification unit 17 are connected.

  Here, the magnetic sensor 56 for position detection uses a magnetic tape attached to the elevator hall in order to position the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 with respect to the hall door 103b of the elevator hall when getting on and off the elevator. To detect. In addition, the magnetic mark reader 57 for position detection is a magnetic mark for positioning that is attached to the elevator hall at a position where it communicates with the hall transmitting / receiving means 112 via the infrared communication port 15 when the elevator 100 gets on the car 101. Is detected.

  The boarding space detector 16 constitutes a boarding space presence / absence judging means for judging the presence or absence of the boarding space of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 in the car 101 of the elevator 100. Equipped with camera and visible light camera.

  When the riding space presence / absence discriminating means is configured by using the distance measuring sensor, the boarding space detecting unit 16 having the built-in distance measuring sensor is attached so as to be movable up and down and left and right, and the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 has a predetermined elevator hall. In a state where the hall door 103b and the car door 103a are opened, the floor 50a of the floor 101a in the car 101 is preliminarily stored by the CPU 50 via the main controller 52 as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). The set boarding area outer periphery 101b is scanned with the laser beam 16a. Then, based on the distance measurement result of the distance sensor, the CPU 50 detects whether or not the laser beam 16a is blocked, and whether or not there is a boarding space for the self-propelled cleaning robot 1, in other words, can it be boarded? Determine whether or not. For example, if the distance measurement result is shorter than the set value, it is determined that the laser beam 16a is blocked and there is no boarding space (cannot be boarded), and if the distance measurement result is almost the set value, the laser beam 16a is determined. It is determined that there is a boarding space (can be boarded) as if it is not obstructed.

  When the boarding space presence / absence determining means is configured using an infrared camera or a visible light camera, a frame of the boarding space of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 is drawn in advance on the floor surface 101a in the car 101 of the elevator 100. Then, the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 stops at a predetermined position in the elevator hall, and the hall door 103b and the car door 103a are opened, and the CPU 50 incorporates the boarding space detection unit 16 via the main controller 52. The camera captures the floor surface 101a in the car 101, and the CPU 50 recognizes the frame of the boarding space based on the captured image. As a result, when all the frames can be recognized, it is determined that there is a boarding space (can be boarded), and in other cases, it is determined that there is no boarding space (cannot be boarded).

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the boarding space presence / absence determining means includes the boarding space detector 16, the CPU 50, and the main controller 52.

  The informing unit 17 constitutes informing means 17 for informing that the autonomous traveling robot 1 gets on the car 101 when the boarding space detecting unit 16 determines whether there is a boarding space in the car 101 of the elevator 100. For example, a sound output device such as a speaker or a buzzer is provided. When the notification means 17 is configured using a speaker, a sound to the effect that the car 101 is boarded is output from the speaker. Further, when the notification means 17 is configured by using a buzzer, a notification that the car 101 is boarded is notified by a buzzer sound.

  On the other hand, driving motors 61R and 61L that rotationally drive the driving wheels 11R and 11L for traveling are connected to the battery 63 via corresponding drivers 62R and 62L, respectively. Similarly, a brush motor 64 that rotationally drives a rotating brush (not shown) is connected to the battery 63 via a driver 65, and a blower motor 66 that rotationally drives a blower fan (not shown) also includes: It is connected to the battery 63 via a driver 67. These motors are driven and controlled by the CPU 50 via corresponding drivers based on the cleaning data stored in the data memory 51. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the motor control means includes the CPU 50, the data memory 51, and the drivers 62R and 62L.

  The drive current path between the driver 62R and the drive motor 61R and the drive current path between the driver 62L and the drive motor 61L are normally turned on / off by the electromagnetic solenoid 71 for relay. Closed (normally on) relay switches 72R and 72L are connected. The electromagnetic solenoid 71 is driven and controlled independently of the normal control system by the CPU 50, for example, by an emergency stop button (not shown) provided in the self-propelled cleaning robot 1.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the operation control system of the elevator 100. The elevator 100 is configured to move the car 101 to each floor in a hollow elevator tower 102 (see FIG. 1) by a lifting device (not shown). The car 101 includes an operation unit having a destination floor designation button 121 for designating a destination floor, an open button 122 for opening the car door 103a, a display device 123 indicating information such as the current position of the car 101, and the car. A car door opening / closing device 124 that opens and closes the door 103a, an audio output device 125 that outputs an audio signal of overloading, an illumination device 126 that illuminates the inside of the car 101, and a user detection sensor 127 that detects the presence of a user in the car 101 are provided. Are connected to the elevator controller 115.

  The elevator hall on each floor is provided with a hall call button 128 for calling the car 101 and a hall door opening / closing device 129 that opens and closes the hall door 103b in conjunction with the car door 103a. Connected.

  The self-propelled cleaning robot 1 according to the present embodiment automatically operates at the operation start time based on the cleaning data stored in the data memory 51 regardless of whether or not there is a general user who uses the elevator 100. The operation is started and moved from the storage location, and the cleaning work is performed on each cleaning floor while moving between the plurality of cleaning floors using the elevator 100. After the cleaning work on the final cleaning floor is completed, the storage is performed. Move to a location and stop driving.

  Hereinafter, a schematic operation of a main part of the control system of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the following description, the car door 103a provided on the car 101 and the hall door 103b provided on the stop floor are collectively referred to as an open / close door on each stop floor of the elevator 100.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the basic operation of the elevator 100 based on the car call by the self-propelled cleaning robot 1. First, the elevator control device 115 monitors the reception output of the hall transmission / reception means 112 on each floor to detect whether there is a calling floor from the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 in the traveling direction of the car 101 (step S501). If there is a calling floor (in the case of Y), the car 101 is moved to the calling floor (step S502).

  When the elevator control device 115 detects that the car 101 has arrived at the calling floor (in the case of Y in step S503), it resets the calling floor (step S504). Thereafter, the elevator control device 115 opens the door on the arrival floor by the car door opening / closing device 124 and the hall door opening / closing device 129 and calls the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 from the hall transmitting / receiving means 112 on the stop floor. Floor arrival information is transmitted (step S505).

  Next, the elevator control device 115 monitors the reception outputs of the in-car transmission / reception means 111 and the hall transmission / reception means 112 of the stop floor, and whether or not the open / close door closing signal from the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 has been received. Is detected (step S506). When the elevator controller 115 detects that the open / close door closing signal is received from the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 (Y in step S506), it opens and closes the car door open / close device 124 and the hall door open / close device 129. Control is performed so that the door is closed (step S507).

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the in-car transmission / reception means 111 and the hall transmission / reception means 112 constitute a reception means for the open / close door closing signal from the self-propelled cleaning robot 1, and the car door opening / closing device 124 and the hall door opening / closing device. Reference numeral 129 constitutes a door opening / closing means.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the riding operation of the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 on the elevator 100. As described above, the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 drives the drive motors 61R and 61L via the drivers 62R and 62L by the CPU 50 based on the cleaning data stored in the data memory 51, and also uses the driver 65 And 67, the brush motor 64 and the blower motor 66 are driven. As a result, the left and right drive wheels 11R and 11L are rotated and moved according to preset route information, and the rotary brush and blower fan are operated to perform cleaning.

  Then, the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 monitors whether or not there is a movement request by the elevator 100 from the current floor to another floor (step S601). As a result, when there is a movement request (in the case of Y), the magnetic sensor 56 and the magnetic mark reader 57 described above stop moving to a predetermined position of the elevator hall on the floor where the current position is located, and the infrared communication port 15 Elevator call processing for transmitting a call signal is executed (step S602).

  Thereby, the calling signal transmitted from the infrared communication port 15 is received by the hall transmitting / receiving means 112 on the floor and transmitted to the elevator control device 115.

  After that, when the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 receives the calling floor arrival information from the hall transmitting / receiving means 112 of the floor via the infrared communication port 15 (in the case of Y in Step S603), the above-described boarding space detection unit 16 A boarding space presence / absence determination process is executed (step S604), and it is determined whether or not boarding is possible (step S605). At that time, if necessary, for example, in a time zone in which a general user has a high probability of using the elevator 100, the notification unit 17 is activated at the same time and the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 gets on the car 101. Inform.

  As a result of the determination in step S605, when there is a boarding space, that is, when the boarding is possible (in the case of Y), the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 rotates the driving wheels 11R, 11L by the driving motors 61R, 61L to The boarding control for boarding is executed (step S606). Then, when the vehicle is moved to a predetermined robot stop position in the car 101 and the boarding is completed (Y in step S607), an open / close door closing signal is transmitted from the infrared communication port 15 (step S608). The destination floor signal indicating the desired destination floor is transmitted from the infrared communication port 15 before and after the open / close door closing signal with the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 stopped at a predetermined robot stop position in the car 101. The The destination floor signal is received by the in-car transmission / reception means 111 and transmitted to the elevator control device 115 in the same manner as the open / close door closeable signal, and the elevation of the car 101 is controlled.

  On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S605 is that there is no boarding space, that is, no boarding is possible (in the case of N), the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 proceeds to step S608 without executing boarding control on the car 101. Then, at the stop position of the elevator hall, an open / close door close signal is transmitted from the infrared communication port 15 (step S608). This open / close door closeable signal is received by the hall transmitting / receiving means 112 of the elevator hall and supplied to the elevator control device 115.

  Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the infrared communication port 15 constitutes a transmission means for transmitting an openable / closable door closing signal.

  As described above, according to the control system according to the present embodiment, the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 itself determines whether or not there is a boarding space in the car 101 of the elevator 100. When the car 101 is boarded and there is no boarding space, the car is not boarded. Therefore, the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 can be moved using the same elevator without giving anxiety to the elevator user.

  Further, when the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 determines whether or not there is a boarding space in the car 101, the notification unit 17 notifies the user of the elevator 100 by notifying that the car 101 is boarded. In addition, it is expected that the user can actively move in the car 101 to form a boarding space for the self-propelled cleaning robot 1, and the probability that the car 101 can be boarded can be increased.

  Furthermore, a signal indicating that the door can be closed is transmitted from the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 to the elevator 100 from the inside of the car 101 when the car 101 is boarded, and from the outside of the car 101 when the car 101 cannot be boarded. As described above, the open / close door can be safely closed both when the self-propelled cleaning robot 1 gets on the car 101 and when it does not get on.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention. For example, the notification unit 17 is not limited to a sound output device such as a speaker or a buzzer, and may be a fixed or rotating lamp of any color.

1 Self-propelled cleaning robot (autonomous traveling robot)
11R, 11L Driving wheel 15 Infrared communication port 16 Boarding space detection unit 17 Notification unit (boarding space presence / absence judging means)
50 CPU (motor control means, boarding space presence / absence judging means)
51 Data memory (motor control means)
52 Main controller
61R, 61L Driving motor 62R, 62L Driver (motor control means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Elevator 101 Car 103a Car door 103b Hall door 111 Car transmission / reception means 112 Hall transmission / reception means 115 Elevator control device

Claims (4)

A drive motor for rotationally driving the drive wheels;
Motor control means for controlling the drive of the drive motor so as to move according to preset route information;
A boarding space presence / absence judging means for judging the presence / absence of the boarding space of the autonomous mobile robot set in the car from the outside of the elevator car when the elevator door is open;
The said motor control means drives the said drive motor so that the said autonomous travel robot may get on the said car, when the said boarding space presence-and-absence determination means discriminate | determines that there is boarding space, The autonomous running robot characterized by the above-mentioned. Control of an autonomous traveling robot that includes a drive motor that rotationally drives a drive wheel and motor control means that controls driving of the drive motor so as to move according to preset route information, and that moves using an elevator A system,
Riding space presence / absence determining means provided in the autonomous traveling robot for determining the presence or absence of the riding space of the autonomous traveling robot set in the car from outside the elevator car when the elevator door is open. Prepared,
The motor control means, when the boarding space presence / absence judging means judges that there is a boarding space, drives the driving motor to place the autonomous running robot on the car. system.   The said autonomous mobile robot is provided with the alerting | reporting means to alert | report that it will get in the said car, when the presence / absence of the boarding space in the said cage is discriminate | determined by the said boarding space presence / absence judging means. Autonomous robot control system. The autonomous mobile robot includes transmission means for transmitting an open / close door closing signal for closing the open / close door based on a determination result of the boarding space presence / absence determining means,
The elevator includes receiving means for receiving the opening / closing door closing signal from the transmitting means, and door opening / closing means for closing the opening / closing door based on the opening / closing door closing signal received by the receiving means,
The transmission means transmits the opening / closing door closing signal in the elevator car when the boarding space presence / absence determining means determines that there is a boarding space, and the boarding space presence / absence determining means determines that there is no boarding space. 4. The autonomous traveling robot control system according to claim 2, wherein the open / close door closing signal is transmitted outside the elevator car. 5.

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