JP2014042490A - Divot repair machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a divot repair machine capable of automatically burying a divot with sand and identifying an exact position of the divot.SOLUTION: A divot repair machine 1 comprises: a front camera 11 imaging a lawn surface area in a travelling direction; a sensor detecting inclination angles and movement speeds of the lawn surface area imaged by the camera in a front-back and a left-right direction; and a hopper 13 for discharging a predetermined amount of sand. The divot repair machine 1 creates a flat image in which image data for the lawn surface area imaged by the front camera 11 is compensated with inclination of the divot repair machine 1 at the imaging, detects a divot from the created flat image, specifies the hopper 13 which will discharge the sand toward the detected divot, estimates a timing of reaching a position of the detected divot, and discharges the sand toward the divot at the estimated timing.

Description

  The present invention is connected to lawn mowers and tractors used in stadiums such as golf courses and soccer fields, river embankments, park green areas, and gardens, and the lawn is cut and exposed while following them. The present invention relates to a depot restoration machine for restoring (hereinafter referred to as “depot”).

  For example, at a golf course having a plurality of courses, lawn mowing is performed a plurality of times a year. Lawn mowing is performed by a person who actually runs a lawn mower on a green or fairway, or a lawn mower equipped with a wired or wireless remote control device is remotely controlled.

  Also, for example, in a golf course where a caddy is accompanied by a golfer, if a golfer accidentally cuts the lawn when hitting a ball, the player will play to cut the lawn even if the ball is hit correctly, so the caddy will fill in the sand. Do work. In the case of a golf course without a caddy, it is considered that golfers do the repair work by filling the sand, but it is not thorough. Therefore, a dedicated green keeper regularly inspects the lawn, and if a depot is found, it is manually buried in the sand and repaired.

  However, when a depot is found in a large golf course and repair work is performed, a large number of personnel are required, resulting in a great labor cost. Moreover, in such a manual work, there is a risk that the ball hit by the subsequent golfer without noticing will hit the green keeper and get injured. In order to avoid this, there is a problem that the use of not only the hole for repairing the depot for each work but also the surrounding holes must be restricted.

  Therefore, if you can automate the depot sand filling and simultaneously with lawn mowing, in addition to reducing labor costs, there is no risk of injury to the green keeper, and the use of the hall is restricted once. Therefore, it is expected to improve the use efficiency of the golf course.

  Conventionally, a golf course management system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as a technique that can easily repair a depot even when a caddy does not follow. This golf course management system is equipped with a detecting means for detecting the state of a golf course (such as the presence or absence of a depot) on a cart carrying a golf bag, and the golf course can be maintained based on the detection result of the detecting means. Configured. As a result, the course location to be maintained is known, so that the course can be easily maintained.

Moreover, in the golf course maintenance apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, a guide line is embedded to run the cart along a course set in a course of the golf course. Also, a sign for recognizing the position to be photographed by the camera mounted on the cart is provided, and the image data photographed at the position of each sign is compared with the image data photographed in advance at the position. Based on the comparison result, it is checked whether or not there is a depot. If there is a depot, the detailed position of the part is further detected, and a predetermined amount of sand is discharged to the detected position.
In this golf course maintenance device, the sand previously buried in the lawn, bunker and depot is photographed and the color samples are stored. Then, when the color of the image photographed at the photographing position does not match the color sample, it is determined that there is a depot. Thereby, the labor cost for golf course maintenance can be reduced, and further, the danger that the green keeper is injured by the hit ball can be eliminated.

JP 2001-344017 A JP-A-9-70202

  In the golf course management system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the course location to be maintained can be known from the detection result, and the course can be easily maintained. Therefore, there is an advantage that costs such as labor costs can be reduced. However, there is no consideration about automating the depot sand filling.

In this regard, the golf course maintenance device disclosed in Patent Document 2 runs the device by burying a guide line in advance or using a position detection result and the like, and compares it with image data and color samples taken in advance. Thus, it is possible to automate the sand filling operation when there is a depot and when there is a depot. However, golf courses are undulating, and the inclination of the apparatus at the time of photographing may be different from the inclination of the apparatus at the time of discharging sand. Therefore, in this golf course maintenance apparatus, the subject that sand cannot be discharged correctly toward a depot remains.
In addition, there still remains a problem that it is necessary to limit the use of the hall for mowing the lawn, and that a power source for self-propelling, for example, an internal combustion engine must be provided, resulting in increased manufacturing costs.

  The present invention is a depot restoration machine that can be connected to a lawn mower, can automate the sand filling work of the depot performed by being driven by the lawn mower, and can specify the exact position of the depot. The issue is to provide

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a depot repair machine.
A depot restoration machine according to the present invention is a depot restoration machine that is connected to a lawn mower and is driven by the lawn mower. A camera, a sensor that detects front, back, left, and right inclination angles of the lawn surface area when imaged with the camera, and a plurality of discharge ports that contain sand and can discharge the contained sand in a predetermined direction, respectively. A hopper formed along the width of the surface area in the traveling direction, and provided with a discharge control mechanism for discharging the sand by a predetermined amount for each discharge port, and the lawn imaged by the camera A depot detection device that corrects the image of the surface area with the inclination detected by the sensor to generate a flat image, and detects the position of the depot where the lawn is lost by changing the density of the flat image, and a follow-up speed so If it proceeds as it is, the discharge port closest to the detected depot position is specified, the timing at which the specified discharge port reaches the depot position is estimated, and the discharge control mechanism of the discharge port at the estimated timing And a control device that discharges the sand toward the depot.
Thus, since the exact position of the depot can be specified from the plane image generated by correcting the image of the lawn surface area captured by the camera with the inclination detected by the sensor, the sand is accurately discharged toward the depot. As a result, the repair accuracy of the depot can be improved and the sand filling operation of the depot can be automated. In addition, since it is connected to the lawn mower and pursues, a unique power source is not required, increasing the cost advantage, and the depot can be repaired while following, so the work efficiency can be increased. .

In one embodiment, the camera is attached through a mechanism that slides in at least one direction perpendicular to and parallel to the optical axis of the camera.
Thereby, the installation state of the camera can be easily changed so that appropriate imaging can be performed according to changes in the state of the lawn surface due to the weather and season, for example, the intensity and direction of sunlight, and the degree of grass growth.

In one embodiment, a drive mechanism equipped with a differential gear that changes the drive load in accordance with the inclination in the follow direction is further provided, thereby making the follow speed close to a constant value.
As a result, the depot repairing machine can smoothly and stably travel without slipping of the drive wheels, whether it is straight traveling or turning traveling. In addition, when the depot repair machine is traveling on a downward slope, it is possible to keep the tracking speed constant by increasing the driving load of the depot repair machine. Furthermore, since an extra load from the depot restoration machine is prevented from being applied to the lawn mower, it is possible to improve the safety of the driver and contribute to improving the accuracy of depot detection.

In one embodiment, all or some of the plurality of ejection openings are inclined with respect to the vertically downward direction at an angle corresponding to the viewing angle of the camera.
Thereby, it is possible to secure a sufficient time for controlling each component until the sand is discharged, and it is not necessary to select a highly responsive device at a high cost. Moreover, sand can be discharged toward the detected depot regardless of the total length or the full width of the depot restoration machine.

In one embodiment, the discharge control mechanism provided at the discharge port includes a screw conveyor that guides a predetermined amount of sand spirally to the discharge port.
Thereby, a predetermined amount of sand can be discharged regardless of the posture state of the depot repair machine and the strength of the sand viscosity.

In one embodiment, the discharge control mechanism includes a sensor for detecting the start or stop of the operation of the screw conveyor, and applies a driving force toward the screw conveyor to guide the sand. When the sensor detects that the operation is stopped despite the transmission, the driving force reversed toward the screw conveyor is transmitted for a predetermined time, and then the transmission of the driving force is started again.
Thereby, the malfunction of the screw conveyor due to sand clogging can be quickly detected, and sand clogging can be eliminated.

In one embodiment, when the sensor detects that the discharge control mechanism has stopped operating despite transmitting a driving force toward the screw conveyor to guide the sand. Then, after transmitting the driving force inverted toward the screw conveyor and the driving force for guiding the sand alternately one or more times for a predetermined time, transmission of the driving force is started again.
Thereby, the malfunction of the screw conveyor due to sand clogging can be detected quickly, and sand clogging can be more reliably eliminated.

In one embodiment, each of the depot repairing machines includes one hopper for each discharge port, and each of the hoppers individually includes a control device for controlling the discharge control mechanism. The hopper can be added or reduced according to the width of the lawn surface area to be detected.
This eliminates the need for a control device for controlling the entire set of hoppers, and for example, it is easy to arbitrarily add or reduce hoppers. Further, when some hoppers break down, it can be dealt with only by replacing them, so that flexible operation is possible and cost reduction and maintenance efficiency can be improved.

In one embodiment, the discharge control mechanism provided at the discharge port includes two flow channels that guide the sand to the discharge port, and a flow channel selection that opens one or both of these flow channels. And a mechanism.
Thereby, when a depot is detected at a position across adjacent discharge ports, the sand can be appropriately discharged toward the depot while suppressing the consumption of sand. In addition, when a depot with a width of approximately half of the discharge port or less than that is detected, sand can be discharged via only one of the flow paths, so the depot can be suppressed while reducing sand consumption. Sand can be discharged toward

In one embodiment, a table is provided that defines the amount of sand discharged according to the type of lawn or the restoration time, and the controller discharges the amount of sand specified in the table from the discharge port. The discharge control mechanism is controlled as described above.
Thereby, for example, an amount of sand corresponding to the degree of turf growth every four seasons can be discharged, or a predetermined amount of sand can be discharged based on differences in environmental conditions such as sunshine hours and geology at each location.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automate the sand filling work of the depot that is connected to the lawn mower and is driven by the lawn mower, and the exact position of the depot can be specified. A depot repair machine with high repair accuracy can be realized.

FIG. 2 is an overall schematic diagram of devices necessary for depot restoration. (A) is a side external view showing the structure of a depot restoration machine to which the present invention is applied, and (b) is a top external view. (A) is structure explanatory drawing of a hopper, (b) is the example of arrangement | positioning at the time of providing the depot restoration machine with several hoppers. (A) is a figure for demonstrating another example of the discharge port of a hopper, (b) is the lower surface external view. (A), (b) is an example figure for demonstrating a flow-path selection mechanism. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating the binarization process of image data. The figure for demonstrating specification of the hopper which discharges sand from the detected depot. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating the control at the time of detecting inclination, when sand is discharged. The whole schematic diagram of the depot restoration machine of another example. The figure for demonstrating the structural example of the hopper unit which mounted the control apparatus of the said hopper for every hopper.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described in which the depot restoration machine according to the present invention is connected to a lawn mower for mowing a golf course, and the depot sand filling operation is performed while following the lawn mower. . It should be noted that, when performing the sand filling work of the depot, it is arbitrary whether the lawnmower is automatically driven, or remotely operated, or driven by the driver, but this embodiment Then, the example in the case of making it drive | work automatically is demonstrated.

[First Embodiment]
<Overview>
FIG. 1 shows an overall outline of devices necessary for depot repair work.
In the present embodiment, the depot restoration machine 1 connected to the lawn mower 2 uses the differential GPS system (Differential GPS) data and communication information from the base station 3 to measure the current position. An example of a depot restoration machine 1 that performs a depot restoration work of a golf course while performing is shown.

  The lawn mower 2 includes equipment necessary for acquiring positional information by the differential GPS method, such as a vehicle speed sensor 21, a GPS antenna (not shown), and a communication antenna, in addition to a connection mechanism (described later) for connecting the depot restoration machine 1. It is configured. The vehicle speed sensor 21 detects a traveling speed when the lawn mower 2 moves forward or backward. The detected speed is also the follow-up speed of the depot repair machine 1. Moreover, the sensor 21 can also be substituted by taking in the measurement results of various instruments included in the lawn mower 2.

The lawn mower 2 also maps the map representing the topography (including shape, slope, and structure outside the periphery) of the golf course where lawn mowing is performed into a setting file of a predetermined recording device readable by the computer device. As recorded. This map is read out as necessary, and a travel control signal for controlling the travel of the lawn mower 2 is generated together with the position information.
Note that the method of referring to the position information based on the map can be realized by a known technique called a map matching method. As a result, the lawnmower 2 can automatically run.

  The base station 3 includes a GPS receiving device 31 and a transmitting / receiving device 32 corresponding to a differential GPS reference station, a GPS antenna 34, and a communication antenna 35. The base station 3 is installed at a point whose longitude, latitude, and height are known. The GPS receiver 31 generates correction information for correcting an error in position information of the depot restoration machine 1 and the lawn mower 2. This correction information is appropriately transmitted to the depot restoration machine 1 and the lawn mower 2 through the transmission / reception device 32 and the communication antenna 35. The correction information transmission timing is, for example, a timing requested by the depot restoration machine 1 or the lawn mower 2 or at a predetermined interval (for example, every minute).

<Configuration of Depot Restoration Machine 1>
The depot repair machine 1 mainly includes a control device 10, a front camera 11, a rear camera 12, a hopper 13, a GPS antenna 14, a communication antenna 15, and an azimuth velocity sensor 16. The depot repair machine 1 can include one or more hoppers 13. In the example of FIG. 1, a plurality of hoppers 13 are provided.

The control device 10 includes a computer device having a communication function, a storage function (internal and external recording devices) and a display function (display), and a computer program.
This computer program includes a GPS device 101, a transceiver unit 102, a card mounting mechanism 103, a drive command unit 104, a control information generation unit 105, a vehicle information reception unit 106, a depot detection unit 107, a discharge command unit 108, The hopper drive control unit 109 and the main control unit 110 are caused to function.
The hopper drive control unit 109 can also be provided in the control device 10 as hardware in which electronic circuit components necessary for control of one set of the hopper 13 are collectively mounted on a printed board.
The main control unit 110 comprehensively controls the operation of each unit. This computer apparatus includes an RTC (Real Time Clock) module that outputs time data and a synchronous clock for control operation. Details of the control device 10 will be described later.

The front camera 11 captures an image of a lawn surface in a predetermined section in the traveling direction of the depot restoration machine 1 that is driven by the lawn mower 2. This section is calculated and set from the distance from the grass surface to the front camera 11 and the viewing angle of the front camera 11 (also referred to as an angle of view, hereinafter the same).
For example, when the direction perpendicular to the forward direction of the depot repair machine 1 is the width direction of the section to be imaged, the length is set to be the same as the width of the depot repair machine 1. Further, when the direction parallel to the forward direction of the depot repair machine 1 is the length direction of the section to be imaged, the length is the time from the detection of the depot detection device to the time when the sand is discharged or the average of the depot repair machine 1 As a result of calculation from the following speed, for example, 1 (m) is set.
The timing of imaging is approximately 2.2 (m) per second in accordance with the follow-up speed of the depot repair machine 1, for example, if the follow-up speed of the depot repair machine 1 is 8 (km / h). Therefore, an image is taken every 0.45 seconds, or if the follow-up speed is 4 (km / h), about 1.1 (m) is moved per second, and an image is taken every 0.9 seconds. .

  Further, the imaging timing can be corrected based on the position information of the depot restoration machine 1 so that the imaging of the front and rear sections does not overlap as much as possible and no gap is generated. Thus, the work efficiency of the depot restoration can be increased by making it correspond to the follow-up speed of the depot repair machine 1 or to correspond to the position information.

The rear camera 12 images the lawn surface in a predetermined section in the reverse direction of the depot repair machine 1 in order to capture the state of the lawn surface after the depot repair. The section to be imaged is set similarly to the case of the front camera 11.
Each of the front camera 11 and the rear camera 12 is preferably an autofocus type.

  The hopper 13 discharges sand toward the detected depot. The depot restoration machine 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of hoppers 13 and is individually controlled. Details will be described later.

  The GPS antenna 14 functions as a position detection sensor of the depot restoration machine 1. The communication antenna 15 enables communication with the communication antenna 35 of the base station 3. This communication notifies the operator of the lawnmower 2 of the operating status of the depot repair machine 1 or transmits a signal for remote operation of the depot repair machine 1.

  The azimuth angular velocity sensor 16 detects the behavior (dynamics) of the depot restoration machine 1 such as tilt, turning, and wobbling based on the angular velocity around the three-dimensional axis (roll, pitch, yaw). Data to be measured by the azimuth velocity sensor 16 may be replaced with an accelerometer. Moreover, the azimuth velocity sensor 16 can be substituted by taking in the measurement results of various instruments provided in the lawn mower 2.

<Aircraft structure of depot restoration machine>
The external appearance of the depot repairing machine 1 is shown in FIGS. FIG. 2A is an external view of the body of the depot restoration machine 1 as viewed from the side, and FIG. The control device 10, the front camera 11, the rear camera 12, the hopper 13, and the drive mechanism (not shown) described above are built in or equipped in the body of the depot restoration machine 1. The drive mechanism includes a differential gear (differential gear) for changing the drive load of the depot restoration machine 1 according to the inclination in the follow direction.

The depot restoration machine 1 includes a connection arm for connection to the lawn mower 2 formed in a shape that does not limit the viewing angle of the front camera 11. For example, when adopting a coupler-type coupling mechanism available on the market, a coupler is provided at the tip of the coupling arm, and a tow ball (ball-shaped protrusion) is provided at the center of the rear end of the lawn mower 2. The depot restoration machine 1 is coupled to the lawn mower 2 by connecting a coupler of the coupling arm to the towing ball of the lawn mower 2. By connecting the two via the towing ball, it is not necessary to increase the radius of rotation when turning in the connected state, and the traveling of the depot repairing machine 1 driven by the lawn mower 2 is also stabilized.
Further, the depot restoration machine 1 includes a sand tank 17 for mounting sand discharged from the hopper 13.

The front camera 11 is provided in a state of projecting in the forward direction of the depot repair machine 1 facing vertically downward for imaging the set section. The rear camera 12 is provided in a state of facing vertically downward for projecting the set section and projecting in the backward direction of the depot restoration machine 1.
The front camera 11 and the rear camera 12 are attached via a slide mechanism (not shown) so that they can be slid in a direction perpendicular to and parallel to the optical axis of the camera. Thereby, the influence by the vibration at the time of driving | running | working is relieve | moderated.

  The GPS antenna 14 is provided so as to be substantially at the center of the hopper 13 and at the center in the width direction of the aircraft. The communication antenna 15 is attached so as to protrude from the surface of the depot restoration machine 1. The azimuth velocity sensor 16 is installed at a position where the behavior of the depot repair machine 1 is correctly transmitted.

<Control device>
Returning to FIG. 1, the GPS receiving unit 101 of the control device 10 outputs position information indicating the current position of the depot restoration machine 1 to the control information generating unit 105 based on the GPS data received by the GPS antenna 14. The transmission / reception unit 102 enables communication between the control information generation unit 105 and the base station 3 via the communication antenna 15.

  The card mounting mechanism 103 detachably mounts an IC card in which authority information of an operator who uses the depot restoration machine 1 is recorded. In addition, the IC card reads information recorded on the IC card and writes information to the IC card. Further, backup data in which image data captured by the front camera 11 and the rear camera 12 is associated with position information is recorded.

  The drive command unit 104 changes the driving load of the depot restoration machine 1 based on the detection information representing the traveling speed of the lawn mower 2, the direction of the depot restoration machine 1, and the behavior acquired by the vehicle information reception unit 106 described later. Therefore, command information is output to a control unit of a drive mechanism (not shown). Based on this command information, for example, the driving load of the depot repair machine 1 is changed according to the inclination of the follow direction, thereby making the follow speed close to a constant and stabilizing the behavior of the depot repair machine 1. Improve depot repair accuracy. Details will be described later.

The control information generation unit 105 includes attribute information including the machine size of the depot repair machine 1 and the work width (for example, the overall width of one or a plurality of hoppers 13) recorded in advance in a recording device readable by the main control unit 110. And based on the acquisition information of the vehicle information receiving part 106 mentioned later, a work control signal is produced | generated in cooperation with the depot detection part 107 and the discharge command part 108. FIG.
Furthermore, the control information generation unit 105 can generate a work control signal with reference to a table value that prescribes the amount of sand discharge corresponding to the type of lawn or restoration time recorded in advance in the recording apparatus.

  The vehicle information receiving unit 106 acquires detection information representing the traveling speed of the lawn mower 2 from the vehicle speed sensor 21 and the azimuth and behavior of the depot restoration machine 1 from the azimuth angular velocity sensor 16. If the acquired information is analog data, it is converted into digital data and output. At that time, if necessary, data correction is performed to remove the offset component and the drift component from the output of the azimuth angular velocity sensor 16.

  The output information of the vehicle information receiving unit 106 is recorded in a nonvolatile memory (buffer) (not shown) or the like in association with the current time data. The buffer is preferably a circular ring buffer in which the pointer indicating the data writing position returns to the first recording address after the last recording address, but it does not have to be such. Part or all of the information recorded in the buffer is also recorded on the IC card mounted on the card mounting mechanism 103 through the main control unit 110.

<Drive mechanism>
The differential gear of the drive mechanism rotates in the same direction when there is no rotational difference between the left and right drive wheels of the depot restoration machine 1, and transmits the drive force. For example, when turning, the difference between the inner wheels (the speeds of the inner and outer drive wheels). However, the driving force is distributed and transmitted while the driving load is changed and absorbed.

Further, for example, when the lawnmower 2 suddenly brakes or suddenly turns, the depot restoration machine 1 is forced to go straight, so the lawnmower 2 and the depot restoration machine 1 bend in a V shape. A phenomenon (jackknife phenomenon) may occur. In addition, the same phenomenon appears more conspicuously in the depot restoration machine 1 whose weight is increased by the weight of the depot restoration sand when traveling downhill.
Accordingly, when the azimuth velocity sensor 16 detects that the depot repair machine 1 is traveling on a downward slope, braking is applied to the differential gear according to the tilt to increase the driving load of the depot repair machine 1. This keeps the tracking speed constant and prevents the occurrence of the jackknife phenomenon.

<Configuration of hopper>
The hopper 13 functions as a discharge control mechanism, and a specific configuration thereof is described with reference to FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A, and 5B. This will be described in detail.
The hopper 13 drives an input port 131 into which sand mounted in the sand tank 17 is input, a screw conveyor 132 that guides the input sand toward a discharge port by a predetermined amount (for example, 500 cc), and a screw conveyor 132. And a discharge pipe 134 for discharging toward the depot while preventing diffusion of the guided sand.
The screw conveyor 132 is inserted in the housing, and guides the sand introduced by rotation in this state toward the discharge port. For example, the depot repairing machine 1 is provided in parallel with the width direction of the depot repairing machine 1 with a set of six hoppers 13 as shown in FIG.

  When the width of the depot repairing machine 1 is used as the work width for the depot repairing, a number of hoppers 13 are provided so that the width of the depot repairing machine 1 and the width of the entire discharge port are the same. Adjust by changing the size and shape of the outlet. Moreover, when sand passes through the inside of the discharge pipe 134, it is desirable that the sand be uniformly diffused therein. Therefore, a current plate is provided at the discharge port 134. The remaining amount of sand mounted in the sand tank 16 may be detected by a sensor (not shown), and replenishment may be promoted before the sand breakage occurs.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a discharge pipe 134 a as another example of the discharge pipe of the hopper 13.
The sand introduced from the inlet 131 is guided by a predetermined amount by the screw conveyor 132 and discharged from the outlet. At that time, if a depot at a position that straddles the discharge pipe of the adjacent hopper 13 is detected, if there is a gap between the respective discharge ports, the discharged sand does not cover or covers the depot. In some cases, sand deviates and the repair of the depot is incomplete. Therefore, the discharge pipe 134a is formed and combined in such a shape (overlap width (H)) that a part of each of the adjacent discharge ports overlap each other. In addition, the overlapping width (H) is set in consideration of the sand diffusion effect by the current plate. Thereby, even if there are some gaps between the adjacent discharge ports, it is possible to prevent incomplete repair of the depot.

Furthermore, another example of the discharge pipe of the hopper 13 is a discharge pipe 134b shown in FIGS. The discharge pipe 134b can be rotated in a left rotation direction and a right rotation direction within a predetermined range by a driving force of a motor (not shown) about a partition plate 135 that divides the internal space into two and a rotation shaft 136 as an axis. A flow path selection mechanism is provided that distributes the sand guided by the screw conveyor 132 composed of the plate 137 to each space.
For example, when a depot is detected at a position straddling adjacent discharge pipes, the discharge pipe 134b has a right-side space partitioned by a partition plate 135 from the discharge pipe on the left side in the front of the drawing as shown in FIG. The discharge pipe on the right side in the figure is controlled to pass through the left space partitioned by the partition plate 135 and discharge sand from each. Therefore, if the amount of sand discharged toward the depot is the same, the amount of sand guided by the screw conveyor 132 can be halved.
This prevents waste of sand when repairing a depot at a position straddling adjacent discharge pipes, and can reduce consumption of sand mounted on the depot repair machine 1. In addition, the number of depots that can be repaired in a single run increases, and the work efficiency can be further increased.

  If the width of the detected depot is, for example, substantially the same as or smaller than the width of the discharge port connected to the right space on the left side of the front in FIG. 5B, sand passes through only the right space and discharges. To be controlled. Thereby, waste of sand can be further prevented.

  Further, because of the structure in which the sand can be distributed to the left and right in the discharge pipe, for example, two hoppers equipped with the discharge pipe 134 described above can be covered with one hopper. Therefore, the total number of hoppers provided in the depot restoration machine 1 can be reduced by half, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Each discharge pipe of the hopper 13 that has been described so far has a discharge port formed so that the guided sand is directed vertically downward. Here, as another example, with respect to the hopper 13 configured to be a discharge port that discharges sand in a direction inclined with respect to the vertical direction at an angle according to the viewing angle of the front camera 11, This will be described below.

When the depot repair machine 1 that is driven by the lawn mower 2 repairs the depot, the viewing angle of the front camera 11 may be widened to increase the number of depots detected by one imaging. In this case, a depot is detected from the imaged image data, and the discharge of sand is started toward the depot, rather than the time it takes for the depot closest to the depot restoration machine 1 to appear immediately below the discharge port during imaging. The time it takes for the sand to arrive at the depot may take longer.
Therefore, when the viewing angle of the front camera 11 is expanded, the discharge pipe 134 is inclined so that the discharge port of the hopper 13 faces rearward (reverse direction of the depot restoration machine 1).
By inclining the discharge pipe 134 in this way, sand is discharged further rearward as compared to when the discharge port is directed vertically downward. Thereby, since the timing at which the sand is discharged can be delayed, it is possible to sufficiently secure the time required to control each component until the sand is discharged.

  When the width of the section for imaging the lawn surface includes an area outside the width of the depot restoration machine 1, the discharge ports of the hoppers 13 at both ends in the width direction of the depot restoration machine 1 are arranged in the width direction of the depot restoration machine 1. The discharge pipes 134 may be inclined according to the viewing angle of the front camera 11 so as to go outward.

   In addition to inclining the discharge pipes 134 at both ends in the width direction of the depot repairing machine 1, each of the other discharge pipes 134 sandwiched between them is also tilted stepwise from the center position in the width direction of the depot repairing machine 1. You may do it. By comprising in this way, the bias | inclination of the area which the sand discharged from each discharge outlet covers a depot can be reduced.

<Detection of depot>
The depot detection unit 107 functions as a depot detection device for detecting a depot from image data captured by the front camera 11 in cooperation with the main control unit 110. Hereinafter, an example of a flow until a depot is detected will be described in detail.

<Inclination correction during imaging>
When the tilt of the depot repair machine 1 is detected by the azimuth angular velocity sensor 16 during imaging by the front camera 11, the captured image data is corrected with the detected tilt to generate a planar image. For example, when a high-rise building is photographed from the ground in a landscape photograph, the image data captured with the depot repairing machine 1 tilted appears as a photographed image in which the high-rise building is tilted because the upper layer appears smaller in perspective. Just like that, there is distortion.
Therefore, there is a difference between the actual depot position and the depot position on the image data. Therefore, processing is performed with a known distortion correction algorithm in accordance with the inclination of the depot restoration machine 1 at the time of imaging, and a planar image in which the inclination is corrected is generated.

<Binarization processing>
As a method for extracting a depot from image data captured by the front camera 11 or a flat image whose inclination is corrected, for example, there is a generally known binarization process. In binarization, for example, a threshold value is determined from a histogram of a grayscale image, and the intensity value of each pixel is compared with the threshold value. . As a result, the lawn areas are all white and the depot areas are all black, which are clearly distinguished. FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of the image data that has been binarized in this way and has detected a depot.

<Detection of unrepaired depot>
Similarly to the procedure for detecting a depot from the image data captured by the front camera 11, an unrepaired depot can be detected from the image data captured by the rear camera 12. When it is detected by the azimuth velocity sensor 16 that a sudden posture change has occurred in the depot repair machine 1 when the sand is discharged, the sand discharged toward the depot does not arrive at the planned position and is not repaired. It may be incomplete repair.
Therefore, a depot is detected from the image data captured by the rear camera 12, and the position is recorded as an unrepaired depot or an incomplete repair depot. For example, if an unrepaired depot is detected as shown in FIG. 6B, only the detected depot can be repaired by the green keeper. In addition, when the depot repair machine 1 is used next time, it can be recorded so as to be included in the repair target.

The discharge command unit 108 functions as a control device that controls the discharge control mechanism (hopper 13) in cooperation with the main control unit 110 and the hopper drive control unit 109.
The communication between the hopper drive control unit 109 and the discharge command unit 108 can be performed by a known communication method with high noise resistance or a common BUS method serial communication that is already widely known.

The hopper drive control unit 109 receives a command from the discharge command unit 108 and controls the motor 133 of the hopper 13 and transmits a signal from a sensor (not shown) provided in the hopper 13 to the discharge command unit 108. This sensor detects, for example, the start or stop of the operation of the screw conveyor 132. For example, in some cases, although the driving force from the motor 133 is transmitted, sand clogging occurs due to mixing of coarse sand and pebbles, and the screw conveyor does not start operation. In such a case, after the driving force to the screw conveyor 132 is reversed for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second), it is controlled so that transmission of the driving force (forward driving force) for guiding sand again is started. The reverse driving force and the forward driving force are alternately transmitted for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second each), and then control is performed so as to start transmission of sand again. It becomes possible.
Hereinafter, a flow example until the sand is discharged toward the detected depot will be described in detail.

<Calculation of center of gravity of depot>
The control information generation unit 105 calculates the coordinate point of the center of gravity of the detected depot. The depot center of gravity can be calculated by a known center of gravity calculation method. The reason for calculating the coordinate point of the center of gravity of the depot is to efficiently cover the depot with sand by discharging sand toward the position.

  The control information generation unit 105 also calculates two coordinate points that represent the maximum width of the detected depot, and based on the calculation result, as shown in FIG. One or a plurality of hoppers 13 provided with the discharge pipe 134 located are specified. Then, the specified hopper 13 is controlled such that sand is discharged at a predetermined timing.

  The control information generation unit 105 further calculates the distance to the discharge port center of the hopper 13 provided at a position parallel to each coordinate point of the image data, and stores (sets) it in a memory (not shown). Thereby, the distance from the coordinate point of the center of gravity of the depot calculated as described above to the center of the discharge port of the hopper 13 can be easily calculated. An appropriate timing for discharging sand from the hopper 13 is estimated from this distance and the follow-up speed of the depot repair machine 1.

Based on the above calculation results, the control information generation unit 105 generates a work control signal including each of the position of the depot where the sand arrives, the hopper 13 for discharging the sand, and the timing for discharging the sand.
In the case where the discharge pipe 134b described above is provided in the depot repair machine 1, a work control signal including a signal for controlling the rotating plate 137 is generated.

  Based on the work control signal generated by the control information generation unit 105 via the hopper drive control unit 109, the discharge command unit 108 individually sends sand to each of the hoppers 13 that discharge sand at each timing. The start of the operation of the screw conveyor 132 or the stop of the operation is instructed so as to be discharged.

<Inclination correction during discharge>
Here, the case where the inclination of the depot repair machine 1 is detected by the azimuth angular velocity sensor 16 when the sand is discharged from the depot repair machine 1 will be described.
The work control signal is generated based on the plane image that has been tilt-corrected. Therefore, if the depot restoration machine 1 is not inclined, the sand is discharged accurately from the discharge port of the discharge pipe 134 toward the depot as shown in FIG. However, when the depot repair machine 1 is tilted, the discharge pipe 134 is also tilted as shown in FIG. 8B, and sand may be discharged in a state of being inclined in the tilt direction from the discharge port. is there. The same applies to the case of forward and backward inclination.

In the case where a leftward or rightward inclination is detected when sand is discharged from the depot restoration machine 1, in the present embodiment, in addition to the selected hopper 13, it is adjacent to the opposite side of the detected inclination direction. The hopper 13 is controlled to discharge sand.
In addition, when a forward tilt is detected, sand is discharged toward the front of the depot's center of gravity (the traveling direction side of the depot restoration machine 1), so that the stop of the operation of the screw conveyor 132 is delayed. The amount of sand (for example, 800 cc) larger than a predetermined amount is controlled to be discharged.
In addition, when the backward inclination is detected, sand is discharged toward the rear (the backward direction of the depot restoration machine 1) from the center of gravity of the depot. For this reason, in order to prevent waste of sand, it is desirable to control the discharge of the screw conveyor 132 so that the amount of sand is smaller than the amount at this time by stopping the operation of the screw conveyor 132 earlier. An unrepaired depot is detected by the imaging of the rear camera 12 described above.

  As described above, in the depot restoration machine 1 of the present embodiment, a plane image is generated by correcting the image data captured by the front camera 11 with the inclination of the depot restoration machine 1 at the time of imaging, and the generated plane image is used. Detect depots. Thereby, since the exact position of a depot is specified and sand can be discharged toward that position, the repair precision of a depot can be improved.

  In the depot restoration machine 1 of the present embodiment, the control device 10 detects a depot during the follow-up, and the control information generation unit 105 generates a work control signal based on the detection result, and the work control signal Based on this, sand is discharged toward the depot. In addition, a series of operations until it is detected whether the discharged sand properly repairs the depot is controlled. Thereby, the sand filling work of the depot can be automated. In addition, since it is connected to the lawn mower and pursues, a unique power source is not required, increasing the cost advantage, and the depot can be repaired while following, so the work efficiency can be increased. .

  In the depot restoration machine 1 of the present embodiment, the front camera 11 and the rear camera 12 can be slid in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the respective optical axes. For this reason, the front camera 11 can absorb the vibration during traveling and can take an appropriate image according to changes in the state of the lawn surface due to weather and season, such as changes in sunlight intensity and direction, and the degree of turf growth. The respective installation states of the rear camera 12 can be easily changed.

The depot restoration machine 1 according to the present embodiment also includes a drive mechanism equipped with a differential gear that can change the drive load. Therefore, whether the vehicle is running on a straight line or turning, smooth and stable running is possible without slipping of the drive wheels.
Further, when the azimuth velocity sensor 16 detects that the depot repairing machine 1 is traveling on a downward slope, the driving load of the depot repairing machine 1 is increased, so that the following speed can be kept constant. As a result, it is possible to prevent the lawnmower 2 from being subjected to an extra load from the depot restoration machine 1 and to improve the driver's safety. This can also contribute to improving the accuracy of depot detection.

In the depot repairing machine 1 according to the present embodiment, the discharge ports of the one or more discharge pipes 134 are arranged at a position inclined vertically downward at an angle corresponding to the viewing angle of the front camera 11. Can be configured. In this case, a sufficient time can be secured for controlling each component until the sand is discharged. Furthermore, it is not necessary to use a device with high response performance at cost, and the degree of freedom in device selection can be increased. In particular, regardless of the total length or the entire width of the depot restoration machine 1, there is an advantage that sand can be discharged toward the detected depot.
Furthermore, since the hopper 13 is equipped with a screw conveyor 132 capable of guiding a predetermined amount of sand, the hopper 13 discharges a predetermined amount of sand regardless of the change in the attitude of the depot restoration machine 1 or the degree of sand viscosity. be able to.

  In the depot repair machine 1 of the present embodiment, a sensor for detecting the start or stop of the operation of the screw conveyor 132 is also provided. As a result, when the sensor detects that the operation is stopped even though the driving force of the motor 133 is transmitted toward the screw conveyor 132 to guide the sand, the direction is directed toward the screw conveyor 132. After transmitting the inverted driving force for a predetermined time, transmission of the driving force is started again, or the driving force inverted toward the screw conveyor 132 and the driving force for guiding the sand are alternately one or plural. It is possible to perform control such that transmission of the driving force is started again after each transmission for a predetermined time. Thereby, the malfunction of the screw conveyor due to sand clogging can be quickly detected, and sand clogging can be eliminated.

  In the depot restoration machine 1 of the present embodiment, when a depot is detected at a position straddling adjacent discharge ports by the hopper 13 having the flow path selection mechanism, the depot restoration machine 1 is appropriately controlled while suppressing the consumption of sand. Sand can be discharged toward the depot. In addition, when a depot having a width approximately equal to or less than that of the discharge port is detected, sand can be discharged through only one of the flow paths. Therefore, the sand can be discharged toward the depot while suppressing the consumption of sand.

  In the present embodiment, a table that defines the amount of sand discharged according to the type of lawn or the restoration time is provided, and the control information generation unit 105 discharges the sand of the amount specified in this table from the discharge port. Can be controlled. Thereby, for example, an amount of sand corresponding to the degree of turf growth every four seasons can be discharged, or a predetermined amount of sand can be discharged based on differences in environmental conditions such as sunshine hours and geology at each location.

<First Modification>
Although the present embodiment is as described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms.
For example, when the lawnmower 2 to which the depot restoration machine 1 is connected in advance is run within the working range and the lawn surface of the set section is imaged, and the depot restoration is performed, the result of this imaging And a result of the current imaging can be compared to detect a depot, and the detected depot can be repaired.

<Second Modification>
Up to now, a control device 10 has been provided which controls six hoppers 13 as shown in FIG. 3B, FIG. 4A, and FIG. The depot restoration machine 1 has been described as an example. In this case, since control in units of sets is required, it is necessary to newly develop the control device 10 every time the number of hoppers 13 included in one set is changed. In addition, the control device 10 needs to secure a physical mounting space for the hopper drive control unit 109 in which electronic circuit components are collectively mounted on a printed circuit board, or one hopper 13 has failed. There is also a need to replace the entire set.

For example, FIG. 9 shows an example in which a hopper unit 41 is provided as the depot restoration machine 4. In order to avoid redundant description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those already described.
The main difference from the above-described depot repair machine 1 is that the control device 40 is not provided with a hopper drive control unit 109 and that a hopper unit 41 is provided instead of the hopper 13. Further, the difference is that the detection result of the azimuth angular velocity sensor 22 provided in the lawn mower 2 is used instead of the azimuth angular velocity sensor 16 provided in the depot restoration machine 1.
Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

  The hopper unit 41 shown in FIG. 9 has a hopper control device 411 on which electronic components necessary for controlling each component included in the hopper 13 for discharging sand in addition to the hopper 13 as shown in FIG. 10 are mounted. The unit includes a display device 412 for displaying the operating state of the hopper 13. The display device 412 is an LED lamp, for example, and lights up when an operation abnormality occurs.

  The hopper control device 411 includes a microcomputer 413 for controlling this unit, a motor driver 414 for controlling start or stop of activation of the motor 133 provided in the hopper 13, and a hopper unit 41 provided for the depot restoration machine 4. And an address SW 415 for specifying the installation location, and a communication driver 416 for transmitting and receiving a control signal from the discharge command unit 108 via the external connection connector by the common BUS method. In addition, it can also be made to supply electric power toward the hopper unit 41 via an external connection connector. Furthermore, the microcomputer 413 can be configured to take in detection signals from, for example, a rotation sensor or a sand break sensor for determining the operating state of the hopper 13 and generate a necessary control signal based on these detection signals.

Thus, in the depot restoration machine 4 provided with the hopper unit 41, it is easy to add or reduce the hopper unit 41 according to the width of the lawn surface preset for depot detection. Become. Further, when a failure occurs in the hopper unit 41, it can be easily identified by lighting the LED of the display device 412, and since it can be dealt with by replacing only the failed hopper unit 41, the time until the work return is shortened. Maintenance performance is also improved.
Further, since the depot restoration machine 4 is connected to the lawn mower 2 and follows, the detection result of the azimuth velocity sensor 22 can be used as the detection result of the behavior of the depot restoration machine 4. Thereby, the structure of the depot restoration machine 2 can be made simpler.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 4 ... Depot repair machine 10, 40 ... Control apparatus, 11 ... Front camera, 12 ... Rear camera, 13 ... Hopper, 14, 34 ... GPS antenna, 15 35 ... Communication antenna, 16, 22 ... Azimuth angular velocity sensor, 17 ... Sand tank, 18 ... Rear part of the fuselage, 101 ... GPS receiver, 102 ... Transmitter / receiver, 103 ... · Card mounting mechanism, 104 ··· Driving command unit, ··· 105 ··· Control information generating unit, ······································· -Hopper drive control unit, 110 ... main control unit, 2 ... lawn mower, 21 ... vehicle speed sensor, 3 ... base station, 31 ... GPS receiver, 32 ... transmitter / receiver 41 hopper unit.

Claims (10)

A depot restoration machine connected to a lawn mower and driven by the lawn mower,
An autofocus camera that images a lawn surface area immediately after mowing by the lawn mower;
A sensor for detecting the front / rear / left / right inclination angles of the lawn surface area when imaged by this camera;
A plurality of outlets are provided along the width of the lawn surface area in the traveling direction, and the sand is discharged for each outlet. A hopper provided with a discharge control mechanism for discharging a predetermined amount;
A depot that corrects the image of the lawn surface area captured by the camera with the inclination detected by the sensor to generate a flat image and detects the position of the depot where the lawn is lost by changing the density of the flat image A detection device;
If it proceeds as it is at the following speed, the discharge port closest to the detected depot position is specified, and the timing at which the specified discharge port reaches the depot position is estimated. A controller for controlling the discharge control mechanism to discharge the sand toward the depot, and
Depot repair machine. The camera is attached through a mechanism that slides in at least one direction perpendicular to and parallel to the optical axis of the camera.
The depot repair machine according to claim 1. It further comprises a drive mechanism equipped with a differential gear that changes the drive load according to the inclination in the follow direction, thereby making the follow speed close to a constant value.
The depot repair machine according to claim 1 or 2. All or some of the plurality of discharge ports are inclined vertically downward at an angle corresponding to the viewing angle of the camera.
The depot repair machine according to claim 1, 2 or 3. The discharge control mechanism provided in the discharge port comprises a screw conveyor that guides a predetermined amount of sand spirally to the discharge port.
The depot repair machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The discharge control mechanism includes a sensor for detecting the start or stop of the operation of the screw conveyor,
The driving force reversed toward the screw conveyor when the sensor detects that the operation is stopped despite transmitting the driving force toward the screw conveyor to guide the sand. Configured to start transmission of driving force again after transmitting for a predetermined time,
The depot repair machine according to claim 5. The discharge control mechanism is directed to the screw conveyor when the sensor detects that the operation is stopped even though the driving force is transmitted to the screw conveyor to guide the sand. The driving force reversed and the driving force for guiding the sand are alternately transmitted one or more times for a predetermined time, respectively, and then transmission of the driving force is started again.
The depot repair machine according to claim 6. Each of the depot repair machines comprises one hopper for each discharge port,
Each of the hoppers is individually provided with a control device for controlling the discharge control mechanism, so that the hoppers can be added or reduced according to the width of the lawn surface area for detecting the depot. Configured
The depot repair machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The discharge control mechanism provided at the discharge port includes two flow paths for guiding the sand to the discharge port, and a flow path selection mechanism for opening one or both of the flow paths. ,
The depot repair machine according to any one of claims 1 to 8. It has a table that regulates the amount of sand discharged according to the type of lawn or the restoration time.
The control device controls the discharge control mechanism so that the discharge amount of sand defined in the table is discharged from the discharge port;
The depot repair machine according to claim 1.

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