JP2014187885A - Tree felling system, and tree information detection device and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a worker to fell various kinds of trees in different conditions safely and automatically while directly viewing the target tree for felling in a state in which the worker is away from the trees.SOLUTION: A felling system 10 comprises: a cutting tool 11; a manipulator 12 for operating the cutting tool 11 movably; a tree information detection device 13 for automatically collecting the information of a tree T; and a control device 14 for controlling operation of the manipulator 12 to cut a trunk of the tree T with the cutting tool 11. The tree information detection device 13 comprises: trunk specifying means 50 for specifying an existence range of the tree to measure a diameter of the tree; and felling direction determination means 51 for obtaining an inclination of the trunk and a distribution of the branches of the tree T to estimate the direction to which the centroid of the tree T exists, and determine the felling direction of the tree T. The control device 14, from the detected result in the tree information detection device 13, automatically generates movement track of the cutting tool 11 to control the operation of the manipulator 12 so that the cutting tool 11 will move in accordance with the movement track.

Description

  The present invention relates to a tree felling system, a tree information detection apparatus, and a program thereof, and more specifically, for automatically felling the tree in a state where an operator is away from the tree to be felled. The present invention relates to a tree felling system, a tree information detection apparatus applied to the felling system, and a program thereof.

  Chainsaws, harvesters, and the like are known as forestry machines used to cut down trees in a forest. In Japan, the ground in the mountains is steep and undulating, the ground is not solid, and the road network density is very low. Therefore, it is often difficult to carry a large forestry machine to a felling site, and in an actual site, there are still many ancient tasks in which an operator falls a tree while holding a chainsaw. In this work, there is a problem that safety cannot be sufficiently ensured, for example, a tree may fall in an unexpected direction of the operator. On the other hand, since harvesters are composed of large heavy machinery, applicable site conditions are limited. In particular, in the mountainous areas of Japan, it may be difficult to transport heavy machinery itself to the site. Many. For the above reasons, there has been a demand for downsizing of forestry machines that allow trees to be felled while workers are away.

  By the way, Patent Document 1 discloses a felling machine capable of felling an arbitrary tree using a chainsaw. In this felling machine, a tree gripping device that grips trees using hydraulic power as a power source, a chain saw cutting device capable of pushing and pulling out a chain saw, a chain saw cutting device that rotates 90 degrees with respect to the tree center, and A chain saw turning device capable of moving the cutting position up and down following the turning motion is provided. The operator falls a tree by remotely operating a felling machine while viewing an image from a camera that images the site on the ground.

JP 2002-209457 A

  However, in the logging machine of Patent Document 1, since the hydraulic power is used as the power, the entire apparatus is large, and therefore, transportation to the site is performed by hanging from the air with an air transportation device. Done. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and labor to transport the felling machine to the site, and the felling machine moves in the air while being suspended at the time of carrying in and out of the site. There is a risk of falling. Since the felling machine is a heavy object with a blade and it is very dangerous to fall the felling machine from the air to the ground, it is practically difficult to use. In addition, the logging machine is operated remotely while the operator sees the camera image of the site on the ground, so it is difficult to respond if an event that causes a logging failure or the like occurs at the spot where the camera is blind. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to install more cameras on the site, which requires more time for felling work on the site.

  The present invention has been devised by paying attention to such inconveniences, and the purpose of the present invention is to secure various trees in different states while directly looking at the trees to be felled. Another object of the present invention is to provide a tree felling system, a tree information detection apparatus, and a program thereof that enable automatic felling.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is mainly a felling system for automatically felling trees,
A cutting tool for cutting the tree, a manipulator that is installed in the vicinity of the tree and operates to move the cutting tool within a predetermined space around the tree, and tree information for automatically collecting information on the tree A detection device and a control device for controlling the operation of the manipulator so as to cut a predetermined portion of the tree trunk with the cutting tool based on the detection result of the tree information detection device;
The tree information detection device specifies the existence range of the trunk in the space around the manipulator, obtains the trunk identification means for measuring the diameter of the trunk, the inclination of the trunk and the distribution of the branches of the tree Estimating the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree exists, and comprising a felling direction determining means for determining the felling direction of the tree based on the direction,
The controller is configured to automatically generate a moving trajectory of the cutting tool from the detection result of the tree information detecting device and control the operation of the manipulator so that the cutting tool moves according to the moving trajectory. Adopted.

  According to the present invention, a manipulator is set beside a tree, and the tree information position is detected by the tree information detection device, and the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree exists due to the inclination and branch distribution of the tree trunk. Are detected, and the felling direction of the tree is determined from the detection result. Then, the position of the cut by the cutting tool and the amount of cutting are automatically determined so that the tree falls in the direction, and a moving trajectory of the cutting tool based on a predetermined felling procedure is generated. The manipulator operates so that the cutting tool moves. For this reason, after setting the manipulator beside the tree, the operator can cut down the tree automatically with the cutting tool by the operation of the manipulator while directly looking at the tree to be felled at a remote position. . In addition, tree felling in an unexpected direction due to the influence of the center of gravity of the tree is prevented, and the safety of felling work can be improved. Furthermore, the configuration of the manipulator can be made relatively simple, miniaturization of the entire system configuration can be promoted, and restrictions on transportation and installation of the entire system including the manipulator can be reduced.

The schematic block diagram of the tree felling system which concerns on this embodiment. The schematic perspective view of a manipulator. The schematic perspective view of the manipulator seen from another direction with respect to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the manipulator in a state in which the posture is changed with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3.

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

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a tree felling system according to the present embodiment. In this figure, the felling system 10 is installed in the vicinity of a cutting tool 11 for cutting a tree and a tree to be felled, and operates so that the cutting tool 11 can move within a predetermined space around the tree. Operation of the manipulator 12 so as to cut a predetermined portion of the tree trunk with the cutting tool 11 based on the detection result of the tree information detecting device 13 and the tree information detecting device 13 for automatically collecting the information of the tree. And a control device 14 for controlling the operation.

  The said cutting tool 11 consists of a well-known chain saw which makes it possible to cut the tree T by rotating an external tooth with a chain shape, as FIG. 2-4 shows. Although this chain saw is not particularly limited, a gasoline engine is used as power. In addition, since the structure of the cutting tool 11 is not the essential part of invention, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. Moreover, as long as the cutting tool 11 enables the felling of the tree T mentioned later, it is also possible to substitute and apply mechanical apparatuses other than a chain saw.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the manipulator 12 is installed on the ground in the vicinity of the tree T to be felled and fixed to the tree T, and is movable with respect to the base 16. A robot arm 17 that is supported and holds the cutting tool 11 is provided.

  The base 16 is a pair of frames 19 and 20 extending in a predetermined direction, and is rotatably disposed between the frames 19 and 20. The ball screw 22 extends along each frame 19 and 20, and the ball screw 22. 2, a holding arm 26 that is attached to one frame 20 located on the right side in FIG. 2 and holds a tree T to be felled, and an upper surface side of each frame 19, 20. The slide rails 29 and 30 are fixed and extend in the extending direction of the frames 19 and 20. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, as shown in FIG. 2, the extending direction of the frames 19 and 20 is the x-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to the extending direction is the y-axis direction.

  The one frame 20 is longer than the other frame 19, and the root portion of the tree T is arranged in the space between the protruding portion 20 </ b> A protruding with respect to the other frame 19 and the gripping arm 26. It becomes space. The gripping arm 26 is attached in a direction substantially orthogonal to the frame 20 so as to be slidable in the x-axis direction with respect to the longer frame 20, and by sandwiching the tree T between the projecting portions 20A, The entire manipulator 12 is fixed to the tree T. That is, the root of the tree T is arranged in the space formed between the protruding portion 20A and the gripping arm 26, and the outer peripheral portion of the tree T is slid while sliding the gripping arm 26 in accordance with the outer diameter of the tree T of the portion. The needle member (not shown) provided at the tip of each of the protruding portion 20A and the gripping arm 26 is pierced into the tree T and the gripping arm 26 is fixed to the longer frame 20. The base 16 is fixed to the root side of the tree T in a state where it is in contact with the ground. A cushioning material 32 is provided together with the needle member on the tip side of each of the protruding portion 20A and the gripping arm 26 so that the base 16 can be firmly fixed to the root side of the tree T. The protruding portion 20A and the gripping arm 26 configured as described above constitute a fixing mechanism that fixes the manipulator 12 to the tree T. The fixing mechanism is positioned below the cutting tool 11 held by the robot arm 17 and is cut. It is attached to the trunk part below the cutting position of the trunk by the tool 11.

  The robot arm 17 is slid in the extending direction of the slide rails 29, 30 so that the slider 34 spans the slide rails 29, 30 and a side view substantially supported by the slider 34 so as to be rotatable. An L-shaped arm body 36 and a cutting tool support 37 that is attached to the distal end side of the arm body 36 and supports the cutting tool 11 are provided.

  The slider 34 has a nut (not shown) on the lower surface side engaged with the ball screw 22, and can move along the slide rails 29 and 30 by the rotation of the ball screw 22 driven by the first motor 24. It has become.

  The arm main body 36 has a base end side rotatably attached to the slider 34, and can be rotated around the y axis by driving a second motor 39 (see FIG. 2) provided therein. .

  The cutting tool support 37 is a rotating body 41 that is rotatably attached to the distal end side of the arm body 36, and a cutting tool attachment portion 43 that is rotatably connected to the rotating body 41 and to which the cutting tool 11 is attached. And.

  The rotating body 41 is rotatable about the y axis with respect to the arm body 36 by driving a third motor 45 provided therein. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the rotation of the rotating body 41 allows the cutting tool 11 supported by the cutting tool mounting portion 43 to be turned upside down. It becomes possible to cut into the tree T.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cutting tool mounting portion 43 is provided so that the upper side of the rotating body 41 in the drawing can be rotated around the virtual rotation axis L in the drawing by driving the fourth motor 47. ing. Accordingly, when the fourth motor 47 is driven, the cutting tool 11 rotates with respect to the rotating body 41, and the blade portion swings in the left-right direction in the figure. Although the cutting tool mounting portion 43 is not shown in the drawing, a structure that allows the cutting tool 11 to be freely attached and detached is adopted, and a vibration isolating structure that makes it difficult to transmit the vibration of the cutting tool 11 to the manipulator 12 is provided. And a structure for preventing the cutting tool 11 from slipping down.

  The tree information detection device 13 is configured by a computer including an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU and a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk, and a program for causing the computer to function as the following units is installed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the tree information detection device 13 specifies the trunk existence range of the trunk of the tree T in the space around the manipulator 12 and measures the diameter of the trunk, Detecting the inclination state of the trunk and branch distribution of the tree T to be felled, estimating the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree T exists, and determining the felling direction for determining the felling direction of the tree T from this direction Means 51.

  The trunk specifying means 50 transmits an optical signal from the outside of the tree T toward a portion of the trunk to be cut and detects reflected light from the trunk, and the magnitude of the reflected light detected by the optical sensor 53. Accordingly, the trunk existing range specifying unit 54 for specifying the position range occupied by the trunk, and the trunk range specified by the trunk existing range specifying unit 54, using a mathematical formula stored in advance, And a trunk diameter measuring unit 55 for obtaining the diameter by calculation.

  Although not shown, the optical sensor 55 is attached to the distal end side of the robot arm 17 and horizontally scans infrared rays toward the tree trunk. The mounting location of the optical sensor 55 is not limited to the tip of the robot arm 17, and may be another part of the manipulator 12 or may be installed separately from the manipulator 12.

  The felling direction determination means 51 detects the intensity of the laser beam reflected by the tree T and the laser beam irradiation unit 57 that irradiates the laser beam in a plurality of directions around the tree T from the root of the tree T to the sky. Then, the trunk inclination detection unit 58 that detects the inclination direction of the trunk, the camera 59 that captures an image in the upward direction from the base of the tree T, and the state of the branch of the tree T by the analysis of the image captured by the camera 59 The direction of the center of gravity of the tree T is estimated from the detection results of the branch state detection unit 60, the trunk inclination detection unit 58, and the branch state detection unit 60 to be detected, and the direction of the center of gravity is defined as the felling direction of the tree T. And an estimation unit 61.

  The trunk inclination detection unit 58 measures the intensity of the laser light reflected by the tree T for each irradiation direction, and estimates the inclination direction of the trunk according to the intensity of the reflected laser light. In other words, if the difference in the intensity of the laser light reflected around the tree T is large, a trunk can exist in the direction of irradiation of the laser light with high intensity, and the inclination direction of the trunk is estimated from the irradiation direction. It becomes possible.

  In the branch state detection unit 60, for each pixel in the image acquired by the camera 59, it is estimated that there is a branch in a portion where the change in brightness with respect to surrounding pixels is larger than a predetermined threshold, and the presence of the branch in the image By specifying the range, the amount of branches and the thickness of each branch are obtained for each direction around the tree T, and the overhang direction of the entire branch is specified. That is, here, the image is binarized, and for each pixel, the amount of change from white to black is obtained for the surrounding pixels, and the portion of the pixel having the amount of change exceeding a preset threshold is one of the branches. Part. By performing this process for each pixel in the image, the existence range of the branch in the image is specified, and the overhang direction of the entire branch is detected.

  In the center-of-gravity direction estimation unit 61, based on mathematical expressions and data stored in advance, the tree inclination direction detected by the trunk inclination detection unit 58 and the branch extension direction detected by the branch state detection unit 60 are used. The direction in which the center of gravity exists is estimated, and the direction is determined as the felling direction of the tree T.

  The control device 14 is configured by hardware and software, and includes an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk, and a program module that causes these devices to function.

  This control device 14 is determined by the movement trajectory determination unit 63 and the movement trajectory determination unit 63 for obtaining the movement trajectory (feed trajectory) of the cutting tool 11 when cutting the tree T from the detection result of the tree information detection device 13. A control unit 64 that controls driving of the first to fourth motors 24, 39, 45, 47 is provided so that the cutting tool 11 moves according to the movement trajectory.

  The moving trajectory determining unit 63 determines the moving trajectory of the cutting tool 11 so that the tree T can be felled automatically in the felling direction determined by the felling direction determining means 51 by felling the receiving port and the catching port. . That is, first, the cut creation position is calculated so that the cut size is calculated from the diameter of the cut part of the trunk determined by the trunk specifying means 50 by using a mathematical formula stored in advance, and the assumed cut shape is obtained. It is determined over time in consideration of the felling direction, and the moving trajectory is obtained. The moving trajectory determined here can be changed according to the situation. That is, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the receiving port depth, the chord width, and the additional port angle can be changed according to the demands of the operator and the like. Moreover, it is also possible to control with the control part 64 so that the feed rate of the cutting tool 11 may change.

  Next, a procedure for felling the tree T using the felling system 10 will be described.

  First, a manipulator 12 equipped with a cutting tool 11 is installed on the ground near the root of a tree T to be felled by an operator. The manipulator 12 is fixed to the tree T by sandwiching the tree T between the projecting portion 20 </ b> A and the gripping arm 26.

  Then, the information on the tree T is automatically detected by the tree information detection device 13, and based on the detection result, the control device 14 obtains the movement trajectory of the cutting tool 11 in the coordinate system with the predetermined part of the manipulator 12 as the origin. It is done. That is, here, the cutting position and the cutting amount over time corresponding to the tree T felling method stored in advance are determined by calculation. When the operator turns on a switch (not shown), the cutting tool 11 and the manipulator 12 operate, the cutting tool 11 automatically moves along the determined movement trajectory, and the tree T is automatically felled. become. At this time, the worker can stand by away from the tree T.

  Therefore, according to such an embodiment, according to the state of the tree T to be felled, the movement trajectory of the cutting tool 11 considering the position, shape, dimensions, etc. of the cut end is automatically generated, and the manipulator 12 With this operation, the tree T can be felled safely and automatically at the direction and angle in which the felling direction of the tree T is considered.

  As for the chainsaw constituting the cutting tool 11 of the present embodiment, in addition to the existing one that directly operates the throttle lever by the operator's hand, the throttle lever adjustment that enables the operator to operate the throttle lever without touching the hand An apparatus provided with a device (not shown) can also be applied. This throttle lever adjusting device transmits the command from the operator input to the operation unit by wireless communication automatically and automatically adjusts the strength of the throttle according to the working state, and the throttle according to the command Although it is possible to exemplify a mode that can be arbitrarily switched to a manual mode for adjusting the strength of the screen, it may be provided with only one of the modes.

  Further, when the base 16 is fixed to the tree T in a state where the base 16 is inclined according to the condition of the ground to be installed, the posture of the manipulator 12 is automatically changed according to the inclination, and the horizontal posture of the robot arm 17 with respect to the base 16 is changed. It is preferable to provide a posture correction mechanism between them. With this configuration, the accuracy of felling work can be further improved.

  Further, the manipulator 12 is not limited to the structure of the above embodiment, and may have various structures regardless of the number of degrees of freedom as long as the cutting tool 11 can be moved in a desired space according to a predetermined trajectory. Can be adopted.

  In addition, the control device 14 stores in advance several patterns of the felling technique so that the tree can be felled by another felling technique such as three string cutting, and cutting is performed based on the selected pattern. It is also possible to control the operation of the manipulator 12 so that the tool 11 moves.

  Furthermore, the optical sensor 55 and the laser light irradiation unit 57 can be applied to other sensors as long as the same effect as that of the present embodiment is exhibited.

  In addition, the configuration of each part of the apparatus in the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configuration example, and various modifications are possible as long as substantially the same operation is achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Tree felling system 11 Cutting tool 12 Manipulator 13 Tree information detection apparatus 14 Control apparatus 50 Tree trunk identification means 51 Tree felling direction determination means 53 Optical sensor 54 Tree trunk existence range identification part 55 Tree diameter measurement part 57 Laser light irradiation part 58 Tree trunk inclination detection Unit 59 Camera 60 Branch state detection unit 61 Center of gravity direction estimation unit

Claims (6)

A felling system for automatically felling trees,
A cutting tool for cutting the tree, a manipulator that is installed in the vicinity of the tree and operates to move the cutting tool within a predetermined space around the tree, and tree information for automatically collecting information on the tree A detection device and a control device for controlling the operation of the manipulator so as to cut a predetermined portion of the tree trunk with the cutting tool based on the detection result of the tree information detection device;
The tree information detection device specifies the existence range of the trunk in the space around the manipulator, obtains the trunk identification means for measuring the diameter of the trunk, the inclination of the trunk and the distribution of the branches of the tree Estimating the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree exists, and comprising a felling direction determining means for determining the felling direction of the tree based on the direction,
The control device automatically generates a moving trajectory of the cutting tool from a detection result of the tree information detecting device, and controls the operation of the manipulator so that the cutting tool moves according to the moving trajectory. Tree felling system.   The tree trunk specifying means transmits an optical signal from the outside of the tree toward the tree trunk, detects an reflected light from the tree trunk, and according to the size of the reflected light detected by the optical sensor, The trunk existence range specifying part for specifying the position range occupied by the trunk, and the diameter of the part of the trunk to be cut from the position range of the trunk specified by the trunk existence range specifying part using a mathematical formula stored in advance. The tree felling system according to claim 1, further comprising: a trunk diameter measuring unit for calculating   The felling direction determining means detects the intensity of the laser beam reflected by the tree, and a laser beam irradiation unit that irradiates a laser beam in a plurality of directions around the tree from the root of the tree to the sky. A trunk inclination detection unit for detecting the inclination direction of the trunk, a camera for capturing an image in the sky direction from the base of the tree, a branch state detection unit for detecting a state of the tree branch by analysis of the image, and It is characterized by comprising a center-of-gravity direction estimation unit that estimates the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree exists from the detection results of the trunk inclination detection unit and the branch state detection unit, and sets the direction as the felling direction of the tree. The tree felling system according to claim 1 or 2. The trunk inclination detection unit measures the intensity of laser light reflected by the tree for each irradiation direction, estimates the inclination direction of the trunk according to the intensity of the reflected laser light,
The branch state detection unit estimates that the branch exists in a portion where a change in brightness with respect to surrounding pixels is larger than a predetermined threshold for each pixel in the image, and determines the existence range of the branch in the image. By specifying the amount of the branch and the thickness of each branch for each direction around the tree, specify the direction of extension of each branch,
The center-of-gravity direction estimation unit estimates the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree exists based on the inclination direction of the trunk detected by the trunk inclination detection unit and the extension direction of the branch detected by the branch state detection unit The tree felling system according to claim 3, wherein: When automatically cutting down the tree using a manipulator that can move a cutting tool that cuts a predetermined part of a tree trunk, the information on the tree necessary to control the operation of the manipulator is automatically A tree information detection device to collect,
The trunk specifying means for specifying the range of the trunk in the space around the manipulator and measuring the diameter of the trunk, the inclination of the trunk and the distribution of the branches of the tree are obtained, and the center of gravity of the tree exists. A tree information detecting apparatus comprising: a felling direction determining unit that estimates a direction and determines a felling direction of the tree from the direction. When automatically cutting down the tree using a manipulator that can move a cutting tool that cuts a predetermined part of a tree trunk, the information on the tree necessary to control the operation of the manipulator is automatically A program for causing a computer of the tree information detection device to collect to function,
Identify the range of the trunk in the space around the manipulator, measure the diameter of the trunk, estimate the direction in which the center of gravity of the tree exists by obtaining the inclination of the trunk and the distribution of the branches of the tree A program for a tree information detecting apparatus for causing the computer to execute a direction of felling the tree from the direction.

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