JP2017032329A - Obstacle determination device, mobile body, and obstacle determination method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correctly determine the presence of absence of an obstacle which is very likely to collide in an obstacle determination device provided with a distance measuring device by a simple method.SOLUTION: An obstacle determination device 1 comprises a distance measuring device 10 for measuring a distance to a measurement target object and an obstacle determination unit 17 for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle in a measurement space region in front of the distance measuring device 10 on the basis of the distance measurement result from the distance measuring device 10. The obstacle determination unit 17, by using a larger weighting coefficient as a distance is shorter, for each of measurement points where a distance is measured in the measurement space region, determines that there is an obstacle when the sum of values of the weighted measurement points is a predetermined value or more.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an obstacle determination device, a moving object, and an obstacle determination method.

  An autonomous traveling device (also referred to as an automatic traveling device) has been developed that determines its own operation using sensor information and acts autonomously. For example, an optical distance measuring device (ranging sensor) can measure a distance from an object existing in the measurement range and can acquire a one-dimensional or two-dimensional distance data map, so that it can travel autonomously. The device is used as a safety device for detecting and avoiding obstacles.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an external environment for a vehicle intended to recognize and judge whether or not another vehicle is an obstacle with respect to the own vehicle at high speed and accurately, and to enable an appropriate brake operation. A recognition device is disclosed. This vehicle external environment recognition device is a method based on the direction of the relative velocity vector of an obstacle candidate object, the obstacle recognition degree, which is a ratio of recognizing an object (obstacle candidate object) of another detected vehicle or the like as an obstacle, The calculation is performed by a plurality of different methods based on the position of the obstacle candidate object with respect to the future movement trajectory of the vehicle, and the weighted average calculation is performed by weighting the obstacle recognition degree calculated by each method. We are looking for obstacle recognition.

JP 2002-225656 A

  The technique described in Patent Document 1 calculates an obstacle recognition level using a smaller weight function as the distance from the obstacle increases, and performs an automatic brake operation in consideration of the obstacle recognition level. The processing is complicated, the data processing load increases, and a high-performance processing device is required. Therefore, it is desirable to accurately determine the presence or absence of an obstacle by a simple method different from this method.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to accurately determine the presence or absence of an obstacle having a high possibility of collision in an obstacle determination apparatus provided with a distance measuring device by a simple method. It is to judge.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first technical means of the present invention includes a distance measuring device that measures a distance to a measurement object, and a distance measurement result of the distance measuring device based on a distance measurement result of the distance measuring device. An obstacle determination unit that determines whether or not there is an obstacle in the front measurement space region, wherein the obstacle determination unit measures the distance measured in the measurement space region. For each point, as the distance is shorter, a larger weighting coefficient is used, and when the sum of the weighted measurement points is a predetermined value or more, it is determined that there is an obstacle.

  The second technical means is the first technical means, wherein the obstacle determination unit is configured to measure the partial area at each measurement point on the cross-sectional area formed in the width direction and the height direction of the measurement space area. The weighting coefficient is different.

  The third technical means is the first technical means or the second technical means, wherein the obstacle determining unit is configured such that when the number of consecutive measurement points at which the distance is measured in the measurement space region is a predetermined number or more, For each of the continuous stations, the weighting coefficient is set larger than that of the non-continuous stations.

  A fourth technical means is a mobile object including the obstacle determination device according to any one of the first to third technical means, and the obstacle determination unit performs the weighting according to the operation of the mobile object. It is characterized by changing the coefficient.

  According to a fifth technical means, in the fourth technical means, the obstacle determination unit is provided with a measuring point whose distance is measured in the measurement space region before and / or during the turning operation of the moving body. The weighting coefficient is changed so as to increase as it is on the side of the turning direction.

  According to a sixth technical means, in the fourth or fifth technical means, the obstacle determining unit changes the weighting coefficient so as to increase as the moving speed of the moving body increases. It is.

  The seventh technical means is an obstacle determination for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle in a measurement space region in front of the distance measuring device based on a distance measurement result by a distance measuring device that measures a distance to the measurement object. The obstacle determination method includes a step, wherein the obstacle determination step uses a weighting coefficient that increases as the distance is shorter for each measurement point where the distance is measured in the measurement space region. When the sum of the point values is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that there is an obstacle.

  An eighth technical means is the seventh technical means, wherein the obstacle determining step changes the weighting coefficient in accordance with the operation of the moving body.

  According to the present invention, in the obstacle determination device provided with the distance measuring device, since the determination is performed using the weighting coefficient according to the collision possibility in a simple manner, the presence / absence of an obstacle having a high possibility of collision is determined by a simple method. Can be accurately determined.

It is a block diagram showing an example of 1 composition of an obstacle judging device concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is an external view which shows one structural example of the moving body provided with the obstacle determination apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in a traveling direction showing an example of a measurement space region in a moving body on which the obstacle determination device of FIG. 1 is mounted. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example which the measurement space area | region of FIG. 3A changed with the topography change. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for short distances used with the obstacle determination apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for medium distances used with the obstacle determination apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for long distances used with the obstacle determination apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a mode that an obstruction exists ahead in the measurement space area | region in the mobile body which mounts the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the distance image which is a ranging result when the obstruction Ma of FIG. 5 exists. It is a figure which shows an example of the distance image which is a ranging result when the obstruction Mb of FIG. 5 exists. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for short distances used with the obstacle determination apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for medium distances used with the obstacle determination apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for long distances used with the obstacle determination apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for short distances used at the time of the left turning operation | movement with the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for medium distances used at the time of left turn operation | movement with the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for long distances used at the time of the left turning operation | movement with the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for short distance used at the time of right turn operation | movement with the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for medium distances used at the time of right turn operation | movement with the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table of the weighting coefficient for long distances used at the time of right turning operation | movement with the obstruction determination apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

  The obstacle determination apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for determining an obstacle using a distance measuring device, and is mainly installed on a moving body. This moving body is a moving body that moves within a facility such as a factory or public facility, or a site such as those facilities or a parking lot, or a moving body such as an automobile or a motorcycle traveling on a public road. In particular, a mobile body that automatically moves within a site or facility includes a so-called autonomous traveling device having an autonomous traveling type control mechanism. A moving body based on driving by a driver such as an automobile also has autonomous driving control so that autonomous driving or autonomous driving as driving assistance for the driver becomes possible. In addition, the moving body on which the obstacle determination device is mounted can be used not only for the purpose of transporting people and objects, but also for monitoring the surroundings while moving. It can also be called. Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an obstacle determination apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an external view illustrating a configuration example of a moving object including the obstacle determination apparatus of FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, an obstacle determination apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes an optical distance measuring device (hereinafter simply referred to as a distance measuring device) 10 that measures a distance to a measurement object M using an optical measurement mechanism. And an obstacle determination unit 17.

  Specifically, the distance measuring device 10 modulates the measurement light output from the laser light source, irradiates the object through the optical window, and detects the reflected light from the measurement object M with the light receiving element through the optical window. And measure the distance. The AM (Amplitude Modify) method and the TOF (Time of Flight) method have been put to practical use as the measurement light modulation method, and the distance measuring device 10 may adopt either method. In the AM method, the measurement light that has been AM-modulated with a sine wave and its reflected light are photoelectrically converted, a phase difference between these signals is calculated, and a distance is calculated from the phase difference. The TOF method is a method in which a measurement light modulated in a pulse shape and its reflected light are photoelectrically converted, and a distance is calculated from a delay time between these signals.

  The distance measuring device 10 measures the distance to the measurement object M within a certain measurement space region (measurement range) by scanning the measurement light two-dimensionally in the vertical and horizontal directions and receiving the reflected light. To do. That is, it can be said that the distance measuring device 10 is an area sensor in this measurement range. Typical examples of such a distance measuring device 10 include 3D-LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) and a laser range finder, but if the measurement direction can be limited, it is scanned in the vertical direction. It is also possible to employ a 2D-LIDAR installed in such a manner. In this case, the measurement space area as described above can be covered by arranging such 2D-LIDARs at predetermined intervals in the horizontal direction. The laser range finder is a distance measuring sensor that employs the TOF method. By providing one or two scanning axes, two-dimensional plane measurement and three-dimensional measurement are possible. LIDAR can also be said to be a kind of laser range finder.

  In addition to this, light such as infrared light is emitted from the light emitting unit without scanning light, and a two-dimensional light receiving sensor is used as a light receiving element. It is also possible to measure the distance to the object at. Examples of the two-dimensional light receiving sensor include a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Image Sensor). An example of such a distance measuring device is a TOF camera that emits pulses of near-infrared LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) and reads the arrival time of reflected light with a CCD to obtain a three-dimensional point image.

  The distance measuring device 10 of this configuration example includes a light emitting unit 12 that outputs measurement light, a light receiving unit 15 that receives reflected light of the measurement light emitted from the light emitting unit 12, and an optical path of the emitted measurement light. The optical mechanism unit 13 including an optical path adjustment unit such as a mirror for guiding the reflected light to the light receiving unit 15, the measurement light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 and the optical window 16 through which the reflected light passes, and the light emitting unit Drive control unit 11 that controls the light emission drive of 12 and the drive control of the optical path adjustment unit, the output signal photoelectrically converted by the light receiving unit 15 and the optical path drive information from the drive control unit 11 to the measurement object M A distance calculating unit 14 that calculates a distance and outputs the distance information as a measurement result.

  The obstacle determination unit 17 determines the presence or absence of an obstacle in the measurement space area in front of the distance measuring device 10 based on the distance measurement result by the distance measuring device 10. When it is determined that there is an object (an object to be recognized as an obstacle) in the measurement space area in front of the obstacle determination device 1, the obstacle determination unit 17 determines the object as an obstacle. Is a feature of the present embodiment and will be described later. The measurement space area is basically a predetermined area as a so-called measurement area (obstacle detection area), and can be said to be an area indicating a coordinate space of a measurement target point (measurement point).

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the obstacle determination apparatus 1 as described above is mounted on a moving body 2 such as an autonomous traveling apparatus that automatically travels while detecting an obstacle while avoiding a collision with the obstacle. In this example, the distance measuring device 10 is attached to the main body 20, and a unit constituting the obstacle determination unit 17 is mounted inside the main body 20.

  The illustrated moving body 2 has four wheels 21 attached to the main body portion 20, and although not shown, a driving unit that travels the moving body 2 and a drive control unit that controls the driving unit (wheels for distinction). Called a drive control unit). The drive unit includes, for example, a motor and / or an engine for driving the plurality of wheels 21 to rotate. Of course, not only the wheel 21 as illustrated, but also a caterpillar or the like may be driven.

  The wheel drive control unit controls the drive unit so as to perform an operation of avoiding a collision with an obstacle based on a determination result by the obstacle determination unit 17. Here, when an obstacle is determined by the obstacle determination unit 17, the information is output to the wheel drive control unit, where, for example, the moving body 2 that is traveling is avoided so as to avoid a collision with the obstacle. Control is performed such as changing the traveling direction, decelerating, or stopping before the obstacle. Based on this control, it is possible to cause the drive unit to perform operations such as changing the traveling direction, decelerating, and stopping, thereby avoiding a collision with an obstacle.

  In addition, the mobile body 2 can be moved along the planned route by providing a storage unit for storing map information, a position information acquisition unit, and the like. Examples of the position information acquisition unit include a unit that acquires the position of the moving body 2 using a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) such as GPS (Global Positioning System) or a QZSS (Quasi Zenith Satellite System).

  Next, main features of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 4C. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view in the traveling direction showing an example of a measurement space region in a moving body equipped with an obstacle determination device, and FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing an example in which the measurement space region of FIG. FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C are diagrams showing examples of tables of weighting coefficients for short distance, medium distance, and long distance that are used in the obstacle determination apparatus 1, respectively.

  As a main feature of the present embodiment, the obstacle determination unit 17 weights each measurement point whose distance is measured in the measurement space region by using a larger weighting coefficient as the distance indicated by the measurement point is shorter. It is determined that there is an obstacle when the sum (total) of the station values is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In the present invention, the resolution (measurement accuracy) of the measurement space region is not particularly limited. If the resolution is good, the accuracy of the distance and the direction that can be measured only increases.

  Here, the distance indicated by the measurement point may be a linear distance to the object of the measurement light when the measurement light is emitted radially from the optical window 16, or the linear distance may be the optical window. A distance projected in a direction perpendicular to 16 (a depth in the forward direction) may be used. The distance indicated by the measurement point may basically start from the optical window 16, but for example, a value obtained by adding the optical path distance from the optical mechanism unit 13 or the light emitting unit 12 to the optical window 16 may be used. Good.

  Hereinafter, the above features will be described with specific examples. The measurement space region D0 illustrated in FIG. 3A is a rectangular parallelepiped region defined within a region that can be measured by the distance measuring device 10, and the cross-sectional shape of the measurement space region D0 in the model layout is parallel to the ground surface G. It has become. The model arrangement is when the moving body 2 is placed on a horizontal ground and the optical window 16 of the distance measuring device 10 is placed in a plane perpendicular to the ground and the traveling direction of the moving body 2. Refers to the arrangement of cases.

  Note that the distance measuring device 10 has a measurement limit distance, and it is not possible to accurately measure the distance of an object at a position farther than the measurement limit distance, so that the depth is large as in the measurement space region D0. There is a limit to the depth. Also, the measurement limit distance can be determined in the forward direction depending on the traveling speed of the moving body 2 and the turning diameter, and even if there is an obstacle near the distance, the distance There is no problem because it is detected in advance at a farther stage.

  The weighting coefficient used in this embodiment is increased as the distance between the measuring points is shorter. For example, the table 31a shown in FIG. 4A is used for the measurement points included in the distance range da of the measurement space region D0, and the table 31b shown in FIG. 4B is used for the measurement points included in the distance range db. A table 31c shown in FIG. 4C is used for the measuring points included in the range dc. These weighting coefficient tables serve as a filter applied to the measurement points. Here, for simplification, an example is shown in which the resolution of the cross-sectional area formed in the width direction and the height direction of the measurement space area D0 is 6 × 4. Further, the relationship between the distance and the weighting coefficient may be simply inversely proportional, but is not limited to this.

  Actually, the priority for performing an operation such as stopping the moving body 2 varies depending on the distance to the detected object. For example, an object with a long distance has a low priority for such an operation, but an object with a short distance from the vehicle body must be stopped with the highest priority. In the present embodiment, as described above, the weighting coefficient is varied according to the distance, so that the total is more when the distance is closer, even if the number of measurement points at which the distance is measured in each distance range is the same. Therefore, it is easy to determine that there is an obstacle.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the determination is performed using the weighting coefficient corresponding to the possibility of collision in a simple manner, the presence / absence of an obstacle with a high possibility of collision (whether there is an obstacle nearby) by a simple method. Whether or not) can be accurately determined, and safety can be improved.

  Further, the measurement space area exemplified by the measurement space area D0 is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped. As the previous measurement space area, for example, in the measurement point group provided radially forward with the light emission point of the optical window 16 as the center, the lower limit and the upper limit of the depth in the forward direction are provided, and the width and height directions are as described above. You may employ | adopt what provided the limits, such as in the rectangular area | region centering on the center axis | shaft perpendicular to the optical window 16 passing through the center, or a cylindrical area | region or an ellipse area | region.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as the number of measurement points is larger, the process closer to the determination that there is an obstacle, specifically, the closer measurement points, the weighting coefficient is increased, and the total of the weighted measurement points is calculated. A process for determining whether there is an obstacle when a predetermined value is exceeded is adopted. However, this process is substantially synonymous with the process of determining the presence of an obstruction when the weighting coefficient is made smaller for the nearest station and the total of the weighted stations is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the scope of the present invention includes such processing.

  In the above, an optical distance measuring device has been exemplified as a distance measuring device. However, what is emitted for sensing is not limited to laser light, infrared light, visible light, etc. Ultrasonic waves, electromagnetic waves, etc. can also be employed. That is, the obstacle determination device can include a distance measuring device that radiates ultrasonic waves, electromagnetic waves, or the like instead of the optical distance measuring device. In particular, it is possible to sense the presence / absence of an object at each measurement point even with ultrasonic waves, etc. by means such as providing directivity.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which an obstacle exists ahead in a measurement space region in a moving body equipped with the obstacle determination device according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 6A and 6B respectively illustrate the obstacle of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the distance image which is a ranging result when Ma and Mb exist. FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and FIG. 7C are diagrams each showing an example of a table of weighting coefficients for short distance, medium distance, and long distance used in the obstacle determination device according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the description of the overlapping parts with the first embodiment is basically omitted, but various application examples described in the first embodiment can be applied.

  The obstacle determination unit 17 in the present embodiment varies the weighting coefficient for each partial area at each measurement point on the cross-sectional area formed in the width direction and the height direction of the measurement space area exemplified by the measurement space area D0. .

  An example in which such weighting for each partial region is particularly useful will be given. The moving body 2 and the obstacle determination device 1 mounted on the moving body 2 and the obstacle determination apparatus 1 mounted on the moving body 2 usually have a step difference, unevenness of an unpaved road, and a change in inclination on the ground G as shown in FIG. 3A. For example, the moving body 2 may change when the wheel 21 falls in a depression (concave portion) Gu existing on the ground G as shown in FIG. 3B or when the inclination changes (an angle less than 180 ° before and after the change). The vehicle may vibrate, or the vehicle body may vibrate. In such a case, the mobile body 2 may be tilted forward and the ground may be detected as an obstacle.

  In such a scene, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the distance Ma as shown in FIG. 6A in the distance measuring device 10 with respect to the obstacle Ma existing in the center portion far from the distance measuring device 10 in the measurement space region D0. An image is obtained. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a distance image as illustrated in FIG. 6B is obtained in the distance measuring device 10 for the obstacle Mb present at the right end of the portion closest to the distance measuring device 10 in the measurement space region D0. It is done. Note that the distance images illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B are darker as the distance is shorter, and are colorless when the distance is infinite (that is, the point where the distance could not be measured).

  6A and 6B, as for the bottom portion, as shown in FIG. 3B, as a result of detecting the ground with the moving body 2 tilting forward, an object close to the bottom portion is detected. . If the ground G is detected as an obstacle, an avoidance operation such as a stop is performed for safety even in a situation where there is no obstacle in traveling, and usability is degraded.

  On the other hand, for example, in FIG. 7A, as shown in the table 32a indicating the weighting coefficient for the distance range da, the weighting coefficient for the area (partial area) of the station where there is a possibility of detecting the ground is made smaller than the other areas. By doing so, it can be determined that there is an obstacle due to the ground. In other words, according to this example, by making the weighting coefficient small (or zero) for a partial region that may detect the ground, the measurement point that detected the ground may be a factor of such avoidance operation. Can be reduced. Of course, since the detection of the ground is not limited to the short distance, the same concept may be used for the medium distance and the long distance as in the table 32b shown in FIG. 7B and the table 32c shown in FIG. 7C.

  Further, in the tables 32a to 32c, the weighting coefficient is made smaller in the upper portion and the left and right end portions in the cross-sectional area than in the central portion. This is an example of coefficient setting on the premise that the collision possibility is lowered with respect to the central portion. As in this example, the method of dividing the partial area of the weighting coefficient and the example of setting the coefficient are not limited to ground countermeasures.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment of the present invention will be described with a focus on differences from the first and second embodiments, and description of overlapping parts will be basically omitted, but will be described in the first and second embodiments. Various application examples can be applied.

  The obstacle determination unit 17 in the present embodiment, when the number of consecutive measurement points (a series of measurement points) in which the distance is measured in the measurement space region is a predetermined number or more, for each of the continuous measurement points, Make the weighting factor larger than discontinuous stations. Here, when the distance is measured at any of the adjacent measurement points (measurement coordinates) determined by the resolution, it is handled as a continuous measurement point where the distance is measured. Regardless of the continuous direction, it can be said that it is preferable from the viewpoint of object recognition to consider the continuity of the measurement points in the front-rear direction. However, it may be determined whether it is continuous or discontinuous only in the cross-sectional area.

  This will be described with reference to the table 31b in FIG. 4B. When the distance is measured at the upper left 2 × 2 portion and the lower right corner of the 6 × 4 measurement points, the weighting coefficient is multiplied by 1.5 for the former, and the weight for the latter is left as it is. Use a coefficient. As described above, the resolution of the example such as the table 31b is lowered for the sake of simplification, but actually, the number of measuring points capable of detecting the distance is very large. Therefore, by such processing, for example, the result of detecting snow or rain can be excluded, and it can be determined that there is an obstacle.

  In the present embodiment, it is preferable to increase the weighting coefficient as the number of consecutive numbers increases. For example, when the number of consecutive is 4, the weighting coefficient is 1.5 times the original, and when it is 8, the weighting coefficient is 2.0 times the original. By such a process, it becomes easy to determine that there is an obstacle for a large object with a higher possibility of collision.

(Fourth embodiment)
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8F. FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C are diagrams each showing an example of a table of weighting coefficients for short distance, medium distance, and long distance used in the left turn operation by the obstacle determination device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8D, FIG. 8E, and FIG. 8F are diagrams each showing an example of a table of weighting coefficients for short distance, medium distance, and long distance that are used during the right turn operation by the obstacle determination device according to the present embodiment. is there. In addition, in this embodiment, although description of the duplication location with 1st-3rd embodiment is abbreviate | omitted fundamentally, the various application examples demonstrated in 1st-3rd embodiment are applicable.

  The moving body in the present embodiment will be described using the moving body 2 including the obstacle determination device 1 as an example. The obstacle determination unit 17 in the present embodiment changes the weighting coefficient according to the operation of the moving body 2. This change, that is, switching of the weighting coefficient, is preferably performed before the drive control (issue of drive command) to the motor or the like by the wheel drive control unit. By the change as described above, the moving body 2 can perform obstacle determination and avoidance behavior according to its own motion.

  Even when the obstacle is a moving body (of course, another moving body different from the moving body 2), the weighting is performed according to the operation of the moving body 2 regardless of the speed and operation of the other moving bodies. Change the coefficient. This is because obstacles include a stationary object and a moving object, and if the processing is changed in accordance with the obstacle, the processing may be complicated because both of them may coexist.

  An example applicable to such an operation is a turning operation. The obstacle determination unit 17 increases the weighting coefficient as the measuring point whose distance is measured in the measurement space region is closer to the turning direction before and / or during the turning operation of the moving body 2. It is preferable to change. For example, the tables 31a, 31b, and 31c illustrated in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are used during straight traveling, and illustrated in FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C immediately before the left turn operation is started. The tables 33a, 33b, and 33c are changed to tables 34a, 34b, and 34c illustrated in FIGS. 8D, 8E, and 8F, respectively, immediately before the right turn operation is started.

  In the examples of FIGS. 8A to 8F, the far side weighting coefficient has a larger width in the turning direction side (for example, the table 33a has one column at the left end, whereas the table 33c has three columns at the left end). This is because it is considered that there are many obstacles that may enter the moving range of the moving body 2 by turning as the distance increases. However, it is not limited to this example, and the width on the turning direction side may be common in the distance. In addition, although the obstacle determination part 17 should just obtain the content of drive control as mentioned above for the turning operation itself, the obstacle determination part 17 may obtain from the drive state etc. of the motor etc. which actually operate | moved.

  As another example, the obstacle determination unit 17 may change the weighting coefficient so as to increase as the moving speed of the moving body 2 increases. For example, when the speed is 1.5 times the constant speed, all the weighting coefficients may be changed by 1.5 times or +2. As for the speed itself, the obstacle determination unit 17 may obtain the contents of the drive control, or the obstacle determination unit 17 may obtain it from a driving state of a motor or the like actually operated, a speed meter, or the like. In addition, although the change resulting from speed operation | movement may be mounted simultaneously with the change resulting from turning operation | movement, you may mount independently.

(Other)
Although the obstacle determination device and the moving body according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention can also take the form of an obstacle determination method as described in the processing procedure thereof. This obstacle determination method is an obstacle determination that determines the presence or absence of an obstacle in a measurement space area in front of the distance measuring device based on a distance measurement result by a distance measuring device that measures a distance to a measurement object. Has steps. Then, the obstacle determination step uses a larger weighting coefficient for each of the measurement points where the distance is measured in the measurement space region, and the sum of the weighted measurement points is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. If it is, it is determined that there is an obstacle. Other application examples are the same as those described for the obstacle determination device and the moving body, and the description thereof is omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Obstacle determination apparatus, 2 ... Moving body, 10 ... Distance measuring device, 11 ... Drive control part, 12 ... Light emission part, 13 ... Optical mechanism part, 14 ... Distance calculation part, 15 ... Light receiving part, 16 ... Optical window , 17 ... Obstacle determination unit, 20 ... Main body, 21 ... Wheel, 31a, 31b, 31c, 32a, 32b, 32c, 33a, 33b, 33c, 34a, 34b, 34c ... Table, D0 ... Measurement space region, G ... ground, Gu ... depression, M ... measurement object, Ma, Mb ... obstacle.

Claims (8)

A distance measuring device that measures a distance to a measurement object, and an obstacle determination unit that determines the presence or absence of an obstacle in a measurement space area in front of the distance measuring device based on a distance measurement result by the distance measuring device An obstacle determination device comprising:
The obstacle determination unit uses a larger weighting coefficient for each of the measurement points where the distance is measured in the measurement space region, and the sum of the weighted measurement points is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In this case, the obstacle determination device determines that there is an obstacle.   2. The obstacle determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle determination unit varies the weighting coefficient for each partial region at each measurement point on a cross-sectional region formed in a width direction and a height direction of the measurement space region. The obstacle determination device described.   When the number of consecutive measurement points at which distances are measured in the measurement space region is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the obstacle determination unit determines the weighting coefficient for each of the continuous measurement points from a discontinuous measurement point. The obstacle determination device according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle determination device is increased. A moving body comprising the obstacle determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The obstacle determining unit changes the weighting coefficient according to the operation of the moving object.   The obstacle determination unit may increase the weighting coefficient as the measuring point whose distance is measured in the measurement space region is closer to the turning direction before and / or during the turning operation of the moving body. The mobile body according to claim 4, wherein the mobile body is changed to:   The moving object according to claim 4, wherein the obstacle determination unit changes the weighting coefficient so as to increase as the moving speed of the moving object increases. An obstacle determination method including an obstacle determination step for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle in a measurement space area in front of the distance measuring device based on a distance measurement result by a distance measuring device that measures a distance to the measurement object. Because
The obstacle determination step uses a larger weighting coefficient for each of the measuring points where the distance is measured in the measurement space region, and the sum of the weighted measuring points is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In this case, the obstacle determination method is characterized by determining that there is an obstacle. The obstacle determination method according to claim 7, wherein the obstacle determination step changes the weighting coefficient according to an operation of the moving body.

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