JP2017228195A - Cleaning robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning robot capable of recognizing a spatially arranged do-not-enter marking and preventing invasion to a do-not-enter zone.SOLUTION: A cleaning robot 1 has travel means 2 and cleaning means 3. The cleaning robot 1 includes: a distance measurement device 15 for emitting light and receiving reflection light reflected against an obstacle, so as to measure a distance from the obstacle; and a control device 20. The control device 20 includes: a distance measurement device control section for vertically changing a light emission angle; an advance direction determination section for determining an advance direction to avoid an obstacle on the basis of a measurement result of the distance measurement device 15; and a travel control section for controlling the traveling of the travel means in the advance direction determined by the advance direction determination section.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning robot.

As is well known, a cleaning robot that automatically cleans a room is widely used.
Patent Document 1 discloses a cleaning robot 100 as shown in FIG. The cleaning robot 100 is controlled by the control unit 120.
The control unit 120 controls the rotation and height positions of the side brush 104 and the main brush 105 of the cleaning unit based on environmental information acquired by the laser radar 112, the ultrasonic sensor 113, and the distance image camera 114 and map information of the area to be cleaned. In addition, the opening / closing time interval and the opening / closing amount of the flapper 107 are controlled, and the traveling by the drive wheels 102 and the eccentric casters 103 is controlled.
The laser radar 112 measures the distance by irradiating a laser beam at a certain angle within a range of ± 90 ° with respect to the traveling direction of the traveling horizontal plane, and measures the two-dimensional arrangement of obstacles and walls viewed from the robot body 100. To do.

It is difficult to use the cleaning robot 100 as described above at the construction work site during the construction period for the following reason. In the construction workplace, there are prohibited entry areas such as a place where construction materials are accumulated and a floor immediately after placing concrete, which requires attention to access. Usually, a cone bar spanned between two cones and the top of the cone is provided so as to surround such a restricted entry section, whereby the worker recognizes the restricted entry section.
However, since the cleaning robot 100 as described above can only acquire information in the horizontal plane at the height position where the laser radar 112 is installed, even if two cones can be recognized, the height differs from the laser radar 112. The corn bar located between the cones is not recognized. As a result, the cleaning robot 100 penetrates under the corn bar or enters the prohibited area while pushing the corn bar into the prohibited area after contacting the corn bar.

JP 2006-209644 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a cleaning robot capable of recognizing an entry prohibition display provided spatially and preventing entry into an entry prohibition place.

The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems. That is, the present invention is a cleaning robot including a traveling unit and a cleaning unit, and emits light and receives reflected light reflected by the obstacle, thereby measuring a distance from the obstacle. And a control device, and the control device avoids the obstacle based on a distance measurement device controller that changes the light emission angle in the vertical direction and a measurement result of the distance measurement device. A cleaning robot is provided, comprising: a traveling direction determining unit that determines a traveling direction; and a traveling control unit that performs traveling control of the traveling unit toward the traveling direction determined by the traveling direction determining unit.
According to the above configuration, the distance measuring device is installed in the cleaning robot because the distance measuring device control unit detects an obstacle by changing the emission angle of light emitted from the distance measuring device in the vertical direction. An object above the set height position can also be detected spatially. In other words, spatially prohibited entry indications, such as cone bars spanned between cones, can also be detected as obstacles, so the direction of travel is determined so as to avoid passing under the entry prohibition indication By controlling the travel of the travel means by the unit, it is possible to prevent entry into a place where entry is prohibited.

In one aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means includes a cleaning brush, and the obstacle includes dust.
According to the above configuration, when dust is scattered on the floor surface, the dust is wound up by the cleaning brush and scattered in the air. At this time, since the light emitted from the distance measuring device is reflected by the dust, the dust is detected as an obstacle, and the traveling direction determination unit determines a new traveling direction so as to avoid the dust. An attempt is made to control the traveling means in the traveling direction. However, in such a case, since dust is scattered all around the cleaning robot, dust is detected as an obstacle even in a new traveling direction, and a new traveling direction is determined and the traveling means is traveled. Try to control. That is, the cleaning robot detects and detects dust until most of the dust scattered on the floor is cleaned by the cleaning means and almost no dust is scattered around the cleaning robot. Since the determination of the direction of travel is repeated, it is possible to focus on cleaning a place with a lot of dust.
Further, there is no need to specially prepare sensors other than the distance measuring device for detecting dust on the floor surface. Furthermore, even if the determination of the traveling direction by the traveling direction determination unit is not performed based on any well-considered strategy such as random, it is possible to focus and effectively clean a place with a lot of dust. it can. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the cleaning robot can be reduced.

In one aspect of the present invention, the distance measuring device is a laser range finder, and the light is laser light.
According to the configuration as described above, it is possible to effectively detect dust scattered in the air when the obstacle is particularly dusty.

In one aspect of the present invention, the lower limit of the light emission angle is a direction parallel to the floor surface.
According to the above configuration, since the distance measuring device does not detect the floor as an obstacle, there is no need to determine whether or not the detected obstacle is the floor, and thus a cleaning robot is easily manufactured. be able to.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to provide the cleaning robot which can recognize the entry prohibition display provided spatially and can prevent the entrance to the entry prohibition place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS (a) of the cleaning robot shown as embodiment of this invention is a side view, (b) is a top view. It is explanatory drawing of the distance measuring device in the cleaning robot shown as embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a control device in a cleaning robot shown as an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the determination policy of the advancing direction of the cleaning robot shown as embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the determination policy of the advancing direction of the cleaning robot shown as embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the cleaning robot shown as embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional cleaning robot.

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

FIG. 1A is a side view and FIG. 1B is a plan view of a cleaning robot 1 shown as an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the cleaning robot 1 is used in a construction workplace during the construction period.
The cleaning robot 1 includes a traveling unit 2 and a cleaning unit 3. In the present embodiment, the cleaning robot 1 includes an inner casing 5 and an outer casing 18, and each component including the traveling means 2 and the cleaning means 3 is mainly attached to the inner casing 5, Although the outer casing 18 is provided so as to surround the casing 5 and each component, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.

The traveling means 2 includes a drive wheel motor 6 (6A, 6B), a drive wheel 7 (7A, 7B), a belt 8, and a caster 9.
The cleaning robot 1 has two driving wheels 7 of a right driving wheel 7A and a left driving wheel 7B on the rear side in the traveling direction which is the right side in FIG. 1, and one caster 9 on the front side in the traveling direction I which is the left side in FIG. The cleaning robot 1 is placed on the floor surface F so that the three drive wheels 7 and casters 9 are in contact with the floor surface F. Corresponding to each of the right driving wheel 7A and the left driving wheel 7B, two driving wheel motors 6 of a right driving wheel motor 6A and a left driving wheel motor 6B are fixed to the inner housing 5 and provided. Yes. Electric power is supplied from the battery 4 to each drive wheel motor 6. The right driving wheel motor 6A and the right driving wheel 7A, and the left driving wheel motor 6B and the left driving wheel 7B are connected by the belt 8, and are thereby generated by the driving wheel motors 6 (6A, 6B). The transmitted power is transmitted to the corresponding drive wheel 7 (7A, 7B).

The rotation amounts of the right drive wheel motor 6A and the left drive wheel motor 6B are individually controlled by a travel control unit 26 of the control device 20, which will be described later with reference to FIG. When the rotation amount of the right drive wheel motor 6A and the rotation amount of the left drive wheel motor 6B are the same, the cleaning robot 1 goes straight. When the rotation amount of the right drive wheel motor 6A is larger than the rotation amount of the left drive wheel motor 6B, the cleaning robot 1 moves forward so as to turn leftward. When the rotation amount of the right drive wheel motor 6A is smaller than the rotation amount of the left drive wheel motor 6B, the cleaning robot 1 moves forward so as to bend in the right direction.
The caster 9 includes a support shaft portion 9b connected to the inner housing 5 so as to extend in the vertical direction, and a disk-shaped wheel portion 9a connected rotatably to the lower end of the support shaft portion 9b. Yes. The support shaft portion 9b is provided so as to be freely rotatable at 360 ° in a horizontal plane with respect to the inner housing 5, whereby the caster 9 rotates following the traveling direction of the cleaning robot 1.
The height of the bottom surface 5a of the inner casing 5 from the floor surface F, the size of the diameter of the drive wheel 7, and the torque of the drive wheel motor 6 are driven even when nails or screws are dropped on the construction site. The wheel 7 is designed to be able to get over without being locked.
The two drive wheel motors 6 are controlled by the travel control unit 26 of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG.

The cleaning means 3 includes a side brush (cleaning brush) 10, a side brush drive motor 11, a drum brush 12, a drum brush drive motor 13, and a hopper 14.
The side brush 10 is formed by joining a brush portion 10b to one surface of a circular support plate portion 10a, the support plate portion 10a is parallel to the floor surface F, and the brush portion 10b contacts the floor surface F. And is attached to the inner casing 5 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane at the center position of the support plate portion 10a. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1B, the side brush 10 is disposed on the right front side of the cleaning robot 1 so that a part of the brush portion 10 b protrudes outward in the right direction mainly from the outer housing 18. Is provided. The side brush 10 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction A in FIG. 1B by a side brush drive motor 11 that is operated by being supplied with electric power from the battery 4, so that dust etc. located on the floor surface F Is moved to the front of a drum brush 12 to be described later.
The side brush drive motor 11 is controlled such that the side brush 10 rotates at a constant speed by a cleaning control unit 25 of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG.

The drum brush 12 is formed in a columnar shape, and a brush is provided on a columnar side surface. The drum brush 12 is positioned so that its axial direction coincides with the left-right direction of the cleaning robot 1, and is attached to the inner housing 5 so as to be rotatable at a cylindrical central axis position. As shown in FIG. 1A, the drum brush 12 is attached to the lower side of the cleaning robot 1, and the lower side of the drum brush 12 protrudes downward from the outer casing 18 and contacts the floor surface F. It is provided as follows. The drum brush 12 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction B in FIG. 1A by a drum brush drive motor 13 that is operated by being supplied with electric power from the battery 4, so that dust or the like located on the floor surface F Is caught and conveyed to the inside of the outer casing 18.
A hopper 14 is provided behind the drum brush 12. The hopper 14 receives and stores the dust and the like transported into the outer casing 18 by the drum brush 12.
The drum brush drive motor 13 is controlled so that the drum brush 12 rotates at a constant speed by a cleaning control unit 25 of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG.

The cleaning robot 1 includes a distance measuring device 15. The distance measuring device 15 measures the distance from the obstacle by emitting light and receiving the reflected light reflected by the obstacle.
In the present embodiment, the distance measuring device 15 is a laser range finder, and the light is laser light. The distance measuring device 15 rotates a mirror that reflects light, for example, at a frequency of, for example, 1081 times per second, from the front C of the distance measuring device 15 to the left and right, for example, in the range of 135 ° each and a total of 270 ° The distance to the surrounding object is measured by reciprocating and exiting from the light emitting portion 15c and scanning in the horizontal direction. The range of light of the distance measuring device 15 is, for example, about 10 m.
The distance measuring device 15 is on the front side of the cleaning robot 1, when the cleaning robot 1 is traveling straight, parallel to the front C of the distance measuring device 15 and the floor F when viewed in a horizontal plane as shown in FIG. The directions I are provided so as to coincide with each other. Thereby, the distance measuring device 15 is provided so that light can irradiate in the range of, for example, 135 ° to the left and right with the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as the center.

The distance measuring device 15 extends in the left-right direction of the cleaning robot 1 at a lower side thereof, and extends in a vertical direction with a shaft 15a provided so as to be orthogonal to the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1 in a horizontal plane. It is attached to the inner housing 5 via a supporting portion 15b.
At one end of the shaft 15a, a distance measuring device drive motor 16 is provided as shown in FIG. The distance measuring device drive motor 16 is a stepping motor in the present embodiment. The distance measuring device drive motor 16 rotates the distance measuring device 15 in the vertical direction around the axis 15a by the distance measuring device control unit 27 of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG. It is controlled to change in the vertical direction. FIG. 2A shows a state where the front C of the distance measuring device 15 matches the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1. In the present embodiment, this state is the initial position of the distance measuring device 15 and a position that is the lower limit of the light emission angle. FIG. 2B shows a state in which the distance measuring device 15 is rotated upward so that the front C of the distance measuring device 15 is directed 45 ° upward from the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1. In the present embodiment, this state is the position that is the upper limit of the light emission angle.
The light emitting angle from the distance measuring device 15 is such that the distance measuring device 15 reciprocates once per second between the lower limit position and the upper limit position shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, for example. It is turned up and down.

  With the above-described configuration, the distance measuring device 15 is a distance measuring device in an angle range of −135 ° to 135 ° in the horizontal direction and 0 ° to 45 ° in the vertical direction with the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as a base point. An object located in a space within 15 to 10 m is detected. The information acquired by the distance measuring device 15 is transmitted to an obstacle determination unit 23 and a display control unit 28 of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning robot 1 includes an infrared sensor 17. The infrared sensor 17 is provided on the bottom surface 5a of the inner housing 5 at a position in front of the caster 9, which is the foremost wheel, so as to emit infrared rays downward. For example, high steps and holes of 25 mm or more are detected before the caster 9 reaches them. The information acquired by the infrared sensor 17 is transmitted to the traveling direction determination unit 24 of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG.

  The cleaning robot 1 includes an input device 21. The input device 21 accepts inputs such as a moving speed of the cleaning robot 1 and a moving direction instruction when the cleaning robot 1 is moved manually, and the traveling control unit 26 and display control of the control device 20 described later with reference to FIG. It transmits to the part 28.

  The cleaning robot 1 includes an output device 22. The output device 22 displays a user interface for prompting input by the input device 21, various inputs input by the input device 21, information on an obstacle detected by the distance measuring device 15, and the like. Is controlled by a display control unit 28 of the control device 20 to be described later.

  The cleaning robot 1 includes a control device 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 20 includes an obstacle determination unit 23, a traveling direction determination unit 24, a cleaning control unit 25, a travel control unit 26, a distance measurement device control unit 27, and a display control unit 28. Yes.

The obstacle determination unit 23 receives information transmitted from the distance measuring device 15. The distance measuring device 15 has each angle from the distance measuring device 15 in an angle range of −135 ° to 135 ° in the horizontal direction and 0 ° to 45 ° in the vertical direction with the straight direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as a base point. When there is an object in a space within 10 m from the distance measuring device 15 in the direction, it is determined whether or not it is an obstacle in the manner described later, and if an obstacle is detected, the direction and distance The distance from the measuring device 15 to the object is transmitted to the obstacle determination unit 23.
However, depending on the reciprocation frequency of the light in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, if the control device 20 tries to process information at all angles within the above angle range, the amount of data to be processed increases. If the capability is not high, processing may be difficult. Here, what greatly affects the running of the cleaning robot 1 is information on the object of the cleaning robot 1 particularly at an angular position close to the straight traveling direction I. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the obstacle determination unit 23 is, for example, −30 ° (angular position E) to 30 ° (angle) in the horizontal direction with the front C of the distance measuring device 15 as a base point. Information in the angular range of position D) is extracted from the information received from the distance measuring device 15, and the obstacle described below is determined for an object located within this angular range.

The obstacle determination unit 23 estimates the type of the object as follows and determines whether or not the object is an obstacle.
For example, when the object is detected at substantially the same distance in all ranges in the angle range of 0 ° to 45 ° in the vertical direction, it can be estimated that the object is a wall and is an obstacle.
In addition, when an object is detected only at a certain small range height in the vertical angle range and is detected at the same certain range height at other angles in the horizontal direction, An object having a small width extends in the horizontal direction, and it can be estimated that this object is the cone bar 51, that is, an obstacle to be avoided.
Furthermore, when the object is detected at all positions above a certain angle in the vertical angle range, but this object is determined to be located at a position higher than the total height of the cleaning robot 1, May actually be determined not to be an obstacle but to be able to clean the lower part.

Here, the obstacle includes dust. That is, even when the obstacle determination unit 23 determines that the object is dust, in the present embodiment, the obstacle determination unit 23 transmits information to the traveling direction determination unit 24 as an obstacle.
When the side brush 10 tries to clean the floor surface F where dust is scattered and the dust is wound up from the floor surface F into the air, the distance measuring device 15 recognizes the dust as an object.
When the object is a wall, a cone 50, a cone bar 51, or the like as shown in FIG. 4, since the range of the distance measuring device 15 is 10 m in this embodiment, the object is transmitted from the distance measuring device 15. The distance of the object may take a value such as 1 m to 10 m, for example, but in the case of dust, the distance will be scattered in the space around the cleaning robot 1, so the distance is 0 to 0.1 m, etc., compared to the wall or cone bar 51 etc. And can be very small.
Thus, in the obstacle determination part 23, when the value of distance is below a predetermined value, it can be estimated that the object is dusted.

  As described above, the obstacle determination unit 23 determines that an object is detected in an angle range of −30 ° to 30 ° in the horizontal direction and 0 ° to 45 ° in the vertical direction with the straight traveling direction I as a base point. Then, it is determined whether or not each of them is an obstacle, and the direction in which the object determined to be an obstacle is located and the distance to the obstacle are transmitted to the traveling direction determination unit 24.

The traveling direction determination unit 24 displays obstacle direction and distance information in the angle range of −30 ° to 30 ° in the horizontal direction and 0 ° to 45 ° in the vertical direction with the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as a base point. Received from the object determination unit 23. The traveling direction determination unit 24 determines the traveling direction so as to avoid an obstacle based on this information, that is, the measurement result in the distance measuring device 15.
The traveling direction determination unit 24 instructs the traveling control unit 26 to go straight when there is no object determined by the obstacle determination unit 23 as an obstacle.

When there is an object determined by the obstacle determination unit 23 as an obstacle, the traveling direction determination unit 24 determines the traveling direction as follows.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, two cones 50 and a cone bar 51 spanning between the tops of the cones 50 are provided. When the distance is shorter than the distance from the cone bar 51 in the left direction E, the traveling direction determination unit 24 determines that the cleaning robot 1 is approaching the cone bar 51 from the diagonally right side. Then, the travel control unit 26 is instructed to turn to the left and avoid the cone bar 51.
On the other hand, when the distance in the rightward direction D from the straight traveling direction I is longer than the distance in the leftward direction E, the traveling direction determination unit 24 causes the cleaning robot 1 to move diagonally with respect to the cone bar 51. It is determined that the vehicle is approaching from the left side, and the traveling control unit 26 is instructed to turn to the right side and avoid the cone bar 51.
As described above, when it is determined that the obstacle is approaching from the oblique direction, the traveling direction determination unit 24 bends in a direction in which the obstacle can be avoided by turning at an obtuse angle between the left and right. The traveling control unit 26 is instructed to avoid the obstacle. This is because, if an attempt is made to turn at an acute angle, the difference between the inner rings becomes large, and there is a high possibility of colliding with an obstacle.

When the distance in the direction D on the right side from the straight direction I is equal to the distance in the direction E on the left side, the traveling direction determination unit 24 indicates that the cleaning robot 1 is approaching the corn bar 51 so as to be orthogonal. Judgment is made and the travel control unit 26 is instructed to turn to the right and avoid the cone bar 51.
At this time, if the side brush 10 is bent to the left side to avoid the corn bar 51, the side brush 10 is attached to the right front side of the cleaning robot 1, so as shown in FIG. A gap S may be generated between the locus G drawn by the end point 10c and the locus H drawn by the end point 12a on the side brush 10 side of the drum brush 12 when turning left. Since the gap S is a place that is not cleaned by either the side brush 10 or the drum brush 12, an uncleaned area remains on the floor surface F. In order to prevent this, the traveling control unit 26 is instructed to turn right and avoid the cone bar 51 when it is determined that the vehicle is approaching at right angles to the obstacle.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, since the obstacle determination unit 23 determines dust as an obstacle, the traveling direction determination unit 24 determines the traveling direction so as to avoid the dust. In this case, for example, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the traveling direction is determined based on the distance in the rightward direction D from the straight traveling direction I and the distance in the leftward direction E. Even after that, the distance measuring device 15 recognizes the dust still scattered as an object, and the obstacle determination unit 23 determines the dust as an obstacle, so that the cleaning robot 1 has the dust scattered, It operates so as to continue rotating on the spot without moving forward until most of the dust scattered on the floor surface F is cleaned and the side brush 10 does not wind up the dust in the air.

  The traveling direction determination unit 24 also receives information from the infrared sensor 17. When the infrared sensor 17 detects a step or a hole in the floor surface F in the traveling direction, the traveling direction determining unit 24 stops the cleaning robot 1 on the spot and moves the traveling control unit 26 so as to move backward. Control.

  The cleaning control unit 25 controls the side brush drive motor 11 and the drum brush drive motor 13 so as to rotate the side brush 10 and the drum brush 12 at a constant speed.

The traveling control unit 26 performs traveling control of the traveling unit 2 in the traveling direction determined by the traveling direction determining unit 24. More specifically, the traveling control unit 26 controls the amount of rotation for each of the right driving wheel motor 6A and the left driving wheel motor 6B based on an instruction from the traveling direction determination unit 24.
The traveling control unit 26 also receives from the input device 21 a moving direction instruction input to the input device 21 by the operator. In this case, the movement direction instruction received from the input device 21 is prioritized over the instruction from the traveling direction determination unit 24, and the right driving wheel motor 6A and the left driving wheel motor 6B are controlled based on the movement direction instruction. For each, the amount of rotation is controlled.

  The distance measuring device control unit 27 changes the light emission angle in the vertical direction. More specifically, the distance measurement device controller 27 changes the direction by rotating the distance measurement device 15 in the vertical direction, and sets the light emission angle from the distance measurement device 15 to the lower limit position shown in FIG. The distance measuring device drive motor 16 is controlled so as to change in the vertical direction between the upper limit positions.

  The display control unit 28 receives various inputs input by the input device 21, information on the object detected by the distance measuring device 15, and the like, and outputs and displays them on the output device 22. 22 is controlled.

  Next, a control procedure of the cleaning robot 1 by the control device 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6.

A process is started when the operator instructs the input device 21 to start cleaning (step S1).
First, the control device 20 initializes the distance measuring device 15. Specifically, the distance of the control device 20 is set so that the light emission angle from the distance measuring device 15 becomes a lower limit position that coincides with the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as shown in FIG. The measuring device control unit 27 adjusts the distance measuring device drive motor 16 (step S2).
After that, in a state where the distance measuring device 15 is operated so that light is reciprocated in the horizontal direction (step S3), the distance measuring device 15 has the lower limit position as shown in FIG. The distance measuring device control unit 27 of the control device 20 controls the distance measuring device 15 so as to reciprocate and rotate between the upper limit position facing upward 45 ° from the direction parallel to the straight traveling direction I (step S4). .
With the cleaning robot 1 stopped by the above steps S1 to S4, the distance measuring device 15 is set to -135 ° to 135 ° in the horizontal direction and 0 ° to the vertical direction from the straight direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as a base point. It is in a state of detecting an object located in a space within 10 m from the distance measuring device 15 in an angle range of 45 °. Thereafter, the display control unit 28 of the control device 20 continues to display information on the object detected by the distance measuring device 15 on the output device 22.

  After the preparation of the distance measuring device 15 is completed, the cleaning control unit 25 of the control device 20 controls the side brush drive motor 11 and the drum brush drive motor 13 so that the side brush 10 and the drum brush 12 are respectively set at a constant speed. Rotate. At the same time, the traveling control unit 26 of the control device 20 operates the right drive wheel motor 6A and the left drive wheel motor 6B with the same amount of rotation to move the cleaning robot 1 straight (step S5).

The control device 20 detects an obstacle while cleaning and traveling control the cleaning robot 1 by the cleaning control unit 25 and the traveling control unit 26 (step S6).
Specifically, the obstacle determination unit 23 of the control device 20 receives the information transmitted from the distance measurement device 15 and, as shown in FIG. 4, in the horizontal direction with the front C of the distance measurement device 15 as a base point. Information on the object in the angle range of −30 ° (angular position E) to 30 ° (angular position D) is extracted from the information received from the distance measuring device 15. As described above, the obstacle determination unit 23 further determines whether or not each extracted object is an obstacle, and advances the direction in which the object determined to be an obstacle is located and the distance to the obstacle. It transmits to the direction determination part 24.
The traveling direction determination unit 24 of the control device 20 instructs the traveling control unit 26 to go straight if the obstacle information is not transmitted from the obstacle determining unit 23, and the traveling control unit 26 directs the right drive wheel motor 6A. And the cleaning robot 1 is made to go straight by operating the left drive wheel motor 6B with the same rotation amount (step S7).

When the information on the obstacle is transmitted from the obstacle determination unit 23, the traveling direction determination unit 24 determines the traveling direction so as to avoid the obstacle based on the measurement result in the distance measuring device 15 (step S8).
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the distance from the straight direction I to the right direction D with respect to the obstacle is shorter than the distance in the left direction E, the traveling direction determination unit 24 performs cleaning. It is determined that the robot 1 is approaching the obstacle from the diagonally right side, and the travel control unit 26 is instructed to turn to the left side and avoid the obstacle.
On the other hand, when the distance from the straight direction I to the right direction D is longer than the distance from the left direction E, the traveling direction determination unit 24 causes the cleaning robot 1 to move diagonally with respect to the obstacle. It is determined that the vehicle is approaching from the left side, and the traveling control unit 26 is instructed to turn to the right side to avoid an obstacle.
As described above, when it is determined that the obstacle is approaching from the oblique direction, the traveling direction determination unit 24 bends in a direction in which the obstacle can be avoided by turning at an obtuse angle between the left and right. The traveling control unit 26 is instructed to avoid the obstacle.
When the distance in the direction D on the right side from the straight direction I is equal to the distance in the direction E on the left side, the traveling direction determination unit 24 indicates that the cleaning robot 1 is approaching so as to be orthogonal to the obstacle. Judgment is made and the travel control unit 26 is instructed to turn to the right to avoid obstacles.
Further, when the infrared sensor 17 detects a step or a hole in the floor surface F in the traveling direction, the traveling direction determination unit 24 stops the cleaning robot 1 on the spot and controls the traveling so as to move backward. The unit 26 is controlled.

The traveling control unit 26 changes the direction of the cleaning robot 1 by controlling the amount of rotation of each of the right driving wheel motor 6A and the left driving wheel motor 6B based on an instruction from the traveling direction determination unit 24. The obstacle is avoided (step S9).
Then, it returns to step S6 again and repeats an obstacle detection process and subsequent steps.
At this time, for example, when the obstacle is dusty, even if the left or right direction is bent in step S9, immediately after that, in step S6, the distance measuring device 15 recognizes the dust still scattered as an object. In order to shift to the avoidance direction determination process of step S8, the cleaning robot 1 is in the air by the side brush 10 after the dust scattering is settled and most of the dust scattered on the floor surface is cleaned. It operates to continue to rotate on the spot without moving forward until the dust is no longer rolled up.

The control device 20 appropriately determines whether or not the cleaning is completed (step S10). In the present embodiment, it is determined that the cleaning is completed when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of processing.
If it is determined that the cleaning is completed, the process is terminated and the power supply of the cleaning robot 1 is turned off (step S11).
If it is determined that the cleaning has not been completed, the process returns to step S6 again, and the obstacle detection process and subsequent steps are repeated.

  Next, the effect of the cleaning robot 1 will be described.

  The cleaning robot 1 detects the obstacle by changing the emission angle of the light emitted from the distance measurement device 15 in the vertical direction by the distance measurement device control unit 27, so that the height position at which the distance measurement device 15 is installed. An object above is also spatially detectable. That is, for example, a spatially prohibited entry prohibition display such as a cone bar 51 spanned between the cones 50 as shown in FIG. 4 can be detected as an obstacle. The traveling direction determination unit 24 controls the traveling unit 2 so as to avoid it, so that it is possible to prevent entry into a place where entry is prohibited.

In addition, when dust is scattered on the floor surface F, the dust is wound up by the side brush 10 and scattered in the air. At this time, since the light emitted from the distance measuring device 15 is reflected by the dust, the dust is detected as an obstacle, and the traveling direction determination unit 24 determines a new traveling direction so as to avoid the dust. An attempt is made to control the traveling means 2 toward a new traveling direction. However, in such a case, since the dust is scattered all around the cleaning robot 1, the dust is detected as an obstacle even in a new traveling direction, and a new traveling direction is determined, and the traveling means 2 is determined. Try to control the travel. In other words, the cleaning robot 1 is in a state where most of the dust scattered on the floor surface is cleaned by the cleaning means 3 and almost no dust is scattered around the cleaning robot 1. Since the detection and determination of the traveling direction are repeated, it becomes possible to focus on cleaning a place with a lot of dust.
Moreover, since it is the structure which detects the dust wound up in the air by the side brush 10 with the distance measuring device 15, other sensors other than the distance measuring device 15 for detecting the dust on the floor F are provided. There is no need to prepare specially. Furthermore, even if the determination of the traveling direction by the traveling direction determination unit 24 is not performed based on any well-considered strategy, for example, random, the place where there is a lot of dust is focused and effectively cleaned. Can do. Therefore, the production cost of the cleaning robot 1 can be reduced.

  Further, since the distance measuring device 15 is a laser range finder, the laser light emitted from the laser range finder can accurately detect dust. Therefore, it is possible to effectively detect dust scattered in the air.

  Further, the distance measuring device 15 is within 10 m from the distance measuring device 15 in an angle range of −135 ° to 135 ° in the horizontal direction and 0 ° to 45 ° in the vertical direction with the straight traveling direction I of the cleaning robot 1 as a base point. Since it is configured to detect an object located in the space, the distance measuring device 15 does not detect the floor surface F as an obstacle. Therefore, it is not necessary to determine whether or not the detected obstacle is the floor surface F, and the cleaning robot 1 can be easily manufactured.

The cleaning robot 1 according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment described with reference to the drawings, and various other modifications can be considered within the technical scope thereof.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, dust and the like are only stored in the hopper 14 after being caught by the drum brush 12, but a vacuum motor may be installed to suck the dust and the like. However, if a vacuum motor is used, the battery 4 will be consumed more heavily and the noise will be increased, which may limit the situation in which the cleaning robot can be used.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the side brush 10 is provided in the right front of the cleaning robot 1, it is not restricted to this, You may provide in the left front of the cleaning robot 1, and the cleaning robot 1 front It may be provided on both the left and right sides.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, the obstruction determination part 23 shows the information of the object in the angle range of -30 degrees-30 degrees in a horizontal direction on the basis of the front C of the distance measuring device 15, as FIG. 4 shows. Although extracted from the information received from the distance measuring device 15, this angle range may be other angles. For example, by increasing this range to −60 ° to 60 °, or −85 ° to 85 °, etc., an object located in both the left and right directions of the cleaning robot 1 can be recognized as an obstacle. In some cases, more advanced control such as cleaning while moving along the wall is considered possible as an obstacle. As described above, it is preferable to comprehensively formulate this angle range together with the processing capability of the control device 20 and the like.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the distance measuring device 15 is controlled so that the emitted light may rotate up and down between the positions which face upwards from 0 degree to 45 degrees, it is 45 which is an upper limit angle. In order to prevent a part of the outer casing 18 from being mistakenly recognized as an obstacle, such as a flange 18a covering the upper side of the distance measuring device 15 shown in FIG. As long as 15 is an angle at which the outer casing 18 is not detected, another larger angle may be used. For example, when the distance measuring device 15 is provided at a position close to the height of the cone bar 51, the upper limit angle may be another smaller value.
In the above embodiment, the horizontal reciprocation frequency of the light emitted from the distance measuring device 15 is 1081 times per second, and the vertical turning frequency of the distance measuring device 15 is once per second. However, it goes without saying that other values may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the processing units from the obstacle determination unit 23 to the display control unit 28 are stored in one control device 20, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the control device 20 is not limited thereto. A second processing device different from the above may be provided, and a part of the processing units may be realized on the second processing unit.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although it controls by the cleaning control part 25 so that the rotational speed of the side brush 10 and the drum brush 12 may become fixed, it is not restricted to this. For example, when the obstacle determination unit 23 determines that the object is dust, it is assumed that a lot of dust is scattered on the floor at the place being cleaned, and the rotation speed of the side brush 10 and the drum brush 12 is increased. The dust collection efficiency may be increased.
In the above embodiment, when an obstacle is detected, the avoiding direction is determined and avoided, and the obstacle is detected again. In some cases, it was operating to continue rotating on the spot without moving forward until the dust scattering settled and the surroundings were cleaned, but the obstacle determination unit 23 determined that the obstacle was dusty. If the cleaning robot 1 does not rotate, the cleaning robot 1 may stop and continue cleaning only until the dust reaches the floor surface.

  Further, in the above embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the determination as to whether or not the cleaning in step S <b> 10 is completed is made based on the elapsed time from the start of cleaning. I can't. For example, when the remaining capacity of the battery 4 becomes 20% or less, processing is performed so that the battery 4 is stopped, so that the remaining amount of the battery 4 becomes too small to detect the object by the distance measuring device 15 normally. It is possible to clean as long as possible while avoiding the above.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the cleaning robot 1 was used in the construction work place during a construction period, it cannot be overemphasized that it is not restricted to this. For example, in a nuclear power plant, a no-entry zone is enclosed with cones and cone bars in advance, and in the event of a nuclear accident, dust is removed and removed until the radiation level is low enough for workers to enter. It may be used for dyeing.

  In addition to this, the configuration described in the above embodiment can be selected or changed to another configuration as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning robot 16 Distance measuring device drive motor 2 Traveling means 17 Infrared sensor 3 Cleaning means 18 Outer housing 4 Battery 20 Control device 5 Inner housing 21 Input device 6 Motor for driving wheel 22 Output device 7 Driving wheel 23 Obstacle determination unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Belt 24 Advancing direction determination part 9 Caster 25 Cleaning control part 10 Side brush (cleaning brush) 26 Travel control part 11 Side brush drive motor 27 Distance measuring device control part 12 Drum brush 28 Display control part 13 Drum brush drive motor
14 Hopper
15 Distance measuring device

Claims (4)

A cleaning robot comprising a traveling means and a cleaning means,
A distance measuring device that measures the distance from the obstacle by emitting light and receiving reflected light reflected by the obstacle;
A control device;
The control device
A distance measuring device controller that changes an emission angle of the light in a vertical direction;
A traveling direction determination unit that determines a traveling direction so as to avoid the obstacle based on the measurement result in the distance measuring device;
A traveling control unit that performs traveling control of the traveling unit toward the traveling direction determined by the traveling direction determination unit;
A cleaning robot comprising:   The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit includes a cleaning brush, and the obstacle includes dust.   The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein the distance measuring device is a laser range finder, and the light is laser light.   The cleaning robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a lower limit of the light emission angle is a direction parallel to a floor surface.

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