JP2018020654A - Vehicle shape detection device and vehicle washing machine including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide: a vehicle shape detection device capable of creating vehicle shape data without missing and noise of data; and a vehicle washing machine including the vehicle shape detection device.SOLUTION: By setting two values, namely, a high threshold value and a low threshold value for determining light transmission/shading of optical axes B1 to Bn in a vehicle body detection device 5, a determination is made as to the optical axis Bn that has detected a light receiving level between the low threshold value SL to the high threshold value SH. The result is light transmission when any optical axis less than the low threshold value is not included among light receiving levels of adjacent optical axes Bn-1 and Bn+1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention includes a vehicle shape detection device for detecting the shape of an automobile, and the same device, and cleaning the automobile body by operating a car wash processing device such as a cleaning brush and a drying nozzle according to the shape of the automobile body to be cleaned. The present invention relates to a car wash machine that performs processing such as drying.

  As this type of device, a vehicle shape detection device described in Patent Document 1 is known. This device includes a vehicle body detector in which a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit are arranged with a vehicle sandwiched in a width direction, traveling means for moving the vehicle body detector in the length direction of the vehicle, and movement for detecting a moving distance by the traveling unit. A distance detection means for detecting the vehicle body each time the vehicle body detector travels a unit distance and creating vehicle shape data.

  The vehicle body detector is composed of a light emitting section in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged above and below, and a light receiving section in which light receiving elements that are paired with the light emitting elements are arranged, and an optical axis formed between each light emitting element and the light receiving element. The presence / absence of the vehicle body is detected by the light transmission / light shielding. The light transmission / light shielding of the optical axis is determined based on whether or not the light receiving level at the light receiving element reaches a predetermined threshold value. The binary image data is obtained by setting the light transmitting optical axis to 1 and the light shielding optical axis to 0. Created.

  In such a vehicle shape detection device, the following problems are caused by setting the threshold value. First, when the threshold value is set low, binary image data that is partially lost is transmitted through thin equipment such as an antenna. On the other hand, when the threshold value is set high, it is determined that there is a vehicle body by detecting splashes or the like during car washing, and binary image data with a lot of noise is created. For this reason, when applied as a car shape detection device for a car wash machine, if the brush or nozzle is controlled along the detected car shape, the missing data will damage the equipment, and the noisy data will cause the vehicle position. There was a situation where the car wash process could not be performed without being identified.

JP-A-10-58421

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle shape detection device capable of creating vehicle shape data from which data loss and noise are eliminated, and a car wash machine equipped with this device.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention relates to a light emitting unit in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged above and below, and a light receiving unit in which a plurality of light receiving elements that are paired with the light emitting elements in the light emitting unit are arranged above and below. A vehicle body detector opposed across the width direction, a scanning drive unit that scans the vehicle body detector, a traveling means that travels the vehicle body detector or the automobile, and the vehicle body detector or the automobile travels a unit distance by the traveling means. A traveling encoder that outputs a pulse signal each time it is driven, and the light that is formed between each element of the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit of the vehicle body detector by driving the scanning drive unit using the pulse signal from the traveling encoder as a trigger And a vehicle shape control unit that detects the presence or absence of a vehicle body by detecting light transmission / shading of each optical axis based on the received light reception level. Each in the detector Two thresholds for determining the translucency / light shielding of the axis are provided at the high and low levels, and the optical axis that detects the light receiving level between the low threshold and the high threshold is included in the light receiving level of the adjacent optical axis. When the optical axis less than the low threshold is not included, the light transmission is determined.

  In addition, a car wash processing apparatus, a light emitting part in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged above and below, and a plurality of light receiving elements that are paired with the light emitting elements in the light emitting part are arranged in a vertical direction in a car wash machine body formed in a gate shape And a vehicle body detector that faces the vehicle across the width direction, and is a car wash machine that cleans the vehicle body by relatively moving the car wash body and the vehicle body to be cleaned. A driving unit for driving the car wash machine body or the automobile, a travel encoder for outputting a pulse signal every time the car wash machine body or the car travels a unit distance by the travel means, and a pulse signal from the travel encoder Is used as a trigger to drive the scanning drive unit to capture the light reception level of each optical axis formed between the light emitting unit and light receiving unit of the vehicle body detector, and each optical axis based on the received light reception level And a vehicle shape control unit that detects the presence / absence of the vehicle body by determining light transmission / light shielding, and the vehicle shape control unit increases or decreases a threshold value for determining light transmission / light shielding of each optical axis in the vehicle body detector. If an optical axis that detects a light reception level between the low threshold and the high threshold is not included in the light reception level of the adjacent optical axis, It is determined to be light.

  According to the present invention, two threshold values of the light receiving level for determining light transmission / light shielding of the optical axis are provided at high and low, and the optical axis at which the light receiving level lower than the low threshold is detected is set as the light shielding. The optical axis that detects a higher light reception level is transparent, the optical axis that detects the light reception level between the low threshold and the high threshold is the middle, and the optical axis that is in the middle is adjacent to the optical axis. Since the light shielding / transmission is determined according to the light shielding / transmission judgment of the optical axis, an intermediate judgment is made once for the optical axis with relatively small attenuation of the light receiving level, and the vehicle body is detected by the adjacent optical axis. If not, light transmission can be determined as noise, and if the vehicle body is detected, light shielding can be determined as equipment such as a thin antenna. As a result, when employed in a car wash machine, it is possible to avoid a car wash processing apparatus (brush, nozzle, etc.) other than the vehicle body, and on the other hand, reliably avoid equipment such as an antenna.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which used this invention for the gate type car wash machine. It is a block diagram which shows the structure and control system of the vehicle shape detection apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows a vehicle shape detection operation. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image of light-shielding / translucency determination. It is explanatory drawing which shows the vehicle shape data produced by image processing operation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example in which the present invention is used in a gate type car wash machine.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a gate-type car wash machine that travels back and forth across the automobile A stopped between the rails 2 and 2. The car wash machine 1 is provided with an upper surface brush 3 and an upper surface nozzle 4 which are moved up and down along the upper surface of the automobile, and these processing devices act along the shape of the automobile A to automatically wash the vehicle body.

  A vehicle body detector 5 is provided in front of the car wash machine 1 and sandwiches the vehicle A in the width direction so that a plurality of light emitting elements and light receiving elements face each other up and down, and light transmitted and received between the light emitting and light receiving elements. The vehicle body is detected based on whether the signal is blocked by the vehicle body of the automobile A or not. Reference numeral 6 denotes a travel encoder that detects the rotation of the traveling wheel 7 of the car wash machine 1. The car encoder 1 outputs a pulse signal every time the car wash machine 1 travels a unit distance, and counts the pulse signal to determine the travel distance of the car wash machine 1. Can be detected.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration and control system of the vehicle body detector 5.
The vehicle body detector 5 includes a light emitting unit 5a in which a plurality of light emitting elements L1 to Ln are arranged vertically, and a light receiving unit 5b in which a plurality of light receiving elements R1 to Rn paired with the light emitting elements L1 to Ln are arranged. Optical signals (infrared rays) are exchanged between the light emitting unit 5a and the light receiving unit 5b to configure the optical axes B1 to Bn. A scanning drive unit 8 of the light emitting unit 5a sequentially turns on the light emitting elements from the top to the bottom (or from the bottom to the top) when detecting the vehicle body. Reference numeral 9 denotes a scanning drive unit of the light receiving unit 5b, which sequentially sets the light receiving elements corresponding to the scanning of the light emitting elements to a light receiving state. In this vehicle body detection, in addition to the horizontal detection operation for transmitting and receiving an optical signal for each horizontal optical axis, the light receiving element on the light receiving element (R2) horizontally facing the light from the light emitting element (for example, L2). The vehicle body may be detected with a resolution higher than the number of arranged elements by performing an inclination detection operation for detecting transmission / reception of an optical signal by (R3) and the lower light receiving element (R1).

Reference numeral 10 denotes a vehicle shape control unit including a microcomputer, which detects the upper surface shape of the automobile by operating the scanning drive units 8 and 9 based on pulse signals from the traveling encoder 6 of the car wash machine 1.
In the vehicle shape control unit 10, reference numeral 11 denotes a travel position detection unit that detects the travel position of the car wash machine 1 based on a pulse signal from the travel encoder 6. A light receiving detector 12 detects the light receiving level at each of the light receiving elements R1 to Rn. Reference numeral 13 denotes a threshold value setting unit, which transmits / blocks the optical axes B1 to Bn based on the light reception levels received by the light receiving elements R1 to Rn in a state where no automobile is present between the light emitting unit 5a and the light emitting unit 5a. Two discrimination thresholds for judging the above are set. A vehicle body detection unit 14 operates the scanning drive units 8 and 9 using a pulse signal from the traveling encoder 6 as a trigger, and the threshold value setting unit 13 determines the light reception level of each light receiving element detected by the light reception detection unit 12. The light transmission / intermediate / light shielding of each optical axis is determined by comparison with two set threshold values. Reference numeral 15 denotes a vehicle shape data creation unit which creates binary image data from the travel position of the car wash machine 1 given from the travel position detection unit 11 and the translucency / light shielding of each optical axis detected by the vehicle body detection unit 14. An image processing unit 16 analyzes the binary image data created by the vehicle shape data creation unit 15 and creates car wash data. Reference numeral 17 denotes a data storage unit, which is a binary image created by the car wash machine travel position data / threshold value setting unit 13 detected by the travel position detection unit 11 and the threshold / car shape data creation unit 15. Data for car washing extracted by the data / image processing unit 16 is stored.

  Here, the threshold value is a numerical value that is compared with the increase in the amount of light received by the corresponding light receiving element due to the light emitting element emitting light. If the optical axis is transparent, it is determined that the vehicle body is not detected. If the increase does not reach the threshold value, it is determined that the optical axis is shielded and the vehicle body is detected.

  A car wash control unit 18 drives a car wash processing device such as the upper brush 3 and the upper nozzle 4 and a running motor of the car wash machine 1 through the car wash drive unit 19 according to a car wash operation program, and causes the car wash machine 1 to travel. Car wash processing such as washing and drying of the car body. The upper surface brush 3 and the upper surface nozzle 4 are controlled to move up and down based on car shape data for car wash, and these car wash processing devices faithfully trace the car body surface. Operate as follows. An operation panel 20 is provided in a car wash reception device (not shown) provided separately from the car wash machine 1, and performs selection input of car wash contents and car wash start input.

Hereinafter, the processing operation in the vehicle shape control unit 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
<Threshold setting process>
The threshold setting unit 13 sets a determination threshold based on a difference light reception level between the light reception level at the light receiving element before the light emitting element emits light and the light reception level at the light receiving element when the light emitting element emits light. Set. This discrimination threshold value is a reference value for discriminating light transmission / light shielding according to the performance and accuracy of each light emitting element and light receiving element. It must be set for each light receiving element.

  This threshold value setting process is executed in a state in which the automobile does not enter between the light emitting unit 5a and the light receiving unit 5b of the vehicle shape detection device 5, drives the scanning drive unit 9 of the light receiving unit 5b, and turns on the light emitting element L. The light receiving level ra of the light receiving element R before the light emission is taken in. Next, the scanning driving unit 8 of the light emitting unit 5a and the scanning driving unit 9 of the light receiving device 5b are driven synchronously, and the light reception level rb of the light receiving element R when the light emitting element L emits light is captured. Thereafter, a difference light reception level rc between the light reception level ra and the light reception level rb is calculated, a first ratio (for example, 10%) is set as the low threshold SL with respect to the difference light reception level rc, and a second ratio ( For example, 70%) is set as the high threshold value SH and stored in the data storage unit 17.

  In the same procedure, two threshold values SL1 to SLn and SH1 to SHn are set for the light receiving elements R1 to Rn, respectively. For example, when the differential light reception level rc1 = 10 of the light receiving element R1 detected by this setting operation, the low threshold value SL1 = 1 and the high threshold value SH1 = 7 of the light receiving element R1 are set. Although the first and second ratios (achievement ratios) are 10% and 70%, it is desirable to set each time depending on the environment in which the apparatus is used (generation of steam, etc.) and detection accuracy.

<Car body detection process>
First, the vehicle body detection unit 14 drives the scanning drive unit 9 of the light receiving unit 5b to capture the light reception level ra of the light receiving element R before the light emitting element L emits light. Next, the scanning driving unit 8 of the light emitting unit 5a and the scanning driving unit 9 of the light receiving device 5b are driven synchronously, and the light reception level rb of the light receiving element R when the light emitting element L emits light is captured. Thereafter, a difference light reception level rc between the light reception level ra and the light reception level rb is calculated.

  The low threshold value SL and the high threshold value SH stored in the data storage unit 17 are called by the threshold setting process, and are compared with the calculated differential light reception level rc. If the difference light reception level rc is lower than the low threshold value SL, the optical axis B is determined as “light blocking”, and if it is higher than the high threshold value SH, the optical axis B is determined as “translucent”. Here, if the differential light reception level rc is higher than the low threshold SL and lower than the high threshold SH, the determination of the optical axis B is suspended as “intermediate”.

<Judgment process>
Next, with respect to the optical axis determined to be “intermediate”, a process for determining light transmission / light shielding of the optical axis depending on whether the optical axis adjacent in the vertical direction is light transmission / intermediate / light shielding. Do. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, when the optical axis B5 determined to be “intermediate” and the optical axis B4 adjacent to the upper side and the optical axis B6 adjacent to the lower side are translucent or intermediate, the light is transmitted. If the axis B5 is “translucent” and at least one of the optical axis B4 and the optical axis B6 is shielded, the optical axis B5 is determined to be “shielded”. This determination process is executed when the determination of the adjacent optical axis is completed when an optical axis determined as “intermediate” among the optical axes B1 to Bn appears. When the detection is completed, the data is stored in the data storage unit 17.

<Creation of vehicle shape data>
In this way, when the binary data for one scan is determined to be translucent / shielded for the optical axis determined to be “intermediate”, the vehicle shape data creation unit 15 sets “transmitted” to “0” and “shielded” to “1”. Binary data is created. The car shape data creation unit 15 creates binary data for one scan every time the car wash machine 1 travels a predetermined distance, and executes the data until the car wash machine 1 travels. Vehicle shape data developed on a d × p matrix having a moving pitch d and a vertical axis representing the optical axis arrangement pitch p is created. The created vehicle shape data is stored in the data storage unit 17 and is subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 16 into car wash data.

  FIG. 5 shows vehicle shape data created by processing operations up to vehicle body detection processing, determination processing, and vehicle shape data creation. (A) is vehicle shape data before processing, and (b) is vehicle after processing. Shape data is shown. In the vehicle body detection process, the low threshold SL and the high threshold SH are used to determine light shielding / intermediate / light transmission (black / net / white) based on the differential light reception levels of the optical axes B1 to Bn. In this case, water droplets, dirt, and the like are determined to be intermediate (mesh) (b), and a thin antenna that must be recognized as a vehicle body is determined to be intermediate (net) by transmission (b). Here, a determination process is performed in which the intermediate determination optical axis in which the adjacent optical axis is determined to transmit light is shielded, and the intermediate determination optical axis in which the adjacent optical axis is determined to be blocked is shielded. Therefore, the optical axis determined to be intermediate due to water droplets or dirt, etc. is turned to light transmission (b 'part), and the optical axis determined to be intermediate through the thin antenna is changed to light shielding (b' part). Can do.

<Image processing>
The image processing unit 16 extracts a contour line by applying a logical filter to the binarized vehicle shape data. This process uses the cell located at the bottom and leftmost of the connected components in which “1” is continuously present in the car shape data as the tracking start point, and is adjacent to and around this point. The eight cells are checked clockwise, and the cell that changes from “0” to “1” is detected, and the detected cell is used as the outline. Actually, the car body image data is sequentially sent and developed as the car wash machine 1 is tracked, and the contour line is tracked. Therefore, the entire contour line is extracted when the image data capturing of the entire car is completed. . From the outline of the automobile thus obtained, car wash data is determined in which data of the car height y-axis direction relative to the traveling x-axis direction of the car wash machine body is determined.

The operation of the car wash machine adopting the vehicle shape detection device configured as described above will be described.
After the automobile A is stopped at a predetermined stop position that is not detected by the vehicle shape detection device 5 and the car wash menu or projection is specified on the operation panel 21, the car wash operation is started when the car wash start is input. When the car wash starts, threshold setting processing is performed. When this threshold value setting operation is completed, the car wash machine body 1 is caused to travel, and when the travel encoder 6 transmits a pulse signal, the travel position detector 11 detects the travel distance of the car wash machine 1 and performs vehicle shape detection processing. Binary image data for one scan is created.

  As the car wash machine 1 travels, car shape data is created, and the car shape data is image-processed to create car wash data. The creation of the car wash data is continuously executed while the car wash machine 1 travels on the forward path, and a continuous top surface contour of the automobile is obtained. It is also possible to perform vehicle shape detection and washing simultaneously during one trip.

  When the shape of the automobile is detected, a car washing operation is performed based on the detected outline of the automobile. In the car washing operation, as the car wash machine 1 travels, body brushing with shampoo injection, coating with wax injection, and blow by high-speed air injection are sequentially executed. Among these, the upper surface brush and the upper surface nozzle are vertically controlled along the detected outline of the automobile. Thus, when the car wash operation is completed, the car A is prompted to leave and the car wash is finished.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and two threshold values for determining light transmission / light shielding of each optical axis in the vehicle body detection device are provided at high and low levels, and the light reception level between the low threshold value and the high threshold value is provided. With respect to the optical axis in which the light is detected, light transmission / light shielding is determined according to the light transmission / light shielding determination of the adjacent optical axis. The first ratio and the second ratio that set the low threshold to the high threshold will make it easier to detect water drops and other noise if the first ratio is lowered, and thin equipment such as antennas if the second ratio is increased. It is desirable that the product can be appropriately changed automatically or manually in accordance with the surrounding environment and the content of the car wash to be performed, considering that the product is easily transmitted. Needless to say, it can be applied to other than car wash machines.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine main body 5 Car body detection apparatus 5a Light-emitting device 5b Light-receiving device 8, 9 Scanning drive part
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle shape control part 11 Traveling position detection part 12 Light reception detection part 13 Threshold value setting part 14 Car body detection part 15 Car shape data detection part 16 Image processing part 17 Data storage part L Light emitting element R Light receiving element B Optical axis A Automobile

Claims (2)

A vehicle body detector in which a light emitting unit in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged above and below, and a light receiving unit in which a plurality of light receiving elements paired with the light emitting elements of the light emitting unit are arranged vertically are opposed to each other with an automobile sandwiched in the width direction; A scanning drive unit that scans the vehicle body detector, traveling means that travels the vehicle body detector or the automobile, and a traveling encoder that outputs a pulse signal each time the vehicle body detector or the automobile travels a unit distance by the traveling means; The scanning drive unit is driven by using a pulse signal from the traveling encoder as a trigger, and the received light level of each optical axis formed between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit of the vehicle body detector is captured and captured. A vehicle shape controller that detects the presence / absence of a vehicle body by determining light transmission / light shielding of each optical axis based on the light reception level
The vehicle shape control unit has two threshold values for determining light transmission / shading of each optical axis in the vehicle body detector at high and low levels, and detects a light reception level between the low threshold value and the high threshold value. A vehicle shape detection apparatus characterized by determining light transmission when an optical axis of an adjacent optical axis does not include an optical axis less than a low threshold in the light receiving level of an adjacent optical axis.
A car wash processing apparatus, a light emitting part in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged above and below, and a light receiving part in which a plurality of light receiving elements that are paired with the light emitting elements of the light emitting part are arranged above and below in a car wash machine body formed in a gate shape A car wash machine comprising a car body detector facing the car across the width direction, and washing the car body by relatively moving the car wash body and the car body to be washed;
A scanning drive unit that scans the vehicle body detector, a traveling unit that travels the car wash machine body or the automobile, a travel encoder that outputs a pulse signal each time the car wash machine body or the vehicle travels a unit distance by the traveling unit, The scanning drive unit is driven using a pulse signal from the traveling encoder as a trigger, and the received light level of each optical axis formed between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit of the vehicle body detector is captured and the received light reception is performed. A vehicle shape control unit that detects the presence / absence of a vehicle body by determining the light transmission / shielding of each optical axis based on the level
The vehicle shape control unit has two threshold values for determining light transmission / shading of each optical axis in the vehicle body detector at high and low levels, and detects a light reception level between the low threshold value and the high threshold value. A car wash machine characterized in that, when the optical axis of the adjacent optical axis does not include an optical axis less than a low threshold, the optical axis is determined to be transparent.

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