JP2019109768A - Moving object - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem that, since a moving object capable of moving in all directions detects an obstacle in all directions using a distance measuring sensor, the moving object happens to be decelerated or stop unnecessarily by detecting an obstacle that does not need to be detected.SOLUTION: A moving object 1 that autonomously moves comprises: a movement mechanism 11 capable of moving the moving object 1 in all directions; a distance measuring sensor 12 for measuring the distance to an object around relating to all directions; an obstacle detection unit 13 for detecting an obstacle using the measured distance; and a movement control unit 15 for controlling the movement mechanism 11 so as to avoid collision against a detected obstacle. The obstacle detection unit 13 detects an obstacle in the direction of movement in a range wider than in other directions. Thus, since obstacle detection in other than the direction of movement is done in a narrower range than in the direction of movement, it is possible to suppress unnecessary obstacle detection and, accordingly, to reduce the occurrence of unnecessary deceleration or stoppage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a movable body that can move in all directions, and performs obstacle detection using a distance measurement sensor.

  In a conventional moving body, a distance measurement sensor is used to measure the distance to a surrounding object, and the measurement result is used to detect an obstacle. When an obstacle is detected as such, the mobile body is, for example, decelerated or stopped to prevent a collision with the obstacle. Although it is important to detect an obstacle to prevent a collision between a moving object and an obstacle, when unnecessary obstacle detection is performed, it is possible to decelerate and stop it, which was not originally necessary. It will be done, and the proper movement of the mobile will be hampered.

  In addition, when performing movement control using the measurement result of the distance using a distance sensor, in order to reduce an unnecessary stop of a mobile, the autonomous mobile which measures distance by at least three distance sensors is known. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2015-103227, A

  For a movable body that can move in all directions, obstacle detection is usually performed in all directions. Therefore, the possibility of detection of unnecessary obstacles as described above is increased. For example, even if an obstacle is detected in the direction opposite to the movement direction (that is, rearward with respect to the movement direction), the moving object does not pass the detected obstacle point. Therefore, it is not necessary to decelerate or stop in response to the detection of such an obstacle, and it can be said that the detection of such an obstacle is unnecessary.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile body capable of reducing the detection of unnecessary obstacles and appropriately detecting the necessary obstacles. Do.

In order to achieve the above object, a mobile according to the present invention is a mobile that moves autonomously, and a mobile mechanism capable of moving the mobile in all directions, and a measure for measuring the distance to a surrounding object in all directions. Distance control, an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle using a distance measured by the distance measurement sensor, and movement control that controls a movement mechanism to prevent a collision with an obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit The obstacle detection unit is configured to detect an obstacle using a distance measurement sensor in a range wider than other directions in the moving direction of the moving body.
With such a configuration, since an obstacle is detected using a distance measurement sensor in a range narrower than the moving direction of the moving body other than the moving direction of the moving body, there is a possibility of detecting an unnecessary obstacle. It can be reduced. For example, it is possible not to detect an obstacle present in the rear with respect to the moving direction, and it is possible to avoid unnecessary deceleration and stop.

Further, in the mobile unit according to the present invention, the obstacle detection unit may detect an obstacle related to the moving direction in a region in which the outer edge of the mobile unit is extended in the moving direction.
With such a configuration, obstacle detection is performed in a range wider than the direction other than the moving direction in the area where the moving body moves from now on, and unnecessary obstacle detection is reduced. Can.

Further, in the moving body according to the present invention, the movement control unit controls the moving mechanism so that the moving body moves along the movement path, and the movement direction may correspond to the movement path. .
With such a configuration, for example, even if the movement path includes a curve or the like, obstacle detection can be performed in a region corresponding to the curve.

In the mobile unit according to the present invention, the obstacle detection unit detects an obstacle in the moving direction in a region where the outer edge of the mobile unit is rotated in the rotation direction when the mobile unit is rotating. It is also good.
With such a configuration, even when the moving body rotates, the obstacle detection is performed in the area wider than the other direction in the area through which the moving body passes, and the unnecessary obstacle detection is performed. It can be reduced.

Further, in the moving body according to the present invention, the movement control unit decelerates the movement mechanism so as to decelerate the distance when the distance measurement sensor can not measure at least a part of the area in which the obstacle is detected. You may control.
With such a configuration, when the presence or absence of an obstacle in the area where the obstacle is detected is unknown, the speed is reduced in consideration of the possibility of the obstacle existing in the area, and the safety is further improved. It can be done.

  According to the moving body according to the present invention, unnecessary moving objects can be reduced in detection of unnecessary obstacles, and as a result, for example, unnecessary deceleration and stopping can be reduced. .

Block diagram showing the configuration of a mobile according to an embodiment of the present invention Flow chart showing operation of mobile according to the same embodiment Diagram for explaining the moving direction of the moving body according to the same embodiment Diagram for explaining the distance measurement direction of the moving object according to the same embodiment A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for explaining detection of an obstacle in the moving direction in the embodiment. A diagram for describing a range in which an obstacle can not be detected in the embodiment. Diagram for explaining movement of mobile in the same embodiment

  Hereinafter, the mobile unit according to the present invention will be described using the embodiment. In the following embodiments, components and steps denoted by the same reference numerals are the same or correspond to each other, and the description thereof may not be repeated. The moving body according to the present embodiment is movable in all directions, and obstacle detection using a distance measurement sensor is performed in a range wider than other directions in the moving direction.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a mobile unit 1 according to the present embodiment. The mobile unit 1 according to the present embodiment moves autonomously, and includes the moving mechanism 11, the distance measuring sensor 12, the obstacle detection unit 13, the current position acquisition unit 14, and the movement control unit 15. Prepare. Note that moving the mobile unit 1 autonomously may be moving to a destination based on its own judgment instead of moving according to an operation instruction that the mobile unit 1 receives from a user or the like. The destination may be, for example, manually determined or automatically determined. Also, the movement to the destination may or may not be performed, for example, along the movement path. Further, to move to the destination based on its own judgment may be, for example, moving to the destination by the moving body 1 determining itself by the traveling direction, movement, stop, and the like. Also, for example, the mobile unit 1 may move to a destination so as not to collide with an obstacle. The moving body 1 may be, for example, a carriage or a moving robot. The robot may be, for example, an entertainment robot, a monitoring robot, a transfer robot, a cleaning robot, or a robot for capturing a moving image or a still image. , May be other robots.

  The moving mechanism 11 can move the moving body 1 in all directions, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A. To be able to move in all directions means to be able to move in any direction. The moving mechanism 11 may have, for example, a traveling unit (for example, a wheel or the like) and a driving unit (for example, a motor or an engine) for driving the traveling unit. In addition, since the moving mechanism 11 can move the moving body 1 in all directions, the traveling portion may be an all-direction moving wheel (for example, an omni wheel, a mecanum wheel, or the like). For a movable body having an omnidirectionally moving wheel and movable in all directions, see, for example, JP-A-2017-128187. A known mechanism can be used as the moving mechanism 11, and thus the detailed description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which the moving mechanism 11 has a traveling portion which is an omni wheel and a driving means for driving the traveling portion.

  The ranging sensor 12 measures the distance to the surrounding object in all directions, as shown in FIG. 3B, for example. The distance measurement sensor 12 may be, for example, a laser sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a distance sensor using a microwave, a distance sensor using a stereo image captured by a stereo camera, or the like. The laser sensor may be a laser range sensor (laser range scanner). Note that these distance measuring sensors are already known, and the description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the case where the distance measuring sensor 12 is a laser range sensor will be mainly described. In addition, the moving body 1 may have one laser range sensor, or may have two or more laser range sensors. In the latter case, all directions may be covered by two or more laser range sensors. Further, when the distance measuring sensor 12 is an ultrasonic sensor, a distance sensor using microwaves, etc., the distances in multiple directions may be measured by rotating the distance measuring direction of the distance measuring sensor 12. A plurality of distance measurement sensors 12 arranged for each direction may be used to measure the distance in a plurality of directions. To measure distances in all directions may be, for example, to measure distances in multiple directions at predetermined angular intervals for the entire circumference (360 degrees). The angular interval may be constant, such as, for example, an interval of 1 degree, an interval of 2 degrees, or an interval of 5 degrees. The information obtained from the distance measurement sensor 12 may be, for example, distances to surrounding objects with respect to each of a plurality of azimuth angles based on a certain direction of the mobile body 1. By using the distance, it becomes possible to know what kind of object exists around the moving body 1 in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1.

  The obstacle detection unit 13 detects an obstacle using the distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 12. The obstacle detection unit 13 may detect an object as an obstacle, for example, when the distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 12 indicates that an object is present near the moving body 1. For example, when the distance to the surrounding object measured by the distance measurement sensor 12 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the obstacle detection unit 13 may detect the object as an obstacle. The distance to the surrounding object may be, for example, the distance from the distance measurement sensor 12 or the distance from the outer edge of the moving body 1, and the outer edge of the moving body 1 is virtually expanded It may be a distance from a position or a distance from another reference. The threshold may be one, or two or more. In the present embodiment, as will be described later, the case where there are two threshold values corresponding to the stop area and the deceleration area will be mainly described. As described above, when an obstacle is uniformly detected in all directions, for example, an object present in a direction opposite to the moving direction is also detected as an obstacle. Then, depending on the detection of the obstacle, there is a possibility that stop and deceleration of unnecessary movement may be performed. Therefore, the obstacle detection unit 13 detects an obstacle using the distance measurement sensor 12 in a range wider than the other directions in the moving direction of the moving body 1. In other words, the obstacle detection using the distance measurement sensor 12 is performed in a range narrower than the moving direction except for the moving direction. The movement direction may be, for example, a direction in which the position changes on the movement plane, or may be a rotation direction. The moving direction may be, for example, a straight line, a curved line, or a direction of rotation. A wide range, a narrow range may be with respect to distance, may be with respect to angle, and may be with respect to area. That is, the distance for detecting an obstacle in the moving direction may be larger than the distance for detecting an obstacle in a direction other than the moving direction. The distance is the distance from the moving body 1. Specifically, an obstacle of up to 2 meters or 3 meters may be detected in the moving direction, and an obstacle of up to 10 centimeters may be detected in other directions, or an obstacle may be detected. You do not have to. Further, the angle at which the obstacle is detected in the rotational direction may be larger than the angle at which the obstacle is detected in the reverse direction of the rotational direction. Moreover, in the area | region which detects an obstruction about a moving direction, the area | region which is not contained in the detection area of the obstacle performed irrespective of a moving direction may exist. More specifically, regardless of the moving direction, when detecting an obstacle using the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 12 in the range of 10 cm from the outer edge in all directions of the moving body 1, the movement With regard to the direction, an obstacle may be detected using the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 12 even in an area not included in the range (for example, an area up to 2 meters or 3 meters away). In the present embodiment, in order to simplify the description, a case will be mainly described below where detection of an obstacle using the distance measurement sensor 12 is not performed except in the moving direction.

  For example, the obstacle detection unit 13 may acquire the moving direction of the moving body 1 from the movement control unit 15 or the movement mechanism 11 or may use a sensor. In the case of the former, the obstacle detection unit 13 may acquire the movement direction using a command value for movement, a movement route, a value of an encoder that changes according to movement, or the like. In the latter case, the obstacle detection unit 13 may acquire the moving direction using an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like. More specifically, in the case where the moving body 1 moves linearly, the obstacle detection unit 13 may acquire the moving direction by means of an acceleration sensor, and in the case where the moving body 1 is rotating. The rotational direction may be acquired by a gyro sensor. In addition, when the stopped moving body 1 starts moving, the obstacle detection unit 13 may obtain the moving direction using a moving path, a command value output at the start of moving, or the like. .

  The obstacle detection unit 13 may perform detection of an obstacle in the moving direction using a distance measurement result in a region in which the outer edge of the moving body 1 is extended in the moving direction. For example, the case where the mobile unit 1 is moving as shown in FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 4 is a view of the movable body 1 as viewed from above, and it is assumed that the movable body 1 goes straight in the direction of the arrow in the figure (right direction in the figure). In this case, when the side S1 of the front end in the outer edge of the movable body 1 is moved by the length L1 in the movement direction, the area through which the side S1 passes, ie, the area swept by the side S1 becomes the stop area R1. When the side S1 is further moved in the movement direction by the length L2, the area through which the side S1 passes is the deceleration area R2. Although not limited to these, L1 may be, for example, about 50 centimeters or 1 meter, and L2 may be, for example, about 2 meters or 3 meters. L1 and L2 may be determined according to the moving speed of the moving body 1, the braking distance, and the like. The obstacle detection unit 13 detects an object B1 present in the stop area R1 and an object B2 present in the deceleration area R2 as an obstacle. The obstacle detection unit 13 may detect the object B1 as an obstacle in the stop area R1, and may detect the object B2 as an obstacle in the deceleration area R2. Then, when the obstacle B1 exists in the stop area R1, the moving body 1 is to be stopped, and when the obstacle B2 exists in the deceleration area R2, the moving body 1 is decelerated. Become. The objects B3, B4, and B5 existing outside the stop area R1 and the deceleration area R2 are not detected as obstacles. Therefore, even if the objects B4 and B5 exist in the vicinity of the moving body 1, the moving body 1 is decelerated or stopped according to the objects B4 and B5 when no obstacle exists in the stop area R1 and the deceleration area R2. Will be able to achieve smooth movement. Also, strictly speaking, only the one-dimensional outer edge of the object on the mobile object 1 side detected by the distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 12 with respect to the object present around the mobile object 1 is for convenience of explanation. In FIG. 4 and other drawings to be described later, the object B1 and the like are shown as a figure having a two-dimensional spread. In the case of detecting an obstacle using the distance measurement sensor 12 other than the moving direction, as described above, the obstacle in the range narrower than the moving direction, for example, in the range shorter than the lengths L1 and L2 Detection shall be performed.

  Next, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the case where the movable body 1 is moving in an oblique direction will be described. In this case, when the front sides S1 and S2 of the outer edge of the movable body 1 are moved by the length L1 in the movement direction, the area through which the sides S1 and S2 pass is the stop area R1 and When the sides S1 and S2 are moved in the movement direction by the length L2, the area through which the sides S1 and S2 pass is the deceleration area R2. 5A, objects B1 and B2 are detected as obstacles, and objects B3, B4 and B5 are not detected as obstacles, as in the case of FIG.

  4 and 5A, the case where the stop area R1 and the deceleration area R2 are specified by moving the front end or the front side of the moving body 1 in the moving direction has been described. The stop area R1 or the deceleration area R2 may be determined by moving the outer edge in the movement direction. For example, in FIG. 5A, when the sides S1 to S4 are moved by the length L1 in the movement direction, a region obtained by combining the regions through which the sides S1 to S4 pass may be used as the stop region R1. In that case, the stop area R1 may be a set of two or more areas present at positions separated from each other. By thus determining the stop area R1, the stop area R1 and the deceleration area R2 can be determined without confirming the relationship between the moving direction and the outer edge (each side in FIG. 5A) of the moving body 1. Moreover, in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5A, although the case where the outline shape of the upper surface view of the mobile body 1 is a rectangular shape is shown, the outline shape is, for example, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a polygonal shape, or other shapes. It may be possible. Even in such a case, the stop area R1 and the like can be easily determined by moving all the outer edges in the movement direction.

  In the above description, the stop area R1 and the deceleration area R2 are specified, and it is determined whether or not the obstacle is present depending on whether the object measured by the distance measurement sensor 12 is present in the area. However, the method of detecting an obstacle may be any other method. For example, in FIG. 4, the side S1 hits the object whose distance is being measured by the distance measurement sensor 12 until the side S1 of the moving body 1 is gradually moved in the moving direction and the side S1 is moved by the length L1. In this case, the obstacle existing in the stop area R1 is detected, and after moving the side S1 by the length L1, the object whose side S1 is the distance measured before moving the side S1 in the moving direction by the length L2 In the case of an obstacle, an obstacle present in the deceleration region R2 may be detected. This process may be performed, for example, by plotting an object whose distance has been measured by the distance measurement sensor 12 in the local coordinate system of the mobile unit 1 and moving the outer edge of the mobile unit 1 in the local coordinate system.

  Moreover, although the case where stop area R1 grade | etc., Was determined by moving the outer edge of the mobile body 1 was demonstrated in the said description, you may not be so. For example, in FIG. 5B in which the moving body 1 is viewed from above, a vertex A2, which is the front end of the moving body 1 with respect to the moving direction (arrow direction in the drawing), is specified. Then, a range obtained by projecting the movable body 1 in the moving direction with respect to a straight line passing through the vertex A2 and orthogonal to the moving direction is a line segment S5. When the line segment S5 is moved by the length L1 in the movement direction, the area through which the line segment S5 passes is taken as the stop area R1, and from there, the line segment S5 is further moved by the length L2 in the movement direction. The area through which the line segment S5 passes may be set as the deceleration area R2. In FIG. 5B, since the projected line segment S5 is moved instead of the outer edge of the moving body 1, there is a region between the outer edge of the moving body 1 and the line segment S5. Therefore, a segment connecting the region, that is, the upper left end point of the segment S5, and the vertex A3 of the moving body 1, a region R1-1 surrounded by the side S2 and the segment S5, and the lower right of the segment S5 A line segment connecting the end point on the side and the vertex A1 of the moving body 1 and a region R1-2 surrounded by the side S1 and the line segment S5 may also be a stop region. As described above, the area for detecting an obstacle, for example, the stop area or the deceleration area may be an area of any shape determined by the predetermined rule for the mobile body 1.

  Next, the case where the moving body 1 rotates will be described. When the moving body 1 is rotating, the obstacle detecting unit 13 detects an obstacle in the moving direction using the distance measurement result in the area where the outer edge of the moving body 1 is rotated in the rotation direction. May be The center of rotation in the rotational direction may be determined in advance, for example. Specifically, as disclosed in JP-A-2017-128187, the moving mechanism 11 includes N (N is an integer of 3 or more) omnidirectional moving wheels disposed at equal intervals on the circumference. When it has, the center of the circumference may be the rotation center. As such, usually, the center of rotation is determined according to the configuration of the moving mechanism 11. Therefore, it is preferable that the position of the rotation center in the local coordinate system of the mobile unit 1 be registered in advance. Rotation may be considered as movement in which the position of the rotation center does not change, and movement other than rotation may be considered as movement in which the position of the rotation center changes. FIG. 6 is a view of the moving body 1 as viewed from above, and it is assumed that the moving body 1 rotates around the rotation center C in the rotation direction of the arrow in the drawing. When the mobile body 1 rotates by an angle AN1 from the state shown in FIG. 6, the area through which the outer edge of the mobile body 1 passes, ie, the area where the outer edge of the mobile body 1 sweeps, becomes the stop area. The region through which the outer edge of the moving body 1 passes when rotating by an angle AN2 from the above becomes the deceleration region. For example, when the object B1 exists in the stop area and the object B2 exists in the deceleration area, the obstacle detection unit 13 detects them as an obstacle. When the objects B3, B4 and B5 exist outside the stop area and the deceleration area, they are not detected as obstacles. Also in the case of rotation, the obstacle detection unit 13 gradually rotates the outer edge of the moving body 1 in the rotational direction, and the outer edge is measured by the distance measuring sensor 12 until the outer edge is rotated by the angle AN1. In the case of hitting a stationary object, an obstacle present in the stop area is detected, and the outer edge of the object whose distance has been measured until the outer edge is further rotated by the angle AN2 after being rotated by the angle AN1 In the case of an obstacle, an obstacle present in the deceleration area may be detected. In the case of detecting an obstacle using the distance measurement sensor 12 also in directions other than the rotation direction (moving direction), for example, in a range narrower than the moving direction, for example, the angles AN1 and AN2 Detection of an obstacle may be performed in a range smaller than the angle, and in a direction not related to the rotation direction, for example, in a range narrower than the movement direction in a direction away from the outer edge of the moving body 1, for example, The detection of an obstacle may be performed in the range which does not cover the detection range of an obstacle.

  Next, the case where the mobile unit 1 moves along the movement path will be described. When the moving object 1 moves along the movement path, the obstacle detection unit 13 detects the movement of the obstacle using the distance measurement sensor 12 in a wider range than other directions with respect to the movement direction along the movement path. Detection may be performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the movement path is set, the stop area R1 and the deceleration area R2 are determined according to the area through which the outer edge of the mobile body 1 passes along the movement path. It is also good. In FIG. 7A, the region passing when the side S1 is moved by L1 may be the stop region R1, and the region passing when the side S1 is further moved by L2 may be the deceleration region R2. In addition, since the movable body 1 can move in all directions, for example, as shown in FIG. 7B, after moving in the direction indicated by the arrow P1 (upward in the figure), without changing the direction (rotation) It is also possible to move in the direction indicated by the arrow P2 (rightward in the figure). In that case, as shown in FIG. 7C, for example, the stop area R1 is determined by the area through which the side S1 passes, and the deceleration area R2 is determined by the area through which the side S1 passes and the area through which the side S4 passes. It may be done. The movement distance according to the arrow P1 is longer than L1, and in FIG. 7C, the result of adding the length L2-1 and the length L2-2 is the length L2. Further, in FIGS. 7A and 7B, for convenience of explanation, the location of the moving body 1 moving according to the moving path and the arrow indicating the movement is taken as the middle point of the side S1.

  In the above description, although the case where the area for detecting the obstacle is determined using the threshold such as the length (L1, L2) and the angle (AN1, AN2) has been described, the threshold is according to the time It may be That is, the area through which the outer edge of the mobile unit 1 passes by T1 hours after the current point may be a stop area, and the area through which the outer edge of the mobile unit 1 passes by T2 hours after that point may be a deceleration area. In that case, for example, a preset speed command or an estimated speed command may be used to specify a region through which the outer edge of the mobile body 1 passes by a predetermined time after the current time. For example, in the case where rotation and movement other than rotation are combined in a complicated manner, the area for detecting an obstacle may be determined as such.

  The obstacle detection unit 13 may detect an obstacle using a distance other than the distance measured by the distance measurement sensor 12. For example, the obstacle detection unit 13 may detect an obstacle using a contact sensor. And when contact with an obstacle and mobile 1 is detected by the contact sensor, mobile 1 may be stopped.

  In addition, in a case where the obstacle detection unit 13 can not measure the distance by the distance measurement sensor 12 with respect to at least a part of the area (for example, the stop area R1 or the deceleration area R2) for detecting an obstacle. , That may be detected. Such may occur if, for example, a portion of the area where obstacle detection is performed is a shadow of a wall or the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in the situation where the moving body 1 moves as shown by the broken arrow, the presence of the wall allows the distance sensor 12 to measure the distance with respect to the region R10. It can not be done, and it is assumed that a part of the region R10 is included in the deceleration region R2. In such a case, the obstacle detection unit 13 may detect that.

  The obstacle detection unit 13 uses the information indicating the shape of the outer edge of the moving body 1 and the rotation center, etc., shown in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1, as described above, to detect the obstacle in the area where the obstacle is detected. Detection may be performed. Specifically, the obstacle detection unit 13 may identify the stop area or the deceleration area using those information, and detect an obstacle present in the stop area or an obstacle present in the deceleration area. Then, when an obstacle is detected, the obstacle detection unit 13 passes the fact to the movement control unit 15. At that time, it may be passed whether the detected obstacle is present in the stop area or in the deceleration area. In addition, when movement control such as detouring of an obstacle is performed in response to detection of an obstacle, information indicating the position of the detected obstacle, for example, coordinates of the obstacle in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 Values and the like may also be passed to the movement control unit 15.

  The current position acquisition unit 14 acquires the current position of the mobile unit 1. The acquisition of the current position may be performed, for example, using wireless communication, may be performed using a measurement result of the distance to the surrounding object, or may be performed by capturing an image of the surrounding , And other means capable of obtaining the current position may be used. As a method of acquiring the current position using wireless communication, for example, a method using GPS (Global Positioning System), a method using indoor GPS, a method using a nearest wireless base station, and the like are known. Also, for example, as a method of acquiring the current position by using the measurement result of the distance to the surrounding object or photographing the surrounding image, for example, known by SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) or the like. Any method may be used. As a measurement result of the distance to the surrounding object, for example, the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 12 may be used. In addition, when a map (for example, a measurement result of the distance to a surrounding object, a map having a photographed image, etc.) created in advance is stored, the current position acquisition unit 14 uses the map to The current position may be obtained by specifying the position corresponding to the measurement result of the distance to the object, and the surrounding image is taken and the map is used to specify the position corresponding to the photographing result. The position may be acquired. Also, the current position acquisition unit 14 may acquire the current position using, for example, an autonomous navigation device. Further, it is preferable that the current position acquisition unit 14 acquire the current position including the direction (direction) of the mobile body 1. The direction may be indicated by an azimuth angle measured clockwise, for example, with 0 degrees to the north, and may be indicated by information indicating other directions. The orientation may be obtained by an electronic compass or a geomagnetic sensor.

  The movement control unit 15 controls the movement of the movable body 1 by controlling the movement mechanism 11. The control of movement may be control of the direction of movement of the mobile body 1 or start / stop of movement. For example, when the movement path is set, the movement control unit 15 controls the movement mechanism 11 so that the moving body 1 moves along the movement path. More specifically, the movement control unit 15 may control the movement mechanism 11 so that the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit 14 is along the movement path. In addition, the movement control unit 15 may control movement using a map. In that case, the mobile unit 1 may include a storage unit in which a map is stored. The control of such movement is known and will not be described in detail. In addition, when the mobile body 1 moves along the movement path, the movement path may be acquired by the movement control unit 15. The acquisition of the movement path may be performed, for example, by generation of the movement path, or may be performed by receiving the movement path from an external server or the like.

  In addition, the movement control unit 15 controls the movement mechanism 11 so as to prevent the collision with the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit 13. As described above, when the obstacle present in the stop area R1 is detected, the movement control unit 15 controls the movement mechanism 11 to stop the mobile body 1, and detects the obstacle in the stop area R1. Although it is not performed, when an obstacle present in the deceleration region R2 is detected, the moving mechanism 11 may be controlled so that the moving body 1 decelerates more than the speed at that time. When the moving body 1 is decelerated, the speed after decelerating may or may not be fixed. In the latter case, for example, deceleration may be performed so as to be a speed determined relative to the current speed (e.g., 50% speed, etc.). In addition, the movement control unit 15 may control the movement mechanism 11 such that the moving body 1 passes a path bypassing the detected obstacle, for example, in order to prevent a collision with the detected obstacle. In that case, the movement control unit 15 may newly generate a movement path that does not pass the position of the detected obstacle, and move according to that.

  When the movement control unit 15 can not measure the distance by the distance measurement sensor 12 for at least a part of the area for detecting an obstacle, for example, as described with reference to FIG. In the case where the distance can not be measured and part of the region R10 is included in the deceleration region R2, the moving mechanism 11 may be controlled so that the moving object 1 decelerates. The deceleration may be performed, for example, in the same manner as when an obstacle is detected in the deceleration region R2. As described above, the obstacle detection unit 13 may detect that the distance measurement by the distance measurement sensor 12 can not be performed on at least a part of the area where the obstacle detection is performed. In that case, when the movement control unit 15 detects that the obstacle detection unit 13 can not measure the distance by the distance measurement sensor 12 for at least a part of the area where the obstacle detection is performed. Alternatively, the moving mechanism 11 may be controlled such that the moving body 1 decelerates. By doing so, even if it is later found that an obstacle is present in a region where distance measurement can not be performed, it is possible to appropriately perform stopping or the like. In addition, when it is not possible to measure the distance by the distance measurement sensor 12 for at least a part of the area where the obstacle is detected, the mobile object 1 outputs a warning sound instead of or along with the deceleration. You may In such a manner, for example, when there is a person in the area where the distance can not be measured, the approach of the moving body 1 can be warned.

Next, the operation of the mobile unit 1 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S101) The movement control unit 15 determines whether to start movement. Then, when the movement is started, the process proceeds to step S102. Otherwise, the process of step S101 is repeated until the movement is started. The movement control unit 15 may determine to start the movement, for example, when starting an autonomous movement along the movement route.

  (Step S102) The movement control unit 15 controls the movement of the moving body 1. The control of this movement is, for example, control of autonomous movement toward the destination. By repeatedly performing the control of the movement in step S102, the mobile body 1 reaches the destination from the departure place.

  (Step S103) The obstacle detection unit 13 acquires the moving direction. The movement direction may also be acquired using, for example, an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor, or may be performed using information from the movement control unit 15 or the movement mechanism 11.

  (Step S104) The obstacle detection unit 13 determines whether the moving body 1 is rotating based on the movement direction acquired in step S103. The determination may be made depending on whether the position of the rotation center has changed. Then, if it is rotating, that is, if the position of the rotation center has not changed, the process proceeds to step S107, and if not, the process proceeds to step S105.

  (Step S105) As described above, the obstacle detection unit 13 determines whether an obstacle is present in the area where the detection of the obstacle according to the movement other than the rotation is performed. And when an obstruction exists, it progresses to step S106, and when that is not right, it returns to step S102. Therefore, if no obstacle is detected, the movement will be continued.

  (Step S106) The movement control unit 15 performs control according to the detection of the obstacle in step S105. The control is, for example, control to stop the moving body 1 or control to decelerate. Then, the process returns to step S102. When the moving object 1 is decelerated according to the detection of the obstacle, the movement control unit 15 restricts the upper limit of the movement speed to one after deceleration, and then returns to step S102 to continue the movement. May be In that case, when the obstacle is no longer detected (when it is determined No in step S105 or step S107), the upper limit of the moving speed may be released. When the moving object 1 is stopped in response to the detection of an obstacle, the movement control unit 15 continues the stop until the obstacle detection unit 13 no longer detects the obstacle, and the obstacle is not detected. After that (for example, after a human who is an obstacle moves), the process may return to step S102 to resume the movement.

  (Step S107) As described above, the obstacle detection unit 13 determines whether an obstacle is present in the area where the detection of the obstacle according to the rotation is performed. And when an obstruction exists, it progresses to step S108, and when that is not right, it returns to step S102. Therefore, if no obstacle is detected, the movement will be continued.

  (Step S108) The movement control unit 15 performs control according to the detection of the obstacle in step S107. The control is, for example, control to stop the moving body 1 or control to decelerate. Then, the process returns to step S102. When the moving body 1 is decelerated or stopped according to the detection of an obstacle, the movement control unit 15 may perform the process as described in step S106.

  Although not included in the flowchart of FIG. 2, acquisition of the current position by the current position acquisition unit 14 is assumed to be repeatedly performed. Then, the current position may be used for movement control. Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the processing is ended by the arrival of the moving object 1 at the destination, or the interruption of the power-off or the processing end.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a specific example of movement of the mobile unit 1 according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, facilities B11 to B13 to which the mobile unit 1 can not pass exist in the factory where the mobile unit 1 is moving environment. Also, it is assumed that the mobile unit 1 starts from the position shown in FIG. 9 and moves along the movement path W1. Therefore, each time the mobile body 1 moves along the movement path W1, the obstacle detection unit 13 acquires the movement direction according to the movement path W1 (steps S101 to S103). Then, the obstacle detection unit 13 determines that the movement is not rotation (step S104), and determines whether an obstacle exists in a region where detection of an obstacle according to movement that is not rotation is performed (step S105). The area where the obstacle is detected is, for example, ahead of the traveling direction as shown in FIG. Therefore, even when the moving body 1 passes through the passage between the facilities B11 and B12, the walls of the facilities B11 and B12 present on the side are not detected as obstacles, and neither deceleration nor stop is performed. It will be. In addition, at the location of the T-junction formed by the facilities B11 to B13, the obstacle detection unit 13 performs obstacle detection in the area corresponding to the movement path W1, as shown in FIG. 7A. Therefore, the end wall of the T-junction, that is, the wall of the facility B13 is not detected as an obstacle, and there is no deceleration or stop. In this way, even the movable body 1 movable in all directions can smoothly move in a narrow range. On the other hand, when an obstacle such as a human comes in front of the traveling direction, the obstacle detection unit 13 determines that an obstacle exists (step S105), and the moving body 1 is decelerated or stopped accordingly. (Step S106). In this way, safety can also be ensured.

  As described above, according to the moving body 1 according to the present embodiment, regarding detection of an obstacle using the distance measurement sensor 12 in the moving body 1 movable in all directions, the moving direction of the moving body 1 Unnecessary obstacle detection can be reduced by detecting obstacles in a wider range than the direction. Specifically, even if an object is present on the rear side or the side with respect to the movement direction, movement in the movement direction can not be restricted by not detecting the object as an obstacle. On the other hand, since the obstacle is detected in the moving direction of the moving body 1, unnecessary deceleration and stop can be reduced without sacrificing safety.

  Further, in the case where the distance measurement by the distance measurement sensor 12 can not be performed on at least a part of the area in which the obstacle is detected, the area in which the obstacle can not be detected is also considered. Safer movement can be realized.

  Moreover, although the case where the object which exists in a stop area | region and a deceleration area | region was detected as an obstruction was demonstrated in this Embodiment, the number of the area | regions in which an obstruction is detected may be one. In that case, for example, only the stop area may be an area where an obstacle is detected.

  Also, in the above embodiment, each processing or each function may be realized by centralized processing by a single device or a single system, or distributed processing by a plurality of devices or a plurality of systems. It may be realized by

  Further, in the above embodiment, the transfer of information performed between the components is performed by, for example, one of the components if the two components performing the transfer of information are physically different. It may be performed by the output of the information and the reception of the information by the other component, or if the two components that exchange the information are physically the same, one of the components It may be performed by moving from the phase of processing corresponding to to the phase of processing corresponding to the other component.

  Further, in the above embodiment, information related to processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component Also, information such as threshold values, mathematical expressions, addresses and the like used by each component in processing may be held temporarily or for a long time in a recording medium (not shown), even if not specified in the above description. Further, each component or a storage unit (not shown) may store information in the recording medium (not shown). Each component or a reading unit (not shown) may read information from the recording medium (not shown).

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the information used in each component or the like, for example, information such as a threshold or an address used in processing by each component or various setting values may be changed by the user, Although not explicitly stated in the description, the user may or may not be able to change the information as appropriate. When the user can change such information, the change is realized, for example, by a receiving unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user and a change unit (not shown) that changes the information according to the change instruction. May be The acceptance of the change instruction by the acceptance unit (not shown) may be, for example, acceptance from an input device, reception of information transmitted via a communication line, or acceptance of information read from a predetermined recording medium .

  Further, in the above embodiment, when two or more components included in the mobile unit 1 have a communication device, an input device, etc., the two or more components may have a physically single device. Or may have separate devices.

  Further, in the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. At the time of the execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing the storage unit or the recording medium. The program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, or may be executed by being read out of a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disc, a magnetic disc, a semiconductor memory, etc.) Good. Also, this program may be used as a program that constitutes a program product. Also, the computer that executes the program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  Further, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible, which are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As mentioned above, according to the moving body by this invention, the effect that the detection of an unnecessary obstacle can be reduced is acquired, and it is useful as a moving body which can move to all directions.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 mobile body 11 moving mechanism 12 ranging sensor 13 obstacle detection part 14 present position acquisition part 15 movement control part

Claims (5)

It is a mobile that moves autonomously,
A moving mechanism capable of moving the moving body in all directions;
A distance measuring sensor that measures the distance to the surrounding object in all directions;
An obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle using the distance measured by the distance measurement sensor;
A movement control unit that controls the movement mechanism to prevent a collision with an obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit;
The obstacle detection unit detects an obstacle using the distance measurement sensor in a range wider than other directions in the moving direction of the moving body. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection unit detects an obstacle related to the movement direction in a region in which the outer edge of the movable body is extended in the movement direction. The movement control unit controls the movement mechanism to move the movable body along a movement path,
The movable body according to claim 2, wherein the movement direction corresponds to the movement path. The said obstacle detection part detects the obstacle regarding the moving direction in the area | region which rotated the outer edge of the said moving body in the rotation direction, when the said moving body is rotating. The moving body according to any one of 3. The movement control unit controls the movement mechanism so as to decelerate when it is not possible to measure the distance by the distance measurement sensor with respect to at least a part of the area in which an obstacle is detected. The mobile according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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