JP2019109770A - Moving object - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem that movement in a narrow path is limited since walls of the narrow path are detected as obstacles when a moving object passes through the narrow path.SOLUTION: A moving object 1 comprises: a distance measuring sensor 12 for measuring the distance to an object around relating to a plurality of directions; an obstacle detection unit 13 for detecting an obstacle using the result of distance measurement; a movement mechanism 11 for moving the moving object 1; a movement control unit 17 for controlling the movement mechanism 11 so as to avoid collision against a detected obstacle; a narrow path determination unit 15 for determining whether or not the moving object 1 exists in a narrow path; and an obstacle detection control unit 16 for controlling the obstacle detection unit 13 so that the range of obstacle detection is narrowed when the moving object 1 exists in a narrow path. Thus, due to that the range of obstacle detection is narrowed when the moving object 1 exists in a narrow path, it is possible to avoid walls of the narrow path from being detected an obstacle, and to realize the smooth movement of the moving object 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile that performs obstacle detection.

  In a conventional moving body, a distance measuring sensor is used to measure the distance to a surrounding object, and an obstacle is detected using the measurement result (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When an obstacle is detected in such a manner, the mobile body decelerates or stops, for example, to prevent a collision with the obstacle. As such, by performing movement control in accordance with obstacle detection in the moving body, safer movement can be realized.

JP 2017-97535 A

  However, when the moving object passes through the narrow path, there is a problem that the moving object may become inoperable by detecting the wall as an obstacle.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a moving body that can prevent movement detection by obstacle detection even when the moving body passes a narrow path. The purpose is

In order to achieve the above object, a mobile according to the present invention is a mobile that moves autonomously, and uses a distance measurement sensor that measures the distance to surrounding objects in a plurality of directions, and measurement results by the distance measurement sensor An obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle, a movement mechanism that moves a moving body, a movement control unit that controls the movement mechanism to prevent a collision with the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit, a movement body A narrow road determination unit that determines whether or not the road exists in the narrow road, and an obstacle detection unit that narrows the detection range of the obstacle when the narrow road determination unit determines that the moving object is present in the narrow road And an obstacle detection control unit that controls the control unit.
With such a configuration, when it is determined that the moving object is present in a narrow path, the detection range of the obstacle can be narrowed. Therefore, for example, by narrowing the detection range of the obstacle to such an extent that the wall is not detected as an obstacle in the narrow road, the movement of the moving body in the narrow road can be prevented from being restricted and smooth movement can be realized become.

The mobile unit according to the present invention further includes a current position acquisition unit for acquiring the current position of the mobile unit, and the narrow road determination unit determines the location of the narrow road where the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit is predetermined. When it becomes, it may be judged that a mobile exists in a narrow path.
With such a configuration, by using the current position, it can be determined whether or not the mobile object is present in the narrow path.

Further, in the mobile object according to the present invention, the narrow road determination unit may determine whether the mobile object is present in the narrow road, using the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor.
With such a configuration, even if the narrow road region is not registered or set in advance, it can be automatically determined by the mobile body whether the road is the narrow road.

In the moving object according to the present invention, the obstacle detection control unit is configured to prevent the wall of the narrow passage from being detected as an obstacle when the narrow passage determining unit determines that the moving object is present in the narrow passage. The detection range may be narrowed.
With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the wall from being detected as an obstacle in the narrow path, and it is possible to smoothly move in the narrow path.

In the mobile object according to the present invention, the obstacle detection control unit may narrow the detection range of the obstacle by shortening the distance for detecting the obstacle.
With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the wall from being detected as an obstacle in the narrow road by appropriately setting the detection distance of the obstacle in the narrow road.

Further, in the moving object according to the present invention, the obstacle detection control unit may narrow the detection range of the obstacle by narrowing the width of detection of the obstacle.
With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the wall from being detected as an obstacle in the narrow road by appropriately setting the detection width of the obstacle in the narrow road.

  According to the moving object according to the present invention, even a moving object that performs obstacle detection using a distance measurement result can smoothly move in a narrow path.

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 A diagram for explaining narrow road determination in the embodiment A diagram for explaining narrow road determination in the embodiment A figure for explaining the detection range of the obstacle in the embodiment A figure for explaining the detection range of the obstacle in the embodiment A figure for explaining the detection range of the obstacle in the embodiment A figure for explaining the detection range of the obstacle in the embodiment A figure for explaining the detection range of the obstacle 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 object according to the present embodiment limits the detection range of an obstacle using the distance measurement result when it is determined that the moving object is present in a narrow road.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a mobile unit 1 according to the present embodiment. The moving body 1 according to the present embodiment moves autonomously, and the moving mechanism 11, the distance measurement sensor 12, the obstacle detection unit 13, the current position acquisition unit 14, and the narrow path determination unit 15 And an obstacle detection control unit 16 and a movement control unit 17. 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 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 moves the moving body 1. For example, the moving mechanism 11 may or may not be capable of moving the moving body 1 in all directions. 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. When the moving mechanism 11 can move the moving body 1 in all directions, the traveling part 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.

  The ranging sensor 12 measures the distances to surrounding objects in a plurality of directions. 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. The distance measuring sensor 12 may measure the distance in the direction of the predetermined range, or may measure the distance in all directions. For example, the distance measuring sensor 12 may measure distances in a plurality of directions with respect to the range only in front of the moving body 1. Further, for example, the distance measurement sensor 12 may measure distances in a plurality of 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 latter case, for example, two threshold values may be present depending on the stop area and the deceleration area. When an obstacle present in the stop area is detected, the mobile body 1 may be stopped, and when an obstacle present in the deceleration area is detected, the mobile body 1 may be decelerated. The threshold may be changed by the obstacle detection control unit 16 as described later. Note that the number of regions in which an obstacle is detected may be one. The area may be, for example, a stop area or a deceleration area.

  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 narrow path determination unit 15 determines whether the mobile body 1 is present in the narrow path. A narrow path is a narrow passage. The width (hereinafter also referred to as “passage width”) is a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the passage (that is, the traveling direction of the moving body 1 moving in the passage) (ie, the transverse direction of the passage It may be the distance between the walls in. Whether or not a certain passage is a narrow passage may be determined relative to the width of the moving object 1 passing therethrough (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “moving object width”), or absolutely It may be decided. In the former case, for example, the passage width is not more than N1 times the moving object width (N1 is a real number greater than 1 and may be, for example, 1.5 or 2) or “the moving object width A passage which is + N2 or less (N2 is a positive real number and may be, for example, 50 centimeters or 1 meter, etc.) may be determined as a narrow path, and in the latter case, for example, A passage having a passage width of N3 or less (N3 may be a positive real number and may be, for example, 2 meters or 3 meters) may be determined as a narrow passage. The moving body width may be a width in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the moving body 1. In the case of a movable body 1 movable in all directions, the movable body width may be the largest width in the movable body 1.

  Next, each of the cases where the narrow road determination is performed using (1) a predetermined narrow road location, and (2) using the measurement result by the distance measuring sensor 12 will be described. Needless to say, the narrow road determination may be performed by other methods.

(1) Narrow road determination using a predetermined narrow road location In this case, the narrow road location is determined in advance, and information indicating the location (for example, indicating the outline of the location It is assumed that information etc. is held in a recording medium (not shown). Then, the narrow road determination unit 15 determines that the mobile body 1 is present in the narrow road when the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit 14 becomes a predetermined narrow road location. FIG. 3A is a diagram for describing such narrow road determination. In FIG. 3A, there are obstacles B1 to B4, and a region R21 which is a passage between the obstacle B2 and the obstacle B3 and a region R22 which is a passage between the obstacle B3 and the obstacle B4 are moved. It is assumed that the body 1 is registered as a narrow path. Specifically, the narrow road determination unit 15 may be able to access information indicating the contours of the regions R21 and R22. Then, if the current position (X1, Y1) acquired by the current position acquisition unit 14 is included in one of the regions R21 and R22, the narrow road determination unit 15 determines that the mobile body 1 is present in the narrow path. . If the current position (X1, Y1) is not included in any of the regions R21 and R22, the narrow road determination unit 15 may determine that the mobile body 1 does not exist in the narrow path.

  Note that, as described above, in the case where whether or not the road is narrow is relatively determined according to the movable body width, information indicating the location of the narrow road may be registered for each mobile body width. Then, the narrow path determination unit 15 reads out the moving body width of the self-moving body from the recording medium (not shown), acquires information indicating the location of the narrow path according to the moving body width, and uses it for narrow path determination. It is also good.

(2) Narrow Path Determination Using Distance Measurement Result In this case, the narrow path determination unit 15 uses the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 12 to determine whether the moving object 1 exists in the narrow path. Specifically, the narrow road determination unit 15 specifies the position of the wall on the right side and the position of the wall on the left side with respect to the traveling direction using the distance measurement result, and the distance between the specified walls That is, get the passage width. Then, it may be determined whether or not the passage width satisfies the condition of the narrow path, and if the condition is satisfied, it may be determined that the moving body 1 exists in the narrow path. When the narrow path is relatively determined, the narrow path condition may be, for example, “passage width ≦ N1 times the moving body width” or the like. In addition, in the case where the narrow path is absolutely determined, the condition of the narrow path may be, for example, “passage width ≦ N3” or the like. FIG. 3B is a diagram for describing such narrow road determination. In FIG. 3B, it is assumed that the moving body 1 moves in the direction of the thick arrow in the passage between the walls W1 and W2. In that situation, the distance sensor 12 measures the distance in each direction. Specifically, as shown by arrows in the drawing, a laser is emitted from the distance measurement sensor 12 in a plurality of directions, and the distance to each point P on the walls W1, W2 is measured by the laser. Then, by using the measurement results, the narrow path determination unit 15 can specify the positions of the walls W1 and W2, and acquire the width WD1 between the walls W1 and W2. Narrow road determination unit 15 has a width WD1 is less than the threshold value WD _TH, determines that the moving body 1 is present in the narrow road, otherwise, it is determined that the moving body is not in the narrow road It is also good. As described above, the threshold value WD _TH may be, for example, a fixed value or a value determined depending on the moving object width. If the position of at least one of the walls W1 and W2 can not be specified, that is, if there is no wall on at least one side in the traveling direction of the moving body 1, the narrow road determination unit 15 moves It may be determined that the body 1 does not exist in the narrow path. In addition, for a method of high accuracy narrow road determination using the distance measurement result, see, for example, JP-A-2017-4230.

  In addition, you may perform narrow path determination by methods other than these as mentioned above. For example, when the moving object 1 holds a map indicating the position of an obstacle, the position of a wall around a point corresponding to the current position is specified in the map, and the width of the wall is acquired. The narrow road determination may be performed in the same manner as (2) above.

  The obstacle detection control unit 16 controls the obstacle detection unit 13 so that the detection range of the obstacle becomes narrow when the narrow road determination unit 15 determines that the moving object 1 exists in the narrow path. It is preferable that controlling the obstacle detection unit 13 so as to narrow the detection range of the obstacle is to narrow the detection range of the obstacle so that the wall of the narrow path is not detected as the obstacle. More specifically, the obstacle detection control unit 16 may narrow the detection range of the obstacle by shortening the distance for detecting the obstacle, and by narrowing the width of detection of the obstacle, The detection range of the obstacle may be narrowed, or both. To narrow the width of detecting an obstacle may be, for example, reducing the width of an angle to detect an obstacle. The obstacle detection control unit 16 does not perform control to narrow the detection range of the obstacle when the narrow road determination unit 15 does not determine that the mobile object 1 is present in the narrow road.

  FIG. 4A to FIG. 4E are views showing an example of the detection range of the obstacle, and are views of the mobile body 1 as viewed from above. In FIGS. 4A to 4E, the traveling direction of the mobile body 1 is indicated by thick arrows. FIG. 4A is a view showing a detection range of an obstacle (hereinafter, also referred to as a “normal detection range”) when it is not determined that the mobile body 1 is present in a narrow path. In that case, an object present in the area R11 shown in FIG. 4A will be detected as an obstacle. The area R11 is an area obtained by removing the range of the movable body 1 from a fan-shaped fan having a radius L1 centered on the distance measurement sensor 12 and a central angle θ1. In addition, the direction of the straight line which bisects the central angle of the fan shape is the advancing direction of the mobile body 1, and an obstacle is detected in the traveling direction of the mobile body 1.

  FIGS. 4B to 4E are diagrams showing an example of an obstacle detection range (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “narrow detection range”) when it is determined that the mobile object 1 is present in a narrow path. As compared with the region R11 of FIG. 4A, the distance R1 for detecting an obstacle is shortened from L1 to L2 (<L1) as compared with the region R11 of the narrow detection range shown in FIG. 4B. In addition, the width (central angle) of the angle for detecting an obstacle is narrowed from θ1 to θ2 (<θ1) compared to the region R11 in FIG. 4A, which is the narrow detection range shown in FIG. 4C. There is. Moreover, compared with the area R11 of FIG. 4A, while the distance which detects an obstacle is shortened from L1 to L3 (<L1) compared with area R11 of the narrow detection range shown by FIG. The width (central angle) of the angle to be detected is narrowed from θ1 to θ3 (<θ1). L3 may be longer than L2, and θ3 may be larger than θ2. Moreover, compared with area | region R11 of FIG. 4A, area | region R15 which is a narrow detection range shown by FIG. 4E is made short [the length of the width direction which detects an obstacle]. 4B to 4E are examples of narrow detection ranges, and other narrow detection ranges may be used. The narrow detection range may be, for example, a range in which the side far from the moving object 1 is not detected in the normal detection range, and is a range in which the direction out of the traveling direction is not detected It is also good. In any case, it is preferable not to detect the wall as an obstacle in the narrow path when the detection range of the obstacle is narrowed. In addition, even when the detection range of the obstacle is narrowed as described above, it is preferable that detection of the obstacle is performed in the traveling direction of the mobile body 1. That is, even when the moving object 1 exists in a narrow path, the obstacle detection control unit 16 narrows the detection range of the obstacle so that detection of the obstacle is performed in the traveling direction of the moving object 1 Is preferred. When the stop area and the deceleration area exist in the area where the obstacle is detected, each area may be narrowed when narrowing the detection area of the obstacle, or otherwise. It is also good. In the latter case, for example, when the detection range of the obstacle after being narrowed is all included in the stop area in the normal detection range of the obstacle, the detection range of the obstacle after being narrowed is all stopped It may be an area.

  The movement control unit 17 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 17 may control the movement mechanism 11 so that the moving body 1 moves along the movement path. More specifically, the movement control unit 17 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 17 may control movement using a map. In that case, the mobile unit 1 may include a storage unit in which a map is stored.

  In addition, the movement control unit 17 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 existing in the stop area is detected, the movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 11 so that the moving body 1 is stopped, and the obstacle is detected in the stop area. Although not, if the obstacle present in the deceleration area is detected, the moving mechanism 11 may be controlled so that the moving body 1 is decelerated 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, when an obstacle is detected, the movement control unit 17 may prevent the collision with the obstacle by moving the mobile body 1 so as to bypass the obstacle. In the case of bypassing an obstacle, the movement control unit 17 may receive the detected position of the obstacle from the obstacle detection unit 13. The position may be a position in the local coordinate system of the mobile unit 1.

  In addition, control of the above movement is well-known, The detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. In addition, when the moving body 1 moves along the movement path, the movement path may be acquired by the movement control unit 17. 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.

Next, the operation of the mobile unit 1 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S101) The movement control unit 17 controls the movement of the movable body 1. The control of the movement may be, for example, control of the movement toward the destination. The mobile unit 1 may reach the destination from the departure place by repeatedly performing the control of the movement in step S101.

  (Step S102) The narrow path determination unit 15 determines whether the moving object 1 is present in the narrow path. And when existing in a narrow path, it progresses to step S103, and when that is not right, it progresses to step S104.

  (Step S103) The obstacle detection control unit 16 controls the obstacle detection unit 13 to narrow the detection range of the obstacle. In addition, when the detection range of an obstacle is narrowed at that time, it will be continued.

  (Step S104) The obstacle detection control unit 16 controls the detection range of the obstacle by the obstacle detection unit 13 to be normal. In addition, when the detection range of an obstacle is normal at that time, it will be continued.

  (Step S105) The obstacle detection unit 13 determines whether an obstacle has been detected. And when an obstruction is detected, it progresses to step S106, and when that is not right, it returns to step S101. In addition, detection of an obstacle is performed in the detection range according to step S103, S104. When the process proceeds from step S103 to step S105, for example, obstacle detection may be performed in a narrow detection range indicated by the region R12 in FIG. 4B. On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step S104 to step S105, detection of an obstacle may be performed, for example, in the normal detection range indicated by the region R11 in FIG. 4A.

  (Step S106) The movement control unit 17 performs movement control according to the detection of the obstacle. The movement control may be, for example, deceleration or stop of the moving body 1 or moving the moving body 1 so as to bypass an obstacle. When the moving object 1 is stopped in response to the detection of an obstacle, the movement control unit 17 continues the stop until the obstacle is not detected, and after the obstacle is not detected, the process returns to step S101. You may resume the move. When the moving object 1 is decelerated in response to the detection of an obstacle, the movement control unit 17 restricts the upper limit of the movement speed to one after deceleration, and then returns to step S101 to continue movement. May be In that case, when the obstacle is no longer detected (when it is determined NO in step S105), the upper limit of the moving speed may be released. In addition, when moving the moving body 1 so as to bypass the obstacle in response to the detection of the obstacle, the movement control unit 17 uses the position of the obstacle received from the obstacle detection unit 13 to determine the position of the obstacle. After an obstacle is not detected by acquiring a route detouring around and performing movement according to the detouring route, the process may return to step S101 to continue moving to the destination.

  The order of the processes in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is an example, and the order of each step may be changed as long as the same result can be obtained. Further, 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. 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. 5 is a diagram for describing a specific example of the movement of the mobile unit 1 according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5, mobile unit 1 starts from the position of mobile unit 1-0, and moves each position of mobile units 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3 (step S101). In the movement, when the narrow road between the obstacles B2 and B3 is entered, the narrow road determination unit 15 determines that the mobile object 1 is present in the narrow road (step S102), and the obstacle detection control unit 16 The detection range of the obstacle is narrowed (step S103). As a result, the walls of the obstacles B2 and B3 are not detected as obstacles, and the mobile unit 1 can move to the positions of the mobile units 1-2 and 1-3. In a narrow road, it is usually not conceivable that an obstacle approaches from the short side direction. Therefore, even if the detection range of the obstacle in the narrow road is narrowed to the front side in the traveling direction, it is considered that the possibility that the safety is reduced is low. Also, even on narrow roads, obstacle detection is performed in the narrow detection range in the traveling direction, so when a human enters in the narrow detection range, it is detected as an obstacle, and accordingly the moving object 1 Will be stopped or decelerated. On the other hand, at a place where the road is not narrow, an obstacle may approach from the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction. Therefore, the safety can be further enhanced by detecting the obstacle in a normal detection range including directions other than the traveling direction.

  As described above, according to the mobile unit 1 according to the present embodiment, when the mobile unit 1 is present in a narrow path, the wall of the narrow path is set as an obstacle by narrowing the detection range of the obstacle. It can be made undetectable, and movement of the mobile body 1 in a narrow path can be made unrestricted. As a result, smooth movement of the mobile unit 1 is realized. In addition, since it becomes possible to pass through a narrow road, for example, it becomes possible to select a path of a shortcut or to set a point on the narrow road as a destination, thereby improving the movement efficiency, moving body 1 Will be able to deal with more work.

  In addition, when the narrow road determination unit 15 performs the narrow road determination using the distance measurement result, it is not necessary to register the location of the narrow road in advance, and the load on the work of the registration is reduced. become.

  In addition, although FIG. 4A-FIG. 4E demonstrated the case where an obstacle was detected regarding a advancing direction, an obstacle detection may be performed also about the direction other than that. For example, a normal detection range or a narrow detection range may include the range of all directions of the mobile body 1. For example, the normal detection range is a range from the outer edge of the moving body 1 to the first length (the range is, for example, an annular region along the outer edge of the moving body 1 whose width is the first length ), The narrow detection range is the range from the outer edge of the moving body 1 to the second length (the range is, for example, an annular region along the outer edge of the moving body 1 whose width is the second length ). The second length may be shorter than the first length, and may be set so that the wall is not detected as an obstacle even in a narrow path. In addition, when it is determined that the moving object 1 is present in a narrow path, control may be performed so that detection of an obstacle is not performed.

  In the present embodiment, the obstacle detection control unit 16 narrows the detection range of the obstacle as determined in advance when it is determined that the mobile object 1 is present in the narrow path. It does not have to be. The obstacle detection control unit 16 may narrow the detection range of the obstacle until the wall of the narrow path is not detected as an obstacle in the narrow path. For example, as described with reference to FIG. 3B, the obstacle detection control unit 16 can recognize the wall of the narrow path by using, for example, the distance measurement result. Therefore, for example, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection unit 13 in a narrow road, the obstacle detection control unit 16 determines whether the position of the obstacle is the position of the wall, and the position of the wall If the obstacle detection distance is not detected, the obstacle detection distance (for example, the distance corresponding to L1 in FIG. 4A) is decreased by ΔL or the obstacle detection angle (for example, in FIG. 4A). The angle corresponding to θ1 may be decreased by Δθ, or the length in the width direction of obstacle detection (for example, the length in the width direction of region R15 in FIG. 4E) may be decreased by ΔL. In that case, the obstacle detection control unit 16 may perform, for example, both the reduction in the distance of obstacle detection and the reduction in width. In such a manner, the detection range of the obstacle can be narrowed within the necessary and sufficient range.

In addition, the width of the narrow detection range (the width in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction) may be the same as the moving object width. FIGS. 4C to 4E show such a case.
When obstacle detection is performed using a result of distance measurement using a laser or the like, the distance may be measured in a range wider than the set angle or width due to diffusion of the laser or the like. . Therefore, the range of the angle or width corresponding to the narrow detection range may be set to be slightly smaller than the width of the moving body so that the result of considering the diffusion becomes the width of the moving body.

  In addition, when the current position is not used for narrow road determination and the current position is not used for movement control, the mobile body 1 may not include the current position acquisition unit 14.

  Moreover, although the case where only the obstacle detection using the measurement result by the distance measurement sensor 12 is performed is described in the present embodiment, obstacle detection other than that may be performed. For example, obstacle detection may be performed using a contact sensor. In that case, obstacle detection using a contact sensor may be performed regardless of whether the mobile object 1 is present in a narrow path.

  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 mobile according to the present invention, the effect that the mobile can move smoothly along the narrow path is obtained, and it is useful as a mobile that moves autonomously.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 mobile body 11 moving mechanism 12 ranging sensor 13 obstacle detection part 14 present position acquisition part 15 narrow road determination part 16 obstacle detection control part 17 movement control part

Claims (6)

It is a mobile that moves autonomously,
A distance measuring sensor that measures the distance to surrounding objects in multiple directions;
An obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle using the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor;
A moving mechanism for moving the moving body;
A movement control unit that controls the movement mechanism to prevent a collision with an obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit;
A narrow road determination unit that determines whether the moving body is present in a narrow road,
An obstacle detection control unit configured to control the obstacle detection unit such that the detection range of the obstacle is narrowed when the narrow road determination unit determines that the moving object is present in the narrow path body. It further comprises a current position acquisition unit that acquires the current position of the mobile object,
The narrow road determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the moving body is determined to be present in a narrow road when the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit comes to a predetermined narrow road location. Moving body. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein the narrow path determination unit determines whether the movable body is present in a narrow path, using a measurement result by the distance measurement sensor. The obstacle detection control unit narrows an obstacle detection range so that a wall of the narrow passage is not detected as an obstacle when the narrow passage determination unit determines that the moving object is present in the narrow passage. The mobile according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The mobile object according to claim 4, wherein the obstacle detection control unit narrows a detection range of the obstacle by shortening a distance for detecting the obstacle. The mobile object according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the obstacle detection control unit narrows a detection range of the obstacle by narrowing a width for detecting the obstacle.

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