JP2020125031A - Mobile device and movement control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a mobile device which prevents malfunction caused by effect of noise such as rain, fog, snow or the like with higher accuracy than a conventional device.SOLUTION: A mobile device includes: a housing; a drive part which moves the housing; a distance detection part which measures a distance value to a detected object; and a control part which controls the drive part in response to a detection result of the distance detection part. The distance detection part has a first detection range in which the detected object in a previously set distance range is detected, and a second detection range in which the detected object in a distance range closer to the housing than the first detection range is detected. The control part stops the housing when the detected object is detected in the second detection range after the distance detection part detects the detected object in the first detection range. Movement of the housing is continued when the distance detection part does not detect the detected object in the first detection range and detects the detected object in the second detection range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile device, and more particularly, to a mobile device having an obstacle detection function of detecting a surrounding obstacle by a distance detection unit such as LIDAR.

2. Description of the Related Art Today, as a moving device, there is known a moving device that has an obstacle detection function of detecting an obstacle by a distance detection unit such as a LIDAR, and decelerates or stops according to the detection result of the obstacle.

As an invention relating to safety control of such a moving device, for example, a safety detection unit that detects an object to be detected within a preset safety range and an instruction detection unit that detects an object to be detected within a preset instruction range And a safety determination unit that determines whether or not to operate the safety device according to the detection result of the safety detection unit, and decelerates or stops the device according to the detection result of the instruction detection unit. There is disclosed an invention of a safety assist device that includes an instruction determination unit that determines whether or not an instruction is made, and that assists a safety device that shuts off power supply to a moving body traveling on a traveling surface (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2017-109725, A

However, in the mobile device having such an obstacle detection function, the distance detection unit may not operate properly due to the influence of weather such as rain, fog, and snow.

When measuring an obstacle with a distance detection unit such as LIDAR, the laser light may be reflected by rain, fog, snow, etc. before the obstacle is hit with the laser light, and as a result, the obstacle is detected. The accuracy is reduced.

When such an erroneous detection occurs, deceleration of the traveling device occurs even in a place where deceleration is not necessary, and when the amount of snowfall is large, the traveling device often stops.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a moving device and a movement control method that prevent malfunctions due to the influence of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before. And

(1) A moving device according to the present invention comprises a housing, a drive unit for moving the housing, a distance detecting unit for measuring a distance value to an object to be detected, and a detection result of the distance detecting unit. And a control unit that controls the drive unit, wherein the distance detection unit is closer to the housing than the first detection range for detecting an object to be detected in a preset distance range and the first detection range. A second detection range for detecting an object to be detected in a distance range, and the control unit detects the object to be detected in the second detection range after the distance detection unit detects the object to be detected in the first detection range. When an object is detected, the housing is stopped, and when the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the second detection range without detecting an object to be detected in the first detection range, the case is detected. Characterized by continuing movement of the body.
Further, a movement control method of a movement device of the present invention is a movement control method of a movement device provided with a housing, wherein a distance detection step of measuring a distance value to an object to be detected, and a detection result of the distance detection step According to, the movement control step for controlling the movement of the moving device, and in the distance detection step, in the second detection range set in advance after detecting the object to be detected in the first detection range set in advance When the detected object is detected, the casing is stopped in the movement control step, and the detected object is detected in the second detection range without detecting the detected object in the first detection range in the distance detection step. When an object is detected, the movement of the casing is continued.

The “detection object” is an object detected by receiving the reflected laser light when the laser light is scanned.

The “drive unit” of the present invention is realized by the traveling drive unit 102.

According to the present invention, when the detected object is detected within the second detection range after the detected object is detected within the first detection range, it is determined that the obstacle is likely to be detected. Since the housing is then stopped, it is possible to realize a movement device and a movement control method that prevent malfunctions due to the influence of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than in the past.

Further, the moving device of the present invention may be configured as follows and may be appropriately combined.

(2) A storage unit that further stores the detection result of the distance detection unit for each predetermined frame time, wherein the control unit detects that the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the second detection range. , Referring to the detection result of the distance detection unit in the predetermined past frame time, in the past frame time, if the distance detection unit has detected an object to be detected in the first detection range, The case is stopped, and on the other hand, in the past frame time, when the distance detection unit does not detect an object to be detected in the first detection range, the case is continued to move. Good.

The “predetermined past frame time” is, for example, the frame time immediately before the current frame time.
Further, it may be a plurality of past frames, for example, one to three frames before the current frame time.

By doing this, if an object to be detected is detected within the second detection range, and if the object to be detected is also within the first detection range within a predetermined past frame time, an obstacle is detected. Since it is determined that there is a high possibility that there is a high possibility that the housing is stopped, it is possible to realize a moving device that prevents malfunctions due to the influence of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before.

(3) The control unit decelerates the casing to a predetermined speed when the distance detection unit has not detected an object to be detected in the first detection range in the past frame time. May be

By doing this, when it is determined that the detected object in the current frame time is due to erroneous detection, noise such as rain, fog, or snow is reduced by decelerating the housing without stopping immediately. It is possible to realize a moving device that prevents a malfunction due to the influence of 1 above with higher accuracy than ever before.

(4) The control unit may change the first detection range according to the moving speed of the housing.

With this configuration, since the obstacles in the appropriate range according to the moving speed of the housing are monitored, the moving device that prevents malfunction due to the influence of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than ever before. Will be provided.

(5) The controller may widen the first detection range as the moving speed of the casing increases.

By doing this, as the moving speed of the housing increases, a wider range of obstacles will be monitored, so movement that prevents malfunction due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before. The device can be realized.

(6) The past frame time may be different depending on the moving speed of the housing.

"The past frame time differs depending on the moving speed of the housing" determines, for example, whether or not there is an obstacle based on the past frame time as the moving speed of the housing becomes slower.
When determining the presence or absence of an obstacle based on a plurality of past frame times, the presence or absence of an obstacle is determined based on a larger number of past frame times as the moving speed of the housing becomes slower.

By doing this, the presence or absence of an obstacle is determined based on the detected object detected at an appropriate past frame time according to the moving speed of the housing, and thus the influence of noise such as rain, fog, or snow. It is possible to realize a moving device that prevents a malfunction due to the operation with higher accuracy than ever before.

(7) When the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected within the second detection range, the control unit causes the distance detection unit to move within the second detection range over a plurality of predetermined past frame times. It is determined whether or not the object to be detected has been continuously detected, and the distance detection unit detects the object to be detected whose distance value tends to decrease in the second detection range over the plurality of past frame times. In this case, if the control unit does not detect the detection object whose distance value tends to decrease in the second detection range over the plurality of past frame times, the control unit controls the control. The unit may be one that continues the movement of the housing.

By doing this, when an object to be detected is detected within the second detection range and an object to be detected approaching over a plurality of predetermined past frame times is detected, an obstacle that is approaching is detected. Since it is determined that there is a high possibility that there is a high possibility that the housing is stopped, it is possible to realize a moving device that prevents malfunctions due to the effects of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than in the past.

(8) A detected object whose distance value tends to decrease within the second detection range is detected over a part of the plurality of past frame times, but the detected object is detected at another part of the past frame times. When the detection object is not detected, the control unit may decelerate the housing to a predetermined speed.

“Detecting the detected object whose distance value tends to decrease” means, for example, even if the detected object is not detected in some of the predetermined past frames, the detected object as a whole is detected. This is the case where it is detected that the distance to the detection object tends to decrease.
In addition, even if it is detected that the average of the distance values to the detected object in a plurality of past frames is decreased every several frames and the average of the distance values tends to decrease, Corresponds to.

By doing this, although the object to be detected approaching over a part of a plurality of past frame times is detected, if the object to be detected is not detected during another part of the frame time, the Since it is determined that an obstacle is likely to be detected and the housing is decelerated and moved at a predetermined speed, malfunctions due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow can be prevented with higher accuracy than before. It is possible to realize a moving device that operates.

(9) The control unit may stop the casing when detecting an object to be detected in the first detection range after decelerating the casing to a predetermined speed. ..

By doing so, it is determined that there is a high possibility that an obstacle that is approaching is detected, the housing is decelerated at a predetermined speed, and then the detected object is detected within the stop range again. In such a case, since the housing is stopped, it is possible to realize a moving device that can prevent malfunction due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before.

(10) When the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the first detection range when the housing is stopped, the control unit controls the distance detection unit to operate over a plurality of predetermined past frame times. When it is determined whether or not the detection object having the same distance value is detected, and when the distance detection unit has detected the detection object having the same distance value over the plurality of past frame times, the control unit is Alternatively, the casing may be stopped.

With this configuration, when the housing is stopped, the detected object is detected within the stop range, and the detected object having the same distance value is continuously detected over a plurality of predetermined past frame times. Since the presence/absence of the obstacle is determined based on whether or not the mobile device has been used, it is possible to realize a mobile device that prevents malfunction due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than conventional.

(11) When the distance detection unit detects an object whose distance value changes irregularly in the second detection range over the plurality of past frame times, the control unit sets the speed to a predetermined speed. The housing may be decelerated.

The "detection of an object whose distance value changes irregularly" includes, for example, a case where an obstacle is detected when the sensor is out of order due to noise such as rain, fog, or snow.
This also applies to the case where an obstacle that changes irregularly, such as grass leaves swaying in the wind, is detected in the grass.

By doing this, when detecting an object whose distance value changes irregularly, the housing is decelerated and moved, so malfunctions due to the effects of noise such as rain, fog, and snow can be prevented with higher accuracy than before. A mobile device is provided.

1 is a left side view showing an autonomous vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the autonomous running type vehicle of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the electric chassis part in the autonomous running type vehicle of FIG. 3(A) is a right side view of the electric chassis part, and FIG. 3(B) is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 3(A). It is a block diagram which shows the structure relevant to the traveling control of the autonomous running type vehicle of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the detection range of the distance detection part of the autonomous running type vehicle of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of switching of the distance detection part of FIG. FIG. 6(A) is a distance detection unit driven at the time of forward movement or front slalom, and FIG. 6(B) is a distance detection unit driven at the time of turning to the ground to the left. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the obstacle detection process of the conventional autonomous vehicle. It is a graph which shows the change of the distance to the said detected object, when a distance detection part detects the detected object within a monitoring range. FIG. 8(A) is a graph showing changes in the distance to a normal obstacle, and FIG. 8(B) shows changes in the distance to the detected object due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow. It is a graph. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of obstacle detection processing of the autonomous traveling type vehicle of FIG. 1. 3 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between a distance value to an object to be detected and a motion of the vehicle for each frame of the autonomous vehicle of FIG. 1. 7 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between a distance value to a detection object detected by a distance detection unit on the front surface and a rear surface of an autonomous traveling vehicle according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the operation of the vehicle. 9 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between a distance value to a detected object detected by a distance detection unit on the left and right side surfaces of the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention and the operation of the vehicle. 9 is a table showing the relationship between the traveling operation of the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the third embodiment of the present invention and the monitoring range and deceleration/stop range. 9 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between a distance value to a detected object detected by a distance detection unit on the side surface of the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention and an operation of the vehicle. 15 is a table showing conditions for canceling the dive determination when the dive determination due to noise is made in FIG. 14. It is a flow chart which shows the flow of obstacle detection processing of an autonomous running type vehicle concerning Embodiment 5 of the present invention. It is a graph which shows an example of change of the distance to the detected object, when the distance detection part detects the detected object within the monitoring range.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 as an example of a moving device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiments below.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is not limited to application to an autonomous traveling type vehicle, and may be applied to a moving device such as a vehicle driven by a person as long as the movement is controlled according to the detection result of surrounding obstacles. It may be.
Further, it is not limited to a traveling device having a car, and may be a bipedal (multi-legged) walking type robot or a floating type moving device using magnetism or the like.
Further, it is not limited to a traveling device that travels on the ground, and may be, for example, a moving device such as an aircraft or drone flying in the air, a ship or hovercraft navigating over water, or a submarine moving underwater.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a left side view showing an autonomous traveling vehicle 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a plan view of the autonomous vehicle 1 of FIG. In addition, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electric chassis part in the autonomous vehicle 1 of FIG. 1. 3(A) is a right side view of the electric chassis part, and FIG. 3(B) is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 3(A). FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration related to traveling control of the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 of FIG. 1.

The autonomous traveling vehicle 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention mainly includes an electric chassis part 10, an elevating mechanism part 50 provided on the electric chassis part 10, and an image provided at the tip of the elevating mechanism part 50. A surveillance camera 60 as a unit is provided.

More specifically, the distance detecting unit 12 is provided on the front end of the electric chassis 10 and the Wi-Fi antenna 71 and the warning light 72 are provided on the rear end of the electric chassis 10. CCD cameras 73 are provided on the left and right side surfaces and the rear end surface of the vehicle, and a GPS antenna 74 is provided at a position behind the monitoring camera 60 of the lifting mechanism section 50.

The distance detection unit 12 has a function of confirming a state of a moving front area or a road surface, and includes a light emitting unit that emits light, a light receiving unit that receives light, and a plurality of predetermined objects to be detected in the front space. A scanning control unit that scans the emission direction of the light so that the light is emitted toward the light source.

The distance detection unit 12 emits a laser into a two-dimensional (2D) space or a three-dimensional (3D) space within a predetermined distance measurement area to measure the distances of a plurality of objects to be detected within the distance measurement area. (Light Detection and Ranging, or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging: Rider) can be used.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of distance detection units 12 may be provided on the front, rear, left and right sides of the housing.

The control unit 100 is a unit that executes a traveling function, a monitoring function, and the like that the autonomous vehicle 1 has, and includes, for example, a control unit (a traveling control unit and a safety control unit), an instruction recognition unit, an instruction execution unit, and the like. ..

The autonomous vehicle 1 stores in advance map information and travel route information of an area to be traveled, and uses information acquired from the monitoring camera 60, the distance detection unit 12 and the GPS (Global Positioning System) to detect obstacles. It is configured to travel on a predetermined route while avoiding
In the first embodiment, the distance detection unit 12 emits a laser beam in a two-dimensional (2D) space to measure the distance to the object to be detected, but may emit a laser beam in a three-dimensional (3D) space. Good.

The autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 uses the surveillance camera 60, the distance detection unit 12, and the like to drive itself while confirming the state in front of the electric vehicle chassis 10 in the traveling direction. For example, when it detects that there is an obstacle or a step ahead, it changes its course by stopping, rotating, moving backward, moving forward, etc. in order to prevent collision with the obstacle. To do.

Next, a configuration related to traveling of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that the right front wheel 21 and the rear wheel 22 are shown by two-dot chain lines in FIG. 3(A), and the sprockets 21b, 22b, 31b, 32b described later are shown by broken lines in FIG. 3(B).

<Explanation of the electric chassis 10>
The electric chassis part 10 includes a chassis body 11, four wheels provided at the front, rear, left, and right of the chassis body 11, and two electric motors that individually rotate and drive at least one pair of left and right wheels on the front and rear sides of the four wheels. 41R and 41L, a battery 40 that supplies electric power to the two electric motors 41R and 41L, a distance detection unit 12, and a control unit 100.

In the case of the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B), the electric chassis 10 moves forward in the direction of arrow A, and therefore the left and right wheels on the arrow A side are the front wheels 21 and 31, and the remaining wheels. The left and right wheels are rear wheels 22 and 32, and the left and right front wheels 21 and 31 are individually driven and controlled by two electric motors 41R and 41L.

In FIG. 3B, the front wheels 21 and 31 and the rear wheels 22 and 32 have ground contact center points G ₂₁ , G ₃₁ and G ₂₂ , G ₃₂ , respectively.
Further, the battery 40 is housed in the housing space 16 of the chassis main body 11.

3(A) and 3(B) simply describe the respective components that make up the electric chassis part 10 and their arrangement, the electric chassis parts shown in FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) are shown. The size, spacing, etc. of each component of 10 are not necessarily the same as those of the electric chassis 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the chassis main body 11, bumpers 17f and 17r are attached to the front surface 13 and the rear surface 14, and strip-shaped covers 18 are installed on the right side surface 12R and the left side surface 12L, and extend along the front-rear direction of the chassis main body 11. There is. Under the cover 18, there are provided axles 21a, 31a and axles 22a, 32a that rotatably support the front wheels 21, 31 and the rear wheels 22, 32, respectively. The axles 21a and 31a of the front wheels 21 and 31 are arranged on the same first shaft center P ₁ , and the axles 22a and 32a of the rear wheels 22 and 32 are arranged on the same second shaft center P ₂ . ..
In addition, each axle 21a, 31a, 22a, 32a can be rotated independently, when it is not connected by the power transmission member.

The pair of right and left front wheels 21, 31 and rear wheels 22, 32 are interlocked by belts 23, 33 which are power transmission members. Specifically, the axle 21a of the right front wheel 21 is provided with a sprocket 21b, and the axle 22a of the rear wheel 22 is provided with a sprocket 22b. Further, between the sprocket 21b of the front wheel 21 and the sprocket 22b of the rear wheel 22, a belt 23 having, for example, a protrusion on its inner surface side that meshes with the sprockets 21b and 22b is wound. Similarly, the sprocket 31b is provided on the axle 31a of the left front wheel 31, and the sprocket 32b is provided on the axle 32a of the rear wheel 32. A belt 33 having a structure similar to that of the belt 23 is wound around.

Therefore, the right and left front wheels and the rear wheels 21 and 22, 31 and 32 are connected and driven by the belts 23 and 33, so that one of the wheels may be driven. The first embodiment exemplifies a case where the front wheels 21 and 31 are driven. When one of the wheels 21, 31 is used as a driving wheel, the other wheel 22, 32 functions as a driven wheel that is driven by the belts 23, 33 that are power transmission members without slipping.

As the power transmission member for connecting and driving the front wheels and the rear wheels, sprockets 21b, 31b and belts 23, 33 provided with projections meshing with the sprockets 21b, 31b are used. A chain that meshes with 21b and 31b may be used. Furthermore, when slippage is acceptable, the pulley and belts 23 and 33 having large friction may be used as the power transmission member. However, the power transmission member is configured such that the driving wheels and the driven wheels have the same rotational speed.
In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the front wheels 21 and 31 correspond to driving wheels, and the rear wheels 22 and 32 correspond to driven wheels.

Two motors, an electric motor 41R for driving the front and rear wheels 21, 22 on the right side, and an electric motor 41L for driving the front and rear wheels 31, 32 on the left side are provided on the front wheel side of the bottom surface 15 of the chassis body 11. Has been. A gear box 43R is provided as a power transmission mechanism between the motor shaft 42R of the right electric motor 41R and the axle 21a of the right front wheel 21. Similarly, a gearbox 43L is provided as a power transmission mechanism between the motor shaft 42L of the left electric motor 41L and the axle 31a of the left front wheel 31. Here, the two electric motors 41R and 41L are arranged in parallel so as to be bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the center line CL in the traveling direction of the chassis body 11 (direction of arrow A), and the gear boxes 43R and 43L are also electric motors, respectively. It is arranged on the left and right outside of 41R and 41L.

The gearboxes 43R and 43L are assembly parts that are composed of a plurality of gears and shafts, and transmit the power from the electric motors 41R and 41L to the axles 21a and 31a that are output shafts by changing the torque, the rotation speed, and the rotation direction. Yes, it may include a clutch that switches between transmission and interruption of power.
The pair of rear wheels 22 and 32 are rotatably supported by bearings 44R and 44L, respectively, and the bearings 44R and 44L are arranged close to the right side surface 12R and the left side surface 12L of the bottom surface 15 of the chassis body 11, respectively. There is.

With the above configuration, the front and rear wheels 21, 22 on the right side in the traveling direction and the front and rear wheels 31, 32 on the left side can be independently driven. That is, the power of the electric motor 41R on the right side is transmitted to the gear box 43R via the motor shaft 42R, and the gear box 43R changes the rotation speed, the torque, or the rotation direction, and then is transmitted to the axle 21a. The front wheel 21 is rotated by the rotation of the axle 21a, and the rotation of the axle 21a is transmitted to the rear axle 22a via the sprocket 21b, the belt 23, and the sprocket 22b to rotate the rear wheel 22. The transmission of power from the left electric motor 41L to the front wheels 31 and the rear wheels 32 is similar to the operation on the right side described above.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electric chassis section 10 of the first embodiment includes a control section 100, a storage section 101, a travel drive section 102, and a distance detection section 12.

Hereinafter, each component of the electric chassis 10 of FIG. 4 will be described.

The control unit 100 is a unit that controls the operation of each component of the autonomous vehicle 1, and includes a traveling control unit, a communication control unit, and the like.
It is mainly realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I/O controller, a timer and the like. The control unit 100 is a circuit mainly composed of a CPU or a microprocessor. The control unit 100 organically operates each hardware based on a control program stored in advance in a ROM or the like, and has an obstacle detection function and a travel control function of the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 of the present invention as described later. And so on.
The peripheral circuit may include an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), which is an integrated circuit designed and manufactured for a specific application, and a circuit having another arithmetic function.

The control unit 100 executes the obstacle determination function and the traveling control function of the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 based on the obstacle determination program and the traveling control program of the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 stored in the storage unit 101.
Further, the control unit 100 executes the obstacle determination function and the traveling control function of the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 by reading the obstacle determination program and the traveling control program recorded in the computer-readable recording medium. May be

Further, the control unit 100 may control the traveling of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 based on the traveling control command received from an external traveling control device such as a server via the communication unit.
In this case, the external traveling control device reads the obstacle determination program and the traveling control program of the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 stored in a storage unit such as a server or recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. , An obstacle determination function and a traveling control function of the autonomous vehicle 1.

The storage unit 101 is a unit that stores information and programs required to realize various functions of the autonomous vehicle 1, and uses a semiconductor element such as RAM or ROM, a storage medium such as a hard disk, or a flash memory. ..

The traveling drive unit 102 controls the electric motors 41R and 41L, the motor shafts 42R and 42L, and the gearboxes 43R and 43L to drive the front wheels 21 and 31 and the rear wheels 22 and 32, thereby traveling the electric vehicle chassis 10. This is the part to drive.

The distance detection unit 12 is, for example, a unit that detects the distance to the detected object around the vehicle by emitting a laser in a two-dimensional (2D) space and measuring the distance to the detected object.

Further, the presence or absence of an obstacle around the housing may be detected by oscillating an ultrasonic wave around the housing and receiving the ultrasonic wave reflected by the obstacle.
In this case, the distance detection unit 12 detects the distance to the obstacle based on the elapsed time from the oscillation of ultrasonic waves to the reception.

<Flow of obstacle detection processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention>
Next, the flow of the obstacle detection processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the detection range of the distance detection unit 12 of the autonomous vehicle 1 of FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of switching the distance detection unit 12 of FIG. FIG. 6A shows the distance detection unit 12 driven at the time of forward movement or front slalom, and FIG. 6B shows the distance detection unit 12 driven at the time of turning to the ground to the left. Further, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of obstacle detection processing of the conventional autonomous vehicle 1. Further, FIG. 8 is a graph showing a change in the distance to the detected object when the distance detection unit 12 detects the detected object within the detection range. FIG. 8(A) is a graph showing changes in the distance to a normal object to be detected, and FIG. 8(B) shows changes in the distance to the object to be detected due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow. It is a graph shown. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of obstacle detection processing of the autonomous vehicle 1 of FIG. Further, FIG. 10 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between the distance value to the detected object for each frame of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 of FIG. 1 and the operation of the vehicle.

First, problems of the conventional obstacle detection process and an outline of the obstacle detection process of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 5, the autonomous vehicle 1 includes a total of six distance detection units 12, two on the front of the housing, one on each of the left and right sides of the housing, and two on the rear of the housing. ..

The control unit 100 determines which distance detection unit 12 of these distance detection units 12 should be driven according to the moving direction of the housing, and also switches the obstacle monitoring distance as necessary.

FIG. 5 shows a deceleration range, a stop range and a monitoring range.
In the example of FIG. 5, the deceleration range is set within the distance range of 40 cm to 100 cm from the distance detection unit 12, and the stop range is set within the range range of the distance detection unit 12 from 40 cm. ..

For example, the control unit 100 decelerates the vehicle when the distance detection unit 12 detects an obstacle ahead in the deceleration range while the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 is moving forward.
Further, the control unit 100 stops the vehicle when the distance detection unit 12 detects an obstacle ahead in the stop range while the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 is moving forward.

As described above, the control unit 100 decelerates or stops the vehicle according to whether the obstacle enters the deceleration range or the stop range while the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 is traveling, and It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 that avoids the collision in advance.

The monitoring range indicates an obstacle detection range, and is generally the same range as the deceleration range or a range larger than the deceleration range.

The control unit 100 detects an object to be detected within the monitoring range by the distance detecting unit 12, and the distance detecting unit 12 detects a distance to the object to be detected.

On the other hand, a detected object located outside the monitoring range is “undetected”.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 100 determines which distance detection unit 12 should be driven according to the moving direction.

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the vehicle is moving forward or in front of the slalom (meandering forward), the control unit 100 drives the two distance detection units 12 provided on the front surface 13.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the vehicle turns left to the ground, the control unit 100 drives the three distance detection units 12 provided on the right side surface 12R and the rear surface 14.

The control unit 100 may change the monitoring range according to the moving direction.

<Explanation of the electric chassis 10>
Next, the flow of the obstacle detection processing of the conventional autonomous vehicle 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S1 of FIG. 7, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the distance detection unit 12 has detected an object to be detected within the deceleration range (step S1).

In step S1, when the distance detection unit 12 detects an object to be detected within the deceleration range (when the determination in step S1 is Yes), the control unit 100 decelerates the vehicle to a predetermined speed in step S2. (Step S2).
When the vehicle is already decelerating, it is assumed that the vehicle continues traveling while maintaining the decelerated speed.
After that, the control unit 100 returns the process to step S1 (step S1).

On the other hand, when the distance detection unit 12 does not detect the detected object within the deceleration range in step S1 (when the determination in step S1 is No), the control unit 100 detects the detected object within the stop range in step S3. It is determined whether or not an object is detected (step S3).

When the distance detection unit 12 detects an object to be detected within the stop range (when the determination in step S3 is Yes), the control unit 100 stops the vehicle in step S4 (step S4).
Then, the control unit 100 ends the process.

On the other hand, when the distance detection unit 12 does not detect the detected object within the stop range (when the determination in step S3 is No), the control unit 100 determines in step S5 whether the vehicle is decelerating. (Step S5).

When the vehicle is decelerating (when the determination in step S5 is Yes), the distance detecting unit 12 does not detect the object to be detected in the deceleration range or the stop range, and thus the control unit 100 causes the control unit 100 to execute the step S6. At, the deceleration of the vehicle is released, and the vehicle returns to the normal speed (step S6).
After that, the control unit 100 returns the process to step S1 (step S1).

On the other hand, when the vehicle is not decelerating (when the determination in step S5 is No), the control unit 100 determines that the vehicle is traveling at the normal speed and returns the process to step S1 (step S1).

FIG. 8 shows a change in the distance to the detected object detected by the distance detection unit 12 when the distance detection unit 12 detects the detected object within the front monitoring range while the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 is moving forward. It is a graph which shows.

Here, the horizontal axis of FIG. 8 represents time, and the vertical axis of FIG. 8 represents the distance value to the detected object.
In FIG. 8, the monitoring range is the same as the combined stop range and deceleration range.

In FIG. 8A, the distance value changes from “100 cm” to “60 cm” and “30 cm” for each predetermined frame time.
That is, the distance value changes from outside the monitoring range to within the monitoring (deceleration) range, and from within the deceleration range to within the stop range.

In this way, when the autonomous vehicle 1 approaches an obstacle, the distances to the detected object detected by the distance detection unit 12 are “not detected” to “100 cm”, “100 cm” to “60 cm”, The distance value gradually changes and is detected for each scanning, such as "60 cm" to "30 cm".

On the other hand, FIG. 8B shows an example of changes in the distance value in a situation where rain, fog, snow, or the like is falling.

In FIG. 8B, the distance value suddenly changes from “100 cm” to “30 cm” with the passage of time.
That is, the distance value suddenly changes from outside the monitoring range to within the stopping range.

It is considered that this is because the distance value is significantly changed as a result of the distance detection unit 12 erroneously detecting noise caused by jumping in of rain, fog, snow, or the like.
In fact, the distance detection unit 12 intermittently detects a random change in the distance value due to the influence of noise such as rain, fog, and snow.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the traveling control method based only on the detected distance value to the detected object is actually detected within the stop range when rain, fog, snow, etc. are erroneously detected within the stop range. The autonomous vehicle 1 may frequently stop even though there is no obstacle.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to avoid such a problem, the traveling of the vehicle is controlled according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Note that steps S11, S12, S14, S17, S20, and S21 of FIG. 9 correspond to steps S1 to S6 of FIG. 7, respectively, and thus description thereof will be omitted.
Here, steps S13, S15, S16, S18 and S19 not shown in FIG. 7 will be described.

In step S11 of FIG. 7, when the distance detection unit 12 detects an object to be detected within the deceleration range (when the determination in step S11 is Yes), the control unit 100 sets the vehicle to a predetermined speed in step S12. (Step S12), and in the subsequent step S13, the distance value to the object to be detected detected by the distance detection part 12 is stored in the storage part 101 (step S13).

In addition, in step S14, when the distance detection unit 12 detects an object to be detected within the stop range (when the determination in step S14 is Yes), the control unit 100 refers to the storage unit 101 in step S15, The presence or absence of the detected object one frame before is confirmed (step S15).

In the following step S16, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the distance detection unit 12 has detected the detected object within the monitoring range one frame before (step S16).

When the distance detection unit 12 has detected the detected object within the monitoring range one frame before (when the determination in step S16 is Yes), the control unit 100 determines that the obstacle approaches the vehicle in step S17. It is determined that the vehicle is present, and the vehicle is stopped (step S17).

On the other hand, when the distance detection unit 12 does not detect the detected object within the monitoring range one frame before (when the determination in step S16 is No), the control unit 100 determines that the detected object detected in step S14 is , It is determined to be due to false detection of noise caused by the jumping of rain, fog, snow, or the like.

Next, the control unit 100 decelerates the vehicle for safety in step S18 (step S18), and in the subsequent step S19, the distance value to the detected object detected by the distance detection unit 12 is stored in the storage unit 101. It is stored (step S19).
In step S18, when the vehicle is already decelerating, the vehicle continues to travel while maintaining the decelerated speed.

By doing this, as shown in FIG. 8(B), when the detected object is suddenly detected within the stop range, it is determined that it is due to the noise caused by the jumping in of rain, fog, snow, or the like. Then, the vehicle continues running without stopping.

Note that the above-described dive determination may be performed for each frame and for all the front, rear, left, and right distance detection units 12 regardless of the moving direction of the vehicle.

10 is based on the flowchart of FIG. 9 and whether the vehicle should be stopped depending on whether the distance value to the detected object for each frame of the autonomous vehicle 1 is within the deceleration range or the stop range. It is the table which showed the result.

FIG. 10 shows whether or not the vehicle should be stopped when the distance value is one of undetected, deceleration range (L), deceleration range (M), and stop range (S) in frames 0 to 3. The result is shown.

For example, in the third case of FIG. 10, in frame 3, the distance value to the detected object is detected within the stop range (S).
However, in the immediately preceding frame 2, the distance value to the detected object is outside the deceleration range (L), so the vehicle is not stopped.
This case corresponds to the case of FIG.

On the other hand, in the sixth example of FIG. 10, in frame 3, the distance value to the detected object is detected within the stop range (S).
In the frame 2 one frame before, since the distance value to the detected object is within the deceleration range (M), the vehicle is stopped.
This case corresponds to the case of FIG.

In this way, when the distance detection unit 12 detects an object to be detected within the stop range, the distance value of the object to be detected in the immediately preceding frame is confirmed, and if the distance value is within the monitoring range, the vehicle is detected. By stopping the operation and decelerating the vehicle when the vehicle is out of the monitoring range, it is possible to realize the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 that can prevent malfunction due to the influence of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, an example of the obstacle detection process according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 11 to 12.
FIG. 11 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between the distance value to the object to be detected detected by the distance detection unit 12 on the front surface 13 and the rear surface 14 of the autonomous vehicle 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the operation of the vehicle. Is. Further, FIG. 12 shows a correspondence relationship between the distance value to the object to be detected detected by the distance detection unit 12 of the left and right side surfaces 12L and 12R of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the operation of the vehicle. It is a table shown.

In the first embodiment, the same obstacle detection process is performed on the detected objects that are detected on the left, right, front, and rear of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1, but in the second embodiment, the obstacles are detected in front of or behind the autonomous traveling vehicle 1. Different obstacle detection processing is performed depending on whether the detected object is detected or the object detected laterally.

Specifically, for an object detected by the distance detection unit 12 provided on the front surface 13 or the rear surface 14 of the autonomous vehicle 1, obstacle detection processing is performed according to the table of FIG. Obstacle detection processing is performed according to the table of FIG. 12 for the object detected by the distance detection unit 12 provided on the left and right side surfaces 12L and 12R of the type vehicle 1.

In FIG. 11, the row indicates the range of distance values of the current frame, and the column indicates the range of distance values of the immediately preceding frame.

The range of the distance value of the current frame is “undetected”, “outside deceleration range”, “inside deceleration range”, “inside stop range +10 cm”, “inside stop range” and “detection/distance unknown” in order from the left. Including range of types.

Here, "detection/unknown distance" is a case where the distance detection unit 12 has detected an object to be detected, but the distance value is unknown.
For example, even if light, sound waves, or the like emitted from the distance detection unit 12 hits the detected object, the surface of the detected object does not return an echo, or the distance between the detected object and the distance detection unit 12 is large. The distance value becomes unknown when is too close to determine the echo.

In addition, the range of the distance value of the previous frame includes four types of ranges, “not detected”, “in the deceleration range”, “in the stop range”, and “detection/distance unknown” in order from the top.

In the table of FIG. 11, when the object to be detected is “in the deceleration range”, “in the stop range”, and “detection/distance unknown”, it is assumed to be in the monitoring range.
On the other hand, when the object to be detected is “undetected”, it is outside the monitoring range.

As shown in FIG. 11, the following cases (1) to (4) can be considered as conditions for stopping the vehicle.

(1) The detected object is within the stop range in the current frame and within the deceleration range in the previous frame.
This is the same as the case of the first embodiment.

(2) The detected object is within the stop range in the current frame and within the stop range in the previous frame.
This is because when the vehicle continues to stop from the front frame and the object to be detected is within the stop range, the vehicle continues to stop.

(3) The object to be detected is within the stop range +10 cm in the current frame and within the stop range in the previous frame.
This is because when the vehicle continues to stop from the front frame, but the object to be detected has moved, but within the stop range +10 cm, there is a possibility of collision with the object to be detected, so the vehicle will continue to This is to stop it.

(4) The detected object is detected in the current frame, but the distance value is unknown, and the detected object is within the monitoring range in the previous frame.
This is because after detecting the detected object in the previous frame, the detected object is also detected in the current frame, but when the distance value is unknown, the vehicle is continuously stopped for safety.

(5) The detected object is within the stop range +10 cm or within the stopped range in the current frame, and the detected object is detected in the previous frame, but the distance value is unknown.
This is for safety when the detected object is detected in the previous frame, but the distance value is unknown, and the detected object is also detected within the stop range +10 cm or within the stop range in the current frame. This is to continue stopping the vehicle.

On the other hand, in FIG. 11, a portion surrounded by a broken line frame is determined as a dive determination when the noise due to the dive of rain, fog, snow, or the like is detected by the distance detection unit 12, and avoids the stop. It is the part to do.

Specifically, if the undetected object in the previous frame suddenly entered the stop range in the current frame, or if the distance value of the detected object is unknown, the vehicle is decelerated without stopping. ..

Further, when the dive determination is made, the control unit 100 records the stop range at the time of the dive determination, and continues the deceleration of the vehicle without canceling the dive determination until the vehicle exits the range.

The dive determination is made by a function (diveDtCounter).
The number of frames that have passed since the dive was first detected is counted by diveDtCounter, and when it is 0, it is determined that the dive is not performed.
If it is greater than 0, the jumping object is continuously detected.

On the other hand, when the distance detection units 12 provided on the left and right side surfaces 12L and 12R of the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 detect an object to be detected, the obstacle detection process is performed according to the table of FIG.

The table of FIG. 12 is different from the table of FIG. 11 in that the distance value outside the deceleration range is also considered in the previous frame.
Further, even a range outside the same deceleration range is classified into a range included within the monitoring range and a range included outside the monitoring range.

In the table of FIG. 12, in the previous frame, the same processing as that performed when the detected object is within the deceleration range is applied when the detected object is outside the deceleration range and within the monitoring range.
Further, in the previous frame, the same processing as the processing when the detected object is not detected is applied when the detected object is outside the deceleration range and outside the monitoring range.

In the table of FIG. 12, the reason why the case where the object to be detected is outside the deceleration range in the previous frame is also taken into consideration. When the detection range of the distance detection unit 12 is small, it is difficult to detect while traveling, This is because if it is not detected as early as possible, it will not be possible to avoid contact with an obstacle.

In this way, by performing different obstacle detection processing depending on whether the detected object is detected in front of or behind the autonomous traveling vehicle 1 or detected laterally, rain, fog, snow, etc. It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 capable of preventing the malfunction due to the influence of the noise of 1 above with higher accuracy than conventional.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, an example of the obstacle detection process according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 13 is a table showing the relationship between the traveling operation of the autonomous vehicle 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention and the monitoring range and deceleration/stop range.

As shown in FIG. 13, different ranges are set for each of the distance detection units 12 provided on the front surface 13, the rear surface 14, and the left and right side surfaces 12L, 12R depending on the traveling operation.

(1) With respect to the distance detection units 12 provided on the left and right side surfaces 12L and 12R, a range within 80 cm and a monitoring range when detection/distance is unknown are set only when turning to ground.
Further, the deceleration range is set within the range of 40 to 50 cm.
Further, the stop range is set within the range of 40 cm and when the detection/distance is unknown.

(2) With respect to the distance detection unit 12 provided on the rear surface 14, the range is set in the same manner as in the case of (1) at the time of turning to ground.

(3) With respect to the distance detection unit 12 provided on the front surface 13, the monitoring range is set within the range of 150 cm when the vehicle is moving forward or in the front slalom and when the detection/distance is unknown.
Further, the deceleration range is set within the range of 150 cm.
Further, the stop range is set within the range of 60 cm and when the detection/distance is unknown.

(4) With respect to the distance detection unit 12 provided on the rear surface 14, the range is set at the time of reverse or reverse slalom as in the case of (3).

As described above, the distance detection units 12 provided on the front surface 13, the rear surface 14 and the left and right side surfaces 12L, 12R are set finely in different ranges according to the traveling operation, so that noises such as rain, fog, and snow are generated. It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 that prevents malfunction due to influence with higher accuracy than conventional.

(Embodiment 4)
Next, an example of the obstacle detection processing according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 14 and 15.
FIG. 14 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between the distance value to the object to be detected detected by the distance detection unit 12 on the side surface of the autonomous vehicle 1 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention and the operation of the vehicle. Further, FIG. 15 is a table showing conditions for canceling the dive determination when the dive determination due to noise is made in FIG.

In FIG. 14, the row indicates the classification of the distance value of the current frame, and the column indicates the classification of the distance value of the immediately preceding frame.
Here, the classification of distance values is set in advance as shown in FIG.

The other items in FIG. 14 are the same as those in FIGS. 11 and 12, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 14, a portion surrounded by a broken line frame is a portion for avoiding the stop, as the dive determination is made when the distance detection unit 12 detects noise caused by the dive of rain, fog, snow, or the like. Is.

For example, when the distance value classification is 9 (within the monitoring range) in the previous frame and the distance value classification is 4 in the current frame, it is determined that the dive determination has been made and the vehicle is decelerated.

When the dive determination is made, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the dive determination should be canceled according to the table of FIG.

In FIG. 15, in the case of “cancellation”, after canceling the dive determination, the process returns to FIG. 14 and the operation of the vehicle is determined.
This is because it is considered that noise such as rain, fog, and snow is not detected when the distance value classification is equal to or larger than a predetermined value (5 in the example of FIG. 15) in the current frame.

On the other hand, in the case of “continue to dive”, the vehicle deceleration is continued without canceling the dive determination.
This is because if the classification of the distance value is smaller than a predetermined value (5 in the example of FIG. 15) in the current frame, it is considered that noise such as rain, fog, and snow is still detected.

For example, if the distance value classification is 4 in the previous frame after the dive determination is made and the distance value classification is 5 in the current frame, the dive determination is canceled and the process returns to FIG. Determine the behavior of.

Then, in FIG. 14, when the distance value classification is 5 (within the monitoring range) and the distance value classification is 4 in the current frame, the vehicle is stopped.

In this way, by setting the conditions for canceling the dive determination when the dive determination due to noise is made, autonomous operation that prevents malfunction due to noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before The traveling vehicle 1 can be realized.

(Embodiment 5)
Next, an example of the obstacle detection processing according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 16 and 17.
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a flow of obstacle detection processing of the autonomous vehicle 1 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a graph showing an example of changes in the distance to the detected object when the distance detection unit 12 detects the detected object within the monitoring range.

Note that steps S31 to S34, S37 to S39, S40 and S41 of FIG. 16 correspond to steps S11 to S14, S17 to S19, S20 and S21 of FIG.
Here, steps S35 and S36 not shown in FIG. 9 will be described.

In step S34 of FIG. 7, when the distance detection unit 12 detects an object to be detected within the stop range (when the determination in step S34 is Yes), the control unit 100 refers to the storage unit 101 in step S35. , 1 to 3 frames before is detected (step S35).

In the following step S36, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the distance detection unit 12 has detected the object to be detected approaching within the monitoring range 1 to 3 frames before (step S36).

When the distance detection unit 12 has detected the detected object approaching within the monitoring range 1 to 3 frames before (when the determination in step S36 is Yes), the control unit 100 determines in step S37 that the obstacle is the vehicle. When it is determined that the vehicle is approaching, the vehicle is stopped (step S37).

On the other hand, when the distance detection unit 12 has not detected the detected object within the monitoring range 1 to 3 frames before (when the determination in step S36 is No), the control unit 100 detects the detected object detected in step S34. It is determined that the object is due to erroneous detection of noise caused by jumping in of rain, fog, snow, or the like.

Here, in step S36, “detecting an approaching detected object” is a case where it is detected that the distance to the detected object detected by the distance detection unit 12 approaches each frame.

However, the distance value to the object to be detected does not have to be detected in all of the target past plural frames.
For example, as shown in FIG. 17, even if the distance value to the detected object is not detected in some frames due to a malfunction of the distance detection unit 12 due to the influence of noise, etc. When the control unit 100 detects that the distance value to the detected object tends to decrease, the control unit 100 determines that “an approaching detected object is detected”.

In addition, for example, when it is detected that the average of the distance values tends to decrease as a result of averaging the distance values to the detected object for every three frames, the control unit 100 also determines that “the approaching detected object is approaching”. Is detected”.

Note that when the approaching object is detected over a part of a plurality of past frame times, but the object is not detected during another part of the frame times, the control unit 100 determines that the approaching object is approaching. The vehicle may be decelerated once, assuming that there is a high possibility that an obstacle is detected.

Further, the control unit 100 may stop the vehicle when the detected object is detected within the stop range again after the vehicle is decelerated once.

In this way, by determining the presence or absence of an obstacle based on whether or not a detected object approaching over a part of a plurality of past frame times is detected, noise such as rain, fog, or snow is detected. Provided is an autonomous traveling vehicle 1 capable of preventing malfunction due to influence with higher accuracy than ever before.

(Embodiment 6)
As a sixth embodiment, when the vehicle passes through a narrow road, the monitoring range and the deceleration range may be set to be narrower than the normal time when the front frame in the lateral direction is referred to.

In this way, by narrowing the monitoring range and deceleration range when referring to the previous frame according to the road width, malfunctions due to the effects of noise such as rain, fog, and snow can be reduced even when driving on narrow roads. It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 that prevents with high accuracy.

(Embodiment 7)
As the seventh embodiment, the monitoring range or the deceleration range may be changed according to the traveling speed of the vehicle.

For example, as the traveling speed of the vehicle increases, the monitoring range or deceleration range is widened so that obstacles in an appropriate range according to the traveling speed of the vehicle are monitored. It is possible to effectively reduce the influence of noise caused by.

In this way, by changing the monitoring range and deceleration range according to the traveling speed of the vehicle, obstacles in an appropriate range corresponding to the traveling speed of the vehicle are targeted, so noise such as rain, fog, or snow is generated. It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 capable of preventing the malfunction due to the influence of 1) with higher accuracy than before.

(Embodiment 8)
As the eighth embodiment, the past frame time to be referred to in the dive determination may be changed according to the traveling speed of the vehicle.

For example, as the traveling speed of the vehicle decreases, it becomes possible to clearly detect a change in the distance value to the detected object by referring to past frame times of three frames or more. It is possible to easily distinguish whether the object is due to the approach of an obstacle or the effect of noise caused by jumping in of rain, fog, snow, or the like.

In this way, by making the past frame time referred to when making a dive determination different according to the traveling speed of the vehicle, even when the traveling speed of the vehicle changes, noise such as rain, fog, or snow can be generated. It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 that prevents malfunction due to influence with higher accuracy than conventional.

(Embodiment 9)
As a ninth embodiment, when the vehicle stops, the control unit 100 determines whether or not there is an erroneous detection depending on how many seconds the detected object having the same distance value is continuously detected within the stop range. You can

For example, when the detected object having the same distance value is continuously detected for one second in the stop range, the control unit 100 determines that the detection of the detected object is not an erroneous detection.

In this way, the effect of noise such as rain, fog, or snow is determined by determining whether or not there is an erroneous detection depending on how many seconds the detected object with the same distance value is continuously detected within the stop range. It is possible to realize the autonomous traveling type vehicle 1 capable of preventing the malfunction due to the above with higher accuracy than ever before.

(Embodiment 10)
As Embodiment 10, the control unit 100 may cause the vehicle to decelerate when an object whose distance value changes irregularly is detected within the monitoring range over a plurality of past frame times.

In this way, when an object whose distance value changes irregularly is detected, the vehicle is decelerated, and thus autonomous operation that prevents malfunctions due to the effects of noise such as rain, fog, and snow with higher accuracy than before. A traveling vehicle 1 is provided.

A preferable aspect of the present invention also includes a combination of any of the plurality of aspects described above.
In addition to the above-described embodiment, there may be various modifications of the present invention. These modifications should not be understood as not belonging to the scope of the present invention. This invention should have the meaning equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

1: Autonomous traveling vehicle, 10: Electric chassis part, 11: Chassis body, 12: Distance detection part, 12R: Right side surface, 12L: Left side surface, 13: Front surface, 14: Rear surface, 15: Bottom surface, 16: Storage space , 17f, 17r: bumper, 18: cover, 21, 31: front wheel, 21a, 22a, 31a, 32a: axle, 21b, 22b, 31b, 32b: sprocket, 22, 32: rear wheel, 23, 33: belt, 31Wa, 32Wa: wheel body, 31Wb, 32Wb: tire, 40: battery, 41R, 41L: electric motor, 42R, 42L: motor shaft, 43R, 43L: gearbox, 44R, 44L: bearing, 50: lifting mechanism part, 52: boom, 53: balancing unit, 60: surveillance camera, 71: Wi-Fi antenna, 72: warning light, 73: CCD camera, 74: GPS antenna, 100: control unit, 101: storage unit, 102: running drive Parts, A, B: arrows, CL: center line, CP: center point, CR: circle, G ₂₁ , G ₃₁ , G ₂₂ , G ₃₂ : ground contact center point, P ₁ , P ₂ : second axis center, R :radius

Claims (12)

Housing and
A drive unit for moving the casing,
A distance detection unit that measures the distance value to the object to be detected,
A control unit that controls the drive unit according to a detection result of the distance detection unit,
The distance detection unit detects a detected object in a preset distance range, and a second detected range in a distance range closer to the housing than the first detection range. Has a detection range,
The control unit stops the housing when the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the second detection range after detecting an object to be detected in the first detection range,
A moving device, wherein when the distance detecting unit detects an object to be detected in the second detection range without detecting an object to be detected in the first detection range, the movement of the casing is continued. Further comprising a storage unit for storing the detection result of the distance detection unit for each predetermined frame time,
The control unit, when the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the second detection range, refer to the detection result of the distance detection unit in the predetermined past frame time,
In the past frame time, when the distance detection unit has detected an object to be detected in the first detection range, stop the casing,
On the other hand, the moving device according to claim 1, wherein when the distance detection unit has not detected an object to be detected in the first detection range in the past frame time, the casing continues to move. The control unit decelerates the housing to a predetermined speed when the distance detection unit has not detected an object to be detected in the first detection range in the past frame time. The described moving device. The said control part is a moving device as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which changes the said 1st detection range according to the moving speed of the said housing|casing. The moving device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit widens the first detection range as the moving speed of the housing increases. The mobile device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the past frame time differs depending on a moving speed of the housing. When the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the second detection range, the control unit causes the distance detection unit to detect an object to be detected in the second detection range over a plurality of predetermined past frame times. Is determined to have continued to be detected,
When the distance detection unit detects an object whose distance value tends to decrease in the second detection range over the plurality of past frame times, the control unit stops the housing,
On the other hand, when the detected object whose distance value tends to decrease in the second detection range is not detected over the plurality of past frame times, the control unit continues the movement of the housing. The moving device according to any one of 1 to 6. An object whose distance value tends to decrease within the second detection range was detected over a part of the plurality of past frame times, but the detected object was detected at another part of the past frame time. The moving device according to claim 7, wherein when not detected, the control unit decelerates the housing to a predetermined speed. 9. The moving device according to claim 8, wherein the control unit decelerates and moves the housing to a predetermined speed, and then stops the housing when an object to be detected is detected in the first detection range. When the distance detection unit detects an object to be detected in the first detection range when the housing is stopped, the control unit controls the distance detection unit to have the same distance value over a plurality of predetermined past frame times. Determine whether or not the detected object of
The control unit stops the housing when the distance detection unit detects an object having the same distance value over the plurality of past frame times. The described moving device. When the distance detection unit detects an object whose distance value changes irregularly in the second detection range over the plurality of past frame times, the control unit causes the casing to move at a predetermined speed. The moving device according to claim 7, wherein the moving device decelerates. A movement control method for a moving device including a housing, comprising:
A distance detection step of measuring the distance value to the object to be detected,
A movement control step of controlling movement of the moving device according to the detection result of the distance detection step,
In the distance detection step, when the detected object is detected in the preset second detection range after detecting the detected object in the preset first detection range, the movement control step is performed to move the casing. Stop and
In the distance detecting step, when the detected object is detected in the second detection range without detecting the detected object in the first detection range, the movement of the housing is continued. Movement control method.