JP2022149385A - Autonomous travel work vehicle controlling system and vehicle controlling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To allow a plurality of operators to safely control a plurality of autonomous travel work vehicles.SOLUTION: A vehicle control apparatus 10 according to the present invention comprises: a priority value setting unit 15 for, by using a priority order value representing a priority order set for both external instructions received by an instruction receiving unit 11 of the vehicle control apparatus 10 from an outside and internal instructions issued under autonomous control of the vehicle control apparatus 10, setting a priority value relating to the latest instruction issuer having authority of controlling a work vehicle to store the same in a priority value storing unit 10B; and a control unit 16 for, if a priority order value set for instructions received by the instruction receiving unit 11 has a predetermined relation with the priority order value stored in the priority value storing unit 10B, controlling execution of the instructions received by the instruction receiving unit 11. Based on the priority order value of the instructions, authority for controlling the work vehicle is properly given to any of a plurality of instruction issuers.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a control system and a vehicle control device for an automatic traveling work vehicle, and is particularly suitable for use in a system in which a plurality of workers can control a plurality of automatic traveling work vehicles.

In recent years, as the population of farmers has decreased, the consolidation of farmland to farmers and the expansion of the scale of management have progressed. Therefore, it is expected that it will become difficult to secure skilled workers in the future. Under these circumstances, it is required to realize highly productive farming techniques while coping with a large number of farms with a limited number of workers. For example, there are high expectations for the development of technology to increase the work area per worker by utilizing automated driving work vehicles.

In relation to this, conventionally, a system for remotely controlling travel of a plurality of autonomous travel work vehicles is known (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). In the multi-unit side-by-side work system described in Patent Document 1, when an operation to start work is performed by one remote control device, a plurality of autonomously-running work vehicles run side-by-side to follow a preset running route in the field. Work is performed by traveling back and forth along the line, and an operator holds a remote control device in the vicinity and operates it. The remote control device can control multiple autonomous working vehicles individually, and can switch to and operate each autonomous working vehicle, and can simultaneously control multiple vehicles for work start and emergency stop.

The system described in Patent Document 1 is based on "visual monitoring" in which a plurality of work vehicles run side by side and an operator visually recognizes the work vehicles. Therefore, the worker's cognitive ability is a constraint, and there is a limit to how many work vehicles can be visually monitored and safely traveled by removing the constraint of running side by side. Therefore, by building a system in which a plurality of remote supervisors are added in addition to visual supervisors at the site, and multiple supervisors monitor and control a plurality of work vehicles, It is desirable to increase the number of devices that can be operated simultaneously.

However, in a system in which a plurality of supervisors control a plurality of work vehicles, there are a plurality of devices capable of issuing operation commands to a certain work vehicle. Unconditionally permitting all of these operation instructions is not desirable from the standpoint of safety and the like. For example, after a visual observer stops automatic operation of one work vehicle for safety reasons, it is not desirable to allow another remote observer to freely resume automatic operation of that work vehicle. This is because it is assumed that there may be cases where it is not possible to completely grasp whether or not safety has been ensured with only surveillance images sent from the site to a remote location.

In addition, in the remote operation device capable of instructing the work vehicle to run along the route stored in the field information storage unit, only when the input password is authenticated, the route information of the field is stored in the field information storage. There is known a system that prevents a person other than an authorized user from making settings for autonomous driving by storing the settings in the unit (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, even if the technique described in Patent Document 2 is used, it is not possible to safely control a plurality of automatic traveling work vehicles by a plurality of supervisors.

JP 2016-95659 A JP 2017-162305 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a plurality of operators to safely control a plurality of automatic traveling work vehicles.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a work vehicle control system according to the present invention provides on-vehicle operation devices mounted on a plurality of work vehicles capable of automatically traveling, and a worker at a work site who can see the work vehicles. An external instruction given to the vehicle control device from the remote control device, which is at least one of the first remote control device and the second remote control device used by an observer at a remote location who cannot visually see the work vehicle, and the autonomy of the vehicle control device The operation of a plurality of work vehicles can be controlled in accordance with an internal instruction by the control. Each of the plurality of vehicle control devices uses a priority value representing a priority set for an external instruction from each operation device and an internal instruction from the vehicle control device to determine the authority to control the work vehicle. sets and stores the priority value related to the pointing entity possessed by . Then, when an external command from each operation device or an internal command from the vehicle control device is received, the priority level value set for the received command and the priority level stored in the priority value storage unit are determined. and the priority value, and if the priority value has a predetermined relationship with the priority value, the received instruction is executed.

According to the present invention configured as described above, even when there are a plurality of operators who operate the in-vehicle operation device and the remote control device, and there are a plurality of work vehicles to be operated by the plurality of operators. , authority to control each work vehicle is appropriately granted to any one of a plurality of instruction entities based on the priority value of the instruction. As a result, it is possible for a plurality of operators to safely control a plurality of automatic traveling work vehicles.

1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a work vehicle control system according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of priority values set for each instruction subject; 4 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the vehicle control device according to the embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modified example of priority values set for each instruction subject;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a work vehicle control system (hereinafter simply referred to as a control system) according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control system of the present embodiment is mounted on each of a plurality of work vehicles 100 _-1 to 100 _-4 (in the following description, simply referred to as work vehicle 100 unless otherwise distinguished). vehicle control devices 10 _-1 to 10 _-4 (in the following description, simply referred to as vehicle control devices 10 unless otherwise distinguished) and on-vehicle operating devices 20 _-1 to 20 _-4 (in the following description, each are simply referred to as an in-vehicle operation device 20 when not particularly distinguished), a remote control type first remote operation device (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 30 used by a worker at the site where the work vehicle 100 can be visually observed, and the work vehicle A remote monitoring type second remote control device (hereinafter simply referred to as a remote control device) 40 is used by an observer at a remote base station 200 where 100 cannot be visually observed.

Work vehicles 100 _-1 to 100 _-4 are provided with work machines 101 _-1 to 101 _-4 (in the following description, simply referred to as work machine 101 unless otherwise distinguished). The working machine 101 is arbitrary, but in this embodiment, as an example, it is assumed that the working machine 101 is a tiller that is used by being connected to the rear of the vehicle body. The work machine 101 is configured to be vertically movable. The work machine 101 is lowered during work and raised when not working.

The vehicle control device 10 and the in-vehicle operating device 20 are connected by wire or wirelessly so that they can communicate with each other. Vehicle control device 10 and remote controller 30 are connected via wireless communication means such as specified low-power radio, infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), or wireless LAN, so that they can communicate with each other. It has become. Further, the vehicle control device 10 and the remote control device 40 are connected via a wireless communication means such as a wireless LAN, so that they can communicate with each other. The remote control 30 may be a mobile terminal such as a smart phone or a tablet installed with an application having a remote control function.

In the control system of the present embodiment, instructions (hereinafter referred to as external instructions) respectively given to the vehicle control device 10 from the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote control device 40, and autonomous control by the vehicle control device 10 itself. It is possible to control the operations (running and work by the work machine 101) of the plurality of work vehicles 10 _-1 to 10 _-4 in accordance with instructions (hereinafter referred to as internal instructions) issued based on.

In order to simplify the explanation, an example is shown in which there is one field worker and one remote controller 30, and one remote monitor of the base station 200 and one remote operation device 40. A plurality of remote controllers 30 and remote control devices 40 may be provided. Alternatively, there may be a plurality of field workers, some of whom ride the work vehicle 100 and control the operation, and some of the remaining workers operate the remote control 30 to control the operation. That is, the number of remote control devices 40 may be zero. Alternatively, the number of field workers may be zero and the number of remote controllers 30 may be zero. In addition, in the present embodiment, an example of a system capable of simultaneously running one to four work vehicles 100 will be described. good.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the vehicle control device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment includes, as functional configuration, an instruction receiving portion 11, a mode setting portion 12, an operation control portion 13, a state information transmitting portion 14, a priority value setting portion 15, and a control A portion 16 is provided. The vehicle control device 10 also includes a route data storage unit 10A, a priority value storage unit 10B, and a priority value storage unit 10C as storage media. Various sensors 17 and a camera 18 are electrically connected to the vehicle control device 10 .

Each functional block 11 to 16 can be configured by hardware, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software. For example, when configured by software, each functional block 11 to 16 is actually configured with a computer CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and a program stored in a recording medium such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory. is realized by the operation of

Instruction receiving unit 11 receives an external instruction given from in-vehicle operating device 20 , remote controller 30 , and remote controlling device 40 . The external instruction includes an instruction to set an operation mode related to operation of work vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as a mode setting instruction), and an instruction to operate work vehicle 100 (including travel of work vehicle 100 and operation of work implement 101). ) (hereinafter referred to as a steering instruction). The steering instruction includes an instruction for starting/stopping the engine, an instruction for starting/stopping travel, an instruction for steering control, an instruction for travel speed control, an instruction for shift control, and an operation (elevating and driving) of work implement 101. including instructions, etc.

This external instruction includes information that can identify the issuer. The information that can identify the issuer is, for example, device IDs assigned to the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote control 30, and the remote operating device 40, respectively. A device ID is a unique ID that can mutually identify a plurality of in-vehicle operating devices 20 _-1 to 20 _-4 . Similarly, when there are a plurality of remote controllers 30 or remote controllers 40, the unique ID is a unique ID that allows the plurality of remote controllers 30 or remote controllers 40 to be identified from each other.

The mode setting unit 12 sets an operation mode for driving the work vehicle 100 according to the mode setting instruction received as the external instruction by the instruction receiving unit 11 . The mode setting unit 12 may also set the operation mode for driving the work vehicle 100 according to a mode setting instruction issued as an internal instruction based on autonomous control by the operation control unit 13 . Operation modes that can be set in this embodiment are, for example, a manual operation mode, an automatic operation mode, a remote control mode, a standby mode, an emergency stop mode, and a temporary stop mode. Note that the originating instruction also includes a device ID that can identify the issuer.

In the manual operation mode, a field worker rides on the work vehicle 100 and operates the on-vehicle operation device 20 and various operation units such as a steering wheel, an accelerator, a brake, and a transmission (not shown) to operate the work vehicle 100 as a field work. This is an operation mode that is manually performed by the operator. In the following description, the field worker who rides the work vehicle 100 and controls the operation is sometimes referred to as the driver.

The automatic driving mode is an operation mode in which driving is automatically executed according to a preset plan (route data stored in the route data storage unit 10A). The route data storage unit 10A stores route data representing a travel route set in advance in a field on which the work vehicle 100 travels. The route data also includes work instruction data indicating a work plan indicating at which position in the field the work implement 101 should be lowered to perform work and at which position the work implement 101 should be raised to stop work. .

For example, this route data is transmitted from the remote control device 40 to the vehicle control device 10 before the work vehicle 100 starts traveling, and is stored in the route data storage unit 10A. The method of storing the route data in the route data storage unit 10A is not limited to wireless transmission as described above. For example, a removable storage medium storing route data may be connected to the vehicle control device 10, and the route data may be transferred from the removable storage medium to the route data storage unit 10A. Also, the route data may be dynamically generated based on data from various sensors 17 during operation in the automatic driving mode. In this case, the route data storage unit 10A stores previously acquired data such as the work range and the outline of the field.

In the remote control mode, the vehicle control device of the work vehicle 100 receives external instructions from the remote controller 30 or the remote control device 40 by a remote operator (a field worker or a remote monitor who is not on the work vehicle 100; the same shall apply hereinafter). 10 to control operation. An operation mode in which driving is controlled based on an external instruction from the remote controller 30 and an operation mode in which driving is controlled based on an external instruction from the remote control device 40 may be managed separately. The standby mode is an operation mode in which work vehicle 100 is controlled to stop at the spot when no operation is required, and waits for a mode setting instruction to another operation mode.

The emergency stop mode is used even if there is an operational inconvenience, such as being unable to continue the work currently being performed by the system in the event of a safety-threatening failure that cannot be dealt with by the normal functions of the system. This is an operation mode in which the work vehicle 100 and the work implement 101 are moved to a safe state with priority given to urgency regardless.

In the temporary stop mode, the work vehicle 100 and the work vehicle 100 work in a state where the work currently being performed by the system can be continued when a factor such as safety assurance or work confirmation occurs within a range that can be foreseen in the design of the system. This is an operating mode for transitioning the machine 101 to a safe state.

The operation control unit 13 controls the operation of the work vehicle 100 according to the operation mode set by the mode setting unit 12 . When the manual operation mode is set by the mode setting unit 12 , the operation control unit 13 controls the operation of the work vehicle 100 in accordance with the external instructions transmitted from the onboard operating device 20 .

When the automatic operation mode is set by the mode setting unit 12, the operation control unit 13 controls the travel route data stored in the route data storage unit 10A and the work detected by the position/direction sensors included in the various sensors 17. Based on the current position and current direction of the vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as vehicle position/direction), the vehicle position/direction deviation with respect to the travel route is successively detected, and the work vehicle 100 is steered so as to reduce the deviation. automatic control. In addition, when the automatic operation mode is set, the operation control unit 13 automatically performs control related to traveling other than steering, such as the traveling speed and speed change of the work vehicle 100 . Also, the control related to the operation of the working machine 101 is automatically executed. That is, after starting automatic driving, the driving control unit 13 can automatically control all driving according to internal instructions without receiving external instructions from the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote control device 40. be.

When the remote control mode is set by the mode setting unit 12 , the operation control unit 13 controls the operation of the work vehicle 100 in accordance with the operation instructions transmitted from the remote controller 30 or the remote operation device 40 . When the standby mode is set by the mode setting unit 12, the operation control unit 13 stops the work vehicle 100 and the work implement 101 in a machine state in which they can be operated immediately.

The state information transmission unit 14 transmits running state information indicating the running state of the work vehicle 100 detected by the various sensors 17, operating state information indicating the operating state of the work implement 101 detected by the various sensors 17, and detecting by the various sensors 17. Obstacle information around the work vehicle 100 and the vehicle surroundings image captured by the camera 18 showing the state of the surroundings of the vehicle are sequentially transmitted to the remote operation device 40 . The driving state information includes, for example, vehicle position/direction, steering angle, driving speed, gear stage, engine speed, engine load factor, vehicle body tilt angle (roll angle and pitch angle), remaining amount of fuel, coolant temperature, battery Contains information such as voltage. Further, the operating state information includes information such as the height of the work implement 101 and the PTO speed. Hereinafter, the running state information, the operating state information, the obstacle information, and the image around the vehicle are collectively referred to as various types of state information.

In addition to the various types of status information described above, the status information transmission section 14 may further transmit information indicating the current operation mode set by the mode setting section 12 and information regarding the owner described later. . By doing so, the instruction subject (details will be described later) that issued the mode setting instruction can grasp whether the instruction has been accepted by the vehicle control device 10 . In addition, the state information transmission unit 14 transmits not only the remote operation device 40 from the vehicle control device 10- _i (i is any of 1 to 4) of a work vehicle 100- _i (i is any of 1 to 4), but also the remote control device 40 of another work vehicle 100 _- i. Various state information may also be transmitted to the vehicle control device 10 _-j of _j (i≠j) and the remote controller 30 . However, in order to simplify the explanation below, it is assumed that the information is transmitted only to the remote control device 40 .

Various sensors 17 include a plurality of sensors necessary for acquiring the above-described running state information, operating state information, and obstacle information. The cameras 18 are, for example, six cameras for photographing the front, rear, left, right, oblique rear left, and oblique rear right of the work vehicle 100 . The installation position and installation angle of the front camera that captures an image of the front of the work vehicle 100 are adjusted so that the image capture range includes a part of the vehicle body. The installation position and installation angle of the rear camera for photographing the rear of work vehicle 100 are adjusted so that the photographing range includes work implement 101 . Note that the number of cameras 18 shown here is just an example, and at least one or more is sufficient. The type of camera 18 (360-degree camera, around-view camera, stereo camera, etc.) does not matter.

In the present embodiment, the mode setting unit 12 and the operation control unit 13, among the vehicle control device 10, the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote operating device 40, set an owner privilege (authorization to control the work vehicle 100), which will be described later. It performs processing based on instructions given by the one it has and those with higher priority, and does not perform processing on instructions given by others. In the following description, an entity that issues instructions is referred to as an instruction entity. Regarding the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote operating device 40 that issue external instructions, the subject of the instruction is different for each device ID. In addition, among a plurality of instructing subjects, an instructing subject having owner privileges is called an owner.

The instruction subject in this embodiment is the vehicle control device 10 , the in-vehicle operating device 20 , the remote controller 30 , and the remote operating device 40 . With respect to the vehicle control device 10, different device IDs are given to the respective instruction subjects, depending on whether the mode setting instruction is accompanied by an operation mode transition or the operation instruction is not accompanied by an operation mode transition. there is Hereinafter, the former may be referred to as "vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition)" and the latter may be referred to as "vehicle control device 10 (without mode transition)".

Based on the table information stored in the priority value storage unit 10C, the priority value setting unit 15 sets a priority value for the owner who is the instruction subject who most recently has the authority to control the work vehicle 100 (owner privilege). Set authority. Specifically, the priority value setting unit 15 provides an internal instruction (mode setting instruction) with mode transition by the vehicle control device 10, an internal instruction (steering instruction) without mode transition by the vehicle control device 10, an in-vehicle External instructions (mode setting instruction and operation instruction) from the operation device 20, external instructions (mode setting instruction and operation instruction) from the remote controller 30, external instructions (mode setting instruction and operation instruction) from the remote control device 40 , and the owner privilege value representing the authority to control the work vehicle 100, the priority of the owner who is the instructing subject who has the owner privilege most recently. set the value.

The order of priority for instructions from each instruction subject is set from the viewpoint of driving safety when a plurality of work vehicles 100 are controlled by a plurality of instruction subjects. That is, when a given instruction subject (assumed to be instruction subject A) is controlling the operation of a work vehicle 100- _i , another instruction subject (assumed to be instruction subject B) controls the operation of the same work vehicle 100 _- i. In the case where an instruction is issued to control the operation of work vehicle 100- _i , if it is considered that there is no problem from the viewpoint of safety even if the operation of work vehicle 100- _i is controlled according to the instruction from instruction subject B, the instruction The instruction subject B is set higher in priority than the subject A. Conversely, if it is considered that there is a safety problem if the operation of the work vehicle 100- _i is controlled according to the instruction from the instruction subject B, the priority of the instruction subject B is lower than that of the instruction subject A. is set to

As an example, after the site worker operates the remote control 30 for the work vehicle 100- _i operating in the automatic operation mode to make the transition to the temporary stop mode, the remote monitor operates the remote control device 40, Assume a situation in which the automatic driving mode is restored and automatic driving is resumed. In this case, a safety reason may exist as the reason why the field worker temporarily stopped the work vehicle 100- _i . On the other hand, there is a possibility that the monitoring image (surrounding image of the vehicle) displayed on the remote control device 40 cannot be grasped for the reason that the site situation is in the blind spot of the camera 18 or the like. In such a case, resuming the automatic operation based on an instruction from the remote control device 40 may cause a safety problem, so it can be said that the instruction in this case should be rejected. On the other hand, in the same scene, when a field worker gets on the work vehicle 100- _i and operates the on-vehicle operation device 20 to resume automatic operation, the person who made the emergency stop must be in a safe state. Since you are issuing an instruction confirming that there is, the instruction should be allowed.

Based on this, the external instruction from the remote controller 30 is set to have a higher priority than the internal instruction (steering instruction in the automatic driving mode) by the vehicle control device 10 (no mode transition), and the remote The external instruction from the remote controller 30 is set higher in priority than the external instruction from the operation device 40, and the external instruction from the in-vehicle operating device 20 is higher in priority than the external instruction from the remote controller 30. is set high. In the same way, the order of priority for instructions from each instruction subject is set from the viewpoint of safety assuming various situations.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of priority values set for each instruction subject. In the example shown in FIG. 3, an external command from the onboard operating device 20 > an internal command with mode transition by the vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition) > an external command from the remote controller 30 > an external command from the remote control device 40 Instruction> Priority is set in the order of internal instructions that do not involve mode transition by the vehicle control device 10 (no mode transition), and a priority value is set for each priority, which is used as table information. It is stored in the priority value storage unit 10C. As for the priority order value, a larger value is set for an instruction subject with a higher priority, and a smaller value is set for an instruction subject with a lower priority. In the example of FIG. 3, "2n" (n=1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is set as the priority order value of each instruction subject. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, a state in which none of the instructing subjects has owner privilege is set as the lowest priority, and "0" is set as the corresponding priority value. . The owner privilege value is set to "1" for the priority value "2n" (n=0 to 5) as described above.

Note that the priority value "2n" and the owner privilege value "1" shown here are only examples. That is, an external command from the on-vehicle operating device 20, an internal command with mode transition by the vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition), an external command from the remote controller 30, an external command from the remote control device 40, and vehicle control. If a priority value with a predetermined interval difference is set for each internal instruction that does not involve a mode transition by the device 10 (no mode transition), and an owner privilege value with a value smaller than the predetermined interval difference is set. good. For example, the priority value for each instruction subject of the in-vehicle operating device 20, the vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition), the remote controller 30, the remote control device 40, and the vehicle control device 10 (without mode transition) is set to "3n", and the owner privilege The value may be "2".

When the priority value interval for each instruction subject is set to 3 or more, the priority values assigned in advance can be differentiated depending on the intended use for exactly the same instruction subject as a mechanical device. For example, when the priority value is assigned with the predetermined gap being "3n", the priority value of the remote control 30 can be "9". At this time, the allocation method is such that only the specific remote controller 30 _-1 has a priority value of "9" and the other remote controllers 30 _-i (i=2, 3, 4) have a priority value of "10". can be done. By making such a setting, it is possible to make a person who is exclusively engaged in monitoring work out of a plurality of site workers carry a specific remote controller 30 _-1 and operate the work vehicle 100 or the work machine 101 . By having a field worker carry another remote control 30- _i , a higher priority value can be given to the remote control 30- _{i owned} by a person who is more like a machine.

The priority value setting unit 15 sets the priority value for the owner by adding the priority value set for the owner and the owner privilege value. For example, when the instruction subject having owner privilege is the in-vehicle operation device 20, the priority value for the owner is "11" (=10+1). Also, when the instruction subject having the owner privilege is the remote controller 30, the priority value for the owner is "7" (=6+1). The priority value setting unit 15 stores the owner's priority value set in this way in the priority value storage unit 10B in association with the device ID of the instruction subject having the owner privilege.

The control unit 16 issues an internal instruction with mode transition from the vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition), an internal instruction without mode transition from the vehicle control device 10 (without mode transition), and an external instruction from the in-vehicle operating device 20 . When the instruction receiving unit 11 receives any of an instruction, an external instruction from the remote controller 30, or an external instruction from the remote control device 40, set for the received instruction (instructing entity that issued the instruction). The stored priority value is compared with the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B, and if the priority value is less than the priority value, the instruction received by the instruction receiving unit 11 is executed. First, when the priority value is equal to or higher than the priority value, the mode setting unit 12 and the operation control unit 13 are controlled so that the instruction received by the instruction receiving unit 11 is executed.

In addition, when controlling to execute an instruction issued by an instruction subject other than the owner, the control unit 16 transfers the owner privilege to the instruction subject that issued the instruction, and notifies the priority value setting unit 15 of this fact. Notice. Upon receiving this notification, the priority value setting unit 15 sets a priority value for the new instruction subject to which the owner privilege has been transferred, and associates the set priority value with the device ID of the instruction subject having owner privilege. is stored in the priority value storage unit 10B. As a result, the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B is updated to the priority value of the instructing subject having owner privilege most recently.

Here, the operation of the control unit 16 will be described according to the scenario assumed as described above. When a certain work vehicle 100- _i is operating in the automatic operation mode, the owner is the vehicle control device 10 (no mode transition), and the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B is "3". there is A field worker operates the remote controller 30 to issue a mode setting instruction to the work vehicle 100- _i in this state, and attempts to change the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i from the automatic operation mode to the temporary stop mode. do. In this case, when the instruction receiving unit 11 receives a mode setting instruction from the remote controller 30, the control unit 16 stores the priority value "6" set for the instruction from the remote controller 30 and the priority value storage unit 10B. The mode setting unit 12 compares with the stored priority value "3", confirms that the priority value is equal to or higher than the priority value, and causes the mode setting unit 12 to execute the mode setting instruction received by the instruction receiving unit 11. to control. As a result, the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i transitions from the automatic operation mode to the temporary stop mode. Also, the owner privilege is transferred from the vehicle control device 10 (no mode transition) to the remote controller 30 . At this time, the priority value setting unit 15 sets a priority value for the remote controller 30, and stores the set priority value in the priority value storage unit 10B in association with the device ID of the instruction subject having owner privilege. As a result, the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B is updated from "3" to "7".

After that, suppose that the remote supervisor operates the remote operation device 40 to issue a mode setting instruction, and attempts to resume the automatic operation by returning the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i from the temporary stop mode to the automatic operation mode. In this case, when the instruction receiving unit 11 receives a mode setting instruction from the remote control device 40, the control unit 16 sets the priority value "4" and the priority value set for the instruction from the remote control device 40. It is compared with the priority value "7" stored in the storage unit 10B. In this case, since the priority value is higher than the priority value, control unit 16 controls mode setting unit 12 so as not to execute the mode setting instruction received by instruction receiving unit 11 . As a result, the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i remains in the temporary stop mode, and the remote controller 30 continues to have owner privilege.

In the case where there are a plurality of remote controllers 30, when one remote controller 30 (assumed to be remote controller 30A) has the owner privilege, another remote controller 30 (assumed to be remote controller 30B) issues a mode setting instruction. Suppose In this case, when the instruction receiving unit 11 receives a mode setting instruction from the remote controller 30B, the control unit 16 stores the priority value "6" set for the instruction from the remote controller 30B and the priority value storage unit 10B. Compare with the stored priority value "7". In this case, since the priority value is higher than the priority value, control unit 16 controls mode setting unit 12 so as not to execute the mode setting instruction received by instruction receiving unit 11 . As a result, the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i remains in the temporary stop mode, and the remote controller 30A continues to have owner privilege.

In response to this, the field worker gets on the work vehicle 100- _i and operates the in-vehicle operation device 20, issues a mode setting instruction, and returns the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i from the temporary stop mode to the automatic operation mode. to resume automatic operation. In this case, when the instruction receiving unit 11 receives a mode setting instruction from the in-vehicle operating device 20, the control unit 16 sets the priority value "10" and the priority value set for the instruction from the in-vehicle operating device 20. It is compared with the priority value "7" stored in the storage unit 10B. In this case, since the priority value is higher than the priority value, control unit 16 controls mode setting unit 12 to execute the mode setting instruction received by instruction receiving unit 11 . As a result, the operation mode of the work vehicle 100- _i transitions from the temporary stop mode to the automatic operation mode, and the owner's privilege is transferred from the remote controller 30 to the in-vehicle operation device 20.

It should be noted that if an instruction subject with a higher priority becomes the owner, instructions issued by an instruction subject with a lower priority than the owner will always be rejected. In order to avoid such a situation, in the present embodiment, the vehicle control device 10, the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote operating device 40 are enabled to declare owner privilege waiver when issuing instructions. there is

For example, when a field worker or a remote supervisor operates any one of the on-board operation device 20, the remote controller 30, or the remote operation device 40 to issue an external command, an operation for declaring owner privilege waiver is performed. By doing so, it is possible to issue an external instruction with a declaration of abandonment. Further, when the vehicle control device 10 issues an internal instruction based on autonomous control, the internal instruction with a declaration of abandonment is automatically issued based on a rule defining a predetermined condition when the condition is satisfied. It is also possible to Predetermined conditions can be determined arbitrarily. For example, when issuing a mode setting instruction for transitioning the operation mode of work vehicle 100 to the standby mode, the instruction may include an abandonment declaration.

As a specific example, the following cases are conceivable. That is, in the work vehicle 100 that is automatically driven in the automatic driving mode by being controlled by the vehicle control device 10 (no mode transition), vehicle control is performed on the condition that the positioning accuracy of the driving state information among the various sensors 17 is reduced. Assume that the device 10 (with mode transition) issues a mode setting instruction to the pause mode. In this case, the vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition) becomes the owner and transitions to the pause mode. Instructions can be given only by operating the in-vehicle operation device 20 having the order value, and instructions cannot be given from the remote controller 30 or the remote operation device 40 . Therefore, on the condition that the positioning accuracy is recovered, the vehicle control device 10 (with mode transition) issues a mode setting instruction to the standby mode with the abandonment declaration, and operation from other than the vehicle operation device 20 is also possible. become.

When the instruction receiving unit 11 receives an instruction from the owner accompanied by a declaration of renunciation of the owner privilege, the control unit 16 sets an instruction subject having a lower priority than the owner as the owner, and sets the priority value setting unit 15 as the owner. to notify. The priority value setting unit 15 sets the priority value using the priority value of the instruction subject newly set as the owner, and stores the set priority value in the priority value storage unit 10B. For example, the control unit 16 sets, as a new owner, an instruction subject whose priority is one lower than that of the owner. Alternatively, an instruction entity having a lower priority than the owner may be manually selected so that the owner privilege can be transferred.

Alternatively, the control unit 16 may set the instruction subject with the lowest priority as the new owner. In the case of the present embodiment, the control unit 16 sets "no owner" corresponding to the lowest priority in which none of the instruction subjects has owner privileges, and the priority value setting unit 15 sets the corresponding priority. A priority value of "0" is set as the priority value. In this way, by introducing a mechanism in which the owner relinquishes the owner privilege, the instruction issued by the instruction subject whose priority value is lower than the priority value set for the owner before relinquishment can be executed without refusal. be able to

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an operation example of the vehicle control device 10 configured as described above. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 starts when the power of the vehicle control device 10 is turned on. It should be noted that immediately after the power is turned on, there is no instruction subject for which the owner privilege is set, and the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B is "0".

First, the instruction receiving unit 11 and the mode setting unit 12 determine whether an external instruction or an internal instruction is received from any of the vehicle control device 10, the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote operating device 40 ( step S1). The determination in step S1 is repeated until any instruction is received. When the instruction receiving unit 11 or the mode setting unit 12 receives an instruction, the control unit 16 stores the priority value set for the received instruction and the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B. are compared (step S2), and it is determined whether or not the priority value is greater than or equal to the priority value (step S3).

Here, if it is determined that the priority value is not greater than or equal to the priority value, the process returns to step S1 and the instruction is not executed. At this time, an error message may be sent and displayed to the instructing entity that issued the instruction. On the other hand, when it is determined that the priority value is equal to or higher than the priority value, the control unit 16 causes the mode setting unit 12 or the operation control unit 13 to execute the instruction received by the instruction receiving unit 11 or the mode setting unit 12. is controlled (step S4). Since the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B is "0" immediately after the power of the vehicle control device 10 is turned on, the instruction receiving unit 11 or the mode setting unit 12 receives the priority value. The priority value set for the instruction is greater than or equal to the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B. Therefore, in this case, control unit 16 controls mode setting unit 12 or operation control unit 13 so as to execute the instruction received by instruction receiving unit 11 or mode setting unit 12 .

After executing the instruction, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the instruction is accompanied by a declaration to waive the owner privilege (step S5). If there is no accompanying declaration to waive the owner privilege, the control unit 16 sets the instruction subject issuing the instruction to the owner (step S6). On the other hand, when the owner privilege is declared to be waived, the control unit 16 transfers the owner privilege to an instruction entity having a lower priority than the owner (step S7). In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the state of no owner, which is the lowest priority, is set.

After step S6 or step S7, the priority value setting unit 15 sets a priority value for the owner who is the instruction subject who has the owner privilege most recently (step S8). Here, the instructing subject having the owner privilege most recently is the instructing subject to which the owner privilege has been transferred by the process of step S6 or step S7. It should be noted that when the state without owner is set in step S7, the priority value is set to "0". The priority value setting unit 15 stores the set priority value in the priority value storage unit 10B (step S9). Thereby, the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B is updated.

After that, the vehicle control device 10 determines whether or not the power is turned off (step S10). If the power has not been turned off, the process returns to step S1. As described above, the processing of steps S1 to S10 is executed each time the instruction receiving unit 11 receives an instruction from the instruction subject. Then, when it is determined in step S10 that the power of the vehicle control device 10 is turned off, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 ends.

As described above in detail, in the present embodiment, in the vehicle control device 10, settings are made for external instructions from the on-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote control device 40, and internal instructions from the vehicle control device 10. Using the priority value representing the priority and the owner privilege value representing the authority to control the work vehicle 100, the priority value for the instruction subject who has the authority to control the work vehicle 100 most recently is set. is stored in the priority value storage unit 10B. Then, when the vehicle control device 10 receives an external instruction or an internal instruction, the priority value set for the received instruction and the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B are determined. is compared, and if the priority value is less than the priority value, the received instruction is not executed, and if the priority value is greater than or equal to the priority value, the received instruction is executed.

According to this embodiment configured as described above, there are a plurality of operators (field workers and remote supervisors) who operate the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote control 30, and the remote operating device 40, and the plurality of operators Even when there are a plurality of work vehicles 100 to be operated by the operator, authority for controlling each work vehicle 100 is appropriately given to the instruction subject based on the priority value of the instruction and the owner privilege value. be done. Execution of an instruction is allowed only for an instruction from an instruction entity whose priority value is equal to or higher than the priority value set for the owner who has authority at this time. As a result, when an instruction subject is controlling the operation of a certain work vehicle 100- _i , another instruction subject having a lower priority than that controls the operation of the same work vehicle 100- _i . can be prohibited, and multiple operators can safely control multiple work vehicles 100 _-1 to 100 _-4 .

In this embodiment, granting owner privileges and setting priority values _{are individually performed for each of the plurality of work vehicles 100 -1 to} 100 _{-4 .} can be executed by different instructing subjects. For example, when the vehicle control device 10 has the owner privilege in a work vehicle 100- _i , in another work vehicle 100- _j (i≠j), an instruction subject having a lower priority than the vehicle control device 10 is It is also possible to have owner privileges. As a result, it is possible to control the operation of each of the work vehicles 100 _{-1 to 100 -4 by using an appropriate instruction subject for each of the work vehicles 100 -1 to 100 -4 according to} the operating conditions and surrounding environment of each of the work vehicles 100 -1 to 100 -4. can.

Further, in this embodiment, an owner privilege value is introduced in addition to the priority value, and the sum of the priority value and the owner privilege value is set as the priority value. As a result, when there are multiple instructing entities with the same priority, if one of them has owner privilege, instructions issued by other instructing entities with the same priority will not be executed. can do.

On the other hand, it is also possible to permit the execution of instructions issued by instruction subjects having the same priority. In this case, without using the owner privilege value, the priority value of the instruction subject having the owner privilege is directly stored as the priority value in the priority value storage unit 10B. Then, the control unit 16 compares the priority value corresponding to the instruction received by the instruction receiving unit 11 with the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit 10B, and determines that the priority value is greater than or equal to the priority value. to carry out the instructions if necessary.

It should be noted that, in the case of permitting the execution of instructions issued by instruction subjects having the same priority in this way, the device IDs assigned to the in-vehicle operating devices 20 should be set so that the plurality of in-vehicle operating devices 20 _-1 to 20 _-4 are mutually connected. It is not essential to be an identifiable unique ID. Similarly, when there are a plurality of remote controllers 30 or remote controllers 40, it is not essential that the plurality of remote controllers 30 or remote controllers 40 be identified by unique IDs. That is, the device ID in this case may be any ID that can identify which of the three types of devices, ie, the in-vehicle operation device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote control device 40, it relates to.

In the above-described embodiment, as an example of executing an instruction when the priority value has a predetermined relationship with the priority value, the priority obtained by adding the priority value and the owner privilege value is given. The priority value is stored in the priority value storage unit 10B, and the process is executed when the priority value corresponding to the instruction subject that issued the instruction is equal to or higher than the priority value in the priority value storage unit 10B. Although described, the invention is not so limited. For example, similarly, the priority value is stored in the priority value storage unit 10B, and the value obtained by adding the owner privilege value is set as the priority value for the owner. You may make it perform a process when there exists. Alternatively, the priority value corresponding to the instruction subject is stored in the priority value storage unit 10B as it is as the priority value, and for the owner, the value obtained by adding the owner privilege value is set as the priority value, and then the priority value is set. The processing may be executed when the priority value is greater than the priority value.

Further, in the above embodiment, regarding the vehicle control device 10, an example has been described in which the subject of instruction is divided according to the presence or absence of mode transition, and different priority values are set for instructions from each of the subjects of instruction. Similarly, for the in-vehicle operating device 20, the remote controller 30, and the remote operating device 40, different priority values may be set for different instruction subjects. For example, regarding the remote controller 30, an emergency stop instruction (mode setting instruction for setting an emergency stop mode) issued when a field worker operates an emergency stop switch, and a field worker operating a switch other than the emergency stop switch. Different priority values may be set for maneuvering instructions issued when operated. Furthermore, when a mobile terminal such as a smart phone is used as the remote control 30 as described above, a different priority value may be set for this. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of priority values set for each instruction entity in this case.

In addition, the above-described embodiments are merely examples of specific implementations of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. Thus, the invention may be embodied in various forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 vehicle control device 10B priority value storage unit 12 mode setting unit 13 operation control unit 14 state information transmission unit 15 priority value setting unit 16 control unit 20 in-vehicle operating device 30 remote controller (first remote operating device)
40 remote control device (second remote control device)

Claims (9)

In-vehicle operation devices and vehicle control devices respectively mounted on a plurality of work vehicles capable of automatically traveling, a first remote control device used by a worker at a site where the work vehicles can be visually observed, and a remote control device where the work vehicles cannot be visually observed a remote control device that is at least one of a second remote control device used by an observer on the ground, wherein the on-vehicle operating device, an external instruction given from the remote control device to the vehicle control device, and the vehicle control A control system for a work vehicle capable of controlling the operations of the plurality of work vehicles in accordance with an internal instruction by the autonomous control of the device,
Each of the plurality of vehicle control devices mounted on the plurality of work vehicles,
Instructions different from each other: an external instruction from the on-vehicle operating device, an external instruction from the remote control device, an internal instruction with mode transition by the vehicle control device, and an internal instruction without mode transition by the vehicle control device A priority value is set for an owner, who is an instruction subject who most recently has the authority to control the work vehicle, using a priority value representing a priority set for each of the different instruction subjects. a priority value setting unit for
a priority value storage unit that stores the priority value set by the priority value setting unit;
Any one of an external instruction from the on-vehicle operating device, an external instruction from the remote control device, an internal instruction with mode transition by the vehicle control device, and an internal instruction without mode transition by the vehicle control device. When receiving the instruction, the priority value set for the received instruction is compared with the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit, and the priority value is the priority value. A control system for an automatic traveling work vehicle, comprising: a control unit that executes the received instruction when a predetermined relationship is established with respect to. The control unit compares the priority value set for the received instruction with the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit, and compares the priority value with the priority value. 2. The control of the automatic traveling work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the received instruction is not executed when the priority value is less than the priority value, and the received instruction is executed when the priority value is equal to or greater than the priority value. system. The priority value setting unit adds the priority value set for the instruction subject of the owner to an owner privilege value representing authority to control the work vehicle, thereby determining the priority value of the owner. 3. The control system for an automatic traveling work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a value is set. For an external command from the on-vehicle operating device, an external command from the remote control device, an internal command with mode transition by the vehicle control device, and an internal command without mode transition by the vehicle control device, respectively 4. A control system for an automatic traveling work vehicle according to claim 3, wherein a priority value of a predetermined interval difference is set, and an owner's privilege value of a value smaller than the predetermined interval difference is set. 5. The control system for an autonomously traveling work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said control unit sets an instruction subject who issues an executed instruction to said owner. The in-vehicle operating device, the remote operating device, and the vehicle control device are capable of declaring a waiver of authority to control the work vehicle when issuing instructions,
The control unit, when receiving an instruction accompanied by the declaration from the owner, sets an instruction entity having a lower priority than the owner as the owner,
6. The work vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the priority value setting unit sets the priority value using the priority value set for the instruction subject having the low priority. remote control system. When receiving an instruction accompanied by the declaration from the owner, the control unit sets the instruction subject with the lowest priority as the owner,
7. The work vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the priority value setting unit sets the priority value using the priority value set for the instruction subject having the lowest priority. remote control system. The priority value setting unit sets, as a priority value, a priority value representing a priority set for each of the different instruction subjects,
When the received instruction is an instruction from the owner, the control unit uses, as a priority value, a value obtained by adding an owner privilege value representing authority to control the work vehicle. 2. Automatic driving according to claim 1, wherein the received instruction is not executed when the priority value is less than or equal to the priority value, and the received instruction is executed when the priority value is greater than the priority value. Work vehicle control system. In-vehicle operation devices and vehicle control devices respectively mounted on a plurality of work vehicles capable of automatically traveling, a first remote control device used by a worker at a site where the work vehicles can be visually observed, and a remote control device where the work vehicles cannot be visually observed a remote control device that is at least one of a second remote control device used by an observer on the ground, wherein the on-vehicle operating device, an external instruction given from the remote control device to the vehicle control device, and the vehicle control The vehicle control device for use in a control system capable of controlling the operation of the plurality of work vehicles according to an internal command by autonomous control of the device,
Instructions different from each other: an external instruction from the on-vehicle operating device, an external instruction from the remote control device, an internal instruction with mode transition by the vehicle control device, and an internal instruction without mode transition by the vehicle control device A priority value is set for an owner, who is an instruction subject who most recently has the authority to control the work vehicle, using a priority value representing a priority set for each of the different instruction subjects. a priority value setting unit for
a priority value storage unit that stores the priority value set by the priority value setting unit;
Any one of an external instruction from the on-vehicle operating device, an external instruction from the remote control device, an internal instruction with mode transition by the vehicle control device, and an internal instruction without mode transition by the vehicle control device. When receiving the instruction, the priority value set for the received instruction is compared with the priority value stored in the priority value storage unit, and the priority value is the priority value. and a control unit that executes the received instruction when a predetermined relationship is established with respect to.

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