JP2023102511A - Information processing apparatus and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce power consumption in an autonomous mobile body required to raise and lower an inspection object information acquisition unit.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an information setting unit 102 for setting a height of a camera during movement of an autonomous mobile robot, which sets a height of the camera in a movement pattern with the least power consumption of an elevating mechanism for raising and lowering the camera out of a plurality of movement patterns different in height of the camera during movement of the autonomous mobile robot and in height adjustment timing, as the height of the camera during movement of the autonomous mobile robot.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information processing method.

Due to the recent population decline and super-aging, the decrease in the working population, which is the bearer of economic activities, has become a social problem, and the shortage of inspectors has become conspicuous even at the site of inspection of infrastructure facilities. In addition, in the inspection of infrastructure facilities, inspection work is performed by inspectors visually confirming meters and the like to be inspected, and there is a problem that inspection results differ depending on the level of skill of the inspectors. In addition, the inspection range for inspection of infrastructure facilities may be several kilometers or more in a wide place, which may require a physical burden on the inspector.

In order to solve the above-mentioned various problems, the movement to adopt autonomous running (moving) robots as a substitute labor force is becoming active. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a self-propelled inspection device that advances the device main body along a predetermined route by switching the means for estimating the position information of the device main body between a first position estimating section and a second position estimating section, and controlling the traveling section based on the acquired position information of the device main body.

JP 2015-161577 A

In order to implement the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, it is necessary to equip an autonomous mobile robot with a sensor and autonomously travel within the inspection area (hereinafter referred to as "inspection area") while photographing the inspection target with the sensor. In order to run autonomously, the electric power supplied from the battery mounted on the autonomous mobile robot must be used to operate the driving motor, control the camera for patrol inspection, and perform the arithmetic processing necessary for autonomous movement. Therefore, in order for autonomous mobile robots to autonomously travel within wide-area infrastructure facilities, it is necessary to consider the power consumption of each function.

In addition, when the sensor (hereinafter also referred to as the “inspection object information acquisition unit”) needs to move autonomously while being raised and lowered, there is a possibility that power consumption associated with the elevation increases. In this case, one possible solution is to increase the capacity of the battery, but in many cases it is difficult to simply increase the capacity of the battery that can be installed in the robot from the standpoints of size, motion performance, weight, cost, and installation space. Therefore, there has been a demand for a technique for reducing the power consumption of the autonomous mobile body when the inspection object information acquisition unit needs to move up and down.

However, Patent Literature 1 does not describe a technique for reducing the power consumption of the autonomous mobile body when the inspection object information acquisition unit needs to be moved up and down.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption of an autonomous mobile body that requires lifting and lowering of an inspection object information acquisition unit.

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that is provided in an autonomous mobile body that moves between a plurality of inspection object information acquisition points and that sets the height of an inspection object information acquisition unit that acquires information on an inspection object during movement. An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a height of an inspection object information acquisition unit during movement of an autonomous mobile body and a moving height information setting unit that sets, among a plurality of movement patterns in which the adjustment timing of the height is different, a height in a movement pattern in which an elevating mechanism that raises and lowers an inspection object information acquisition unit consumes less power to the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit during movement of the autonomous mobile body.

Further, an information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention is an information processing method that uses an information processing device that sets the height of an inspection object information acquisition unit that acquires information on an inspection object, which is provided in an autonomous mobile body that moves between a plurality of inspection object information acquisition points, during movement. An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention includes a step of setting the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit when the autonomous mobile body moves, and of a plurality of movement patterns with different height adjustment timings, to the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit when the autonomous mobile body moves, the height of the movement pattern in which the lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the inspection object information acquisition unit consumes less power.

According to at least one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce power consumption of an autonomous mobile body that requires elevation of the inspection object information acquisition unit.
Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of hardware constituting an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a side view which shows the outline example of the autonomous mobile robot which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of an autonomous mobile robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the information in an inspection area stored in the information in an inspection area which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the orientation and height range of a camera that enables automatic detection of values indicated by an inspection object according to the first embodiment of the present invention; It is a figure which shows the setting example of the camera height which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of camera height setting during movement by the camera height information setting unit during movement according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the procedure of an information processing method by the information processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the influence of the road surface conditions of the traveling path and the height of the camera during movement on the traveling of the autonomous mobile robot according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a table showing the correspondence between the road surface conditions of the traveling road and the low necessity of lowering the camera height according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of an autonomous mobile robot according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of information on the shape of a travel path according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, examples of modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various numerical values and the like in the embodiments are examples. In addition, in the present specification and drawings, the same components or components having substantially the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions are omitted.

<First Embodiment>
[Configuration of inspection automation system]
First, referring to FIG. 1, the configuration of an information processing device 1 that constitutes an inspection automation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The inspection automation system according to this embodiment includes an information processing device 1 shown in FIG. 1 and an autonomous mobile robot 2 shown in FIG. The autonomous mobile robot 2 (an example of an autonomous mobile body) performs patrol in the inspection area and inspection of the inspection target while autonomously traveling using the information (an example of inspection object information) captured by the camera 207 attached to the vehicle body 200 (see FIG. 3) and the information stored in the inspection area information DB 100.

The information processing device 1 is a device that sets the height (hereinafter also referred to as “camera height”) of the camera 207 (an example of an inspection object information acquisition unit) provided in the autonomous mobile robot 2 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, an example in which the information processing device 1 is provided separately from the autonomous mobile robot 2 will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and part or all of the information processing device 1 may be provided inside the autonomous mobile robot 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the information processing apparatus 1 includes an inspection area information DB (Database) 100 , a camera height information setting unit 101 , and a moving camera height information setting unit 102 .

The inspection site information DB 100 is a database that stores the positions of a plurality of inspection objects installed in an inspection site (not shown), information on the travel route that the autonomous mobile robot 2 travels, locations for photographing each inspection object (shooting points: examples of inspection target information acquisition points), information on distances between shooting points, information on facilities in the inspection site, and the like.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the travel plan of the autonomous mobile robot 2, for example, the route to travel, the plan to photograph which inspection object, etc., is planned and set in advance by the user, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the autonomous mobile robot 2 can autonomously determine and move based on the information described in the inspection area information DB 100.

The camera height information setting unit 101 sets the target height at each photographing point of the camera 207 (see FIG. 3) of the autonomous mobile robot 2 based on the contents described in the inspection area information DB 100 . It is sufficient to set the target height by the camera height information setting unit 101 once if the information on the inspection object and the terrain in the inspection area does not change. Information on the camera height (target height) set by the camera height information setting unit 101 may be recorded, for example, in the inspection area information DB 100, or may be saved in another recording medium or the like.

Further, when the information processing device 1 is provided inside the autonomous mobile robot 2, the setting of the height information in the camera height information setting unit 101 may be performed automatically inside the autonomous mobile robot 2, or may be set manually by the user. That is, the input method does not matter. Further, the setting of height information in the camera height information setting unit 101 may be performed using a setting application (not shown) having a function of setting an arbitrary value (height). Even when such a setting application is used, the height setting method may be automatic or manual.

The moving camera height information setting unit 102 (an example of the moving height information setting unit) calculates the camera height when moving between shooting points (hereinafter also referred to as “moving camera height”) based on the information of the power consumption parameter input from the outside, the information of the camera height (target height) at the shooting point acquired from the inspection area information DB 100, and the information of the distance between the shooting points. A method for setting the moving camera height by the moving camera height information setting unit 102 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9 described later.

The power consumption parameter indicates the power consumption required when the camera lifting mechanism 208 (see FIG. 3) changes the height of the camera 207 . The power consumption parameter can be indicated by, for example, a numerical value or an index other than a numerical value.

As a numerical value indicating the power consumption amount parameter, for example, "0" can be set when moving while holding the camera 207 at the lowest point of the lifting range of the camera lifting mechanism 208 without accompanying lifting operation, "100" when raising the camera 207 from the lowest point to the highest point, and "20" when moving while holding the camera 207 at a constant height.

In addition, as an index indicating the power consumption amount parameter, it is possible to set "large" when moving with a vertical movement equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, "medium" when moving with a vertical movement equal to or less than the threshold, and "small" when moving while maintaining a constant height.

In the example of setting the power consumption amount parameter described above, it is assumed that the camera lifting mechanism 208 is moved up and down by servo motor control, so it is assumed that some power is consumed even when moving while maintaining a constant camera height. Therefore, a value greater than "0", such as "20", is set to the power consumption during movement while maintaining a constant camera height. However, for example, when the height of the camera 207 can be physically locked to a predetermined height using a height fixing mechanism (not shown), the power consumption parameter during movement while maintaining a constant camera height is "0".

[Computer hardware configuration example]
Next, a hardware configuration for realizing the functions of the control system of the information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of hardware configuring the information processing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG.

A computer 50 shown in FIG. 2 is hardware used as a computer used in the information processing apparatus 1 . The computer 50 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501, a ROM 502 (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503, a non-volatile storage 504, and a network interface 505, each connected to a bus B1.

The CPU 501 reads program codes of software for realizing each function according to the present embodiment from the ROM 502, develops them in the RAM 503, and executes them. The RAM 503 is temporarily written with variables, parameters, and the like generated during arithmetic processing. The functions of the camera height information setting unit 101 and the moving camera height information setting unit 102 of the information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

Note that the computer 50 may include a processing device such as an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit) instead of the CPU 501, or may be realized by an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or the like. Also, for example, a certain functional unit may be realized by a combination of the CPU 501, the ROM 502 and the RAM 503, and another functional unit may be realized by a combination of the CPU 501, the ROM 502, the RAM 503 and an FPGA.

For the non-volatile storage 504, for example, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), a flexible disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a non-volatile memory card, etc. can be used. The nonvolatile storage 504 stores an OS (Operating System), various parameters, programs for making the computer 50 function, and the like. In other words, the non-volatile storage 504 is used as an example of a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing programs executed by the computer 50 . The function of the in-inspection area information DB 100 of the information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

The network interface 505 transmits and receives various data to and from the autonomous mobile robot 2 or an external device (not shown) via wireless communication or a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) (not shown).

The computer 50 shown in FIG. 2 may be provided with a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an operation input unit including a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, or a touch panel in which the display device and the operation input unit are integrated.

[Configuration of autonomous mobile robot]
Next, the configuration of the autonomous mobile robot 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a schematic example of the autonomous mobile robot 2, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the control system of the autonomous mobile robot 2. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the front direction of the autonomous mobile robot 2 is the X direction (X axis), the running direction of the autonomous mobile robot 2 perpendicular to the X direction is the Y direction (Y axis), and the height direction perpendicular to the X and Y directions is the Z direction (Z axis).

[Overview of Autonomous Mobile Robot]
As shown in FIG. 3, the autonomous mobile robot 2 is provided with a camera lifting mechanism 208 on the upper surface of a body part 200 having a moving mechanism 205 composed of wheels, etc. A camera 207 is attached to the tip (upper end) of the camera lifting mechanism 208. Although FIG. 3 shows an example in which one camera 207 is attached as an inspection object information acquisition unit, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a sensor other than a camera may be attached as the inspection object information acquisition unit, or a plurality of sensors may be attached.

The drawing shown on the left end of FIG. 3 shows an example of movement while moving the camera lifting mechanism 208 upward or downward, and in this case the power consumption parameter of the autonomous mobile robot 2 is "large". The diagram shown in the center of FIG. 3 shows an example in which the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves with the camera height fixed at a constant height, and the power consumption parameter of the autonomous mobile robot 2 in this case is "medium". The diagram shown on the right end of FIG. 3 shows an example of moving with the camera lifting mechanism 208 fixed at the lowest point, and in this case the power consumption parameter of the autonomous mobile robot 2 is "0".

The index or value of the power consumption parameter can take various indices or values depending on the characteristics of the servo motor (not shown) that drives the camera lifting mechanism 208, the structure of the camera lifting mechanism 208, and the like.

[Configuration of control system of autonomous mobile robot]
As shown in FIG. 4, the autonomous mobile robot 2 includes a control unit 201, a communication unit 202, a storage unit 203, a secondary battery 204, a moving mechanism 205, a moving mechanism driving motor 206, a camera 207, a camera lifting mechanism 208, a camera lifting mechanism driving motor 209, a camera control unit 210, an autonomous traveling function unit 211, and an automatic inspection unit 212.

The control unit 201 is composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown). The CPU of the control unit 201 reads the software program code from the ROM, develops it in the RAM 503, and executes it, thereby realizing the function of each functional unit of the autonomous mobile robot 2. FIG.

The autonomous mobile robot 2 may be provided with a processing device such as an MPU instead of the CPU, or may be realized by FPGA, ASIC, or the like. Further, for example, a certain functional unit may be realized by a combination of CPU, ROM, and RAM, and another functional unit may be realized by a combination of CPU, ROM, RAM, and FPGA.

The communication unit 202 transmits and receives various data to and from the information processing apparatus 1 or an external device (not shown) via wireless communication or a network such as a LAN (not shown).

The storage unit 203 is composed of, for example, an HDD, SSD, flexible disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, non-volatile memory card, etc., and stores the inspection area information DB 100 . In addition to the OS and various parameters, the storage unit 203 stores programs and the like for causing the autonomous mobile robot 2 to function. That is, the storage unit 203 is used as an example of a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium that stores a program executed by the CPU of the control unit 201 .

The secondary battery 204 is composed of, for example, a lithium ion battery or the like, and supplies electric power to each part of the autonomous mobile robot 2 .

The moving mechanism 205 is composed of, for example, caterpillar-type wheels, and the autonomous mobile robot 2 is moved by the rotation of the wheels. A moving mechanism drive motor 206 is a servo motor that drives the moving mechanism 205 . It should be noted that the moving mechanism 205 is not limited to wheels, and may have any form as long as it can move on the travel path.

The camera 207 includes a lens (not shown), a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor, or the like, and captures an inspection target to obtain a captured image.

The camera elevating mechanism 208 is a mechanism for elevating (moving up and down) the camera 207 in the direction of the Z axis (see FIG. 3). A camera lifting mechanism drive motor 209 is a servo motor that drives the camera lifting mechanism 208 .

A camera control unit 210 controls the direction of the camera 207, the shooting operation, and the like. For example, the camera control unit 210 performs control to adjust the pan, tilt, and roll directions of the camera 207 so that the optical axis is directed from the photographing point toward the inspection object. Direction control of the camera 207 can be calculated from the relative relationship between the positions, for example, if the position coordinates of each photographing point and the position coordinates of the inspection object are known. Alternatively, information on the direction of the camera 207 at each shooting point may be set in advance in the inspection area information DB 100 .

Furthermore, when the distance from the shooting point to the shooting target is long, the shooting magnification of the camera 207 can also be controlled. By performing such control by the camera control unit 210, it becomes possible for the camera 207 to capture an image of an object to be inspected located far from the imaging point.

The autonomous driving function unit 211 is a function unit such as a self-position estimation function, an obstacle detection function, and a vehicle control function for traveling along a given traveling route based on various information described in the inspection area information DB 100 and a previously planned traveling plan.

The self-location estimation function estimates the self-location, for example, using location information acquired by a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). Alternatively, the self-location estimation function may estimate the self-location using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) technology. SLAM is a technique for estimating a self-position by combining LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), which is a device capable of acquiring surrounding environment information, and map information. When estimating the self-position using SLAM, it is necessary to obtain a map of the inspection area in advance.

The obstacle detection function is a function of recognizing surrounding obstacles using the aforementioned LiDAR, the camera 207, an ultrasonic sensor (not shown), or the like. Note that the obstacle detection function may be used alone, but may be realized by a combination of multiple devices such as LiDAR and a camera.

The vehicle control function creates a command value for autonomously moving the body section 200 (see FIG. 3) of the autonomous mobile robot 2 based on the self-position estimation result by the self-position estimation function, the obstacle detection result by the obstacle detection function, and the information stored in the inspection area information DB 100. The command value includes, for example, the number of revolutions of the moving mechanism drive motor 206 (see FIG. 4), the angle of a handle (not shown), and the like.

The automatic inspection unit 212 reads the numerical value indicated by the inspection object from the photographed image of the inspection object, and detects an abnormality based on the numerical value. For example, if the object to be inspected is an analog meter, it is automatically determined whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the device to which the analog meter is attached, based on information on the magnitude of the digital value converted from the value of the analog meter. The automatic inspection unit 212 also cooperates with the camera control unit 210 and feeds back the fact to the camera control unit 210 when the object to be inspected is not properly photographed. By performing such processing by the automatic inspection unit 212, it becomes possible to re-photograph the object to be inspected by the camera 207, or the like. Note that the function of the automatic inspection unit 212 may be provided on a server (not shown) or a cloud.

[Inspection site information stored in the inspection site information DB]
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the inside-inspection-area information stored in the inside-inspection-area information DB 100 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the inside-inspection-area information (map) stored in the inside-inspection-area information DB 100. As shown in FIG. Although the actual inspection area information is composed of a three-dimensional point group, the diagram shown in FIG. 5 schematically shows the inspection area information in two dimensions. Further, FIG. 5 shows a diagram of a part of the inside of the inspection area, but the actual information inside the inspection area comprehensively includes information that constitutes the inside of the inspection area.

In the center of FIG. 5, there is a cross-shaped paved road 10, and the straight line of the dashed-dotted line in the paved road 10 indicates a model running route 11 along which the autonomous mobile robot 2 should run. In the paved road 10, not only the autonomous mobile robot 2 but also pedestrians, bicycles, and the like run. A blank circle superimposed on the travel route 11 indicates the photographing point Ps. Although it is desirable that the photographing point Ps is provided within the travel route 11 , it may be provided outside the travel route 11 .

The black circle marks shown around the paved road 10 indicate each three-dimensional point group 12 in the map constructed using SLAM or the like. The circles or squares indicated by the three-dimensional point cloud 12 indicate objects present in an inspection area such as a plant or office, for example. A small white circle included in the three-dimensional point cloud 12 indicates the inspection object Oi.

The camera lifting mechanism 208 (see FIG. 3) of the autonomous mobile robot 2 according to the present embodiment adjusts the height of the camera 207 to the camera height set by the moving camera height information setting unit 102 (see FIG. 1) on the way to the shooting point Ps or at the shooting point Ps. Then, the autonomous mobile robot 2 photographs the inspection object Oi at the photographing point Ps.

[Setting example of camera direction and height]
Next, an example of setting the orientation and height of the camera 207 (see FIG. 3) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the orientation and height range of the camera 207 that enables automatic detection of the value indicated by the inspection object Oi.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of an analog meter and a camera 207 as inspection objects Oi. A front view of the analog meter Oi is shown in a balloon above the analog meter Oi.

An image captured by the camera 207 is analyzed by the automatic inspection unit 212 and converted into a read value of the inspection object Oi. Therefore, it is desirable that the image captured by the camera 207 is an image that appropriately captures the value indicated by the inspection object Oi. Considering disturbance factors such as reflection of sunlight, it is preferable that the camera 207 is positioned and oriented so as to face the inspection object Oi. However, depending on the digitization algorithm adopted by the automatic inspection unit 212, values can be accurately read even from a photographed image that is not directly facing the inspection object Oi.

In FIG. 6, the dashed line indicates the optical axis Px0 of the camera 207 when the camera 207 is placed in a position completely facing the inspection object Oi. The optical axis Px1 that defines the upper limit of the range in which the value indicated by the inspection object Oi can be automatically detected is indicated by a one-dot chain line, and the optical axis Px2 that defines the lower limit is indicated by a two-dot chain line. That is, the range defined by the optical axis Px1 and the optical axis Px2 is the automatic detection permissible range To.

Then, the camera control unit 210 (see FIG. 4) of the autonomous mobile robot 2 adjusts the height, position, and orientation of the camera 207 so that the optical axis of the camera 207 falls within the automatic detection allowable range To, thereby enabling the automatic inspection unit 212 to automatically detect the value of the inspection object Oi.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the inspection object Oi is an analog meter, but even if the inspection object Oi is another meter or sensor, the same automatic detection allowable range To as shown in FIG. 6 can be applied.

[Setting example of camera height]
Next, an example of camera height setting by the camera height information setting unit 101 (see FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a setting example of the camera height. In the example shown in FIG. 7, there are three inspection objects Oi1 to Oi3 around the autonomous mobile robot 2 . In FIG. 7, the autonomous mobile robot 2 faces the back, and the inspection objects Oi1 to Oi3 face the sides.

Further, in FIG. 7, the permissible automatic detection range To1 of the inspection object Oi1, the permissible automatic detection range To2 of the inspection object Oi2, and the permissible automatic detection range To3 of the inspection object Oi3 are each indicated by a range represented by two lines (one-dot chain line and two-dot chain line).

In this embodiment, the camera height information setting unit 101 sets the camera height to a height that allows the camera 207 to be positioned within an area where the automatic detection allowable range To1 to the automatic detection allowable range To3 all overlap (exist in all).

Depending on the installation position of the object to be inspected Oi, there may not be a region of the automatic detection allowable range To that is common to all the objects to be inspected Oi existing around. In this case, it is possible to take measures such as setting a plurality of types of camera heights at the photographing point Ps, or moving the photographing point Ps itself to a position where an area of the automatic detection allowable range To common to all inspection objects Oi exists.

Also, the setting of the camera height shown in FIG. 7 is assumed to be automatically performed by the camera height information setting unit 101, but may be manually set by the user. Even if it is set manually, the camera height can be set based on the same theory as the example shown in FIG.

[Setting example of camera height when moving]
Next, a setting example of the moving camera height by the moving camera height information setting unit 102 (see FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of camera height setting during movement by the camera height information setting unit 102 during movement.

FIG. 8 shows a travel route connecting the photographing point Ps1 to the photographing point Ps4. The length of the link L1 connecting the photographing points Ps1 and Ps2 is "10.0 m", the length of the link L2 connecting the photographing points Ps2 and Ps3 is "2.0 m", and the length of the link L3 connecting the photographing points Ps3 and Ps4 is "3.0 m".

Also, the camera height Hc1 at the photographing point Ps1 and the camera height Hc2 at the photographing point Ps2 are each "1.0 m". The camera height Hc3 at the photographing point Ps3 is "1.3 m", and the camera height Hc4 at the photographing point Ps4 is "0.5 m". In the following description, when the links L1 to L4 do not need to be distinguished from each other, they are collectively referred to as the link L, and when they do not need to be distinguished from each other, the photographing points Ps1 to Ps4 are collectively referred to as the photographing point Ps. Moreover, when there is no need to distinguish between the camera heights Hc1 to Hc4, they are collectively referred to as the camera height Hc.

The movement camera height information setting unit 102 determines the movement height of the camera 207 (see FIG. 2) based on the movement distance of the autonomous mobile robot 2, that is, the length of each link L and information on the difference in camera height Hc between the start point and the end point of the link L. Specifically, among a plurality of patterns in which the camera height during movement and the adjustment timing of the camera height are different, the camera height in the pattern in which the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 is smaller is set as the camera height during movement of the autonomous mobile robot 2.

First, the setting of the moving camera height on the link L1 is considered. Assume that the following relational expression (1) holds when the link L1 moves.

(Electric power consumption associated with fixed height (1.0 m) × moving distance (10.0 m))>(1.0 m lowering control + 1.0 m higher control) Equation (1)

The left side of the above equation (1) indicates the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in a pattern (first movement pattern) in which the camera height is fixed at "1.0 m", which is the camera height Hc2 at the next photographing point Ps2, and then moved to the next photographing point Ps2. The right side shows the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in a pattern (second movement pattern) in which the camera height is raised to "1.0 m" after moving to the next photographing point Ps2 without fixing the camera height at a predetermined height (lowering from the initial value of 1.0 m to the lowest point of 0.0 m).

According to the above equation (1), the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the second movement pattern shown on the right side is smaller than the power consumption in the first movement pattern shown on the left side. In other words, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 can reduce the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 by selecting the second movement pattern for the link L1. As a result, the camera elevation mechanism 208 first sets the camera height to "0.0 m" when the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves, based on the second movement pattern, and controls to raise the camera height to "1.0 m" after arriving at the photographing point Ps2.

Next, the setting of the moving camera height on the link L2 will be considered. When the link L2 moves, the following relational expression (2) holds.

(Power consumption associated with fixed height (1.0 m) × Moving distance (2.0 m) + Power consumption during 0.3 m rise control) < (Power consumption during 1.0 m downward control + Power consumption during 1.3 m upward control) Equation (2)

The left side of the above equation (2) indicates the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the first movement pattern. The first movement pattern is a movement pattern in which the camera height is fixed to the current camera height Hc2 of "1.0 m", moves to the next photographing point Ps3, and after arriving at the photographing point Ps3, is raised by the remaining "0.3 m", thereby setting the camera height to "1.3 m", which is the camera height Hc3 at the photographing point Ps2.

The right side shows the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the second movement pattern. The second movement pattern is a movement pattern in which the camera height is not fixed at a predetermined height (it is lowered from the current camera height of 1.0 m to the lowest point of 0.0 m), and after moving to the next shooting point Ps3, the camera height is raised to "1.3 m."

According to the above equation (2), the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the first movement pattern shown on the left side is smaller than the power consumption in the second movement pattern shown on the right side.

In other words, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 can reduce the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 by selecting the first moving pattern for the link L2. As a result, the camera lifting mechanism 208 maintains the camera height of "1.0 m" when the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves, and after arriving at the photographing point Ps3, raises the camera height by "0.3 m" to "1.3 m", which is the camera height Hc3 at the photographing point Ps3.

Finally, consider the setting of the moving camera height on the link L3. When the link L3 moves, the following relational expression (3) holds.

(Electric power consumption associated with fixed height (1.3 m) × Moving distance (3.0 m) + Power consumption during 0.8 m downward control) < (Power consumption during 1.3 m downward control + Power consumption during 0.5 m upward control) Equation (3)

The left side of the above equation (3) indicates the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the first movement pattern. The first movement pattern is a movement pattern in which the camera height is fixed to the current camera height Hc2 of "1.3 m", moved to the next photographing point Ps4, and lowered by "0.8 m" after arriving at the photographing point Ps4, thereby setting the camera height to "0.5 m", which is the camera height Hc4 at the photographing point Ps4.

The right side shows the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the second movement pattern. The second movement pattern is a movement pattern in which the camera height is not fixed at a predetermined height (it is lowered from the current camera height of 1.0 m to the lowest point of 0.0 m), and after moving to the next shooting point Ps3, the camera height is raised to "1.3 m."

According to the above equation (3), the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in the first movement pattern shown on the left side is smaller than the power consumption in the second movement pattern shown on the right side.

In other words, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 can further reduce the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 by selecting the first moving pattern even on the link L3. As a result, the camera lifting mechanism 208 maintains the camera height at "1.3 m" when the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves. Then, after arriving at the shooting point Ps4, the camera lifting mechanism 208 lowers the camera height by "0.8 m" and controls the camera height Hc4 at the shooting point Ps4 to be "0.5 m".

That is, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 calculates the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in both the first movement pattern in which the camera moves along the link L (between the shooting points) while maintaining the camera height at that time, and the second movement pattern in which the camera 207 is once lowered to the lowest point, then moved on the link L, and then raised to the required camera height after arriving at the next shooting point Ps. Then, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 determines the moving camera height based on the moving pattern with the lower power consumption. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the power consumption of the autonomous mobile robot 2 can be reduced when the camera 207 needs to be moved up and down.

In the present embodiment, the case where the movement pattern for which the moving camera height information setting unit 102 calculates the power consumption is the first movement pattern and the second movement pattern is taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in addition to these movement patterns, or instead of these movement patterns, the movement-time camera height information setting unit 102 may calculate power consumption in other movement patterns, such as a pattern in which the camera height is fixed at a predetermined height such as "1.0 m" instead of the current height and then moved, or a movement pattern in which the camera height is changed step by step according to the distance.

[Information processing method by information processing device]
Next, an information processing method by the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of the procedure of the information processing method by the information processing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG.

First, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 (see FIG. 1) acquires information on the camera height Hc at each shooting point Ps from the camera height information setting unit 101 (step S11). Next, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 acquires information on the distance between the shooting points Ps from the camera height information setting unit 101 (step S12). Information on the camera height Hc at each photographing point Ps or information on the distance between the photographing points Ps may be stored in the inspection area information DB 100 after being set by the camera height information setting unit 101. In this case, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 can acquire such information from the inspection area information DB 100.

Next, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 acquires a power consumption parameter (step S13). As described above, the power consumption parameter is a parameter that indicates the amount of power consumed by raising and lowering the camera 207, the amount of power consumed when maintaining the height of the camera, and the like. The power consumption parameter may be set in the moving camera height information setting unit 102 through an operation by the user or the like, or may be set in advance in the moving camera height information setting unit 102 .

Next, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 calculates the power consumption between the shooting points Ps (step S14). That is, the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in both the first movement pattern and the second movement pattern described above is calculated.

Next, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 determines moving camera height information based on the calculation result of step S14 (step S15). That is, of the first movement pattern and the second movement pattern calculated in step S14, the movement-time camera height information is determined based on the movement pattern with the lower power consumption. After the process of step S15, the information processing method by the information processing apparatus 1 ends.

In the above-described embodiment, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 of the information processing apparatus 1 sets the height of the camera 207 when the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves and, among a plurality of moving patterns with different height adjustment timings, the height of the moving pattern in which the camera lifting mechanism 208 consumes less power as the height of the camera 207 when the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since the autonomous mobile robot 2 operates based on a movement pattern that consumes less power, the power consumption of the autonomous mobile robot 2 that requires lifting and lowering of the inspection object information acquisition unit such as the camera 207 can be reduced. In addition, since the power consumption of the autonomous mobile robot 2 can be reduced, the moving distance (operating time) of the autonomous mobile robot 2 can be extended.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the plurality of movement patterns calculated by the moving camera height information setting unit 102 include at least the first movement pattern and the second movement pattern. The first movement pattern is a movement pattern in which the autonomous mobile robot 2 moves to the next photographing point Ps after fixing the height of the camera 207 at a predetermined height. The second movement pattern is a movement pattern in which the autonomous mobile robot 2 is moved to the next photographing point Ps without fixing the height of the camera 207, and after reaching the next photographing point Ps, the camera height is adjusted to the camera height Hc at the destination photographing point Ps.

Then, in the present embodiment, power consumption is calculated for each of the plurality of movement patterns. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately determine a movement pattern that can reduce power consumption, and the power consumption of the autonomous mobile robot 2 can be reduced more reliably.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 calculates the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 in each of the plurality of movement patterns based on the power consumption parameter including each information of the distance between the plurality of shooting points Ps, the height of the camera 207 at the plurality of shooting points Ps, the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 when the camera 207 is fixed at a predetermined height, and the power consumption when the camera lifting mechanism 208 rises and lowers.

That is, in the present embodiment, the moving camera height information setting unit 102 uses the information of each element that consumes power of the autonomous mobile robot 2 to calculate the power consumption in a plurality of movement patterns, so the calculated power consumption is highly accurate. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the camera height during movement is set based on the calculated movement pattern that consumes less power, so that the power consumption of the camera lifting mechanism 208 (autonomous mobile robot 2) can be reduced more reliably.

<Second embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the control system of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, the information processing apparatus 1A includes an inspection area information DB 100, a camera height information setting unit 101, a moving camera height information setting unit 102, an exercise performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A, a moving camera height information determining unit 102B, and an inter-shooting point information acquiring unit 103.

The in-inspection area information DB 100 and the camera height information setting unit 101 are the same as those in the information processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The inter-photographing point information acquisition unit 103 acquires information on the shape of the traveling path between the photographing points Ps from the inspection area information DB 100 . The inter-imaging point information acquisition unit 103 acquires, for example, step information on the travel path, information on the slope of the travel path, information on the curvature of the travel path, and the like, as information on the shape of the travel path. Note that the inter-photographing point information acquisition unit 103 may acquire any one of these information as the information on the shape of the travel path, or may acquire information other than these information.

Note that the inter-photographing point information acquisition unit 103 may acquire information on the shape of the road between the photographing points Ps from the inspection area information DB 100, but may also acquire the road surface shape between the photographing points Ps based on the recognition result of the external world by the external world recognition sensor of the road shape estimation unit 213 (see FIG. 13).

The moving camera height information setting unit 102 performs the same processing as the moving camera height information setting unit 102 according to the first embodiment. That is, the movement camera height information setting unit 102 determines the information of the camera height during movement based on the movement pattern with the lower power consumption among the first movement pattern and the second movement pattern.

The exercise performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A (an example of a second moving height information setting unit) sets an upper limit value (an example of a second height) of the camera height when moving between shooting points Ps based on the information of the exercise parameter. The motion parameter is a parameter that indicates the road surface condition of the travel path, the motion performance of the autonomous mobile robot 2, and the like. The motion performance of the autonomous mobile robot 2 includes information on the movement speed of the autonomous mobile robot 2, information on the height of the center of gravity that induces the autonomous mobile robot 2 to fall, and the like.

If the camera height is set high when passing (elevating) a slope with a steep slope or a step with a large height difference, or when turning a curve with a large curvature, the position of the center of gravity of the autonomous mobile robot 2 will rise, and the autonomous mobile robot 2 may overturn (overturn or capsize). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the motion performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A sets the upper limit of the camera height during movement between the shooting points Ps in order to prevent such a situation from occurring.

Here, with reference to FIG. 11, the effects of the road surface conditions of the travel path and the height of the camera during movement on the travel of the autonomous mobile robot 2 will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of how the road surface conditions of the travel path and the height of the camera during movement affect the travel of the autonomous mobile robot 2 .

The left side of FIG. 11A shows an example of the state of the autonomous mobile robot 2 when passing through a step with a large height difference (when there is a step 60 in front of the autonomous mobile robot 2). The right side of FIG. 11A shows an example of the state of the autonomous mobile robot 2 when the left and right wheels cross over a step with a large height difference (the left side of the autonomous mobile robot 2 runs over the step 61).

In the state shown on the left side of FIG. 11A, if the camera height is set high, the autonomous mobile robot 2 may fall backward, and if the camera height is set high in the state shown on the right side of FIG.

FIG. 11B shows an example of the state of the autonomous mobile robot 2 when climbing a steep slope 62 (when there is an uphill in front of the autonomous mobile robot 2). In the state shown in FIG. 11B, if the camera height is set high, the autonomous mobile robot 2 may fall backward.

FIG. 11C shows an example of the state of the autonomous mobile robot 2 when turning right on a curve 63 with a large curvature. In the state shown in FIG. 11C, if the camera height is set high, the autonomous mobile robot 2 may roll over to the outside of the curve, that is, to the left.

In other words, in each state shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C, in order to prevent the autonomous mobile robot 2 from overturning or overturning, the camera height when the autonomous mobile robot 2 is moving must be set to a lower height than when the autonomous mobile robot 2 is traveling on a flat road.

FIG. 12 is a table showing the correspondence between the road surface conditions of the traveling road and the low necessity of lowering the camera height. A circle mark in the table indicates that the camera height does not need to be lowered, a triangle mark indicates that the camera height needs to be lowered, and a cross mark indicates that the camera height must be lowered sufficiently to eliminate the possibility of overturning or overturning.

For example, if the level difference in the traveling path is "small", the possibility of the autonomous mobile robot 2 overturning is low even if the camera height is high, so there is no need to lower the camera height (marked by a circle in the figure).

In addition, when the slope of the travel path is "small", the possibility of the autonomous mobile robot 2 overturning is low even if the camera height is high, so there is no need to lower the camera height (marked by a circle in the figure).

Furthermore, when the curvature of the travel path is "small", the possibility of overturning of the autonomous mobile robot 2 is low even if the camera height is high, so there is no need to lower the camera height (marked by a circle in the figure).

Returning to FIG. 10, the description continues. Moving camera height information determining unit 102B (an example of moving height information determining unit) determines the moving camera height by comparing the camera height determined by moving camera height information setting unit 102 (hereinafter, also referred to as "power consumption priority height" (an example of first height)) with the camera height determined by motion performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A (hereinafter, also referred to as "motion performance priority height" (second height)). decide.

Specifically, the moving camera height information determination unit 102B determines the lower one of the power consumption priority height and the exercise performance priority height as the moving camera height. For example, if the movement performance priority height is lower than the power consumption priority height, the moving camera height information determination unit 102B determines the movement performance priority height as the camera height during movement. As a result, the moving camera height determined by the moving camera height information determination unit 102B does not exceed the upper limit of the camera height (motion performance priority height) determined by the motion performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A.

If the power consumption priority height is lower than the exercise performance priority height, the moving camera height information determination unit 102B determines the power consumption priority height as the camera height during movement.

Note that the exercise performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A does not calculate the camera height in consideration of power consumption. Therefore, when the exercise performance priority height determined by the exercise performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A is adopted, power consumption may not be minimized.

In this case, the moving camera height information determining unit 102B may calculate the power consumption in a plurality of moving patterns using a method similar to the calculation method used by the moving camera height information setting unit 102, and may determine the camera height with the lower power consumption as the moving camera height. For example, the moving camera height information determination unit 102B adopts the second movement pattern when the power consumption of the second movement pattern, that is, the movement pattern of raising the camera to the necessary camera height after arriving at the next photographing point Ps, is less than the movement pattern of setting the power consumption priority height and moving. In this case, the moving camera height is set to "0.0 m".

[Configuration of control system for autonomous mobile robot]
Next, the configuration of the control system of the autonomous mobile robot according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the control system of the autonomous mobile robot 2A according to the second embodiment.

The autonomous mobile robot 2A shown in FIG. 13 differs from the autonomous mobile robot 2 shown in FIG. Since other configurations are the same as those of the autonomous mobile robot 2 shown in FIG. 1, description thereof will be omitted.

The travel path shape estimator 213 estimates the shape of the travel path (road surface condition) using the detection result of the sensor provided in the autonomous mobile robot 2A or the information stored in the inspection area information DB 100 . For example, LiDAR or the like can be used as the sensor. The traveling road shape estimation unit 213 estimates the position of the road surface using a plane equation or the like based on the information of the point group acquired by LiDAR, and extracts tall objects from the road surface.

The road shape estimator 213 can also estimate the slope of the road by using an algorithm such as RANSAC (RANdom SAmple Consensus).

Alternatively, when performing estimation using information stored in the inspection area information DB 100, the traveling road shape estimation unit 213, for example, extracts information on the height of each photographing point Ps, and determines that a place where there is a difference in height is a place where there is a step. In addition, when detailed digitalized information is stored in the inspection area information DB 100, the travel path shape estimation unit 213 causes the autonomous mobile robot 2A to travel in the digitalized virtual space, and acquires the shape information of the travel path in the virtual space.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of information on the shape of the travel path. FIG. 14 shows a travel route that starts at the photographing point Ps11 and ends at the photographing point Ps14. As shown in FIG. 14, the length of the link L11 connecting the photographing points Ps11 and Ps12 is "10.0 m", and the photographing point Ps12 is "0.1 m" higher than the photographing point Ps11. That is, there is a step at the position of the photographing point Ps12. The height of "0.1 m" continues up to the photographing point Ps14.

The length of the link L12 connecting the photographing points Ps12 and Ps13 is "2.0 m", and the length of the link L13 connecting the photographing points Ps13 and Ps14 is "3.0 m".

The camera height Hc11 at the photographing point Ps11 and the camera height Hc12 at the photographing point Ps12 are each "1.0 m", the camera height Hc13 at the photographing point Ps13 is "1.3 m", and the camera height Hc14 at the photographing point Ps14 is "0.5 m".

If the moving camera height (moving performance priority height) of the link L12 set by the moving performance reference camera height information setting unit 102A (see FIG. 10) is "0.5 m", the moving camera height information determining unit 102B needs to set the moving camera height of the link L12 to "0.5 m" or less.

Then, the moving camera height information determination unit 102B recalculates the camera height that minimizes the power consumption when the link L12 moves. The left side of the following equation (1) indicates power consumption in the first movement pattern, and the right side indicates power consumption in the second movement pattern.

(Power consumption during 0.5 m lowering control + power consumption associated with fixed height x movement distance (2.0 m) + power consumption during 0.8 m ascending control) < (power consumption during 1.0 m descending control + power consumption during 1.3 m ascending control) Equation (4)

The first movement pattern shown on the left side of the above equation (4) is a movement pattern in which the camera height is lowered by "0.5 m" from the current camera height of "1.0 m", fixed at "0.5 m" as the movement performance priority height, and then moved to the next photographing point Ps13. The second movement pattern shown on the right side is a movement pattern in which the camera height is lowered from the current camera height of "1.0 m" to the lowest point of "0.0 m", moved to the next photographing point Ps13, and then raised to "1.3 m".

When the above equation (4) holds, that is, when the power consumption in the first movement pattern shown on the left side is lower than the power consumption in the second movement pattern shown on the right side, the moving camera height information determining unit 102B sets the moving camera height of the link L12 to "0.5 m".

On the other hand, when the above equation (4) does not hold, that is, when the power consumption in the second movement pattern shown on the right side is smaller, the moving camera height information determination unit 102B sets the moving camera height to "0.0 m" and raises the camera height to "1.3 m" after arriving at the next shooting point Ps13.

In the above-described second embodiment, the moving camera height information determining unit 102B sets the lower one of the power consumption priority height and the exercise performance priority height as the moving camera height. The motion performance priority height is the upper limit of the camera height determined based on information on the shape of the travel path, the motion performance of the autonomous mobile robot 2, and the like. Therefore, the moving camera height determined by the moving camera height information determination unit 102B is always set to a height equal to or lower than the upper limit of the camera height determined based on information on the shape of the traveling path, the motion performance of the autonomous mobile robot 2, and the like. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the autonomous mobile robot 2 can be operated based on a movement pattern with lower power consumption without impairing the motion performance of the autonomous mobile robot 2 .

Further, in the above-described second embodiment, the upper limit value of the camera height set by the mobile camera height information determination unit 102B is a height that does not induce the autonomous mobile robot 2 to fall. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the autonomous mobile robot 2 can be operated based on a movement pattern that can reduce power consumption while preventing the autonomous mobile robot 2 from overturning.

Furthermore, in the above-described second embodiment, when moving camera height information determination unit 102B selects the motion performance priority height, the movement pattern is calculated again for the purpose of minimizing power consumption. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the autonomous mobile robot 2 from overturning and reduce power consumption.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and of course, various other applications and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

For example, each of the above-described embodiments describes in detail and specifically the configuration of the device (information processing device, autonomous mobile robot) and system (inspection automation system) in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. It is also possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is also possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

1, 2, 4, 10, and 13, the control lines or information lines indicated by solid lines or arrows are considered to be necessary for explanation, and not necessarily all control lines and information lines on the product. In practice, it may be considered that almost all configurations are interconnected.

Further, in this specification, processing steps describing time-series processing include not only processing performed in time-series according to the described order, but also processing performed in parallel or individually (for example, parallel processing or processing by objects), even if it is not necessarily processed in time-series.

Further, each component of the information processing apparatus according to each embodiment of the present disclosure described above may be implemented in any hardware as long as each hardware can transmit and receive information to and from each other via a network. Also, a process performed by a certain processing unit may be implemented by one piece of hardware, or may be implemented by distributed processing by a plurality of pieces of hardware.

1, 1A... Information processing device 2, 2A... Autonomous mobile robot 100... Inspection area information DB 101... Camera height information setting unit 102... Traveling camera height information setting unit 102A... Exercise performance standard camera height information setting unit 102B... Traveling camera height information determination unit 103... Inter-shooting point information acquisition unit 207... Camera 208... Camera lifting mechanism 210... Camera control unit 211... Autonomous running function Part 212...Automatic inspection part 213...Travel road shape estimation part

Claims (8)

An information processing device for setting a height during movement of an inspection object information acquisition unit that is provided in an autonomous mobile body that moves between a plurality of inspection object information acquisition points and acquires information on the inspection object,
an information processing apparatus comprising a moving height information setting unit configured to set the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit when the autonomous mobile body moves and the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit during movement of the autonomous mobile body to the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit when the autonomous mobile body moves, among a plurality of movement patterns in which the adjustment timing of the height is different. The plurality of movement patterns include: a first movement pattern in which the autonomous mobile body moves to the next inspection object information acquisition point after fixing the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit at a predetermined height; The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least a second movement pattern for adjusting the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving height information setting unit calculates the power consumption of each of the lifting mechanisms in the plurality of movement patterns based on each of the distances between the plurality of inspection object information acquisition points, the target height of the inspection object information acquiring unit at the plurality of inspection object information acquiring points, the power consumption of the lifting mechanism when the inspection object information acquiring unit is fixed at a predetermined height, and the power consumption of the lifting mechanism when the lifting mechanism moves up and down. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit to the next inspection object information acquisition point in the first movement pattern is the lowest point of the elevation range of the inspection object information acquisition unit by the elevating mechanism, or a height at which the inspection object information acquisition unit can be fixed without consuming power. a second moving height information setting unit that sets, as a second height, an upper limit value of the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit between each of the plurality of inspection object information acquisition points based on information on the shape of the traveling path along which the autonomous mobile body moves;
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a moving height determination unit that sets the lower height of the first height set by the moving height information setting unit and the second height set by the second moving height information setting unit to the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit when the autonomous mobile body moves. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second height is a height that does not induce overturning of the autonomous mobile body. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the shape information of the travel path includes at least one or more of step information included in the travel path, gradient information of the travel path, and curvature information of the travel path. An information processing method using an information processing device for setting a height during movement of an inspection object information acquisition unit that is provided in an autonomous mobile body that moves between a plurality of inspection object information acquisition points and acquires information of the inspection object,
An information processing method including a step of setting the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit during movement of the autonomous mobile body and the height of the movement pattern in which the power consumption of an elevating mechanism that raises and lowers the inspection object information acquisition unit among a plurality of movement patterns in which the adjustment timing of the height is different, to the height of the inspection object information acquisition unit during movement of the autonomous mobile body.

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