JP2024038587A - Autonomous traveling mobile body - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an autonomous traveling mobile body capable of detecting a traveling abnormality and returning itself from a traveling abnormality state.SOLUTION: An autonomous traveling mobile body 100a comprises a sensor unit 101 which acquires an acceleration speed of the autonomous traveling mobile body 100a, a driving unit 103 which travels the autonomous traveling mobile body 100a and acquires a rotational speed of a wheel, and a control unit 102 which controls the autonomous traveling mobile body 100a from the information received from the sensor unit 101 and the driving unit 103. The control unit 102 calculates a first speed v1 of the autonomous traveling mobile body 100a from the rotational speed of the wheel acquired from the driving unit 103, and calculates a second speed v2 of the autonomous traveling mobile body 100a from the acceleration speed acquired from the sensor unit 101. When the first speed v1 is >>0 and the second peed v2 is ≒0, the control unit determines that the autonomous traveling mobile body 100a has not advanced.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an autonomous mobile object.

In recent years, autonomous mobile bodies are expected to be applied to various industrial fields, and development is progressing. As a technique related to an autonomous mobile body that detects obstacle detection, there is, for example, Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a drive motor that drives a drive wheel of a vacuum cleaner body, an applied voltage detection means that detects an applied voltage of the drive motor, and an acceleration acting on the vacuum cleaner body with respect to the traveling direction of the vacuum cleaner body. comparing the applied voltage of the drive motor detected by the acceleration sensor detecting in the three orthogonal axes directions of the front-rear direction, the left-right direction and the up-down direction, and the applied voltage detection means with the detection output of the acceleration sensor at predetermined time intervals; A running abnormality determination means that determines that the vacuum cleaner body is running abnormally when there is no detection output of the acceleration sensor because the vacuum cleaner body is not moving even though voltage is applied to the drive motor. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner is disclosed. According to Patent Document 1, by detecting running abnormalities of the vacuum cleaner body using only the applied voltage of the drive motor and the detection output of the acceleration sensor without using the rotation detection output of the drive wheels, the drive wheels can be prevented from spinning. It is said that this can prevent erroneous determination of driving abnormality when the system is running.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-218560

By the way, in an autonomous moving body such as a robot vacuum cleaner, it is desired to clean an entire room without getting stuck during cleaning. Patent Document 1 discloses a means for determining a running abnormality using the applied voltage of a drive motor and the detection output of an acceleration sensor, and notifying a user when a running abnormality occurs. The present invention does not disclose a method for recovering from a state in which the autonomous mobile body cannot move forward.In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a method in which an autonomous mobile body detects a running abnormality, and the autonomous mobile body itself recovers from the abnormal running state. The purpose is to provide an autonomous moving vehicle that can also operate autonomously.

One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object includes: a sensor unit that acquires the acceleration of an autonomous mobile body; a drive unit that drives the autonomous mobile body and acquires the number of rotations of wheels; and a control unit that controls the mobile body from the information received from the drive unit, the control unit calculating a first speed v ₁ of the autonomous mobile body from the rotation speed of the wheels acquired from the drive unit, The second speed v ₂ of the autonomous mobile object is calculated from the acceleration acquired from the sensor unit, and if the first speed v ₁ >>0 and the second speed v ₂ ≒0 are satisfied, the autonomous mobile object is an autonomous mobile object. This is an autonomous moving body characterized by determining that the moving body is not moving forward.

More specific configurations of the present invention are described in the claims.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an autonomous moving body that can detect a running abnormality and can also recover from the abnormal running state. This makes it possible to detect, avoid, and overcome abnormal driving conditions caused by low steps and obstacles that are difficult to detect with external sensors such as contact sensors and infrared sensors, and can clean entire rooms without getting stuck during cleaning. It becomes possible to provide a robot vacuum cleaner that can clean.

Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be made clear by the following description of the embodiments.

Block diagram showing the configuration of the autonomous mobile body of Example 1 Flowchart showing control of the autonomous mobile object of Example 1 A schematic diagram showing a state in which the autonomous moving body of Example 1 is unable to move forward due to wheels slipping due to a low height difference. Flowchart illustrating control of the autonomous mobile object of Example 2 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 2 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 2 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 2 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 3 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 3 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 3 Schematic diagram illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile object of Example 3 Block diagram showing the configuration of the autonomous mobile body of Example 4 Schematic diagram of the environment in which the autonomous mobile body of Example 4 is placed Schematic diagram of the image mapped in Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the image mapped in Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the environment in which the autonomous mobile body of Example 6 is placed Schematic diagram of the image mapped in Figure 10 Schematic diagram of the image mapped in Figure 10

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an autonomous mobile body according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the autonomous mobile body 100a of the first embodiment includes a sensor section 101, a drive section 103, and a control section 102 that controls the sensor section 101 and the drive section 103. The sensor unit 101 acquires the acceleration α of the autonomous mobile body 100a and transmits it to the control unit 102. The drive unit 103 acquires the rotation speed of the wheels and transmits it to the control unit 102. The drive unit 103 operates based on information received from the control unit 102 and moves the autonomous mobile body 100a.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control of the autonomous mobile body according to the first embodiment. Further, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the autonomous moving body of the first embodiment is unable to move forward due to wheels sliding due to a low height difference. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the autonomous moving body 100a running on the floor 302 collides with an obstacle (low height difference 301) on the floor 302 and cannot move forward. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the operation of the autonomous mobile body of this embodiment when there is an obstacle will be described. It is.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, when power is input to the autonomous mobile body 100a, control is started, and the autonomous mobile body 100a starts traveling (S0). Next, the control unit 102 acquires the rotation speed of the wheels from the drive unit 103 (S1). The first speed v ₁ of the autonomous mobile body 100a is calculated from the obtained wheel rotation speed (S2). Next, the acceleration α of the autonomous mobile body 100a is acquired from the sensor unit 101 (S3). Next, the second velocity v ₂ of the autonomous mobile body 100 is calculated by integrating the acquired acceleration α (S4).

If the first speed v ₁ >>0 and the second speed v ₂ ≈0 (YES in S5), the autonomous mobile body 100a is controlled to perform an avoidance operation (S6). In the situation shown in FIG. 3, that is, when the autonomous mobile body 100a has a low height difference 301 in front of the wheels 1 in the traveling direction (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3), the wheels 1 may slip. I can't move forward. In this state, the wheel 1 is rotating, so the first speed v ₁ calculated from the rotation speed of the wheel 1 is greater than zero. Further, the acceleration acquired from the sensor unit 101 is 0, and the second velocity v ₂ calculated by integrating the acceleration is 0. In such a case, an avoidance operation is performed so that the autonomous mobile body 100a can travel normally. On the other hand, if the first speed v ₁ >>0 and the second speed v ₂ are not approximately 0 (NO in S5), the autonomous mobile body 100a continues to travel (S7).

If the running is finished (YES in S8), the control is finished (S9). If the running is not completed (NO in S8), the process returns to (S1) and continues running.

According to the present embodiment, as described above, autonomous traveling is performed based on the first speed v ₁ calculated from the rotation speed of the wheels and the second speed v ₂ acquired from the acceleration α acquired from the sensor unit 101. It is possible to detect whether the body 100a is running normally or a state in which it cannot move forward (a state in which the wheels are spinning idle due to hitting an obstacle).

In the above-described embodiment, it was determined whether the autonomous mobile body 100a is running normally or is unable to move forward based on the comparison between the acceleration of the autonomous mobile body 100a and the rotation speed of the wheels. The determination can also be made by comparing the position of the autonomous mobile body 100a calculated from the acceleration of the mobile body 100a and the position of the autonomous mobile body 100a calculated from the number of rotations of the wheels.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control of the autonomous mobile object according to the second embodiment. Further, FIGS. 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating the running-over operation of the autonomous mobile body according to the second embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 5A to 5C, a running method for the autonomous mobile body 100a to run over a low-profile obstacle 501 by changing its speed will be described.

In FIG. 4, steps S0 to S5 are the same as in the first embodiment. In S5, if the first speed v ₁ >>0 and the second speed v ₂ ≈0 (YES in S5), the autonomous mobile body 100a is controlled to perform a run-over operation (S6').

On the other hand, if the first speed v ₁ >>0 and the second speed v ₂ are not approximately 0 (NO in S5), the autonomous mobile body 100a continues to travel (S7). The subsequent steps S8 to S9 are the same as in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5A, when the autonomous mobile body 100a cannot move forward due to a low-profile obstacle 501 (FIG. 5A), the control unit 102 causes the autonomous mobile body 100a to move backward (FIG. 5B). . Thereafter, by moving forward at a speed higher than the normal running speed, it becomes possible to run over the low-profile obstacle 501 (FIG. 5C).

According to the present embodiment, the autonomous mobile body 100a can not only detect obstacles but also move over them.

In this embodiment, another aspect of the running-over operation of the second embodiment will be described. FIGS. 6A to 6D are schematic diagrams illustrating the running operation of the autonomous mobile body according to the third embodiment. In this embodiment, a description will be given of a run in which the autonomous mobile body 100a runs over a low-profile obstacle 501 by changing the angle at which the autonomous mobile body 100a approaches the obstacle.

When the autonomous mobile body 100a cannot move forward due to the low height obstacle 501 (FIG. 6A), the control unit 102 causes the autonomous mobile body 100a to move backward (FIG. 6B). Thereafter, it is rotated by a predetermined angle (for example, 45 degrees) (FIG. 6C). By moving forward after rotating, it becomes possible to run over a low-profile obstacle 501 (FIG. 6D).

Such movements make it possible to overcome obstacles that cannot be overcome by driving straight ahead.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an autonomous mobile body according to the fourth embodiment. The autonomous mobile body 100b in FIG. 7 includes a map information section 701 and an external world recognition section 702 in addition to the configuration shown in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the environment in which the autonomous mobile body of Example 4 is placed. FIG. 8 shows an autonomous moving body 100b, a wall 801, and a low height difference 802. 9A and 9B are schematic diagrams of images mapped from FIG. 8. 9A and 9B are configuration diagrams for explaining a map 900B used by the autonomous mobile body 100. A map 900A, a map 900B, an unknown area 901, an occupied area 902, a free area 903, and an obstacle area 904 are shown.

In the autonomous mobile body 100b of this embodiment, the control unit 102 detects a low step or obstacle and stores the position on a map. In an environment 800 shown in FIG. 8 in which low-profile obstacles exist, the control unit 102 uses the external world recognition unit 702 to generate a map 900A shown in FIG. 9A, and transmits the map information to the map information unit 701. When the autonomous mobile body 100b travels and a low-profile obstacle 802 is detected from the wheel rotation speed acquired from the drive unit 103 and the acceleration α of the autonomous mobile body 100b acquired from the sensor unit 101, An obstacle area 904 is calculated from the map 900A and the position of the autonomous mobile body 100b, a map 900B that reflects the obstacle area 904 on the map 900A is generated, and the map information is transmitted to the map information unit 701.

According to this embodiment, by storing the location of an obstacle, it is possible to avoid the obstacle while traveling, and the autonomous mobile object can move efficiently.

In this embodiment, another method of controlling the traveling of the autonomous mobile body 100b in the fourth embodiment will be described. The control unit 102 controls the drive unit 103 to move forward when the area ahead is the free area 903 on the map 900B, and to perform an avoidance operation when it is not. This allows the autonomous mobile body 100b to travel without being hindered by the wall 801 or the low-profile obstacle 804.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the environment in which the autonomous mobile body of Example 6 is placed, and FIGS. 11A to 11B are schematic diagrams of images obtained by mapping FIG. 10.

In this embodiment, a mode will be described in which the control unit 102 detects a step as an obstacle and stores its position on a map in the fourth embodiment. In an environment 1000 shown in FIG. 10 in which low-profile obstacles exist, the control unit 102 uses the external world recognition unit 702 to generate a map 1100A shown in FIG. 11A, and transmits the map information to the map information unit 701. When the autonomous mobile body 100 is traveling and a low height difference 1002 is detected from the rotational speed of the wheels acquired from the drive unit 103 and the acceleration α of the autonomous mobile body 100b acquired from the sensor unit 101, a map is created. A step area 1104 is calculated from the position of the autonomous mobile body 1100A and the autonomous mobile body 100b, a map 1100B is generated in which the step area 1104 is reflected in the map 1100A, and the map information is transmitted to the map information section 701.

In this embodiment, a method in which the control unit 102 avoids the low-profile obstacle 1003 using the map 1100B in the sixth embodiment will be described. The control unit 102 controls the drive unit 103 to move forward when the area ahead is the free area 1103 in the map 1100B, perform a run-over operation when the area ahead is the step area 1104, and perform an avoidance operation when the area ahead is the occupied area 1002. control. This allows the autonomous moving body 100 to travel without being hindered by the step 1104.

As described above, according to the present invention, it has been shown that it is possible to provide an autonomous moving body capable of detecting a running abnormality and recovering from the abnormal running state.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

100a, 100b...Autonomous moving body, 1...Bottom surface of autonomous moving body, 101...Sensor unit, 102...Control unit, 103...Drive unit, 301...Low height step, 302...Floor, 501...Low profile 701...Map information section, 702...External world recognition section, 800...Environment where low height obstacles exist, 801...Wall, 802...Low height obstacles, 900...A map, 900...B map, 901...Unknown area, 902 Occupied area, 903 Free area, 904 Obstacle area, 1000...Environment where a low height difference exists, 1001...Wall, 1002...Low height difference, 1100...A map, 1100...B map, 1101...unknown area, 1102...occupied area, 1103...free area.

Claims (6)

a sensor unit that acquires the acceleration of the autonomous mobile body; a drive unit that causes the autonomous mobile body to travel and acquires the number of rotations of the wheels; A control unit for controlling the mold moving body,
The control unit calculates a first speed v1 of the autonomous mobile body from the rotation speed of the wheels acquired from the drive unit, and calculates a second speed _v1 of the autonomous mobile body from the acceleration acquired from the sensor unit. Calculate the speed v ₂ of
An autonomous mobile body characterized in that if the first speed v ₁ >>0 and the second speed v ₂ are before 0, it is determined that the autonomous mobile body is not moving forward. . When the control unit determines that the autonomous mobile body is unable to move forward, the control unit controls the drive unit to avoid or run over an obstacle that causes the autonomous mobile body to be unable to move forward. The autonomous mobile body according to claim 1, characterized by: 1 . The control unit is configured to cause the autonomous mobile body to move forward at a speed higher than a normal traveling speed when running over an obstacle that causes the autonomous mobile body to be unable to move forward. An autonomous mobile object described in . The autonomous running system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes the angle of the autonomous moving body to move the autonomous moving body forward when running over an obstacle that causes the autonomous moving body to be unable to move forward. Type mobile. comprising a map information unit that stores a map created by the movement operation of the autonomous mobile body,
The autonomous mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the control unit records in the map information unit a location where it is determined that the autonomous mobile body is not moving forward. The control unit may control the drive unit so that the autonomous mobile body avoids obstacles stored in the map information unit that prevent the autonomous mobile body from moving forward. The autonomous mobile body according to claim 1.

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