JP2785305B2 - Self-propelled vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a cleaning function and a moving function for cleaning a floor surface.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vacuum cleaner has been developed in which a moving function is added to a vacuum cleaner to improve operability during cleaning. Particularly recently, a so-called self-contained induction type self-propelled vacuum cleaner has been developed in which a microcomputer and various sensors are mounted thereon to move and clean while judging a cleaning place by oneself. This type of self-propelled vacuum cleaner has a map in the storage unit to recognize the cleaning area and determine the direction of movement, but a complicated algorithm is used to search the entire cleaning area when referring to this map. In many cases, it is difficult to determine the moving direction by dealing with obstacles having various shapes.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional technique, a complicated operation is required to determine a moving direction, and real-time movement control is difficult with a simple system, so that the moving speed is low or the cleaning is not performed. There were problems such as leaving an area. The present invention provides a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that can accurately determine a moving direction with a simple algorithm based on obstacle / already-moved route information on a block map and can efficiently move the entire cleaning area. The primary purpose is to do so. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a self-propelled cleaner capable of moving and cleaning the entire cleaning area where an unknown obstacle exists.

Means for Solving the Problems The first means for achieving the first object is a self-propelled cleaner having traveling and steering means for self-propelling the main body and azimuth detecting means for detecting a moving direction. A storage unit having a block map indicating the position of the wall / obstacle and the already moved path, and a moving direction determining means for determining the moving direction by referring to the contents of blocks before, after, left and right of the current position of the block map. The moving direction determining means sets the moving to the wall along the moving direction at the start point at the corner of the block map as the highest priority, sets the opposite direction to the lowest priority, and blocks the wall / obstacle and the already moved path. It is a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that does not move in the direction.

A second means for achieving the second object is a self-propelled cleaner having a traveling and steering means for self-propelling the main body and an azimuth detecting means for detecting a moving direction. A storage unit having a block map showing a position and a travel route, a distance measuring unit for detecting a distance to an actual wall / obstacle, and a distance between the block content on the front, rear, left and right of the current position of the block map and the distance measuring unit And a moving direction determining means for determining a moving direction by the moving direction determining means, wherein the moving direction determining means gives the highest priority to moving in the direction of the wall along the moving direction at the starting point at the corner of the block map, and sets the opposite direction to the highest priority. Priority is given to the lower order, and it is made not to move in the block direction of the wall / obstacle and the already-moved route, and when the actual wall / obstacle obstructs the course by the distance measuring means, it is performed along the wall. Self-propelled It is an removal machine.

According to the first means, the movement in the direction of the wall along the movement direction at the start point at the corner of the block map is given the highest priority, the opposite direction is given the lowest priority, and the wall / obstacle and the existing object are given the lowest priority. Because it does not move in the block direction of the movement route, it is possible to move the cleaning area completely by referring to the block map stored in the storage unit in advance, and also to the left, right, front and back of the current position of the block map The moving direction is determined by referring to the contents of the block.
It can be done with a simple algorithm.

According to the second means, even if there is a real obstacle which is not input in the block map in advance in the cleaning area, the obstacle can be detected by the distance measuring means, and this can be avoided.
When used in combination with the action of the first means, it is possible to move and clean the entire cleaning area where the unknown obstacle is present. Also,
According to this means, even from a completely unknown cleaning area, that is, an initial state in which no information is input to the block map, the moving direction can be accurately determined, and the cleaning area can be moved and cleaned completely.

Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body, a fan 2 and a fan driving means 3 for cleaning, a dust box 4, a floor nozzle 5, and a traveling and steering wheel 6 for movement.
Traveling and steering means 7, 8; auxiliary wheels 9, azimuth detecting means 10 for detecting a moving direction, position calculating means 11,
And a battery 12 for supplying power to the whole. 13
Similarly, is a storage unit built in the main body 1 and has a block map indicating the position of the wall / obstacle and the traveled route. Reference numeral 14 denotes moving direction determining means for determining a moving direction by referring to only the contents of the block map before, after, right and left of the current position of the block map. As shown in FIG. 3, the contents of each means in this embodiment are as follows: the fan driving means 3 is a sub-processor, a fan motor driving circuit and a motor, and the running means 7 and the steering means 8 are a sub-processor and a running motor, respectively. A drive circuit and a steering motor drive circuit / motor / rotary encoder; a azimuth detecting means 10 is a gyro and an integrator; a position calculating means 11 and a moving direction calculating means 14
Is composed of a main processor.

Next, the operation of the self-propelled cleaner will be described. The moving direction determining means 14 determines the moving direction based on the information on the walls and obstacles of the block map and the already-moved route stored in the storage unit 13 and the position information of the position calculating means 11 (the moving direction determining algorithm will be described later). The means 7 is provided with the running speed / distance, and the steering means 8 is provided with the steering speed / angle. Then, the traveling and steering means 7 and 8 drive the traveling and steered wheels 6,
The main body 1 moves in a target direction. During this movement, the fan 2 is driven by the fan drive means 3 and sucks dust from the floor nozzle 5 into the dust box 4, thereby serving as a self-propelled cleaner.

FIG. 4 shows a block map used in this embodiment. In this block map, a certain area including a cleaning area is defined as an X direction (hereinafter referred to as a row direction) and a Y direction (hereinafter referred to as a column direction).
Both are divided into blocks at equal intervals, and the interval between the blocks is set to be slightly smaller than the width of the floor nozzle 5. Each block corresponds to one bit of the storage unit 13. In this embodiment, two block maps are prepared for the wall / obstacle and for the already-moved path. This map is expressed in such a way that, for example, when a certain block represents a position where a wall or an obstacle is present, the bit of the wall / obstacle map corresponding to the block is set to 1 and similarly, it is a moving route. When it is represented, the bit of the map for the traveled route corresponding to the block is set to 1, and otherwise, each bit is set to 0. Also, numbers are sequentially assigned to the delimited rows and columns from 0 to indicate the positions. For example, point P in FIG. 4 is represented as P = (n, m). Where nm
Corresponds to the calculation result of the position calculation means 11.
Next, the moving direction determining algorithm by the moving direction determining means 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. In FIG. 5 showing an example of the block map of the present embodiment, the hatched portion in the wall / obstacle map is a preset wall / obstacle, and the dotted line in the traveled route map is the actual traveling. , Ie, the already moved path. In addition, the movement control is performed so as to move the center of the block. For example, when the control is performed so that n rows are directed to the north, the output of the movement direction determining means 14 is expressed as OL = (n, north). ing. However, the upper part is north, the lower part is south, the left is west, and the right is east. The moving direction is determined by referring only to the contents of the north, south, east, west, and north blocks of the current position, and determining that the moving direction is the block direction when there is no wall or obstacle and the route has not been moved. . When referring to this block, in this embodiment, the priority order is set in the order of west-south-north-east. With this setting, the moving direction can be determined efficiently. In other words, when the start point is set as shown in FIG. 5, since the westward and southward movements cannot be considered at the position of the start point P0, the priority order is set higher and the moving direction can be determined quickly. Things. This is the most excellent point of this embodiment. However, this priority is when the start point is set as shown in FIG. 5, and in other cases, the priority may be basically determined so that the priority of the start point is the highest. The following describes how the moving direction is determined. First, at the start point P0,
Referring to blocks according to priority (0, 1),
Since (1, 0) cannot move on the wall and (1, 2) can move, OL = (1, north). Next, in P1, (0, 2)
Indicates that the wall (1, 0) cannot be moved on the already moved path, and (1, 3) is movable, so OL = (1 ,, north). Thus, the process moves to P2. In P2, (0, 11) cannot move on the wall,
(1, 10) cannot be moved on the already-moved path, (1, 12) cannot be moved on the wall, and (2, 11) is movable, so OL = (, 11,
East). In P3, (1, 11) cannot move on the already-moved path, and (2, 10) can move, so OL = (2, south). Similarly, at P4, OL = (, 8, east), and at P5, OL =
(3, north) and repeat this to move to P6.
In P6, (5, 4) is movable, so OL = (4, west)
And enters the uncleaned area due to obstacles. In P7, (1 and 4) cannot move on the already moved route, and (2 and 3) can move, so OL = (2, south). The process moves to the final point P8 by repeating the above process. In P8, (6, 11) and (7, 10) are the already traveled routes (7, 12),
Since (8, 11) cannot be moved by the wall, the cleaning is completed.
That is, it has moved all over the cleaning area. Here, if the moving direction is determined by a similar algorithm with reference to only the wall / obstacle map, it is inevitable to return to the start point P0. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the above algorithm (however, FIG. 6 shows the moving direction determination algorithm at the point (n, m)), and the correspondence with the determination at each point will be described below. . P0, P1, and P5 are YES for decision 3 and P2 and P
4 corresponds to YES of judgment 4, P3 and P7 correspond to YES of judgment 2, P6 corresponds to YES of judgment 1, and P8 corresponds to NO of judgment 4. When an uncleaned area is generated due to an obstacle having a shape as shown in FIG. 7, when the final point P9 is reached, the entire block map is searched to find an uncleaned area. It is only necessary to move to the block P10 having the highest priority and move in the same manner by the above algorithm.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, if the cleaning area and the obstacle position are stored in the block map in advance by teaching or the like, the cleaning area can be moved by a simple algorithm.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10, reference numeral 15 denotes a main body, a fan 16 for cleaning, a fan driving means 17, a dust box 18, a floor nozzle 19, a traveling / steering wheel 20 for traveling, and traveling / steering. The vehicle includes means 21 and 22, an auxiliary wheel 23, an azimuth detecting means 24 for detecting a moving direction, a position calculating means 25, and a battery 26 for supplying power to the whole. Similarly, reference numeral 27 denotes a storage unit provided in the main body 15 and has a block map showing the positions of walls and obstacles and the already moved routes.
Reference numeral 28 denotes an ultrasonic hand-ranging unit for detecting the distance to an actual wall / obstacle, and 29 denotes the contents of blocks before, after, right and left of the current position of the block map, and the ultrasonic ranging unit 28. It is a moving direction determining means for determining a moving direction based on a distance from a wall or an obstacle. The determination of the moving direction by the moving direction determining means 29 is performed by the ultrasonic hand ranging means 28 as described above.
And the contents of blocks before, after, right and left of the current position of the block map provided in the storage unit 27.In other words, when an actual wall / obstacle obstructs the course, the ultrasonic distance measuring unit 28 Is given priority, otherwise, information from the block map is given priority to determine the moving direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the contents of each means in this embodiment are as follows: the fan drive means 17 is a sub-processor, a motor drive circuit and a motor, and the traveling and steering means 21 and 22 are a sub-processor and a traveling and steering motor. A drive circuit, a motor and a rotary encoder, the direction detecting means 24 is a gyro and an integrator,
The position calculating means 25 and the moving direction calculating means 29 are realized by a main processor, and the ultrasonic distance measuring means is realized by an ultrasonic sensor, an ultrasonic driving circuit, an amplifier and a sub-processor.

Next, the operation of the self-propelled cleaner will be described. That is, the moving direction determining means 29 stores the wall of the block map in the storage unit 27.
The moving direction is determined based on the obstacle and the already-moved route information, the position information of the position calculating means 11 and the information from the ultrasonic distance measuring means 28 (the moving direction determining algorithm will be described later). Give the distance and the steering speed / angle to the steering means 22. The main body 15 moves in a target direction by driving the traveling / steering wheels 20 by the traveling / steering means 21 and 22. During this movement, the fan 16 is driven by the fan driving means 17 and sucks dust from the floor nozzle 19 into the dust box 18, thereby serving as a self-propelled cleaner.

Next, a block map will be described. FIG. 12 shows a block map used in the present embodiment. This block map is obtained by dividing a certain area including a cleaning area into blocks in the X direction (hereinafter referred to as a row direction) and the Y direction (hereinafter referred to as a column direction) at equal intervals. Is set slightly smaller than the width of the floor nozzle 19. Each block corresponds to one bit of the storage unit 27. In the present embodiment, two block maps are provided for the wall / obstacle map and for the traveled route map, and when a certain block represents a position where a wall / obstacle exists, the block corresponds to the block. wall·
The bit of the obstacle map is represented as 1, and the bit of the traveled route map corresponding to the block is represented as 1 when it indicates that the block is the traveled route, and the bit is represented as 0 otherwise. Also, the positions of the delimited rows and columns are indicated by numbering them sequentially from 0. For example, the fourth
The point P 'in the figure is represented by P' = (n, m). Where nm is
This is the calculation result of the position calculation means 25. Next, the moving direction determination algorithm will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. In FIG. 13 showing an example of the block map of the present embodiment, the hatched portion in the wall / obstacle map indicates the preset position of the wall / obstacle, and the thick line frame indicates the position of the actual obstacle. To
The dotted line in the traveled route map indicates a traveled portion that has actually traveled. The movement control is basically controlled so as to move the center of the block. For example, when the movement direction is controlled so as to head n rows to the north, the output of the movement direction determination means 29 is set to OL = (n, , North). However, the upper part is north, the lower part is south, the left is west, and the right is east. Another output of the moving direction determining means 29 is "along a wall". "Along the wall" means moving while keeping the distance between the wall / obstacle and the side of the main body constant. As shown in FIG. 15, the ultrasonic sensors are arranged so that us1, us2, us3, and us4 correspond to the front, rear, left, and right sides of the main body 15, respectively. The moving direction is determined based on the contents of the east, west, north and south blocks of the current position and the wall / obstacle information from the ultrasonic distance measuring means 28, when there is no wall / obstacle and the route is not already traveled. The direction is the direction of movement, and the content of the block is neither a wall / obstacle nor a traveled path, but if an actual obstacle is detected by the ultrasonic distance measuring means 28, it is performed by “walking along the wall”. The priority order of the block reference and the ultrasonic distance measuring means (hereinafter referred to as ultrasonic wall information) is set in the order of west-south-north-east, and the information of the ultrasonic distance measuring means 28 has priority over the block map information. The point of determining the moving direction in this way is the most excellent point of the present embodiment. However, the priority order of the block reference is a case where the start point is set as shown in FIG. 13. In other cases, the priority order may be basically determined so that the priority of the start point is the highest. The following describes how the moving direction is determined. First, at the start point P0 ', referring to the block map and the ultrasonic wall information according to the priority order, (0, 1), (1, 0) cannot move on the wall, and (1, 2) can move, so OL = (1 ,,
North). Next, at P1 ', (0, 2) cannot move on the wall,
(0, 2) means that the wall (1, 0) cannot move on the already moved path,
Since (1, 3) is movable, OL = (1 ,, north). Thus, it moves to P2 '. In P2 ', (0, 1
1) is immovable on the wall, (1, 10) is immovable on the existing route, (1, 12) is immovable on the wall, and (2, 11) is mobile, so OL = (, 11, east) ). In P3 ', (1, 11)
Is impossible on the already moved route, and (2, 10) is movable, so OL = (2, south). Next, at P4 ', (1, 8) cannot move on the already moved path, (2, 7) cannot move on the existing obstacle, (2, 9) cannot move on the already moved path, (8, 9).
Since 3) is movable, OL = (, 8, east). P
OL = (3, north) is similarly obtained for 5 ', and this is repeated to move to P6'. In P6 ', (5, 7) can be moved in the block map but cannot be moved in the ultrasonic wall information, so OL = (6, south). However, as in P7', the actual wall is If you're having difficulty moving around the center, move along the wall. In P8 ', (5, 4) is movable, so OL = (4, west), and the program moves to P9'. P9 '
In (1, 4), OL = (2, south) because (1) and (2) cannot move on the already-moved route and (2, 3) can move. The process moves to the final point P10 'by repeating the above process. P1
At 0 ', (6,11) and (7,10) are the traveled paths (7,1
2) and (8, 11) cannot be moved on the wall, so the moving direction is lost and cleaning is completed. At this time, it has moved all over the cleaning area. Here, if the moving direction is determined by the same algorithm with reference to the wall / obstacle map and the ultrasonic obstacle information, it is inevitably possible to return to the start point P0 '. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the above algorithm (however, FIG. 14 shows the moving direction determination algorithm at the point (n, m)). It is described below. P0 ', P1', P5 'are judged 3'
・ 5 ′ ON, P2 ′ ・ P4 ′ is judged 4 ′ ・ 5 ′ NO, P
3 ', P6', and P9 'correspond to NO of judgment 2' and 5 ', and P6' corresponds to NO of judgment 2 'and YES of judgment 5'. When an uncleaned area is generated due to an obstacle having a shape as shown in FIG. 16, when the final point P11 'is reached, the entire block map is searched to find the uncleaned area, and then the uncleaned area is searched. Among them, it is only necessary to move to the block P12 'having the highest priority and move in the same manner by the above algorithm.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to move the entire cleaning area with a simple algorithm without any obstacle information. Also, even from an unknown cleaning area, that is, from the initial state where no information is input to the block map, if the cleaning area is covered with a wall, the moving direction is accurately determined using the algorithm described above, and the cleaning area is determined. Can be moved around.

In the present embodiment, when the OL is polarized, the direction is changed after stopping once, so that the azimuth detecting means is corrected each time the OL is polarized.

Effect of the Invention According to the first means as described above, if the cleaning area and the obstacle position are stored in a block map in advance by teaching or the like, it is possible to move the cleaning area completely using a simple algorithm. it can. That is, the system configuration can be simplified and the system can be moved quickly. According to the second means, if the cleaning area is stored in the block map, the cleaning area can be completely cleaned by a simple algorithm while avoiding obstacles inside the cleaning area. Further, if the area is covered with a wall, the cleaning area can be cleaned completely without the obstacle, without storing information on the cleaning area and the wall / obstacle in advance. Further, since the row and column intervals of the block map of the present invention are slightly smaller than the floor nozzle width, the range covered by the floor nozzles slightly overlaps when moving, thereby increasing the cleaning efficiency. The algorithm in the moving direction determining means of the present invention is also effective for an automatic lawn mower, an automatic rice transplanter, and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a top view thereof, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control circuit, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the movement algorithm, FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the movement algorithm, and FIG. 7 is a movement algorithm when an obstacle exists in the cleaning area. FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a self-propelled cleaner according to a second embodiment, FIG. 9 is a top view, FIG. 10 is a side view, and FIG. 11 is a control circuit. FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the storage unit, FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the movement algorithm, FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the movement algorithm, and FIG. FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram illustrating the arrangement of the ultrasonic sensors, and FIG. 16 illustrates a case where an obstacle exists in the cleaning area. It is a diagram for explaining a movement algorithm. 1.15 body, 1.16 fan, 3.17 fan driving means, 4.18 dust box, 5.19 floor nozzle, 6.20 traveling and steered wheels, 7. 21 ... means of traveling,
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… ··········・ 29 …… Moving direction determining means.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Osamu Eguchi, Inventor, 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Haruo Terai 1006, Odori, Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd (56) References JP-A-60-93524 (JP, A) JP-A-61-245215 (JP, A) JP-A-63-286911 (JP, A) JP-A-63-286910 (JP, A) JP-A-2-55026 (JP, A) JP-A-2-235114 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A47L 9/28 A47L 9/00 102 G05D 1 / 02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A self-propelled cleaner having traveling and steering means for self-propelling a main body and azimuth detecting means for detecting a moving direction, wherein a block map showing the position of a wall or an obstacle and a traveled path is provided. And a moving direction determining means for determining a moving direction by referring to the contents of blocks before, after, right and left of the current position of the block map, and the moving direction determining means includes a moving direction at a start point at a corner of the block map. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner in which movement to a wall along the top is given the highest priority, the opposite direction is given the lowest priority, and the movement is not performed in the block direction of the wall / obstacle and the already moved path. 2. A self-propelled cleaner having a traveling and steering means for self-propelling a main body and an azimuth detecting means for detecting a moving direction, wherein a block map showing the position of a wall or an obstacle and a traveled route is provided. Storage unit, a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to an actual wall / obstacle, and a moving direction determination for determining a moving direction based on contents of blocks before and after the current position of the block map and a distance of the distance measuring means. Means, wherein the moving direction determining means sets the highest priority to the movement in the direction of the wall along the moving direction at the start point of the corner of the block map, the lowest priority to the opposite direction, and A self-propelled vacuum cleaner that does not move in the block direction of the already-moved route, and moves along the wall when an actual wall or obstacle obstructs the course by the distance measuring means.