JP2921155B2 - Unmanned car - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned vehicle .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional unmanned traveling system, an unmanned vehicle detects an arrangement pattern of mark plates arranged on a traveling route along a guide line. The vehicle travels based on various operation information based on the arrangement pattern of the mark plates. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare all arrangement patterns corresponding to various operation information,
There is a limit to the number of placement patterns. In addition, the storage capacity of the storage device on the unmanned vehicle side for storing the operation information increases.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, as another type, one mark plate M is arranged at predetermined intervals on the traveling route, while the unmanned vehicle 50 is provided with the mark plate M every time the mark plate M passes. , And data indicating various operation information for the count value are stored in a storage device (not shown). For this reason, some unmanned vehicles 50 read data instructing operation information from a storage device based on a count value obtained by counting the mark plate M by a counter, and travel on a traveling route based on the operation information.

When an unmanned vehicle travels from the station A to the station B, for example, an object that is not an obstacle exists near the station B, and the object is detected by the ultrasonic sensor 5.
If the vehicle 1 cannot be traveled to the B station due to erroneous detection, the vehicle has traveled with the ultrasonic sensor (obstacle sensor) 51 disabled at the time of starting from the A station.

[0005]

However, even though there is an area in which an obstacle needs to be detected before the unmanned vehicle 50 moves from the A station to the B station, the ultrasonic sensor 51 is moved to the A station. Since the vehicle is invalidated at the time of starting, the unmanned vehicle 50 cannot travel more safely.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform reliable traveling control.
An object of the present invention is to provide an unmanned vehicle that can be used .

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to an arrangement according to claim 1 which is arranged at predetermined intervals.
An unmanned vehicle that travels while counting the placed mark plate and that is controlled based on the count value is provided with obstacle detection means for detecting obstacles, and is set in advance.
The detected count value of the mark plate indicates the obstacle detection.
Match the count value that disables obstacle detection by the means.
A means to invalidate the obstacle detection
And the gist of it was.

[0008] The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1.
Traveling direction detection hand that detects the traveling direction in unmanned vehicles
A step, and the invalidating means includes a cover for the mark plate.
In addition to the coincidence of the und values,
The detected direction is determined by the obstacle detecting means set in advance.
When the direction coincides with the direction in which obstacle detection is disabled,
The gist is to provide means for invalidating harmful substance detection .

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an obstacle is detected.
Mark detection at the point where you want to disable the detection
If you set the count value of the event, the obstacle at that point
Object detection is not performed and obstacles need to be detected.
In areas where obstacle detection is enabled,
Control can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first aspect is provided.
Mark plate set in addition to the function of the invention described in
Even if the count value is reached, the traveling direction is the preset direction
Obstacle detection at that point is disabled unless it matches
Absent. For this reason, even if the direction is different,
Obstacle detection is not disabled by
Reliable control can be performed.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a part of an unmanned traveling system, in which an unmanned vehicle 1 travels along a guide line L. Stations A to C for transferring cargo are provided on the side of the guide line L. Further, between the stations A to C, a plurality of staggered mark plates M (four in the present embodiment) are arranged at predetermined intervals, and the unmanned vehicle 1 counts the mark plates M. In addition, various traveling controls are performed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a steering motor 3 and a traveling motor 4 are disposed in the center of the main body 2 of an unmanned vehicle 1 that performs self-propelled steering along a guide line L.
A pair of left and right driving wheels 4a which are operated by rotation of the steering motor 3 and the traveling motor 4 are provided at the center of the lower surface of the main body 2. The drive wheels 4a and the driven wheels 5 that follow the vehicle are provided respectively on the front, rear, left and right sides of the lower surface of the main body. An electromagnetic pickup coil 6 for detecting a minute low-frequency current flowing through the induction wire L is attached to the front side of the lower surface of the main body 2.

Further, a mark detection sensor 7 for detecting the mark plate M is provided on each of the left and right sides on the lower front surface of the main body 2. The mark detection sensor 7
Pass through the upper surface of the mark plate M. On the front side surface of the main body 2 of the unmanned vehicle 1, an ultrasonic sensor 8 is provided as an obstacle detecting means having a function of detecting the presence of an obstacle in a forward direction from a position at a predetermined distance. The ultrasonic sensor 8 includes a receiving microphone and a transmitting speaker (not shown). A keyboard 9 for data input is provided on a side surface of the main body 2 of the unmanned vehicle 1, and various input data can be input. In the present embodiment, the input data is, for example, count data of the mark plate M that constitutes invalidation data for performing on / off control of the ultrasonic sensor 8, traveling direction data of the unmanned vehicle 1, and deceleration of the unmanned vehicle 1. It is composed of data and the like.

Next, the electrical configuration of the unmanned vehicle 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a controller 10 is provided inside the main body 2 of the unmanned vehicle 1. This controller 1
0 is a counter circuit 11 as counting means, a storage device 12 as storage means, an invalidating circuit 13 as invalidating means, and a traveling direction determining circuit 1 as running direction determining means.
And 4. The counter circuit 11 counts the detection signal of the mark plate M output from the mark detection sensor 7. That is, when the unmanned vehicle 1 travels along the guide line L, the mark detection sensor 7 passes over the upper surface of the mark plate M.
Output to 1. The counter circuit 11 counts this mark detection signal. The traveling direction determination circuit 14 determines whether the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward or backward based on the rotation direction of the traveling motor 4.

The storage device 12 stores input data input from the keyboard 9. The invalidating circuit 13 controls on / off of the ultrasonic sensor 8.
Is read from the storage device 12 and the count data of the input data and the counter circuit 1
When the count value of 1 and the traveling direction data from the traveling direction judging circuit 14 coincide with the traveling direction data, the ultrasonic sensor 8 is turned off.

In this embodiment, when the count value of the mark plate M becomes 3 as input data, and the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward, the invalidation circuit 13 controls the ultrasonic sensor 8 to turn off. It is supposed to. When the count value becomes 4, the unmanned vehicle 1 is decelerated by rotating the traveling motor 4 at a low speed regardless of the traveling direction.

Next, the operation of the unmanned vehicle in the unmanned traveling system configured as described above will be described with reference to flowcharts. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , for example, when the unmanned vehicle 1 travels from the station A of the unmanned traveling system to the station B by traveling, a start command of a command device (not shown) from the station A is received by the unmanned vehicle 1 (not shown). Upon reception by the device, the count value of the counter circuit 11 in the controller 10 is initialized (0) (S
STEP1, hereinafter STEP is simply referred to as S). Further, the invalidation circuit 13 of the controller 10 turns on the ultrasonic sensor 8.

Thereafter, the controller 10 drives the traveling motor 4 so that the unmanned vehicle 1 travels forward. Then, the unmanned vehicle 1 travels along the induction line L while the pickup coil 6 detects the minute low-frequency current of the induction line L. Then
A pair of mark detection sensors 7 provided on the lower surface of the main body 2 of the unmanned vehicle 1 alternately pass over the upper surface of the mark plate M. At this time, the counter circuit 11 of the controller 10
Performs counting based on the mark detection signal of the mark detection sensor 7 (S2). Then, the invalidation circuit 13 determines whether or not the count data (3 in this embodiment) of the input data stored in the storage device 12 matches the count value of the counter circuit 11 (S3). And
If the count data does not match the count value, the process returns to step 2 and counts based on the mark detection signal of the mark detection sensor 7.

The invalidating circuit 13 is a counter circuit 1
The count value of 1 and the counter data are compared, and if they match, it is determined whether or not the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward based on the determination result from the traveling direction determination circuit 14 (S4). At this time, since the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward, the invalidation circuit 13 turns off the ultrasonic sensor 8 (S5) and ends the processing.

After that, when the mark detection sensor 7 detects the fourth mark plate M, the counter circuit 11 of the controller 10 becomes 4, so that the controller 10 reduces the rotation speed of the traveling motor 4, and 1 stops when it is laid on the station B sideways. Next, a case where the unmanned vehicle 1 travels backward and travels from the station C to the station B will be described.

When the start command of the command device (not shown) is received from the station C by the receiving device (not shown) of the unmanned vehicle 1, the count value of the counter circuit 11 in the controller 10 is initialized (0) as described above ( S1).
Further, the invalidation circuit 13 of the controller 10 turns on the ultrasonic sensor 8. Thereafter, the controller 10 drives the traveling motor 4 and the unmanned vehicle 1 travels backward . Then, the minute low-frequency current of the induction wire L is supplied to the pickup coil 6.
The unmanned vehicle 1 travels along the guide line L while detecting.

Then, a pair of mark detection sensors 7 provided on the lower surface of the main body 2 of the unmanned vehicle 1 alternately pass over the upper surface of the mark plate M. At this time, the controller 1
The 0 counter circuit 11 performs counting based on the mark detection signal of the mark detection sensor 7 (S2). Then, the invalidation circuit 13 determines whether or not the count data (3 in this embodiment) of the input data stored in the storage device 12 matches the count value of the counter circuit 11 (S3). When the count data and the count value do not match, the process returns to step 2 again, and counts based on the mark detection signal of the mark detection sensor 7.

The invalidating circuit 13 is a counter circuit 1
The count value of 1 and the counter data are compared, and if they match, it is determined whether or not the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward based on the determination result from the traveling direction determination circuit 14 (S4). At this time, since the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving backward, the invalidation circuit 13 continues the state in which the ultrasonic sensor 8 is kept on, and ends the processing.

Thereafter, when the mark detection sensor 7 detects the fourth mark plate M, the counter circuit 11 of the controller 10 becomes 4, and the controller 10 reduces the rotation speed of the traveling motor 4 and 1 stops when it is laid on the station B sideways. As described in detail above, the counter circuit 11 counts the number of mark plates M based on the detection signal of the mark detection sensor 7, and when the counted number matches the number stored in the storage device 12, When the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward according to the traveling judgment of the judging circuit 14, the ultrasonic sensor 8 can be invalidated.

Therefore, conventionally, when traveling forward from station A to station B,
When there is an object (not an obstacle) erroneously detected by the ultrasonic sensor 8 in the vicinity of, the ultrasonic sensor 8 was disabled (off) at the time of starting from the station A.
An object (obstacle) cannot be detected in a range before arriving at the station B.

However, in this embodiment, even if there is an object (not an obstacle) erroneously detected by the ultrasonic sensor 8 near the station B, the ultrasonic sensor 8 can be turned off immediately before the object. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the unmanned vehicle 1 from detecting the object (not the obstacle) and stopping. The ultrasonic sensor 8 is turned on until a predetermined number (three in this embodiment) of the mark plates M is detected,
That is, the invalidation (off) area of the ultrasonic sensor 8 can be reduced. As a result, the unmanned vehicle 1 can be stopped by detecting an object (obstacle) by the ultrasonic sensor 8, so that the unmanned vehicle 1 can travel more reliably.

Further, in the present embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor 8
Is mounted only on the front side of the main body 2, it is not necessary to disable (turn off) the ultrasonic sensor 8 when the unmanned vehicle 1 moves backward. The on / off control of the sensor 8 can be performed. Further, in the present embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor 8 is provided only on the front side of the main body 2 of the unmanned vehicle 1, but the ultrasonic sensor 8 is also provided on the rear side, and based on the count value of the counter circuit 11, When the predetermined number is reached, the ultrasonic sensor 8 may be turned off.

For example, when the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving backward from the station C to the station B,
Even if an object (not an obstacle) exists near the station B, the ultrasonic sensor 8 can be turned off before that.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the unmanned vehicle 1 from erroneously detecting an object (not an obstacle) and stopping, and to reliably detect the object (obstacle) by the ultrasonic sensor 8 immediately before the stop. Therefore, the unmanned vehicle 1 can travel more reliably. In this case, since it is not necessary to determine the traveling direction of the unmanned vehicle 1, the traveling direction determination circuit 1
4 can be eliminated.

Further, in the present embodiment, when three mark plates M are detected when the unmanned vehicle 1 is moving forward, the ultrasonic sensor 8 is disabled (turned off). The information data can be input from the keyboard 9 and stored in the storage device 12 so that the ultrasonic sensor 8 is invalidated when the vehicle is traveling.

In the present embodiment, the mark plates M are arranged in a zigzag pattern at predetermined intervals, so that the mark plate M can be detected by the mark detection sensor 7 at regular intervals. It is possible to easily detect that 1 has meandered and has gone out of course.

[0031]

As described in detail above, claims 1 and 2 are described.
According to the invention described above, even if an obstacle is detected, the detection is invalidated
Set the mark plate count value at the point
If it is set, if obstacle detection at that point is not performed
In both cases, obstacle detection is required in areas where obstacle detection is required.
Is activated, so that reliable driving control can be performed.
You. In particular, according to the invention described in claim 2, the set mask is set.
Even if the count value of the work plate is reached,
Obstacle detection at that point unless it matches the set direction
Is not invalidated, so the count value
Obstacle detection is not disabled by matching only,
More accurate control can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a controller in an unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an unmanned traveling system for an unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for on / off control of an ultrasonic sensor of an unmanned vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional unmanned traveling system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Unmanned vehicle, 7 ... Mark detection sensor as mark plate detection means, 8 ... Ultrasonic sensor as obstacle detection means, 11 ... Counter circuit as counting means, 12 ...
Storage device as storage means, 13 ... invalidation circuit as invalidation means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Mark plates arranged at predetermined intervals
In an unmanned vehicle whose traveling is controlled based on the count value, an obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle is provided, and
The obstacle detecting means in which the count value of the rate is set in advance
Count value that disables obstacle detection by
And a disabling means for disabling the obstacle detection . 2. A traveling direction detecting means for detecting a traveling direction.
And the invalidating means includes a counter for the mark plate.
In addition to the coincidence of the
Of the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection means whose direction is set in advance.
If the direction coincides with the direction in which harm detection is disabled, the obstacle
2. A means for invalidating detection.
The unmanned vehicle described in.