JP3201208B2 - Autonomous vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autonomous vehicle, and more particularly to an autonomous vehicle that travels following an object such as a wall or detects an obstacle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-260905 discloses a wall cleaning apparatus which measures the distance to a wall by a distance measuring sensor and travels autonomously following the wall while keeping a constant distance from the wall. In this device, the cleaning brush is slidable left and right, and projects toward the wall when cleaning the wall,
A wall detection sensor is provided near the cleaning brush, and is controlled to keep the cleaning brush and the wall at a fixed distance.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-258306, a contact type obstacle detection sensor for detecting an object such as a wall is provided on a side surface of a vehicle body, and the vehicle travels while following the object while contacting the side surface of the vehicle body with a wall or the like. An autonomous traveling vehicle is disclosed.

FIG. 16 is a side view of a traveling vehicle having a conventionally proposed bumper type contact obstacle sensor, and FIG. 17 is a bottom view of the traveling vehicle of FIG.

[0005] Referring to these drawings, a vehicle body 10 of a traveling vehicle such as a transport vehicle for factory automation (FA) is referred to.
Bumper-shaped contact-type obstacle sensors 103a to 103d are mounted around the lower part of the side surface of one. When an obstacle around the traveling vehicle is detected by these sensors, contact with the obstacle such as evacuation from the obstacle is performed through drive control of wheels 105a to 105d attached to the lower part of the vehicle body 101 based on the detection signal. The movement of the traveling vehicle is controlled.

[0006]

The obstacle sensor and the copying sensor used in the conventional autonomous vehicle as described above are classified into a non-contact type sensor and a contact type sensor. Was installed. For this reason, the non-contact type has problems such that measurement is impossible if the object is too close, and blind spots occur due to the viewing angle.

In the case of the contact type shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, reliable detection may not be performed depending on the shape of the surrounding obstacles, and it is necessary to cover the entire detection range. . For example, as shown in (1) of FIG.
07 or as shown in FIG. 18 (2).
When it is necessary to copy the shelf 113 installed in the vehicle body 1, it is necessary to provide a copying sensor from the upper part to the lower part of the vehicle body. As for the obstacle sensor, not only does the obstacle exist below, but as shown in (3) of FIG. 18, the obstacle moves upward as in the case where the autonomous vehicle runs under the bed. In this case, it is necessary to cover all the obstacle sensors from the upper part to the lower part of the vehicle body. If this is to be realized with a conventional contact sensor, the contact sensors 117a, 117b and 119a, 119b become large as shown in FIG. There was a problem such as a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has a contact-type scanning sensor and a contact-type obstacle that can have a detection area covering almost the entire range of the exterior of a vehicle body with a simple configuration. It is intended to provide an autonomous vehicle having a sensor.

[0009]

An autonomous traveling vehicle according to the present invention includes a traveling control unit for controlling at least a traveling direction, and an exterior cover for covering the whole or a part of the vehicle body of the autonomous traveling vehicle. cover movably mounted with two degrees of freedom or more degrees of freedom in position of the vehicle body, it is movable in a range of a predetermined amount of displacement for a given position of the vehicle body by an external force, further, the outer cover , Orthogonal to the direction of freedom
And a displacement detecting means for detecting a relative displacement of the exterior cover with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a relative displacement of the exterior cover with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body is detected.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an autonomous vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.
It is sectional drawing of the II line.

Referring to these drawings, the autonomous traveling vehicle includes a box-shaped exterior cover 1 which covers the vehicle body base plate 2 so as to cover a substantially rectangular body base plate 2. A left driving wheel 3a and a right driving wheel 3b are mounted on the left and right sides of the vehicle body base plate 2, respectively.
It is connected to the shafts a and 4b and rotates left and right independently.

The left drive motor 4a and the right drive motor 4b are fixed to the vehicle body base plate 2, and are driven and controlled independently by the traveling control unit 10 on the left and right sides.
Are independently driven to rotate, the autonomous vehicle performs forward, reverse, rotation, and curve running.

A front free caster wheel 5a and a rear free caster wheel 5b are mounted on the front side and the rear side of the vehicle body base plate 2, respectively.
b supports the vehicle body, and the directions of the wheels freely rotate in accordance with the rotation of the drive wheels 3a and 3b, thereby realizing smooth rotation and curve running of the autonomous vehicle.

The outer cover 1 and the vehicle body base plate 2 are connected by outer cover connecting members 6a to 6d. Each of the exterior cover connecting members 6a to 6d includes columns 131a to 131d provided on the exterior cover 1, columns 137a to 137d provided on the vehicle body base plate 2, and columns 131a to 131d.
Each of the coil springs 135a to 135d is press-fitted and fixed to each of the 131d and the columns 137a to 137d. When no external force is applied to the outer cover 1, the outer cover 1 is held at a central position with respect to the vehicle body base plate 2 by the spring force of the coil springs 135 a to 135 d. When an external force is applied to the outer cover 1 from an obstacle or the like, the coil spring bends, and the outer cover 1
Move in almost all directions in the horizontal direction.

The outer cover 1 is configured to come into contact with the vehicle body base plate 2 when it moves by a predetermined amount, and the range of movement is limited. When the exterior cover 1 is lifted upward, the lower part of the exterior cover 1 is engaged with the vehicle body base plate 2 so that the exterior cover 1 does not come off at any position within the movement range. Are configured to match.

In order to prevent the outer cover 1 from shifting downward, the coil springs 135a to 135a
5d preferably uses a close contact coil spring.

Further, between the side of the vehicle body base plate 2 and each of the inner surfaces of the exterior cover 1, there are provided micro switches 7a to 7a as displacement detecting means for detecting the movement of the exterior cover 1.
h is attached. Specifically, the micro switch 7
a to 7h are fixed to the vehicle body base plate 2 and the exterior cover 1
Comes into contact with obstacles or copying objects and external force is applied,
When the coil springs 135a to 135d move in the horizontal direction with respect to the vehicle body base plate 2 against the respective spring forces, at least one of the micro switches 7a to 7h is turned on. That is, the microswitch 7a is turned on when an external force is applied to the front surface of the outer cover 1 on the left side, the microswitch 7b is turned on when an external force is applied on the front surface of the outer cover 1 to the right, and the microswitch 7c is turned on. The microswitch 7d is turned on when an external force is applied to the right front of the outer cover, the microswitch 7d is turned on when an external force is applied to the rear right of the exterior cover, and the microswitch 7e is turned on when an external force is applied to the rear right of the exterior cover 1. The micro switch 7f is turned on when an external force is applied to the rear left side of the outer cover, the micro switch 7g is turned on when an external force is applied to the left rear side of the outer cover 1, and the micro switch 7h is turned on. Turns on when an external force is applied near the left.

When an external force is applied to substantially the center of the front surface of the exterior cover 1, the micro switches 7a and 7b are turned on at the same time, and when an external force is applied to almost the center of the right side of the exterior cover 1, the micro switches 7c and 7d are simultaneously turned on. When an external force is applied to substantially the center of the rear surface of the outer cover 1, the micro switches 7e and 7f are simultaneously turned on, and the outer cover 1 is turned on.
When an external force is applied to the center of the left side of the
g and 7h are simultaneously turned on.

In this manner, which surface of the exterior cover 1 is subjected to an external force can be easily detected by turning on / off the micro switches 7a to 7h.

The ON / OFF states of the micro switches 7a to 7h are input to the traveling control unit 10, and the traveling control unit 10 controls traveling according to the states. That is, using the left and right sides of the exterior cover 1 as a copying sensor, while detecting the contact of the copying object such as a wall, if the contact is not detected, the traveling is controlled so as to approach the copying object, and the contact is detected. If it is, the traveling is controlled in a direction away from the copying target. In addition, the front and rear sides of the outer cover 1 are used as obstacle sensors, and when it is detected that the obstacle has come into contact with the vehicle, the traveling is stopped, or the vehicle is once moved in a direction away from the obstacle, and then the vehicle travels around. The traveling control such as is performed.

If it is not necessary to follow the vehicle according to the use of the autonomous vehicle, the omnidirectional surface of the exterior cover 1 can be used as an obstacle sensor.

The leaf springs 8a to 8h are attached to the side edges of the vehicle body base plate 2, and urge the outer cover 1 outward. That is,
When no external force is applied to the outer cover 1, the outer cover 1 is held at the center position together with the coil spring. The spring forces of the left and right leaf springs 8c, 8d, 8g, 8h are smaller than the spring forces of the front and rear leaf springs 8a, 8b, 8e, 8f. That is, when the vehicle travels following the copying target, the vehicle travels in a state where the outer cover is in contact with the copying target. At this time, a force acts to move the exterior cover rearward due to friction between the copying target and the exterior cover.
If the front and rear surfaces have a small spring force, the outer cover may move rearward due to the frictional force, even though the obstacle is not in contact with the obstacle. Further, if the spring force in the left and right directions is large, the frictional force between the copying object and the exterior cover increases, and the ratio of erroneous recognition of obstacle detection increases. Therefore, by setting the spring force on the left and right sides and the spring force on the front and rear sides as described above, prevention of erroneous detection of obstacles during copying, prevention of damage to the copying object, and smooth running control are realized. I do.

When the outer cover 1 can be sufficiently held at the center by the coil springs 135a to 135d, the left and right spring forces are left to the spring forces of the coil springs 135a to 135d, and the left and right leaf springs 8c, 8d, 8g, and 8h are omitted. can do.

In the case where scanning is not necessary, the spring force of all the leaf springs 8a to 8d may be set to the same magnitude. At that time, if the coil springs 135a to 135d can sufficiently hold the outer cover at the center. Can omit all leaf springs.

Each of the rotating bodies 9a to 9d is attached to the left and right sides of the outer cover 1 and is rotatable about a vertical axis. The rotating bodies 9a to 9d rotate when traveling while contacting the copying object, and reduce the frictional force between the exterior cover 1 and the copying object. Therefore, when the copying operation is not required, the rotating bodies 9a to 9d can be omitted.

The left and right spring forces of the leaf springs 8c, 8d, 8g and 8h are sufficiently small, and the rotating bodies 9a to 9d can be omitted even when the frictional force is not a problem during contour running. Further, when the frictional force can be sufficiently reduced by the rotating body, the respective forces of the leaf springs 8a to 8h may all be the same, or the leaf springs themselves may be omitted.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, each of the rotating bodies 9a to 9d has a vertically long rod shape.
As shown in FIG. 6, a large number of short rod-shaped rotating bodies 9 may be provided on the left and right sides of the outer cover 1, or a large number of spherical rotating bodies 9 may be provided as shown in FIG. By devising the shape in this way, the strength of the outer cover 1 can be increased.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the control configuration of the autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the figure, the traveling of the autonomous traveling vehicle is controlled mainly by traveling controller 10. The traveling control unit 10
It has a storage unit that stores a map of a movement range and a movement route in advance, and controls traveling based on the information. Alternatively, the traveling control unit 10 does not have a map or travel route information, and controls traveling based on a command from an external remote control device.

The traveling control unit 10 includes a micro switch 7a
7h, the output of the on / off state is received, and the number of rotations of the drive motors 4a, 4b is controlled according to the state while monitoring the output from the number of rotation detection encoders 11a, 11b. The left rotation speed detection encoder 11a measures the rotation speed of the left drive motor 4a, and outputs the measurement result to the travel control unit 10. On the other hand, the right rotation speed detection encoder 11
“b” measures the number of rotations of the right drive motor, and outputs the measurement result to the travel control unit 10.

For example, it is assumed that the vehicle travels following an object on the left side. In this case, when the left micro switch 7h or 7g is turned on, the traveling control unit 10 controls the traveling speed by controlling the rotation speed of the left driving motor 4a to be higher than the rotation speed of the right driving motor 4b. Move the car away from the wall. When the micro switch 7h or 7g is turned off, the travel control unit 10
Controls the rotational speed of the left drive motor 4a to be smaller than the rotational speed of the right drive motor 4b, so that the traveling vehicle approaches the wall.

Next, it is assumed that the vehicle travels following the right object. In this case, the right side microswitch 7c
Alternatively, when 7d is turned on, the traveling control unit 10 controls the rotational speed of the right drive motor 4b to be higher than the rotational speed of the left drive motor 4a to move the traveling vehicle away from the wall. Then, when the micro switch 7c or 7d is turned off, the traveling control unit 10 controls the rotational speed of the right driving motor 4b to be smaller than the rotational speed of the left driving motor 4a, thereby moving the traveling vehicle to the wall. Try to get closer.

When the vehicle is driven to travel forward, when the micro switches 7a and 7b on the front surface are turned on, the traveling control unit 10
Stops the driving of the driving motors 4a and 4b to temporarily stop the traveling, and then performs the obstacle avoiding traveling. On the other hand, when the vehicle travels backward, when the micro switches 7e and 7f on the rear surface are turned on, the traveling control unit 10 stops driving the driving motors 4a and 4b, temporarily stops traveling, and then avoids obstacles. Let the car run.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an autonomous vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line III-VIII, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

Referring to these figures, the autonomous traveling vehicle is roughly composed of a traveling section 91 for movement and a working section 93 connected to the traveling section 91 for wiping the floor.

Although the wheels of the traveling section 91 are not shown for the sake of simplicity, the same driving wheels and swivel wheels as those of the first embodiment are mounted on the lower surface of the traveling section base plate 97. I have. The travel control unit 10 and the rotation speed detection encoders 11a and 11b are the same as those in the first embodiment.

A connecting portion 95 for connecting the working portion 93 to the working portion 93 of the running portion base plate 97 of the running portion 91 will be described later in detail.

The working unit 93 is roughly composed of an outer cover 1 that covers the working unit base plate 99 so as to cover the working unit base plate 99 fixed to the connecting member 12 protruding from the connecting unit 95 of the traveling unit 91. Is done. Exterior cover 1 and work unit base plate 9
9 is connected by four exterior cover connecting members 6a to 6d.

FIG. 10 shows the outer cover connecting members 6a to 6a of FIG.
FIG. 10D is a diagram showing one structure of FIG. 6d in detail, and more specifically, FIG. 10A is a diagram viewed from the same direction as FIG. 9, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the XX line of 1).

Referring to FIG. 10, one end of coil spring 60 is press-fitted into support column 61 erected on work unit base plate 99, and the other end is press-fitted into connecting member 63. The connecting member 63 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 62 fixed to a ceiling surface of the working unit exterior cover 1 by a shaft mounting member 64. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11 (1), the coil spring 60 simply bends against the left and right forces applied to the outer cover 1, but as shown in FIG. 11 (2), the front and rear forces are not applied. On the other hand, the coil spring 60 bends in an S-shape, and as a result, a greater force is required on the front and rear surfaces than on the left and right surfaces to move by the same amount. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the leaf springs 8a to 8h are used in order to make the spring force on the front and rear surfaces larger than the spring force on the left and right sides, but such a leaf spring is omitted in this embodiment. be able to.

Further, similarly to the first embodiment, the microswitches 7a, 7b, 7c, 7e, 7f, 7g are provided with the outer cover 1.
Is provided at the edge of the working unit base plate 99 as displacement detection means for detecting the movement of the work unit. Since the shape of the outer cover 1 is shorter on the front and rear surfaces than in the first embodiment, only one micro switch is provided on each of the left and right sides, and the function of the micro switch is the same as that of the first embodiment. The same is true. That is, the micro switch 7c is turned on when an external force is applied to the right side of the exterior cover 1, and the micro switch 7g is turned on when an external force is applied to the left side of the exterior cover 1.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The on / off state of each micro switch is input to the traveling control unit 10, and the traveling control unit 10 controls traveling according to the state, as in the first embodiment. In other words, the left and right sides are used as a scanning sensor to detect contact of a copying object such as a wall, and when no contact is detected, control the traveling so as to approach the copying object. Control running in the direction away. Also, using the front and rear surfaces as an obstacle sensor, if it is detected that an obstacle has come into contact, stop traveling or
Alternatively, travel control is performed such as temporarily moving the vehicle away from the obstacle and then performing avoidance travel.

Of course, if there is no need to follow the running,
Microswitches in all directions can be used as obstacle sensors.

Referring back to FIGS. 8 and 9, the rotating bodies 9a, 9
d is attached to the left and right side surfaces of the exterior cover 1 and rotates around a vertical axis. That is, the rotating bodies 9a to 9d rotate when traveling while contacting the copying target, and the outer cover 1
Frictional force between the object and the object to be copied is reduced.

In the case where the outer cover connecting members 6a to 6d have sufficiently small spring force in the left and right direction and the frictional force does not matter during the contour running, the rotating bodies 9a to 9d can be omitted.

In the working unit 93, four rotating plates 18 for wiping the floor are directly connected to and driven by the motor M, and rotate about a vertical axis. A nonwoven fabric for cleaning is exchangeably attached to the lower surface of the rotating body.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a specific configuration of the connecting portion 95 of FIG. Referring to the figure, a linear guide is fixed to vehicle body base plate 97. The linear guide includes two guide shafts 17a and 17b,
Shaft fixing members 16a, 16b for fixing a, 17b
It is composed of The coil spring holding shaft 14 is also attached so as to bridge between the shaft fixing members 16a and 16b. The coil spring holding shaft 14 has a coil spring 13
a and 13b are inserted, and a guide plate 65 is provided inside each of them.
a, 65b are attached, and regulate expansion and contraction of the coil springs 13a, 13b. A stopper 15 fixed to the traveling section base plate 97 is provided between the guide plates 65a and 65b to limit the left and right movement of the guide plates 65a and 65b to a predetermined range.

A slide plate 66 is mounted on the guide shafts 17a and 17b so as to be slidable in the left-right direction, and one end of the slide plate 66 is fixed to the work unit base plate 99.
2 is fixed. The other end of the connecting member 12 is located between the guide plates 65a and 65b, and the left and right movement of the connecting member 12 is regulated by the coil springs 13a and 13b via the guide plates 65a and 65b.

The operation of the connecting portion 95 configured as described above will be described. When a lateral external force is applied to the work unit base plate 99 via the outer cover 1 of the connection unit 95, the work unit connection member 12 moves in parallel to the left and right along the guide shafts 17a and 17b. The moving amount is the coil spring 13a for urging the working unit,
It is determined by the spring force of 13b. The coil springs 13a and 13b urge the connecting member 12 with a force larger than a force required for the outer cover 1 to move in the left-right direction with respect to the work unit base plate 99. Therefore, after the exterior cover 1 contacts the target object and moves in the left-right direction and abuts the working unit base plate 99, if a larger force is applied in the same direction,
The working unit base plate 99 is connected to the moving unit base plate 97 by the connecting member 12.
Move left and right with.

The traveling control unit 10 corrects the traveling direction of the traveling unit base plate 97 to a direction away from the object immediately after the contact with the copying object is detected, but can immediately change the direction to the opposite direction. The traveling unit base plate 97 further approaches the object to be copied to some extent. At this time, the working unit 93 is
By moving in a direction away from the target object by the functions of a and 13b, the exterior cover 1 is prevented from being inaccessible or damaged due to strong contact with the target object.

More specifically, when a rightward external force is applied to the working portion 93, the working portion base plate 99 moves parallel to the rightward direction, and the right coil spring 13b is compressed. The left coil spring 13a is not extended since it is regulated by the stopper 15. When a left external force is applied to the working unit, the working unit base plate 99 moves leftward in parallel, and the left coil spring 13a is compressed. The right coil spring 13b is regulated by the stopper 15 and does not extend. The left and right coil springs 13a, 13b
Even if the spring force is unbalanced, the working portion 93 can be held at the center position by the action of the stopper 15 when there is no lateral external force.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the structure of the outer cover connecting member according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, a pair of shaft holding plates 22a, 22
A rotating shaft 23 penetrating so as to bridge over 2b is mounted, and an outer cover mounting member 21 is fixed at the center thereof. The trunk of the outer cover mounting member 21 and the shaft holding plate 22a,
Each of the moving coil springs 19a and 19b is attached to the rotating shaft 23 between the rotating coil 23 and each of the moving coil springs 22b. Openings 68a, 68 provided in the shaft holding plates 22a, 22b are provided in the lower part of the body of the exterior cover attaching member 21.
b, a spring contact shaft 24 projecting outward from the shaft holding plates 22a and 22b is attached. Shaft holding plates 22a, 22b
Each of the fixed shafts 25a and 25b is provided between the shaft 23 and the rotating shaft 23 projecting outward.
a, 22b. The rotation coil springs 20a,
20b are mounted, both ends of which are fixed shafts 25a.
And extends downward so as to sandwich the spring contact shaft 24a, the fixed shaft 25b, and the spring contact shaft 24b.

The outer cover connecting member 67 is configured as described above, so that the outer cover attaching member 21 and the spring contact shaft 24 rotate around the rotation shaft 23 by the external force of the front and rear surfaces, and the external force of the right and left surfaces. As a result, the outer cover mounting member 21 slides right and left on the rotating shaft 23.

The amount of left and right sliding of the outer cover mounting member 21 is determined by the respective spring forces of the left and right moving coil springs 19a and 19b, and the amount of front and rear rotation is determined by the respective spring forces of the rotating coil springs 20a and 20b.

FIG. 15 is a view showing a state in which an exterior member is attached to the exterior cover connecting member of FIG. 14. More specifically, FIG. 15 (1) shows a stationary state, and FIG. 2) is a view showing a state where an external force is applied to the outer cover.

Referring to these figures, the outer cover 1 is
It is attached to the upper surface of the outer cover attaching member 21 of the outer cover connecting member 67 fixed on the vehicle body base plate 2.

As shown in FIG. 15A, when no external force is applied to the outer cover 1 from the front and rear surfaces, the rotating coil spring 20b moves the fixed shaft 25 in the direction in which both ends are closed.
The spring 24 is contracted until the shaft 24 comes into contact with the shaft b. Thereby, the exterior cover 1 is kept at the center position. When an external force on the front and rear surfaces is applied to the outer cover 1, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 (2), the outer cover mounting member 21 and the spring contact shaft 24 rotate around the rotation shaft 23, one end of the rotation coil spring 20b contacts the fixed shaft 25b, and the other ends of the rotation coil spring 20b. Spread by. Therefore, the outer cover 1 turns to the front and rear surfaces by an amount corresponding to the spring force of the turning coil spring 20b.

The left and right moving coil springs 19a, 19
b has a small spring force, and the coil springs 20a, 20
The spring force of 0b is increased.

In order to position the outer cover mounting member 21 left and right when there is no external force in the left and right direction, the length of the left and right moving coil springs 19a and 19b may be precisely processed, or the second embodiment. A stopper may be provided on the vehicle body base plate in the same manner as the stopper 15 for positioning the working unit in the left and right directions in the example, and the extension of the left and right moving coil springs 19a and 19b may be restricted. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the leaf springs 8a to 8h as shown in the first embodiment. Conversely, similarly to the leaf spring of the first embodiment, positioning may be performed by a leaf spring provided on the vehicle body base plate instead of processing the moving coil springs 19a and 19b and installing stoppers.

The connection between the exterior cover and the vehicle base plate is the first
However, the present invention is not limited to the method shown in the third to third embodiments. For example, the exterior cover and the vehicle body base plate may be connected only by the link mechanism, and the force required for movement and rotation may be determined only by the leaf spring of the first embodiment.

From the above embodiments, the following items can be considered to protect the invention. 1. An autonomous traveling vehicle, comprising: a traveling control unit that controls at least a traveling direction; and an exterior cover that covers the entire body of the autonomous traveling vehicle or a part of the vehicle body, and the exterior cover is provided at a predetermined position on the vehicle body. Movably mounted with two or more degrees of freedom, movable by a predetermined amount of displacement with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body by an external force, and further provided with the exterior cover with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body. An autonomous vehicle equipped with displacement detection means for detecting relative displacement. 2. The exterior cover is movable in at least the left-right direction and the front-rear direction toward the traveling direction with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body, and the exterior cover contacts the copying target object,
When the displacement detection unit detects the movement of the exterior cover in the left-right direction, the travel control unit controls traveling so that the autonomous traveling vehicle is separated from the copying target object, and the exterior cover is separated from the copying target object, 2. The autonomous traveling vehicle according to item 1, wherein when the displacement detection unit does not detect the movement of the exterior cover, the traveling control unit controls traveling so that the autonomous traveling vehicle approaches the copying target.

(Operation / Effect) The lateral movement of the exterior cover is used to detect the object to be copied when traveling along the object such as a wall. Used to detect contact with obstacles. 3. The external cover is held at a center position by a spring force when no external force is applied to a predetermined position of the vehicle body, moves against a predetermined position of the vehicle body by a force from outside against the spring force, and 3. The autonomous vehicle according to item 2, wherein the spring force is greater in the front-rear direction than in the left-right direction.

(Operation / Effect) When the vehicle travels following the object to be copied, the vehicle travels while the outer cover is in contact with the object to be copied. At this time, a force acts to move the exterior cover rearward due to friction between the copying target and the exterior cover. If the front and rear surfaces have a small spring force, the outer cover may move rearward due to the frictional force, even though the obstacle is not in contact with the obstacle. Further, when the right and left spring forces are large, the frictional force between the copying target and the exterior cover increases, and the rate of erroneous recognition of obstacle detection increases. The left and right spring forces are reduced to reduce the frictional force, and the front and rear spring forces are increased to reduce the amount of rearward movement of the exterior cover due to friction, thereby preventing erroneous detection of obstacle detection.

Furthermore, if the right and left spring forces are large, the contact with the copying object is detected only when the exterior cover is pressed against the object by inclining the traveling direction while tilting the object side. In this state, the vehicle follows the target object, so that the direction of the wheels does not match the traveling direction, and the wheels travel obliquely while slipping. In such an operation, when the position detection is performed by the dead reckoning method for determining the traveling distance by detecting the rotation speed of the driving wheels, an error occurs in the position of the autonomous traveling vehicle due to the slip, which is not good. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the left and right spring forces so that contact with the copying object can be detected as sensitively as possible. In addition, if the right and left spring forces are reduced to reduce the friction between the copying target and the exterior cover, there is also an effect that the copying target and the exterior cover are less likely to be damaged. 4. 4. The autonomous vehicle according to any one of items 1 to 3, wherein a rotating body is provided at a position of the exterior cover in contact with the copying object.

(Operation / Effect) By reducing the friction with the copying object, the same effect as in item 3 can be obtained. 5. The vehicle body includes a traveling unit for movement, and a working unit that performs a work such as cleaning that extends to the left and right from the traveling unit, and the exterior cover covers the working unit at a predetermined position so as to cover at least the working unit. Movably mounted on the
5. The autonomous vehicle according to any one of items 1 to 4.

(Operation / Effect) The cleaning section extends beyond the running section to the left and right, and actually contacts the wall. Therefore, the exterior cover of the cleaning section functions as a contact sensor. 6. The working unit is movable left and right with respect to the traveling unit by an external force, and when no external force is applied, the working unit is held at a predetermined position with respect to the traveling unit by a spring force. Item 6. The autonomous vehicle according to Item 5, which is larger than a spring force for holding the outer cover in the left-right direction.

(Operation / Effect) When the control unit corrects the running direction after the contact with the copying object is detected, the control unit cannot immediately turn in the reverse direction and further approaches the copying object to some extent. There is. At this time, by moving the working unit in a direction away from the target object, it is possible to prevent the exterior cover from strongly contacting the target object and becoming unable to travel or being damaged.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, the relative displacement of the exterior cover with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body is detected. Can be mounted on traveling vehicles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external shape of an autonomous vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional structural view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional structural view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing a modification of the rotating body according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view showing another modified example of the rotating body according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an external shape of an autonomous vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a sectional structural view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional structural view taken along line IX-IX of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a detailed structure of an exterior cover connecting member shown in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a view showing a deformed state of the outer cover connecting member shown in FIG. 10 when an external force is applied to the outer cover 1 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a specific configuration of a connecting portion 95 of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an outer cover connecting member according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

15 is a view showing a state in which an outer cover is attached to the outer cover connecting member of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a side view of a conventional autonomous vehicle equipped with a contact-type obstacle sensor.

17 is a view of the autonomous vehicle shown in FIG. 16 as viewed from the bottom surface side.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an obstacle for explaining a problem in a conventional autonomous vehicle.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing an attached state of a sensor which can be considered to solve the problem of the conventional autonomous vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Exterior cover 2 Body base plate 3a, 3b Driving wheel 5a, 5b Free caster wheel 6a-6d Exterior cover connecting member 7a-7h Micro switch 8a-8h Leaf spring 10 Travel control unit In the figure, the same code | symbol is the same part or equivalent. Show the part.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (56) References JP-A-60-206759 (JP, A) JP-A-56-164602 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 1/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An autonomous traveling vehicle, comprising: a traveling control unit that controls at least a traveling direction; and an exterior cover that covers an entire vehicle body or a part of the vehicle body of the autonomous traveling vehicle. The vehicle body is movably attached to a predetermined position of the vehicle body with two or more degrees of freedom, and is movable by an external force within a predetermined displacement range with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body . The degree of freedom
Are formed continuously around four surfaces orthogonal to the
An autonomous traveling vehicle further comprising: displacement detection means for detecting a relative displacement of the exterior cover with respect to a predetermined position of the vehicle body.