JP3396014B2 - 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 that follows an object, and more particularly to an autonomous vehicle that can travel even when the object is discontinuous.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An autonomous vehicle that autonomously travels while detecting the presence of surrounding obstacles performs predetermined work, such as cleaning work and carrying work, while running along an object such as a wall. Various things have been developed. A conventional autonomous vehicle of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-242825. This conventional autonomous vehicle is controlled so as to be able to travel even when the side wall such as a crossroad is lost while the vehicle is traveling with reference to the side wall which is the object.

[0003]

22 and 23. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a problem in the operation of the conventional autonomous vehicle after detecting a break in the side wall during traveling with reference to the side wall. The conventional autonomous vehicle 60 has a wall surface 61.
When the breakage of the wall surface 61 is detected during the contour traveling along, the vehicle travels as it is until a reference plane capable of the contour traveling is detected. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22, even if there is no wall surface on the extension of the side wall surface of the wall surface 61, the autonomous vehicle 60
Had a problem that it continued traveling and collided with the front wall surface 62.

The conventional autonomous vehicle 60 has a wall 63.
When the breakage of the wall surface 63 is detected during the contour traveling along, the vehicle travels as it is, and when the reference plane capable of the contour traveling is not detected by the elapse of a predetermined time, the autonomous vehicle 60 is stopped. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 23, when the distance between the wall surface 63 and the wall surface 64 is equal to or greater than a certain value, the autonomous vehicle stops midway and cannot travel thereafter.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and all the inventions according to claims 1 to 3 are provided in advance even when a discontinuity of the wall surface is detected during the traveling along the wall surface. It is an object of the present invention to provide an autonomous vehicle that can determine whether or not the following copy traveling is possible.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an autonomous vehicle that travels following an object according to claim 1 is a copy detecting means for detecting a copying state of the object. And a shape measuring means for measuring the shape of the object in front when the copying detecting means detects a break in the object, and the shape measuring means measures the object which can be followed by traveling.
If you do, you can follow the gap between the object and the front
And an operation means for moving the autonomous vehicle so as to follow the object in front without entering the recessed portion between the object and the object .

In the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the first aspect, the copying detecting means detects the copying state of the side wall which is the object, and the autonomous traveling vehicle travels along the wall surface. While the autonomous vehicle is traveling, when the copying detection means detects a break in the wall surface, the shape measuring means measures the shape of the object in front (the current traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle). The operation means is an object that can follow the front and the discontinuity of the wall surface according to the measurement result.
The autonomous traveling vehicle is moved so as to follow the object in front without entering the recessed portion between the object and the object.

The autonomous traveling vehicle according to a second aspect is the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the first aspect, wherein the shape measuring means are arranged in a radial pattern, and a plurality of shape measuring means are provided for measuring a distance to an object in front. Including distance measuring means.

In the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the second aspect, when the scanning detecting means detects a break in the wall surface, a plurality of distance measuring means arranged in a radial direction measure the distance to the object in front of the autonomous traveling vehicle. Since the plurality of distance measuring means are radially arranged, it is possible to measure the distances of a plurality of front points at one time.
The shape measuring means determines the shape of the object in front from the distance information from the plurality of distance measuring means and the arrangement of the plurality of distance measuring means, and the operation means determines the operation of the autonomous vehicle based on the result. .

The autonomous traveling vehicle according to claim 3 is the autonomous traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the shape measuring means moves to measure distances to a plurality of points on the object in front. Including distance means.

In the autonomous vehicle according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the copying detecting means detects the interruption of the wall surface, the distance measuring means moves to measure the distances of a plurality of points of the object in front. The shape measuring means determines the shape of the object in front from the distance information of the plurality of points measured by the distance measuring means and the position information (angle) at the time of measuring the distance of the distance measuring means. Determine the behavior of the autonomous vehicle.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an autonomous vehicle of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Autonomous Vehicle FIG. 1 shows a first example of an autonomous vehicle for cleaning to which the present invention is applied.
It is a top view which shows the whole structure of embodiment of this. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the autonomous vehicle of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the autonomous vehicle has a bumper sensor 13 for detecting contact with a wall and the cleaning work unit 2.
And cleaning work arm 12, drive unit 1, contact sensor 10a-
10f and. In FIG. 1, the direction indicated by arrow X is the front part of the autonomous vehicle. In the cleaning work unit 2, three contact sensors 10a to 10c and 10d to each of the left and right side surfaces with respect to the front direction of the autonomous traveling vehicle indicated by the arrow X.
10f is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning work unit 2 is provided above the drive unit 1 so as to be rotatable about the same axis as the rotation center of the drive unit 1 as indicated by an arrow a. The cleaning work arm 12 includes the cleaning work unit 2
Is provided so as to be slidable in the left-right direction as indicated by an arrow b, and a rotating cleaning brush (not shown) is provided therein.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The drive unit 1 is
Flexible caster wheels 4F and 4B, drive wheels 5R and 5
L, drive wheel bearings 6R and 6L, drive wheel motors 7R and 7L, cleaning work part support rotation mechanism 8, cleaning work part support rotation mechanism drive motor 9, and optical distance measuring sensor 3
Including a.

A free caster wheel 4F is mounted in front of the drive unit 1 so as to be rotatable in an arbitrary direction.
Similarly, a universal caster wheel 4B is attached to the rear of the drive unit 1. A drive wheel 5R is attached to the right side of the drive unit 1, and the drive wheel 5R is rotated from one end of the drive shaft of the drive wheel motor 7R by a belt (not shown) via the drive wheel bearing 6R. Transmitted. Similarly, a drive wheel 5L is attached to the left side of the drive unit 1, and
The rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted to L from one end of the drive shaft of the drive wheel motor 7L via the drive wheel bearing 6L.

That is, the drive wheels 5R and 5L can be controlled independently of each other, which allows the autonomous vehicle to travel. Left and right drive wheels 5L and 5R
Are rotated in the same direction, the autonomous vehicle moves forward or backward. In addition, the autonomous traveling vehicle makes a curve travel by increasing or decreasing the rotational speed of either one of the drive wheel 5L or the drive wheel 5R.

Although not shown, encoders are provided at the other ends of the drive shafts of the drive wheel motors 7R and 7L, respectively, so that the rotation amounts and rotation speeds of the drive wheel motors 7R and 7L can be detected. Further, as the output of the encoder, it is possible to calculate the traveling distance from the detected rotation amount and output the traveling distance.

At the center of the drive unit 1, a cleaning work unit support rotation mechanism 8 for rotatably supporting the cleaning work unit 2 is provided, and the cleaning work unit 2 is rotated via the cleaning work unit support rotation mechanism 8. A cleaning work unit supporting / rotating mechanism driving motor 9 is provided.

In the drive unit 1, a plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a are provided radially on both sides of the universal caster wheel 4F around the same axis as the rotation center of the drive unit 1. The plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a are arranged so that their central axes have respective predetermined angles with respect to the straight line connecting the free caster wheels 4F and 4B, so that they can cover a wide area in front of the drive unit 1. Distance measurement is possible.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the dimensions of each part of the autonomous vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning work unit 2 has a width of 30 cm and a length of 30 cm. The cleaning work arm 12 has a width of 42 cm and a length of 12 cm. The length of the contact sensor 10 is 6 cm from the side surface of the cleaning work unit 2. Among the three contact sensors provided on the left and right side surfaces of the cleaning work unit 2, the front contact sensor and the rear contact sensor are attached at an interval of 13 cm.

(2) Contact contour traveling FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state of contact contour traveling of an autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention includes, for example, a contact sensor 10 provided on the right side surface of the cleaning work unit 2.
The contact profile traveling is performed by measuring the distance to the side surface 50 while d to 10f are in contact with the side surface 50.

The contact sensor will be described in detail below. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the contact sensor 10. The contact sensor 10 includes a contact sensor base plate 21, a base plate pawl 22, a potentiometer 23, a shaft 24, a shaft positioning pawl 25, a torsion coil spring 26, and a contactor 2.
Including 7 and.

Above the potentiometer 23, a contact sensor base plate 2 for mounting the contact sensor 10 on an autonomous vehicle.
1 is fixed, and the rotary shaft of the potentiometer 23 is connected to the shaft 24. A contactor 27 is provided at the tip of the shaft 24 and contacts a wall, for example. The torsion coil spring 26 is rotatably attached to the rotary shaft of the potentiometer 23, and fixes the position of the shaft 24 by sandwiching the base plate pawl 22 and the shaft positioning pawl 25.

The shaft 24 is rotatable about the rotation axis of the potentiometer 23 in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction by a predetermined angle. Further, the shaft 24 and the contact 27 are brought into contact with a wall, for example, so that the shaft 24
Rotates in a predetermined plane, but the shaft 24 contacts the contact 27.
When is removed from the wall, the biasing force provided by torsion coil spring 26 returns shaft 24 to the neutral position.

Next, the operation of the contact sensor constructed as described above will be described. FIG. 8 is a top view for explaining the operation of the contact sensor. FIG. 8A shows a contactor 27.
Is not in contact with the wall surface 50, as shown in FIG.
Shows the state where the shaft 24 moves in a predetermined plane by the contact 27 contacting the wall surface 50. Figure 8
In (a), the torsion coil spring 26 has the base plate pawl 2
By sandwiching 2 and the shaft positioning pawl 25, the shaft 24 is fixed in the direction of the base plate pawl 22.

When the contact 27 comes into contact with the wall surface 50, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the shaft 24 is pushed by the wall surface 50.
Rotates about the rotation axis of the potentiometer 23. When the rotation angle is A, the shaft length is L, and the radius of the contact 27 is d, the distance D from the center of the rotation axis of the potentiometer 23 to the wall surface 50 is expressed by the equation (1).

D = d + LcosA (1) With the above, the distance between the contact sensor 10 and the wall surface 50 can be measured.

Next, control of contact contour travel using the above-mentioned contact sensor will be described. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the contact copying is performed along the wall surface 50 on the right side with respect to the traveling direction X of the autonomous vehicle using the contact sensors 10d to 10f provided on the right side surface of the autonomous vehicle. . In such contact contour traveling, traveling control is performed by the distances to the walls of the front contact sensor 10d and the rear contact sensor 10f.

FIG. 6A shows a state in which the autonomous vehicle is traveling parallel to the straight traveling direction X along the wall surface 50 on the right side. In this case, the distances measured by the contact sensor 10d and the contact sensor 10f are equal, and the autonomous vehicle continues straight ahead. FIG. 6B shows a state in which the autonomous traveling vehicle is approaching the wall surface 50, and FIG. 6C shows a state in which the autonomous traveling vehicle is moving away from the wall surface 50. In the case shown in FIG. 6B, the front contact sensor 10d rotates much more than the rear contact sensor 10f. As a result, the autonomous vehicle detects that the wall surface 50 is approaching,
It is controlled to make a curve run to the left. Further, in the case shown in FIG. 6C, the rear contact sensor 10f rotates much more than the front contact sensor 10d. As a result, the autonomous vehicle is detected to be moving away from the wall surface 50, and is controlled to make a rightward curve. In this way, the autonomous vehicle can travel without collision near the wall.

Next, a method for the autonomous vehicle to detect a wall break will be described. If the wall is interrupted while the autonomous vehicle is traveling along the wall along the contact, the output of the contact sensor vibrates significantly. This detects that the wall is broken. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how a wall break is detected. FIG. 9 (a) shows the movement of the contact sensor 10 when passing through a place where the wall is interrupted. Figure 9
FIG. 9B shows the output of the sensor angle A obtained from the output value of the potentiometer 23 when the wall passes the cut point, and FIG. 9C shows the output when the wall passes the cut point. The output of the distance value D between the wall surface 50 and the potentiometer 23 obtained from the sensor angle A is shown.

In FIG. 9, the contact sensor 10 is in contact with the wall surface 50 in the states (1) to (5), and at the time point of
Away from. When the contact sensor 10 is separated from the wall surface 50, the shaft 24 is returned toward the center by the torsion coil spring 26, but at this time, the shaft 24 vibrates for a predetermined time until it becomes stable. Therefore, the sensor angle A obtained from the output of the potentiometer 23 and the distance value D between the wall surface 50 and the potentiometer 23 have waveforms indicated by. That is, the sensor angle A or the distance value D
Since the output of oscillates greatly, it is detected that the wall is interrupted by this changing speed.

(3) Optical Distance Measuring Sensor In the autonomous vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention, the optical distance measuring sensor 3 provided inside the drive unit 1 can be used to measure by using the contact sensor 10. Measure the distance to an object at a long distance.

The optical distance measuring sensor will be described in detail below. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the optical distance measuring sensor 3. The optical distance measuring sensor 3 includes a light receiving section 32 and an auxiliary light unit 31. Auxiliary light unit 31
Are provided to increase the contrast of the image of the object to be measured such as a wall surface. The auxiliary light unit 31 includes the light receiving section 3
A slit array 37 and an LED (light emitting diode) 38 which are provided on the upper part of the lens 2 and have a random interval with the lens 36 are included. The light from the LED 38 is made into a slit-row-shaped pattern light by the slit row 37, and is projected toward the object via the lens 36. Thereby, the contrast of the image of the object is enhanced, and the distance to the object can be measured by the light receiving unit 32 even when the object itself has no contrast such as a white wall.

FIG. 11 is a top view showing the structure of the light receiving portion 32 in the optical distance measuring sensor of FIG. Light receiving section 32
Is a plurality of CCDs including a separator lens 33, a diaphragm mask 34, and CCD line sensors 35a and 35b.
Includes line sensor. In FIG. 11, the image of the distance measuring object 32 incident on the light receiving unit 32 is the separator lens 3
2 and the two CCD line sensors 3 on the left and
Images are separately formed into 5a and 35b. In this case,
As shown in FIG. 1, according to the distance to the distance measurement target 39,
Contrast pattern images A and B are generated on the left and right CCD line sensors 35a and 35b, respectively. By calculating the correlation between A and B, the distance k between the A and B contrast pattern images can be obtained, and the distance from the distance k to the distance measurement object 39 can be obtained.

(4) Operation of Autonomous Vehicle After Detection of Wall Discontinuity Next, in the autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention,
The operation after detecting the wall break will be described in detail. 12 and 13 are flowcharts showing the operation procedure of the autonomous vehicle of the present invention.

First, when the autonomous vehicle is traveling along the wall surface 50 following the contact (S1), it is determined whether or not the contact sensor 10a or 10d attached to the side surface of the autonomous vehicle detects the break in the wall. When it is determined that the wall discontinuity is not detected (S2, No), the contact copying traveling is continued along the wall surface 50. Also, the contact sensor 10a or 10d
When the disconnection of the wall is detected (S2, Yes), the autonomous vehicle stops on the spot. And the contact sensor 10
Using b and 10c or 10e and 10f, control is performed so that the autonomous vehicle and the wall surface are parallel to each other (S3).

Next, as shown in FIG. 14, the distance measurement of the object in the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle is performed by the plurality of optical distance measurement sensors 3a radially arranged (S4). In the case of FIG. 14, since the object does not exist on the right side with respect to the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle, the optical measuring device arranged on the right side of the universal caster wheel 4F among the plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a. The distance sensor cannot measure the distance.

On the other hand, since there is a wall surface which is an object on the left side of the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle, the optical measuring device arranged on the left side of the universal caster wheel 4F among the plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a. The distance sensor can measure the distance. The autonomous vehicle sequentially acquires the distance measurement data from the distance measurement sensor close to the wall surface. Since the distance measuring sensor is fixed in the direction of distance measurement, the distance is measured for each sensor.

FIG. 15 shows a case where an object different from that shown in FIG. 14 exists in front of the autonomous vehicle. In this case, all of the plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a can measure the distance.

Next, the shape of the object ahead is recognized from the distance information measured in step S4 or step S5 described later and the angle of the distance measuring sensor (S6).
As shown in FIG. 14, in the case of the autonomous vehicle having the configuration of FIG. 3, from the distance information to the object by the plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a and the mounting angle of each optical distance measuring sensor, Recognize the shape of the object in front.

The measured distance data is converted into data of the distance (r) and the angle (θ) from the center of the autonomous vehicle to the object to be measured. Since the positional relationship between the distance measuring sensor and the center of the autonomous vehicle is known in advance, it can be easily converted. The converted data is further converted into xy coordinates with the center of the autonomous vehicle as the origin. The unit is expressed in mm. The angle θ has a positive value in the clockwise direction with the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle as 0. When the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle is the positive direction of the y coordinate and the right side of the traveling direction is the positive direction of the x coordinate, x = r · sin θ,
y = r · cos θ.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a method of recognizing the shape of a front object, and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of the recognition method. The measuring direction depends on the mounting position of the distance measuring sensor. Therefore, the amount of change in the angle between the first measurement direction and the last measurement direction is fixed.

First, the first (-45 ° direction) measurement is performed (S21). The measurement here means to obtain the x and y coordinates. Next, the next measurement is performed by the distance measuring sensor attached in the direction of + 5 ° (S2).
2). Then, it is determined whether or not the y coordinate of the previous measurement result and the y coordinate of the current measurement result are equal (S23).
This is to determine whether or not a wall perpendicular to the wall originally used for copying was found. That is, if the object to be measured is perpendicular to the wall used for copying, the y coordinates of successive objects to be measured should be substantially equal.
The y-coordinates are equal in the part.

When the y coordinate of the previous measurement result and the y coordinate of the current measurement result are different in step S23 (S
23, NO) proceeds to S24. In step S24, it is determined whether or not the measurement direction has reached the distance measuring sensor at the set position (+ 45 °). When the measurement direction has not reached the set position (S24, NO), the process returns to step S22, the distance measurement direction is + 5 °, and the next measurement is performed. When the measurement direction has reached the set position (S24, YES), an object perpendicular to the wall used for copying cannot be detected, and there is no wall that can return to copying traveling, and the processing ends in error. If the object to be measured is parallel to the wall used for scanning, the x-coordinates of successive objects to be measured should be almost equal as a result of the repeated measurement in step S22. In FIG. 15, the x-coordinates are the same in the part of.

If the y coordinate of the previous measurement result and the y coordinate of the current measurement result are equal in step S23 (S
23, YES) proceeds to step S25. Step S2
In step 5, the distance measurement direction is + 5 ° and the next measurement is performed. Next, it is determined whether or not the y coordinate of the current measurement result is larger than the y coordinate of the previous measurement result (S26). This is to determine whether the wall discontinuity has been restored, or whether the wall is not restored and the front is a flat surface.

If it is determined in step S26 that the y-coordinate of the current measurement result is larger than the y-coordinate of the previous measurement result (S26, YES), the process proceeds to step S27.
In step S27, the current measurement point is recognized as the point where the wall break has been restored. 15 corresponds to the point. After that, the process ends.

If it is determined in step S26 that the y coordinate of the current measurement result is not larger than the y coordinate of the previous measurement result (S26, NO), the process proceeds to step S28. In step S28, the measurement direction is the set position (+45
°) is reached. When the measurement direction has not reached the set position (S28, NO), the process returns to step S25, the distance measurement direction is + 5 °, and the next measurement is performed. When the measurement direction has reached the set position (S28, YES),
Since it is not possible to recognize the restoration of the interruption of the wall, it is determined that the front side is a flat surface (S29), and the process is ended.

In the case of FIG. 14, the autonomous vehicle recognizes that the wall surface 50 on the left side in the traveling direction has a recessed portion, and the wall surface is on an extension line with respect to the wall surface that has traveled by contact copying. Further, in the case of FIG. 17, the autonomous vehicle recognizes that the wall surface 51 exists directly in front of the traveling direction.

Next, based on the recognition result obtained in step S6, it is determined whether or not there is a gap of 2 m or more on the wall surface. The autonomous vehicle has drive wheels 5 that can be controlled independently on the left and right.
When the vehicle travels straight ahead with the rotational speeds of R and 5L equal to the rotational direction, but when there is undulation on the surface of travel or when the drive wheels 5R or 5L slip on the road surface,
Even though the rotational speeds of the drive wheels 5R and 5L are equal to the rotational direction, the vehicle travels while curving to some extent. Therefore, the straight traveling accuracy of the autonomous traveling vehicle is about 2 m to the right and left of about ± 2 cm, and if it is within 2 m, the vehicle can proceed straight to the contact copying traveling again. As shown in FIG. 19, the front wall surface 5
If the distance to 2 is 2 m or more (S7, Yes), the autonomous vehicle informs that it cannot move forward and waits for the next instruction (S8). The wall break is within 2m (S
7, No), the shape of the object in front is determined based on the recognition result obtained in step S6.

As shown in FIG. 14, when there is a wall surface on the extension line with respect to the wall surface which has been contact-propagated until now (S
9), goes straight until the previously attached contact sensor 10a or 10d contacts the wall surface (S10). When the contact sensors 10a and 10d do not detect the wall surface (S11, No), the autonomous vehicle continues straight ahead.
When the contact sensor 10a or 10d detects the wall surface (S11, Yes), the autonomous vehicle stops once (S1).
After 2), the vehicle moves straight until the contact sensor 10c or 10f attached to the rear detects the wall surface (S13), and then the contact contour traveling is restarted.

As shown in FIG. 17, when the wall surface 51 is in front of the front wall (S9,), the autonomous vehicle goes straight to the front wall surface 51 (S14) and waits for an instruction for the next operation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 20, when the wall surface 53 is located at a position deviated from the extension line with respect to the wall surface 50 which has traveled in contact with the contact until now (S9,), the edge of the wall surface 50 is interrupted. The drive unit 1 is arranged so that the straight line connecting the edges of the front wall surface 53 and the traveling direction of the autonomous vehicle are parallel to each other.
Is rotated (S15).

Subsequently, the contact sensor 10 previously mounted
The autonomous vehicle travels straight until a or 10d contacts the wall surface (S16). When the contact sensors 10a and 10d do not detect the wall surface (S17, No), the autonomous vehicle continues straight ahead. When the contact sensor 10a or 10d detects the wall surface (S17, Yes), the autonomous vehicle is stopped once (S18), and then directed in the same direction as the direction along which the contact copying is performed along the wall surface 50. The drive unit 1 is rotated (S19). The autonomous vehicle travels straight ahead as it is, travels straight until the contact sensor 10c or 10f attached to the rear surface contacts the wall surface 53 (S20), and restarts contact copying travel.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 3, the plurality of optical distance measuring sensors 3a in FIG. 3 are used in the drive unit 1a of the second embodiment shown in FIG. Distance sensors 3b, 3
The only difference is that they are replaced with c and 3d. 3 and 4, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and names. Their functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

The optical distance measuring sensor 3b faces the front of the autonomous traveling vehicle, the optical distance measuring sensor 3c faces left of the front of the autonomous traveling vehicle, and the optical distance measuring sensor 3d faces the front of the autonomous traveling vehicle. It is installed rightward with respect to each.
That is, the optical distance measuring sensors 3b, 3c, and 3d are installed so as to measure the distance in the front, left, and right directions with respect to the traveling direction X of the autonomous vehicle. Therefore, when the vehicle travels along the wall surface, the contact sensor 10a
Alternatively, instead of using 10d, it is also possible to travel while measuring the distance to the wall surface by the distance measuring sensor 3c or 3d, and detect a sudden increase in the measured distance to detect a break in the wall surface.

The operation of the apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as the operation of the first embodiment except the method of distance measurement in the front and the method of recognizing the shape accordingly. Therefore, only the different points will be described below. Note that the steps in FIGS. 12 and 13 are also referred to as appropriate.

When the autonomous vehicle has the structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, the autonomous vehicle measures the distance while rotating the optical distance measuring sensor 3b by the rotation of the drive unit 1a by a predetermined angle (S5). By driving the drive wheels 5R and 5L attached to the drive unit 1b of the autonomous vehicle in the opposite directions at the same rotational speed, the drive unit 1a is rotated.
Rotates on the spot.

However, since the cleaning work arm 12 attached to the cleaning work unit 2 may collide with the wall surface 50 due to the rotation of the drive unit 1a, the cleaning work unit 2 is rotated by the same angle in the opposite direction to the rotation of the drive unit 1a. Is rotated to maintain the position of the cleaning work unit 2 with respect to the wall surface 50. The method of recognizing the object in front is the same as the method described with reference to FIG. However, the distance measurement in the next direction in steps S22 and S25 is different only in that the optical distance measuring sensor 3b is rotated.

In this way, the optical distance measuring sensor 3b measures the distances to a plurality of points in front while rotating the driving portion 1a by a predetermined angle. In FIG. 18, it is possible to measure the distance at a point marked with a circle.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, in the case of the autonomous vehicle having the configuration of FIG. 4, the distance information of a plurality of points of the object by the optical distance measuring sensor 3b and the optical distance measuring sensor 3b. The shape of the object in front is recognized from the rotation angle.
In the case of FIG. 18, as in the case of FIG. 14, the autonomous vehicle recognizes that the wall surface 50 on the left side in the traveling direction has a recessed portion, and that the wall surface is on an extension line with respect to the wall surface that has traveled by contact copying.

Although the optical distance measuring sensor is used as the distance measuring sensor in this embodiment, an ultrasonic sensor or the like may be used.

According to the present invention, when the autonomous vehicle travels along the wall surface by contact copying, the shape of the object in front can be recognized in advance even if a break in the wall surface is detected.
It has become possible to know in advance whether or not the contact copying traveling can be continued.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of distance measuring sensors are radially arranged to measure the distance to the front object, the shape of the front object can be recognized in a short time. It has become possible to provide autonomous vehicles with excellent operating speed.

Further, according to the present invention, an autonomous vehicle is constructed with a minimum distance measuring sensor, and the shape of an object in front can be recognized by rotating the distance measuring sensor, which is costly. It has become possible to provide excellent autonomous vehicles.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing the overall configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the autonomous vehicle of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an autonomous vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing dimensions of each part of the autonomous vehicle of FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how contactless traveling of an autonomous traveling vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a contact sensor of the autonomous vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view for explaining the operation of the contact sensor of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how a wall break of an autonomous vehicle is detected in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an optical distance measuring sensor for an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a top view showing a configuration of a light receiving portion of the optical distance measuring sensor of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart (part 1) of the operation of the autonomous traveling vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart (part 2) of the operation of the autonomous traveling vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a method for measuring a distance in a recess of a wall of an autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a method of recognizing the shape of a front object.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of a method of recognizing the shape of a front object.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a method for measuring the distance to the front wall surface of the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a method for measuring a distance in a recess of a wall of an autonomous vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an operation of the autonomous traveling vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention in the case where there is 2 m or more from the wall surface discontinuity to the front wall surface.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a case where the front wall surface is not on an extension line of the front wall surface.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an operation of the autonomous vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention when the front wall surface is not on an extension of the front wall surface.

FIG. 22 is a diagram (No. 1) for explaining a problem at the time of contact copying traveling in a conventional autonomous vehicle.

FIG. 23 is a diagram (No. 2) for explaining a problem at the time of contact copying traveling in a conventional autonomous vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 drive 2 Cleaning section 3 Optical distance measuring sensor 4 Flexible caster wheels 5 drive wheels 10 Contact sensor 12 Cleaning arm

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuichi Kawakami               2-3-3 Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka               Kokusai Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nowakazu Kawagoe               2-3-3 Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka               Kokusai Building Minolta Co., Ltd.                (56) Reference JP-A-6-337714 (JP, A)                 JP-A-4-260905 (JP, A)                 JP-A-4-328607 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An autonomous vehicle that travels following an object, wherein: a copying detection unit for detecting a copying state of the object; and when the copying detection unit detects a break in the object, A shape measuring unit for measuring the shape of an object in front, and the shape measuring unit measures an object that can travel along the front.
When measured, the discontinuity of the object and the front profile
Entry into a recess between a runnable object
And an operation means for moving the autonomous vehicle so as to follow the object in front of the autonomous vehicle. 2. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the shape measuring unit includes a plurality of distance measuring units that are radially arranged and measure a distance to the object in front. . 3. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the shape measuring means includes distance measuring means for moving and measuring distances to a plurality of points of the object in front. .