JP3817775B2 - Vehicle intersection passage display device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle intersection display device that displays that a vehicle is passing an intersection by display means installed on the ground side.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, when an automatic traveling vehicle is used in a factory, when the vehicle passes an intersection where workers and manned vehicles come and go, it is necessary to display it when the vehicle approaches the intersection. Therefore, at the intersection where the autonomous vehicle passes in one direction, an indicator lamp is provided on the ceiling above the intersection, and one sensor such as a photoelectric sensor is installed on the entrance side and the exit side of the intersection, A detector such as a reflector is arranged on the vehicle surface so that the indicator lamp is turned on when the sensor on the entrance side detects the detector, and the indicator lamp is turned off when the sensor on the exit side detects the detector. I have to. Also, because it is difficult to make a U-turn on large vehicles, etc., in the case of an automatic traveling vehicle that turns back in a switchback type, a pair of sensors are provided for forward and reverse travel, and the vehicle passes through an intersection forward. Controls the indicator lamps based on the output of the pair of sensors for forward movement, and controls the indicator lamps based on the outputs of the pair of sensors for reverse movement when passing the intersection in reverse.
[0003]
In addition, as what installed the sensor on the ground side for driving | running | working of a self-propelled vehicle, there exists a traveling control apparatus for automatic guided vehicles described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-11772, for example.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In a vehicle that turns around and the direction of entering the intersection is two directions, forward and reverse, when detecting that the vehicle is passing the intersection and displaying it, the conventional technology only uses a pair of sensors. However, it is impossible to discriminate between forward and reverse, and a pair of sensors are required for the front and rear and the reverse, which is a factor of high cost.
[0005]
Therefore, it is a problem to be able to determine the approach direction of the vehicle to the intersection with only a pair of sensors.
[0006]
The present invention aims to solve such problems.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is an intersection passage display device for a vehicle that displays that the vehicle is passing the intersection by a display unit installed on the ground side, and is an automatic traveling vehicle in which the vehicle turns around. A vehicle direction in which a plurality of detector elements having different widths in the vehicle traveling direction are arranged on the surface of the vehicle and arranged in the traveling direction at intervals and the ground is located near the intersection on the ground side. A pair of sensors for detecting the width in the vehicle traveling direction of the traveling direction discriminating detection body is arranged at the front and rear positions of the vehicle, and the sensor that has detected the traveling direction discriminating body is determined by the output of these sensors , and the sensor out of the output and the respective sensor approach direction determining means and,該進ingress direction determining means for determining the entry direction into the intersection of the vehicle by but possible to determine the width of the detected first detection member The vehicle is characterized in that a display control means for displaying a pass to a state which determines the display means is controlled to intersection passes through the intersection from. Thus, when the approach direction discriminating means is provided and the approach direction of the vehicle is discriminated by the sensor output, the state of passing through the intersection can be discriminated with only a pair of sensors regardless of the traveling direction of the vehicle, Therefore, as compared with the conventional case where each pair of sensors is installed for forward movement and backward movement, the configuration becomes simple and the cost can be reduced.
[0008]
In particular, a plurality of detection element elements having different widths are arranged in the advancing direction at intervals, and each sensor detects the width so that each detection element is a sensor element. Is detected, and the width of the detection body first detected by the sensor is determined, the vehicle traveling direction can be determined, and the state of passing through the intersection can be determined regardless of the vehicle traveling direction.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 2 is an intersection passage display device for a vehicle that displays that the vehicle is passing the intersection by a display means installed on the ground side. There is a traveling direction discriminating detector arranged on the vehicle surface with a plurality of detector elements arranged in the traveling direction at intervals so as to form different patterns on the forward side and the reverse side, and on the ground side near the intersection A pair of sensors for detecting the traveling direction discriminating detection body is arranged at the front and rear positions in the vehicle passing direction across the intersection, and the state in which the vehicle passes through the intersection by the output pattern of the pair of sensors is shown in both the traveling direction. Display control means for discriminating and controlling the display means to display intersection passing is provided. In this way, by arranging a plurality of detector elements that form different patterns depending on the traveling direction in the traveling direction at intervals, and each sensor detects the pattern, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be determined and the traveling direction of the vehicle Regardless of whether or not the vehicle is passing the intersection. And since only one pair of sensors is required, the configuration becomes simpler and the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where each pair of sensors is installed for forward movement and reverse movement.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An example of a vehicle intersection passage display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a front view (a), a plan view (b), a side view (c), and a bottom view (d) showing the equipment layout of a two-wheel fixed drive type automatic traveling vehicle. This automatic traveling vehicle 1 has two front wheels 2A and 2B, two rear wheels 3A and 3B, two front wheels 2A and 2B are caster-type driven wheels, and two rear wheels 3A and 3B are motor-driven. This is a drive wheel. A pair of drive motors 4A, 4B for steering and driving the two wheels are installed at positions sandwiched between the left and right rear wheels 3A, 3B. Guide sensors 6 and 7 are attached to the front end side center and the rear end side center of the lower surface of the vehicle body 1A so as to be close to the guide tape laid on the road surface 5, respectively. The vehicle body 1A is provided with an address sensor 8 on one side edge of the lower surface so as to be close to an address plate (not shown) laid on the road surface 5, and the front upper portion of the vehicle body 1A has operation switches for various operations. The operation display unit 11 includes a group 9 and an indicator lamp group 10 for displaying various operation states. Further, an obstacle sensor 12 for detecting the approach of an obstacle is installed at the front center of the vehicle body 1A. And on the front upper surface of the vehicle body 1A, two tape-like reflectors 13A and 13B that are long in the vehicle body width direction are arranged at intervals in the vehicle traveling direction. These two reflecting plates 13A and 13B have different widths, the width of the front reflecting plate 13A is small, and the width of the rear reflecting plate 13B is large.
[0012]
The front and rear guide sensors 6 and 7 are, for example, a plurality of hall elements arranged at predetermined intervals in the vehicle body width direction. The front guide sensor 6 is for forward movement, and the rear guide sensor 7 is for backward movement. Further, the address sensor 8 receives guide command value signals such as advancing and stopping, advancing and reversing, a straight traveling, a left turn and a right turn from an address plate having a combination pattern of N and S poles, and also at high speed and middle Each of the travel speed command value signals such as speed and low speed is received, and the guide command value signal and the travel speed command value signal are output to a calculation unit (CPU) of a control unit built in the operation panel 11.
[0013]
The equipment configuration for controlling the automatic traveling vehicle 1 includes both the id sensor 6, 7 and the address sensor 8, and a control unit. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the device configuration. The control unit includes a memory unit 21 and a calculation unit (CPU) 22, and has functions of a left motor driving unit 23 and a right motor driving unit 24. The left motor drive unit 23 and the right motor drive unit 24 control the rotation speeds of the left drive motor 4A and the right drive motor 4B according to a command from the calculation unit 22, and perform branch control and trajectory control based on the rotation speed difference.
[0014]
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram (a) of the guide position detection showing the trajectory control law of the autonomous vehicle and a graph (b) of the rotational speed calculation formula of the left and right drive motors, and FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the trajectory control. It is.
[0015]
In FIG. 3A, 30 is a guide tape laid on the road surface. The white arrow indicates the traveling direction of the vehicle integrated with the forward guide sensor 6 (reverse drive guide sensor 7 for reverse). In FIG. 3A, the guide sensor 6 (7) detects magnetism at a plurality of points (16 points in the example shown in the figure) at a predetermined interval in the lateral width direction of the vehicle body, and the point where the guide tape 30 is located ( In the figure, an ON signal is output at five points located at the third to seventh positions from the left). At other points outside the guide tape, the sensor signal is OFF.
[0016]
FIG. 3 (a) shows a straight traveling state, and each of the command values of the straight travel command and the forward or reverse travel command from the immediately preceding address plate, and the traveling speed command value of any of high speed, medium speed, and low speed, The signals are input to the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c via the address sensor 8. In this case, the guide tape position calculation unit 22a receives the output of the guide sensor 6 (7), performs the center of gravity calculation by weighting each point of the ON signal, and thereby guides the guide sensor 6 (7) of the center line of the guide tape 30. Deviation (guide tape position) with respect to the center position. Then, based on the deviation, the left drive motor rotation speed calculator 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculator 22c calculate the rotation speeds of the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B. FIG. 3B is a graph showing calculation values by the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c. In forward and reverse, the position of the drive wheels (rear wheels 3A and 3B) changes with respect to the vehicle body, and the graph of the calculated values changes. The calculated values are read from the memory unit 21 of the control unit for each of high speed, medium speed, and low speed. Then, the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B are controlled, and the travel steering mechanism 31 is driven to control the trajectory so that the center line of the guide tape 30 travels straight while being centered at the center position of the guide sensor 6 (7). Is done. The guide tape position calculation unit 22a, the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b, and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c correspond to the calculation unit 22 in FIG.
[0017]
When the automatic traveling vehicle 1 is turned left at the branch point of the guide tape, a left turn command guide command value and one of the travel speed command values are sent via the address sensor 8 from the address plate in front of the branch point. The rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c are input. In this case, the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c detect the left edge of the guide tape 30 at the branch point based on the ON signal of the guide sensor 6 (7), and thereby the left edge The rotational speeds of the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B are calculated so that the automatic traveling vehicle 1 is turned to the left along the line, and the automatic traveling vehicle 1 is turned to the left. Next, the guide tape position calculation unit 22a calculates the center of gravity with respect to the center line of the guide tape width with the left edge as a reference, thereby producing a deviation. Based on the deviation, the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c calculate the rotation speeds of the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B, and also control the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B. Then, the vehicle is left-turned while the center line of the guide tape is centered on the center position of the guide sensor.
[0018]
In the case of a right turn, a guide command value for a right turn command and any travel speed command value from the address plate in front of the branching point are sent via the address sensor 8 to the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation. Input to the unit 22c. Then, the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and the right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c detect the right edge of the guide tape 30 at the branch point by the ON signal of the guide sensor 7, and the automatic traveling vehicle 1 along the right edge. The rotational speeds of the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B are calculated so as to turn left. Then, the guide tape position calculation unit 22a calculates the center of gravity with respect to the center line of the guide tape width with respect to the right edge to obtain a deviation, and based on the deviation, the left drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22b and The right drive motor rotation speed calculation unit 22c calculates the rotation speeds of the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B, controls the left and right drive motors 4A and 4B, and makes a right turn while centering the center line of the guide tape at the center position of the guide sensor. Let
[0019]
The automatic traveling vehicle 1 is used as an automated guided vehicle in a factory building, for example. On the ceiling of the building, as shown in FIG. At the position of the intersection C with the passage B, an indicator lamp 40 that displays the approach and passage of the automatic traveling vehicle 1 is installed on the building ceiling side. In addition, the automatic traveling vehicle 1 moves forward from the right side to the left side in FIG. 5 (a), and advances after being guided by the guide tape 30 laid on the road surface and passing through the intersection C. It is designed to go back to the formula and go back as it is. And the front-rear position in the vehicle passing direction across the intersection C of the passage A on the side through which the automatic traveling vehicle 1 passes (the proximity of the exit side and the entrance side in the reverse direction at the entrance side and the exit side proximity position in the vehicle forward direction) Position) is provided with a first and second pair of sensors 41 and 42 so as to detect the reflecting plates 13A and 13B when the automatic traveling vehicle 1 reaches a position almost directly below the building ceiling. Each of the pair of sensors 41 and 42 uses a phototube.
[0020]
As described above, the reflectors 13A and 13B have different widths and are arranged at intervals in the vehicle traveling direction, the front reflector 13A has a small width, and the rear reflector 13B has a large width. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5B, the output patterns of the sensors 41 and 42 differ between when the automatic traveling vehicle 1 enters the intersection C forward and when it enters the intersection C backward.
[0021]
The A pattern shown in FIG. 5B is an output pattern during forward movement. When traveling forward, first sensor 41 (PH1) detects when entering intersection C, and second sensor 42 (PH2) detects when exiting intersection C. In this case, the sensors 41 and 42 first detect the front-side reflecting plate 13A having a small width, and then detect the rear-side reflecting plate 13B having a large width. Therefore, the sensor output is as shown.
[0022]
The B pattern is an output pattern at the time of reverse travel. In this case, the second sensor 42 (PH2) detects when entering the intersection C in the reverse direction, and the first sensor 41 (PH1) detects when exiting the intersection C. In this case, the sensors 42 and 41 first detect the rear reflecting plate 13B having a large width, and then detect the front reflecting plate 13A having a small width after a while. The sensor output is as follows.
[0023]
The indicator lamp 40 is controlled to be turned on / off by the pattern of the sensor output. The indicator lamp 40 is turned on when the output of the pattern A is emitted by the first sensor 41, and then the pattern B of the second sensor 42 is turned on. It is turned off when the output of. In this case, the indicator lamp 40 is lit while the automatic traveling vehicle 1 passes through the intersection.
[0024]
In addition, when the autonomous vehicle 1 passes through the intersection in reverse, the second sensor 42 emits the B pattern output to turn on the indicator lamp 40, and then the first sensor 41 outputs the B pattern output. It is turned off by being emitted. Also in this case, the indicator lamp 40 is lit while the automatic traveling vehicle 1 is passing the intersection.
[0025]
FIG. 6 shows the control logic of the control for discriminating forward and reverse based on such sensor output patterns and turning on and off the indicator lamp 40. The control flow for turning on / off the indicator lamp 40 is as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the control flow shown in FIG. 7 will be described.
[0026]
When the control flow of FIG. 7 starts, it is checked whether or not the start button is pressed (step S1), and nothing is done until the button is pressed, and if the start button is pressed, the first sensor (PH1) Is ON (step S2), and if it is ON, it is checked whether the sensor output is the A pattern shown in FIG. 5B (step S3). And if it is A pattern, it will determine with approaching the intersection by advance, and an indicator lamp (AGV approach indicator lamp) will be lighted (step S4).
[0027]
Next, it is checked whether or not the pattern is the B pattern in FIG. 5B (step S5). If it is the B pattern, the indicator lamp (AGV approach indicator lamp) is turned off (step S6). At this time, since it is the A pattern in advance, step S6 is skipped. Then, it is checked whether the second sensor (PH2) is ON (step S7). If it is not ON, the process proceeds to a stop command determination (step, S12) to be described later without doing anything. Return to S2 and go around. When the second sensor (PH2) is turned on, it is checked whether the sensor output is the A pattern (step S8). At this time, it is the A pattern, and if it is the A pattern, the indicator lamp (AGV approach indicator lamp) is extinguished at this stage because it has passed through the intersection in advance (step S9). Then, it is checked whether or not the pattern is B (step S10). At this time, it is not the B pattern. In this case, whether or not there is a stop command is checked in step S12. If not, the process returns to step S2.
[0028]
When returning to step S2, it is checked whether or not the first sensor (PH1) is ON. However, since this time has already passed through the intersection, it is naturally not ON. In this case, the process proceeds to step S7. To see if the second sensor (PH2) is ON. Then, if the second sensor (PH2) is not ON, the process proceeds to step S12 as it is, and if it is not stopped, it turns around. However, if the second sensor (PH2) is ON in step S7, the sensor output is still First, it is checked whether the pattern is an A pattern (step S8). However, at this time, it is after the exit from the intersection and not the A pattern. In this case, step S9 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S10 to see if it is a B pattern. And if it is a B pattern, the indicator lamp (AGV approach indicator lamp) will be lighted by having entered the intersection in reverse (step S11).
[0029]
Then, the process proceeds to step S12, and it is determined whether or not there is a stop command.
[0030]
Then, the process returns to step S2 to see whether or not the first sensor (PH1) is ON. If it is not ON, the process proceeds to step S7 without doing anything and goes to steps S8, S10, S11 or The process proceeds from step S7 to step S12, and if not stopped, the process returns to step S2. When the first sensor (PH1) is turned on, it is checked whether the sensor output is the A pattern (step S8). At this time, since it is the B pattern, the process skips step S4 and proceeds to step S5. See if it is a B pattern. If the pattern is B, the indicator lamp (AGV approach indicator lamp) is extinguished because the vehicle has passed the intersection in reverse (step S9). In step S7, it is checked whether the second sensor (PH2) is ON. At this time, since the second sensor (PH2) is no longer ON, the process proceeds to step S12. Then, it is determined whether there is a stop command. If there is a stop command, the process ends as it is. If there is no stop command, the process returns to step S2.
[0031]
The vehicle intersection passage display device according to the present invention can also be controlled by the logic shown in FIG. In the case of this control logic, only one reflector may be attached to the vehicle surface (for example, the upper surface of the vehicle body), and this one reflector is detected by the same pair of sensors as in the previous example. The lighting and extinguishing of the indicator lamp can be controlled based on the output of these sensors and the display state of the indicator lamp.
[0032]
In the control logic of FIG. 8, it is determined that the vehicle has entered the intersection by moving forward by turning on the first sensor (PH1) with the indicator light turned off, and the indicator light is turned on. Then, when the second sensor (PH2) is turned on with the indicator light turned on in this way, it is determined that the vehicle has moved forward from the intersection, and the indicator light is turned off. Further, it is determined that the vehicle has entered the intersection in the reverse direction by turning on the second sensor (PH2) while the indicator lamp is turned off, and the indicator lamp is turned on. Then, when the first sensor (PH1) is turned on with the indicator light turned on, it is determined that the vehicle has come out of the intersection in reverse and the indicator light is turned off.
[0033]
Even with such a logic, it is possible to determine the approach direction of the vehicle to the intersection as in the previous example, and to control the indicator lamp to display that the vehicle is passing through the intersection.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the approach direction of the vehicle to the intersection by means of a simple configuration with a single sensor and low cost, and that the vehicle passes through the intersection regardless of the traveling direction of the vehicle. It can be displayed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a device layout diagram of an autonomous vehicle.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automatic vehicle.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram and a graph of a trajectory control law for an autonomous vehicle.
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of locus control of an automatic traveling vehicle.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a device arrangement and a sensor output pattern for displaying a vehicle approach at an intersection.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of control logic of an indicator lamp that displays approach and passage of an intersection.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of control of turning on and off the indicator lamp.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of another example of the control logic of the indicator lamp that displays intersection approach and passage.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic traveling vehicle 13A, 13B Reflector 40 Indicator light 41 1st sensor (For advance)
42 Second sensor (for reverse travel)

Claims (2)

An intersection passing display device for a vehicle that displays that a vehicle is passing an intersection by a display means installed on the ground side, wherein the vehicle is an automatic traveling vehicle that turns back and travels on the surface of the vehicle. A detector for determining a traveling direction is arranged by arranging a plurality of detector elements having different widths in the traveling direction at intervals, and the traveling direction is determined at a position on the ground side in the vicinity of the intersection in the vehicle passing direction across the intersection. A pair of sensors for detecting the width of the detection body in the vehicle traveling direction is arranged, and the sensor that has detected the traveling direction determination detection body is determined based on the output of these sensors, and the first detection body detected by the sensor is detected. the vehicle is an intersection from said output of each sensor and the output of the approach direction determining means and,該進ingress direction determining means for determining the entry direction into the intersection of the vehicle by determining the width Intersection passage display device for a vehicle, characterized in that to determine a state of passing by controlling the display means provided with a display control means for displaying the intersection passage.   An intersection passage display device for a vehicle that displays that a vehicle is passing an intersection by display means installed on the ground side, wherein the vehicle is an automatic traveling vehicle that travels back and has a plurality of detectors on a vehicle surface. A traveling direction discrimination detector is arranged in which the elements are arranged in the traveling direction at intervals so as to form different patterns on the forward side and the reverse side, and on the ground side, in the vehicle passing direction across the intersection in the vicinity of the intersection A pair of sensors for detecting the advancing direction discriminating body is disposed at a position, and a state in which the vehicle is passing through an intersection is discriminated in the advancing direction according to an output pattern of the pair of sensors, and the display means is controlled; An intersection passage display device for a vehicle, characterized by comprising display control means for displaying intersection passage.

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