JP4257266B2 - Floating body guidance device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention provides a device for guiding a floating body that moves substantially following a moving body that moves on a ground plane such as a robot or a vehicle, and performs shooting of a bird's-eye view image used for guiding the robot. about the location.

  In recent years, development of humanoid robots has progressed, and application to nursing care and disaster relief is expected. However, in the above-described nursing care applications, the applicability can be greatly increased by improving the functions of the robot itself such as the human interface and the degree of freedom. Although it can be expected to play an active role in such a poor environment and a dangerous environment, it cannot be said that the sensing ability of the robot itself is sufficient, and it is highly possible that a sufficient effect cannot be expected only by improving the robot function.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the floating body 2 is floated on the head of the humanoid robot 1 that is a moving body, and the robot 1 is guided by the bird's-eye view image captured by the camera 3 mounted on the floating body 2. It is expected that the sensing ability of the surrounding area will be dramatically increased, and the applicability to disaster relief and the like can be greatly increased.

On the other hand, as the floating body 2, a small aircraft being developed by the US DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) or a small flying body having a weight of about several hundred grams recently developed for hobby is used. It is possible. Among them, the flying object shown in Non-Patent Document 1 is provided with two upper and lower rotors that rotate on the same axis and each rotor is composed of two blades, and the control in the yaw direction and thrust direction is It can be performed by changing the number of rotations of the lower rotor. In addition, the upper rotor is connected to the stabilizer via a rod, and cyclic pitch input is given from the stabilizer so as to keep the inclination of the rotor surface horizontal. The vertical and horizontal cyclic pitch inputs are provided from the servo, which allows the aircraft to also move the pitch and roll. The weight of the camera mounted is only about 200 g, can float even with a rotor diameter of about 30 cm, has high floating ability such as hovering, and is extremely suitable as the floating body 2.
Akihiro Okura “Development of Small Counter-rotating Rotor”, February 2004, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University

  The flying object according to Non-Patent Document 1 recognizes a wall surface or a distance from the floor surface using an infrared sensor, performs the hovering, uses a radio control by an operator, or a GPS according to a preprogrammed program. , To fly along a prescribed trajectory. Therefore, there is a problem that a very complicated configuration is required to fly substantially following the head in cooperation with the robot 1. Specifically, for example, in order to recognize the mutual positional relationship and cause the floating body 2 to follow the robot 1, the positional relationship recognition means, wireless communication means, and the like are required. It will far exceed the possible weight.

An object of the present invention is to provide an induction equipment of the floating body a mechanism to follow the floating body to the moving body can be realized with a simple configuration.

Induction device of the floating body of the present invention is a device for inducing floating body moves substantially follow the moving object moving on the horizontal plane, which have a rotating blade as the moving mechanism, the moving A light emitting means mounted on the body and emitting a light beam with a predetermined beam width upward and a bottom surface of a cylindrical duct mounted on the floating body for receiving the light beam from below and protecting the rotor blade Te, three or more light receiving elements arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, is mounted on the floating body, and controls the pre KiUtsuri kinematic mechanism in response the output from the light receiving elements, the floating body And a movement control means for floating above the moving body.

According to the above configuration, for guiding a floating body that moves substantially following a moving body that moves on the ground plane, such as a robot, and performs shooting of a bird's-eye view image used for guiding the robot. In the apparatus, for example, a light emitting means for emitting a light beam with a predetermined beam width is mounted on the moving body at an upper portion thereof, and at least the moving direction is controlled by the light receiving condition on the floating body side of the light beam. The floating body is suspended above the moving body, and the floating body is moved following the moving body substantially in parallel. Specifically, the floating body moving mechanism includes, for example, rotating blades that rotate in opposite directions to achieve floating, a mechanism that changes the angle of attack in order to realize movement in the front and rear, right and left, and drive control means thereof Provided with three or more light receiving elements arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction along the lower surface of a cylindrical duct that protects the rotor blades in order to realize at least control of the moving direction, The floating body is provided with movement control means for controlling the drive control mechanism in response to the output from each light receiving element.

Therefore, when guiding a floating body using wireless communication, in order to recognize the mutual positional relationship and cause the floating body to follow the moving body, for example, the positional relationship recognition means, the wireless communication means, etc. In contrast, a complicated configuration is required. In the present invention, it is only necessary to control the movement mechanism based on whether or not the light beam is incident on each light receiving element, and the movement control means can be realized with a simple configuration. it can. For example, pre-Symbol all control for the mobile determines that the light beam is positioned substantially directly above the mobile when it is detected without the light receiving element, the light receiving element the light beam is no longer detected is generated It can be determined that the moving body has moved to the light receiving element side where the light beam is detected (that is, the center of the light beam has moved to the light receiving element side where the light beam is detected). If the control for moving is performed, the floating body can be positioned substantially immediately above the moving body.

In the floating body guidance device of the present invention , four light receiving elements are arranged.

  According to the above configuration, the light receiving element has four circumferentially equidistant positions on the outer peripheral portion of the lower part of the floating body that is formed in a substantially circular shape, that is, both end positions on the diameter line orthogonal to the substantially circular shape. Is arranged.

  Therefore, if a light beam is detected in all of the light receiving elements, it is determined that the light is positioned almost immediately above the moving body, and control for movement is not performed, and the two light receiving elements that form a pair on one diameter line are not controlled. On the other hand, when the light beam is no longer detected, the moving body determines that it has moved to the other light receiving element side where the light beam is detected (that is, the center of the light beam has moved to the other light receiving element side where the light beam is detected). It is possible to control the moving mechanism to move to the other light receiving element side, and to perform the same control on the output from the two light receiving elements that form a pair on the other diameter line. The body can be positioned substantially above the moving body.

  Thus, the movement control means can be controlled very easily with the four light receiving elements arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

  Furthermore, in the floating body guidance device according to the present invention, the movement control means may be configured such that when no light beam is detected by both of the two light receiving elements arranged on the same diameter line, the movement control means immediately before the movement mechanism. The control output in the detection state is increased and output.

  According to the above configuration, as described above, at the outer peripheral portion of the lower part of the floating body formed in a substantially circular shape, four positions at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, that is, both end positions on the substantially circular diameter lines orthogonal to each other. When the light beam is detected from one of the two light receiving elements that are arranged on the same diameter line among the light receiving elements that are arranged on the same diameter line, the movement control means moves to the moving mechanism. Even if the control output is given so as to move in the direction of the light receiving element in which the light beam has been detected, the moving speed of the moving body is larger than the moving speed of the floating body, or the control output goes into the air from the control output. It can be considered that there is a response delay until the actual movement of the floating object. Therefore, the movement control means increases the control output in the immediately preceding detection state, that is, outputs it with high gain.

  As a result, the amount of movement of the floating body becomes large, and it is possible to follow (capture) again the moving body that has once failed to follow (capture). Thus, the tracking (capturing) accuracy of the moving body by the floating body can be further increased (the possibility of being unable to follow (capturing) can be reduced).

  In the floating body guidance device of the present invention, the floating body further includes an ultrasonic sensor for detecting a distance from the lower moving body, and the movement control means outputs the output from the ultrasonic sensor. In response to the control, the moving mechanism is controlled to float the floating body at a certain height above the moving body.

  According to the above configuration, when detecting the distance to the moving body from the light intensity from the light emitting means of the moving body, the case where the floating body is positioned directly above the moving body and the case where it is positioned obliquely above, The detected light intensity is different even at the same height, and it is necessary to obtain a horizontal shift for accurate height detection. Further, the detected light intensity also changes due to contamination of the light emitting means and the light receiving element and aging. For this reason, it is difficult to accurately detect the height from the light intensity. Therefore, by using an ultrasonic sensor, the robot or the like can float a floating body at a certain height above the head, and can always take a bird's-eye view image at a certain height.

Induction equipment of the floating body of the present invention, as described above, moves substantially follow the moving object moving on the horizontal plane such as a robot, such as the shooting of the overhead image to be used for the induction of the robot In order to guide the floating body that performs the above, the moving body is mounted with, for example, a light emitting means for emitting a light beam with a predetermined beam width on the upper portion thereof, and is provided with three or more light receiving elements provided on the floating body side. Depending on how the light beam is received, the movement control means provided on the floating body side, for example, a rotating blade that rotates in opposite directions, a mechanism that changes its angle of attack in order to realize movement in the front-rear and left-right directions, and their drive By controlling the moving mechanism including the control means, the floating body is floated above the moving body, and the floating body is moved following the moving body substantially in parallel.

  Therefore, in order to guide the floating body using wireless communication, in order to recognize the mutual positional relationship and cause the floating body to follow the moving body, for example, the positional relationship recognition means and the wireless communication means However, in the present invention, it is only necessary to control the moving mechanism based on whether or not the light beam is incident on each light receiving element, and this can be realized with a simple structure.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floating body 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the floating body 11 with a duct 12 removed. Like the floating body 2 shown in FIG. 6 described above, the floating body 11 floats away from the robot 1 by a predetermined distance, moves substantially in parallel with the robot 1, and moves in parallel. An image captured by the mounted camera is wirelessly transmitted to the robot 1 so that the robot 1 recognizes the surrounding situation.

  The floating body 11 is generally configured by realizing the floating and attaching the duct 12 to a main body 13 on which the camera or the like is mounted. The duct 12 is made of a thin-walled polystyrene foam cylinder or the like, and protects the rotor 14 and 15 portions, regulates the air flow, and protects the contacted side from contact of the rotor 14 and 15 portions with the human body. Is provided. The duct 12 is supported by the main body 13 by two holding members 17 and 18 orthogonal to each other on a substantially horizontal plane orthogonal to the axis of the rod 16 that supports the rotors 14 and 15 and extends in a substantially vertical direction. Is done. Accordingly, the holding members 17 and 18 are located on the diameter line of the duct 12 formed in the cylindrical shape, and support the duct 12 from the lower surface.

  The rotors 14 and 15 are provided in two upper and lower stages on the same axis of the rod 16, and the rod 16 rotationally drives the lower rotor 15 and rotatably supports the upper rotor 14. The rotor 16 is rotationally driven by an inner rod 19 into which the rod 16 is inserted, and thus the rotors 14 and 15 are rotated in the opposite directions. The rods 16 and 19 are respectively driven to rotate by a motor in the main body 13.

  Each of the rotors 14 and 15 is composed of two blades 14a and 14b; 15a and 15b, and the control in the yaw direction and the thrust direction can be performed by changing the rotational speed of the upper and lower rotors 14 and 15. ing. The upper rotor 14 is connected to a stabilizer 20 via a rod 19, and a cyclic pitch input is given from the stabilizer 20 so as to keep the inclination of the rotor surface horizontal. The 15 blades 15a and 15b are provided with vertical and horizontal cyclic pitch inputs from the servo so that the airframe can perform pitch and roll movements.

  It should be noted that in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the floating body 11 is floated on the head of the humanoid robot 21 which is a moving body, and FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (b). As shown in the figure, when the robot 21 is moved following the movement of the robot 21 substantially in parallel, the robot 21 is equipped with a light emitting means 22 that emits a light beam with a predetermined beam width W on the upper side. The floating body 11 is mounted on the floating body 11, receives a light beam from below, is received by three or more light receiving elements arranged to form a plane, and in response to the output from each light receiving element, This is to control the moving mechanism described later. The light emitting means 22 is realized by an aggregate of infrared light emitting diodes.

  FIG. 4 is a bottom view schematically showing how the light receiving elements P1 to P4 are attached. In FIG. 4, four light receiving elements having the reference numerals P <b> 1 to P <b> 4 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction along the lower surface of the cylindrical duct 12. That is, the holding members 17 and 18 are arranged at both end positions orthogonal to each other. In FIG. 4, the light beam is detected by the light receiving element P1 on the left side and the light receiving element P2 is detected on the right side with respect to the center of the floating body 11, that is, the axial centers of the rods 16 and 19. P3 is detected in the front, and the light receiving element P4 is detected in the rear.

  It should be noted that the control corresponding to the detection result is determined to be located substantially overhead of the robot 21 when the light beam is detected by all of the light receiving elements P1 to P4. If one of the two light receiving elements P1 and P2 forming a pair on the holding member 18, for example, P1, no longer detects the light beam, the robot 1 detects that the other light beam is detected. It is determined that the light-receiving element has moved to the P2 side, that is, the center of the light beam has moved to the right side of the other light-receiving element P2 that has been detected, and the moving mechanism is controlled to move to the right side. The same control is performed on the other diameter line, and thus the outputs from the two light receiving elements P3 and P4 forming a pair on the holding member 17, so that the floating body 11 is placed almost above the robot 21. Located in Is that.

  Further, if the light beam is not detected by both of the two light receiving elements P1, P2; P3, P4 that form a pair arranged on the same diameter line, the control output in one detection state immediately before the moving mechanism is increased. Output. The light receiving elements P1 to P4 are arranged on the bottom surface of the duct 12 formed in the cylindrical shape at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, that is, at both end positions of the holding members 17 and 18 orthogonal to each other. If a light beam is detected by one of two light receiving elements arranged on the same diameter line, for example, P1 and P2, for example, P1, the left side of the floating body 11 is detected. This is because it is considered that there is a response delay from the control output until the actual movement of the floating body 11 floating in the air from the control output, with the robot 21 moving to the left at a movement speed larger than the movement speed toward the direction. is there. Therefore, in the present invention, the control output in the immediately preceding one of the detection states is increased, that is, output with high gain.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the floating body 11 configured as described above. The floating body 11 is configured to include a microcontroller 32, a radio control receiver 33, a camera 34, and devices such as a power source and peripheral circuits (not shown) in the configuration on the machine body 31 side. The camera 34 has a transmitter built in an image sensor having a CMOS structure, for example. One or a plurality of the cameras 34 are attached to the lower surface or the front surface of the floating body 11, and the robot 21 is, for example, a radio signal of 1.2 GHz. The photographed video signal is transmitted to the receiver 35.

  The radio-controlled receiver 33 receives radio signals of posture angle operation amount, roll angle operation amount, altitude operation amount, and azimuth angle operation amount given from a steering device 36 held by an operator or the like, and gives them to the microcontroller 32. In the present invention, the floating body 11 autonomously follows the light beam radiated from the robot 21 and controls its movement. However, the robot 21 at the time of takeoff or landing of the floating body 11 is used. When the control cannot be performed with the radiated light beam from the control device 36, the control device 36 performs wireless control.

  The structure on the side of the machine body 31 is an ultrasonic wave sensor that is attached to the light receiving elements P1 to P4 on the bottom surface of the floating body 11 and measures the distance to the head and the ground surface of the robot 21, that is, the altitude. A sensor S1, a gyro sensor S2 for detecting an azimuth angle indicating which direction the floating body 11 is directed, and a yaw rate sensor S3 for detecting the rotation of the floating body 11 around the axis are provided. . In addition, as a moving mechanism according to the present invention, the structure on the side of the body 31 is a micro mechanism that controls the rotors 14 and 15, the motors L 1 and L 2 that rotationally drive them, and the inclination of the rotor surface of the lower rotor 15. Servo L3, L4, etc. are provided.

  The microcontroller 32 is a movement control means according to the present invention, and includes a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits. Outputs from the pair of light receiving elements P1 and P2 are input to the X estimation unit 41, and an amount of movement in the X direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 4 and the longitudinal direction of the robot 21) is estimated. Similarly, the outputs from the pair of light receiving elements P3 and P4 are input to the Y estimating unit 42, and the amount of movement in the Y direction (the left and right direction in FIG. 4 and the left and right direction of the robot 21) is estimated. The estimated amounts obtained from these are respectively input to the P units 43 and 44, and after differential amplification, the posture angle operation amount and the roll angle operation amount given from the steering device 36 in the addition units 45 and 46, These are added and given to the micro servos L3 and L4 as a vertical cyclic pitch angle and a horizontal cyclic pitch angle, respectively.

  Here, as described above, the outputs from the X estimation unit 41 and the Y estimation unit 42 are approximately overhead of the robot 21 if the light beams are detected by the pair of light receiving elements P1, P2; P3, P4. If it is determined that it is located, the output is 0 and no movement is performed. On the other hand, when the light beam is not detected, a predetermined output Δ is output with the polarity corresponding to the detected side, and the detection is performed. Move to the side that is being done. Further, when the light beam is not detected from both of the pair of light receiving elements P1, P2; P3, P4, the moving speed of the floating body 11 is changed to the robot 21 as described above. The output from the X estimation unit 41 and the Y estimation unit 42 is, for example, 2Δ with a polarity corresponding to the detected side, and is detected. The amount of movement to the other side is increased (output at high gain).

  The output from the ultrasonic sensor S1 is input to the PID unit 47, subjected to differential amplification / integration / differentiation processing, and then added to the altitude manipulated variable given from the control device 36 in the adding unit 48. It is added and given to the motor L1 as the upper rotor speed. On the other hand, the outputs from the gyro sensor S2 and the yaw rate sensor S3 are input to the P units 49 and 50, and after being differentially amplified, the output from the P unit 49 is given from the control device 36 in the adding unit 51. The value is added to the azimuth operation amount, the value is subtracted from the output of the adding unit 48 in the adding unit 52, the value is added to the output from the P unit 50 in the adding unit 53, and the lower rotor rotates to the motor L2. Given as a number.

  Thus, based on the output from the ultrasonic sensor S1, the robot 21 detects the moving direction of the robot 21 from the detection results of the light receiving elements P to P4 while floating at a certain height above the robot 21, and moves in parallel following the detection result. I can go.

  As described above, the floating body guiding apparatus according to the present invention moves substantially following the robot 21 and guides the floating body 11 that performs shooting of a bird's-eye view image used for guiding the robot 21. In this case, the robot 21 is simply mounted with light emitting means 22 for emitting a light beam with a predetermined beam width W on the upper portion thereof, and the floating body 11 side also has four light receiving elements P1, P2; P3. , P4 only needs to be provided with a microcontroller 32, and there is no need for complicated configurations such as means for recognizing the mutual position and wireless communication means, which are necessary when guiding floating bodies using wireless communication. Therefore, the floating body 11 can be realized with a structure capable of floating.

  In addition, since the four light receiving elements P1, P2; P3, P4 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the duct 12 formed in a cylindrical shape, the moving direction of the robot 21 can be easily determined, and the floating body 11 can be moved. The direction can be controlled very easily.

  Furthermore, among the four light receiving elements P1 to P4 provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the duct 12 formed in a cylindrical shape as described above, two light receiving elements P1 forming a pair disposed on the same diameter line; Since the output from the X estimation unit 41 and the Y estimation unit 42 is increased, that is, at a high gain, when the light flux is detected from both of P2 and P3 and P4, the floating body 11 The movement amount becomes large, and it is possible to follow (capture) again the robot 21 that cannot once follow (capture). In this way, the follow-up (capture) accuracy of the floating body 11 to the robot 21 can be further increased (it is possible to reduce the inability to follow (capture)).

  In addition, since the ultrasonic sensor S1 is further provided for height detection, accurate detection is possible regardless of the positional deviation between the robot 21 and the floating body 11, the contamination of the light emitting means 22 and the light receiving elements P1 to P4, and secular change. The height can be detected, and it is possible to always take a bird's-eye view image of a certain height.

  In the above description, four light receiving elements P1 to P4 are used for ease of determination and control of the moving direction as described above. However, the light receiving elements are arranged to form a plane so that the moving direction of the light beam can be detected. It is sufficient if there are three or more. In addition, the moving body that moves on the ground plane may be a vehicle that moves at a low speed by caterpillar traveling or the like.

It is a perspective view of the floating body concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the state which removed the duct of the floating body of FIG. It is a figure which shows the guidance method of the floating body which follows the movement of the robot by this invention. It is a bottom view of the floating body which shows typically the attachment condition of the light receiving element which receives the light beam used for the guidance. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the said floating body. It is a figure for demonstrating the improvement of the surrounding recognition capability of a robot.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,21 Robot 2,11 Floating body 3,34 Camera 12 Duct 13 Main body 14,15 Rotor 16 Rod 17,18 Holding member 19 Rotating member 20 Stabilizer 22 Light emitting means 31 Body 32 Microcontroller 33 Radio control receiver 35 Receiver 36 Control device S1 Ultrasonic sensor S2 Gyro sensor S3 Yaw rate sensor 41 X estimation unit 42 Y estimation unit 43, 44, 49, 50 P unit 45, 46, 48, 51, 52, 53 Addition unit 47 PID unit L1, L2 Motor L3 , L4 Micro Servo P1 to P4 Light receiving element

Claims (4)

Go substantially follow the moving object moving on the horizontal plane, a device for inducing floating body to have a rotating blade as the moving mechanism,
A light emitting means mounted on the moving body and emitting a light beam with a predetermined beam width upward;
Three or more light receiving elements that are mounted on the floating body, receive light beams from below, and are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction along the lower surface of a cylindrical duct that protects the rotor blades ;
Mounted on the floating body, the and controls the pre-response KiUtsuri kinematic mechanism on the output from the light receiving elements, and characterized in that it comprises a movement control means for floating the floating body above said moving body Floating body guidance device. 4. The floating body guiding device according to claim 1 , wherein four light receiving elements are arranged.   The movement control means increases and outputs a control output in one detection state immediately before the movement mechanism when the light beam is not detected by both of the pair of light receiving elements arranged on the same diameter line. The floating body guiding device according to claim 2. The floating body further includes an ultrasonic sensor for detecting a distance to the moving body on the lower side,
The said movement control means controls the said moving mechanism in response to the output from the said ultrasonic sensor, and floats the said floating body to the fixed height above the said mobile body. 4. The floating body guiding device according to any one of items 3.

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