JP4391500B2 - Self-driving vehicle with departure prevention device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an autonomous driving vehicle such as a porcelain induction type vehicle capable of automatic driving according to a magnetic marker, and more particularly to an autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention device provided with a compact departure prevention device that lowers the underfloor height of the vehicle. .

Conventionally, for the purpose of automatic driving by controlling the traveling of the vehicle, a magnetic marker is embedded in the traveling path to set a traveling target line, and one vehicle has a magnetic sensor for detecting the magnetic marker, There has been proposed a method for preventing departure of an automatically driven vehicle that travels on a predetermined course so as not to deviate from the travel target line. Examples of trackless transportation that is based on unmanned automatic driving include a trolley bus for an unrailed train and a magnetic induction railway (IMTS).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-105894 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)

  By the way, when performing automatic driving with conventional trackless transportation, in order to avoid the danger that the vehicle will deviate from the driving target line due to a failure of the automatic driving device, about 200 mm in height on both sides of the driving path. It was necessary to provide a guide wall. However, such guide walls cannot be provided on ordinary roads used by ordinary vehicles and pedestrians. For this reason, the traveling path for the autonomous driving vehicle to travel must be a dedicated line such as an overhead line, and the construction cost becomes enormous.

  Therefore, it is required that the autonomous driving vehicle can travel safely without providing a guide wall even on a general road, and an autonomous driving vehicle itself is provided with a departure prevention device. And although it is assumed that an autonomous driving vehicle is used for public purposes, such as a route bus, it is desired to make it a low floor structure from a barrier-free viewpoint. However, when the size of the departure prevention device to be attached to the lower side of the vehicle increases, the underfloor height of the vehicle increases, and the vehicle requires a step for getting on and off.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention device provided with a compact departure prevention device in order to solve such a problem.

The autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention apparatus according to the present invention automatically travels while confirming a predetermined traveling course set using communication means, sensors, etc., and is automatically driven using the communication means, sensors, etc. When the control fails, it is equipped with a departure prevention device that presses the grooved wheel against the departure prevention rail laid on the road surface along the traveling course and controls the traveling with the grooved wheel to stop the vehicle urgently. The departure prevention device includes an air spring fixed to the vehicle body that expands and contracts in a vertical direction, a slider that is slidable in the vehicle body lateral direction with respect to an axle, and a vertical direction with respect to the slider. And a lifting rod fixed to the lower side of the air spring and slidably attached to the lifting rod and pivotally supported by the grooved wheel. And a storage means is connected to the frame via a wire, and the wire is loosened by the sending and pulling-out operation of the storage means so that the grooved wheel can be prevented from escaping. The grooved wheel is lifted to bring it into a retracted state .

Moreover, the autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention device according to the present invention is preferably provided with the departure prevention devices on both the front and rear sides of the vehicle body and capable of traveling without distinction between the front and rear.
In the autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention apparatus according to the present invention, the storage means is preferably an electric cylinder.

  Autonomous vehicles with a departure prevention device are used in new transportation systems that run unattended on a set driving course. If an abnormality occurs for some reason during driving, the vehicle will stop for an emergency to ensure safety. It is intended not to deviate from the course. That is, during normal operation, the grooved wheels are merely unloaded and the rolling prevention rail is simply rolled, and the automatic driving vehicle is steered by operating the tires. However, if control is disabled due to an abnormality, air is urgently supplied to the air spring, and the vehicle load applied only to the front tire is applied to the grooved wheel that rolls on the departure prevention rail. Also, it is possible to travel without being separated from the traveling course by the grooved wheels that are divided and loaded and roll on the departure preventing rail.

  Therefore, in the self-driving vehicle with a departure prevention device according to the present invention, the departure prevention is performed by the grooved wheels, so that it is not necessary to create a dedicated road having a guide wall on the road surface so that the vehicle does not come off the course. In the present invention, since the grooved wheel is directly attached to the air spring via the frame, a compact departure prevention device can be obtained, and the underfloor height of the vehicle can be kept low. In addition, by discharging the air in the air spring and pulling the wire by the storing means so as to float the grooved wheel, it is possible to travel on a general road by manual operation.

  Next, an embodiment of an automatic driving vehicle with a departure prevention apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing an autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention device. For example, a magnetic marker is installed on a road surface in a course on which an automatic driving vehicle with a departure prevention device (hereinafter simply referred to as “automatic driving vehicle”) 1 travels, and the automatic driving vehicle 1 uses the magnetic marker as a reference. The detected lateral position is detected, steering and speed control are performed based on the detected information, and unmanned traveling along the course road is possible.

  The control device provided in the automatic driving vehicle 1 includes, for example, an automatic driving ECU, a steering ECU, an accelerator ECU, and a braking ECU, and performs arithmetic processing based on detection signals transmitted from various sensors. Done. A vehicle speed signal corresponding to the vehicle speed is provided from the vehicle speed sensor provided in the autonomous driving vehicle 1, a steering angle signal corresponding to the steering angle is provided from the steering angle sensor, and a traveling course on the road is provided from the position sensor. A position signal that detects the installed magnetic marker is output and transmitted to the control device.

  The memory of the control device stores information related to the course on which the autonomous driving vehicle 1 travels. The information on the course is, for example, the steering angle at each position in the course, the target vehicle speed, and other positions such as a stop. The autonomous driving vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, travels on a predetermined course at a predetermined speed on the basis of such information stored in advance and information transmitted from each sensor, and stops at a stop. It is configured so that it can be transported.

  The autonomous driving vehicle 1 travels a predetermined course according to a predetermined traveling pattern based on detection signals from the sensors and information from the memory unit, and control signals for the steering ECU, the accelerator ECU, and the braking ECU are transmitted. Generated. Therefore, for example, in the steering ECU, the steering actuator provided in the steering mechanism is controlled based on the control signal, and in the accelerator ECU, the accelerator actuator that drives the throttle valve of the engine is controlled based on the control signal. To do.

The autonomous driving vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with the departure prevention devices 10 on the front and rear wheel portions, and is safe from being removed from the course even in an emergency by the deviation prevention rail 100 laid on the traveling course. It is configured to ensure a safe course.
The self-driving vehicle 1 has no distinction between front and rear, and can run in front of the left side of the drawing and travel in front of the right side of the drawing. Therefore, the autonomous driving vehicle 1 is provided with the departure prevention devices 10 on both the front and rear sides of the vehicle body 2 so as to be able to handle traveling in both the front and rear directions. Here, the case of traveling with the left side of the drawing as the traveling direction will be described.

  Then, the autonomous driving vehicle 1 capable of traveling without distinction between the front and rear as in the present embodiment needs to be provided with the departure prevention devices 10 on both the front and rear sides of the vehicle body 2. The departure prevention device 10 may be provided in the above. In addition to the above-described automatic driving, the automatic driving vehicle 1 has a driver's seat and can be driven by a person, so that the vehicle can run on a course other than the predetermined course on which the deviation prevention rail 100 is laid. It is.

Next, the configuration of the departure prevention device 10 of the autonomous driving vehicle 1 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the departure prevention device 10. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the departure prevention device 10 from the front side in the traveling direction. FIG. 4 is a view showing the departure prevention device 10 from the side surface of the vehicle body.
As shown in FIG. 3, a departure prevention rail 100 is laid on the course on which the autonomous driving vehicle 1 travels. As the deviation prevention rail 100, for example, a JIS standard steel-making rail used for railways is used as it is. A concave groove 111 is formed on the road surface 110 along the traveling course of the autonomous driving vehicle 1, and a deviation prevention rail 100 is accommodated therein. The departure prevention rail 100 is embedded in the bottom of the concave groove 111 so as not to protrude from the road surface 110. A side protection guide 112 having an L-shaped cross section is provided on the left and right sides from the side wall of the groove 111 to the road surface 110.

  The concave groove 111 is formed with a width and a depth such that the deviation prevention rail 100 and the side surface of the side protection guide 112 are formed substantially evenly on the left and right sides, and the wheels 11 of the deviation prevention device 10 enter the gaps on both sides. Has been. That is, the departure prevention device 10 rolls the wheels 11 on the departure prevention rail 100. In particular, in this embodiment, the course of the autonomous driving vehicle 1 swings from side to side during an emergency stop. In order not to deviate, the wheel 11 is a grooved wheel (hereinafter, referred to as a grooved wheel 11) having a groove formed in the center so as to hit the deviation preventing rail 100 from both sides.

  In the autonomous driving vehicle 1, installation spaces are formed in front and rear of the vehicle body 2, and a departure prevention device 10 is attached to substantially the center of the vehicle body 2 in the left-right width direction. In the departure prevention device 10, the air spring 12 is fixed to the vehicle body side frame 6 in the installation space, and the grooved wheel 11 is attached below the air spring 12. That is, a support frame 13 is fixed to the lower side of the air spring 12, and the grooved wheel 11 is pivotally supported on the support frame 13. The departure prevention device 10 is supplied with compressed air from an air tank (not shown) provided in the autonomous driving vehicle 1 to the air spring 12, and the grooved wheel 11 is pressed against the departure prevention rail 100 by the expansion of the air spring 12. It is configured to be

  The support frame 13 is fixed with a bearing plate 15 that supports the wheel shaft of the grooved wheel 11 via a block under a waterdrop-shaped support plate 14. The support frame 13 in which the grooved wheel 11 and the air spring 12 are integrated is slidably supported by the lifting rod 16 provided in the vertical direction at the thinned end portion of the support plate 14. The axle of the attached wheel 11 is configured not to tilt in the vertical direction.

  The departure prevention device 10 during normal running is in an expanded state by the air spring 12 being supplied with air at substantially atmospheric pressure, and the grooved wheel 11 is placed on the departure prevention rail 100 by its own weight and rolls. Therefore, when the autonomous driving vehicle 1 travels along a curved portion, the grooved wheel 11 changes direction along the deviation prevention rail 100. In this embodiment, even in such a case, the grooved wheel 11 can follow the change of the deviation preventing rail 100 by twisting the air spring 12 fixed to the vehicle body 2 side.

  In the air spring 12 and the grooved wheel 11, the support frame 13 is pivotally supported by the lifting rod 16 as described above. Therefore, when the grooved wheel 11 is swung due to a curved portion or vibration, a degree of freedom is required so that the integrally formed support frame 13 can be swung. Therefore, the departure prevention device 10 is configured such that the lifting rod 16 can slide in the left-right direction. Here, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the slide mechanism of the departure prevention device 10, and FIG. 6 is a front view showing the same slide mechanism from the air spring 12 side.

  The axles 5 are arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle body 2 as shown. A plurality of “U” -shaped spacers 21 (including spacers 21a at opposite ends having different sizes) are fitted in the central portion of the axle 5 so that there is no backlash. The plurality of spacers 21 are formed integrally with the upper and lower base plates 23, 23, and the base plates 23, 23 are connected to each other by bolts 25 and nuts at the wide portions at both ends. In this way, base plates 23, 23 that are parallel to the top and bottom are attached to the central portion of the axle 5.

An oilless sliding plate 27 is fixed to the base plate 23 fixed to the axle 5 via packings 26 on both upper and lower surfaces. The sliding plate 27 is formed to be slightly wider than the base plate 23, and a slider 30 is attached so as to sandwich the sliding plate 27 from above, below, left and right.
The slider 30 is integrally formed by connecting two slide plates 31 and 31 sandwiching the upper and lower slide plates 27 with bolts 32 and nuts. In addition, guides 33 and 34 are formed on the inner side of the slide plates 31 and 31 so as to project the slide plate 27 in the width direction.

The slider 30 is formed with brackets 35 and 36 for supporting the lifting rod 16 on the outside of the slide plates 31 and 31. The brackets 35 and 36 are formed so as to protrude toward the grooved wheel 11, and the lifting rod 16 is fixed thereto. Therefore, the support frame 13 in which the grooved wheel 11 and the air spring 12 are integrally formed is supported by the tip portion of the support plate 13 through the lifting rod 16 between the brackets 35 and 36 so as to be slidable.
The slider 30 is formed such that the slide plate 31 is recessed or the guide 33 is divided so as not to interfere with the support plate 14. In addition, a thick-walled block guide portion 37 is formed at the tip portion of the support plate 14 so as to stably slide up and down while maintaining a horizontal state.

  By the way, the automatic driving vehicle 1 of the present embodiment can also travel on a general road by driving by a driver in addition to automatic traveling of a predetermined route along the departure prevention rail 100. However, since the minimum ground height of the vehicle is required to travel on a general road, it cannot be traveled in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, the departure prevention device 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a storage mechanism that pulls up the grooved wheel 11 in a state where the air spring 12 is contracted.

  Here, FIG. 7 is a front view showing the retracted state of the departure prevention device 10, and FIG. 8 is a view showing the storage mechanism of the departure prevention device 10 from the side of the vehicle body. A bracket 41 is fixed to the left and right of the support frame 13 that pivotally supports the grooved wheel 11, and a wire 42 is connected to the bracket 41. A pulley 43 is attached to the vehicle body side frame 6 to which the air spring 12 is fixed, and a wire 42 is pulled obliquely upward through the pulley 43 toward the left and right outer sides. The left and right wires 42 are sent upward through a pulley 43, passed through pulleys 44 provided at predetermined positions on the left and right sides of the vehicle body 2, and connected to a rod 45 a of an electric cylinder 45 disposed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2. Yes. The electric cylinder 45 is pivotally supported by a bracket 46 whose cylinder head side is fixed to the vehicle body 2 side, and the rod 45 a is fixed to a support wheel 48 that moves on a rail 47 provided in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2. .

  Next, unmanned traveling of the autonomous driving vehicle 1 provided with such a departure prevention device 10 will be described. In the autonomous driving vehicle 1, detection signals such as a vehicle speed, a steering angle, and a position of a magnetic marker installed along a traveling course on a road are sent to a control device by a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, and a position sensor. Then, traveling control for traveling according to the course information stored in the memory is performed. Normally, the steering angle by the four-wheel tire 3 that contacts the road surface 110 is controlled, and the course along the course is taken according to the magnetic marker. During normal running, the grooved wheel 11 of the departure prevention device 10 is supplied with air to the air spring 12 at about atmospheric pressure, and the grooved wheel 11 is pressed against the departure prevention rail 100 by almost its own weight. Therefore, the grooved wheel 11 simply rolls on the departure preventing rail 100 provided along the course, and does not itself guide the course.

In the departure prevention device 10, the grooved wheel 11 slightly swings left and right due to vibration during traveling, or the direction of the curved portion of the departure prevention rail 100 is greatly changed. In such a case, because twist air spring 12 formed integrally with the grooved wheel 11, is not as gets worse with the grooved wheel 11 is deviation prevention rail 100.
At this time, the elevating rod 16 that slides and supports the support frame 13 swings left and right by the slide mechanism according to the torsion of the air spring 12, so that the grooved wheel 11 moves smoothly. That is, the slider 30 holding the lifting rod 16 smoothly slides on the sliding plate 27 with respect to the base plate 23 arranged in the left-right direction of the axle 5 due to the swing of the support frame 13 accompanying the twist of the air spring 12. To do.

  During normal running, the load by the air spring 12 is not applied to the deviation preventing rail 100 through the grooved wheel 11. Since the grooved wheel 11 is only lightly hitting the departure preventing rail 100 by its own weight, the steering of the autonomous driving vehicle 1 is performed by the tire 3. However, in the unlikely event that the control device fails and the driving control becomes impossible, there is a risk that the tire 3 will not be able to perform a correct steering operation and will be off the traveling course. Therefore, at the time of failure, an emergency stop is performed on the vehicle side while using the departure prevention device 10 to avoid danger, so that the autonomous driving vehicle 1 can stop safely without departing from the traveling course.

  That is, the automatic driving vehicle 1 detects some failure state, and when the detection signal is confirmed, emergency stop measures such as stopping the engine and applying an emergency brake are taken. In that case, the departure prevention device 10 prevents departure so that the self-driving vehicle 1 does not deviate from the course until the vehicle is completely stopped after the emergency brake is applied. Specifically, an emergency stop signal is input and a valve (not shown) is switched, and compressed air is rapidly supplied from the air tank provided in the vehicle body 2 to the air spring 12 of the front side deviation prevention device 10. Then, the air spring 12 of the departure prevention device 10 instantaneously increases the air pressure, and the grooved wheel 11 is strongly pressed against the departure prevention rail 100.

  That is, the departure prevention device 10 attempts to expand the air spring 12 supplied with compressed air in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 9, and the grooved wheel 11 is pressed against the departure prevention rail 100 to load the vehicle body 2. to share the load. Then, when the grooved wheel 11 is strongly pressed against the departure prevention rail 100 and partially bears the load, the load on the front side tire 3 is reduced and the resistance to the road surface 110 is reduced. Therefore, the traveling of the autonomous driving vehicle 1 is controlled by the grooved wheel 11 that rolls on the departure preventing rail 100 like a railway vehicle, and the autonomous driving vehicle 1 is prevented from coming off the traveling course when the vehicle stops due to an emergency stop. can do.

  On the other hand, when this driver | operated vehicle 1 drive | works a driver | operator driving a road other than the decided course, such as a general road, the departure prevention apparatus 10 is switched to a retracted state. For this purpose, a valve (not shown) connected to the air spring 12 is first switched, and the inside of the air spring 12 is released to the atmosphere. Then, the rod 45a of the electric cylinder 45 in the extended state is contracted as shown in FIG. 8, and the connected wire 42 is pulled. Therefore, when the wire 42 is pulled through the pulleys 43 and 44, the air is released from the air spring 12 and contracts, the grooved wheel 11 is lifted so as to be pulled up from the left and right, and is lifted away from the deviation prevention rail 100. It becomes a state. As a result, the minimum ground height of the grooved wheel 11 becomes equal to or greater than a specified value, and the vehicle can travel on a general road.

Therefore, in the autonomous driving vehicle 1 of the present embodiment, a safe course can be ensured so as not to deviate from the course by the grooved wheel 11 rolling on the deviation prevention rail 100 at the time of emergency stop. And since it is only necessary to lay the departure prevention rail 100 along the traveling course so that it does not protrude from the road surface 110 on the course on which the autonomous driving vehicle 1 travels, the automatic driving on the road used by ordinary cars and pedestrians Driving becomes possible.
Moreover, since the deviation prevention apparatus 10 of this embodiment attaches the grooved wheel 11 to the air spring 12 via the support plate 14, it can be made compact, and the underfloor height of the vehicle body 2 is reduced. It became possible to make the low-floor vehicle suppressed.
In addition, since the grooved wheel 11 can be brought into the retracted state by the retracting mechanism including the electric cylinder 45 or the like, the automatic driving vehicle 1 can travel on the general road.

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of the automatic driving vehicle with a deviation prevention apparatus concerning this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the automatic driving vehicle 1 that can travel in both the front and rear directions is shown and described.

It is the figure which showed notionally the automatic driving vehicle with a deviation prevention apparatus. It is the figure which showed the deviation prevention apparatus planarly. It is the figure which showed the departure prevention apparatus from the running direction front side. It is the figure which showed the departure prevention apparatus from the vehicle body side surface side. It is the top view which showed the slide mechanism of the departure prevention apparatus. It is the front view which showed the slide mechanism of the departure prevention apparatus from the air spring side. It is the front view which showed the storage state of the deviation prevention apparatus. It is the figure which showed the storing mechanism of the deviation prevention apparatus from the vehicle body side. It is the figure which showed notionally the automatic driving vehicle with the deviation prevention apparatus of an emergency stop state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Self-driving vehicle with departure prevention device 2 Car body 3 Tire 5 Axle 10 Deviation prevention device 11 Grooved wheel 12 Air spring 13 Support frame 16 Lifting rod 30 Slider 100 Deviation prevention rail

Claims (3)

If the vehicle automatically runs while confirming a predetermined course set using communication means or sensors, etc., and the automatic running control performed using the communication means or sensors fails , along the course An autonomous driving vehicle equipped with a departure prevention device that presses a grooved wheel against a departure prevention rail laid on a road surface, and controls the traveling by the grooved wheel to make an emergency stop.
The departure prevention device includes an air spring that is fixed to the vehicle body and expands and contracts in the vertical direction, a slider that is slidably mounted in the vehicle body lateral direction with respect to the axle, and a vertical slider that is fixed to the slider. An elevating rod, and a frame fixed to the lower side of the air spring and slidably attached to the elevating rod, the grooved wheel being pivotally supported,
A storage means is connected to the frame through a wire, and the wire is loosened to prevent the grooved wheel from being deviated by a feeding or pulling operation of the storage means, and the wire is pulled to pull the groove. A self-driving vehicle with a departure prevention device, wherein the vehicle is in a retracted state with the wheels floating . In the automatic driving vehicle with a departure prevention device according to claim 1,
An autonomous driving vehicle with a departure prevention device, characterized in that the departure prevention device is provided on both front and rear sides of the vehicle body and can travel without distinction between the front and rear. In the automatic driving vehicle with a departure prevention device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
An automatic driving vehicle with a departure prevention device, wherein the storage means is an electric cylinder.

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