JP4755006B2 - Car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a car wash machine that can reliably detect automobile equipment.

  Patent Document 1 is known as this type of car wash machine. This car wash machine includes a vehicle shape sensor in which a plurality of light emitting / receiving elements constituting an optical axis sandwiching an automobile are arranged in the vertical direction and an encoder for detecting the travel position of the car wash machine, and the car wash machine travels a predetermined distance. Each time, the binary image data is detected by detecting light transmission / shading by the vehicle shape sensor, and the binary image data is subjected to image processing to extract the upper surface contour data of the automobile, It is configured to recognize equipment from its shape. Binary image data is developed on a matrix with the Y axis as the optical axis pitch of the car shape sensor and the X axis as the travel distance of the car wash machine. The light transmission of the optical axis is “0” and the light shielding is “1”. This is a black and white image that is expressed, and the contour data of the automobile can be obtained by tracking the 0/1 boundary point from this image. At this time, in order to detect the outline of the car, the data on the Y axis is extracted only at the highest boundary point, so both the rear mirror and the rear tire are equipped like RV cars and one box cars. In an automobile, the upper surface contour of the rear mirror is extracted with priority, and the rear tire underneath cannot be detected.

If the rear tire cannot be detected accurately, it affects the operation of each car wash treatment device. For example, when controlling the side brush, if the rear tire can be detected, the side brush is brought into contact with the rear tire with a weak force, and the side brush operates to prevent the rear tire from being caught. If it is not detected, there is a problem that the side brush acts on the rear tire with a strong force due to the rear surface of the vehicle body, and is caught abnormally.
JP 10-338103 A

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a car wash machine that can reliably recognize the shape of an automobile equipped with both a rear mirror and a rear tire and detect the rear tire. is there.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a car wash machine main body incorporating a car wash processing device, position detection means for detecting the relative movement position of the car wash machine body and the car to be washed, and a car wash machine sandwiching the car. A vehicle body detecting means for forming an optical axis at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction and detecting the presence / absence of the vehicle body by light transmission / shielding of the optical axis, and a vehicle body detecting means for detecting that the position detecting means has moved a predetermined distance. Vehicle shape detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a vehicle body to create binary image data, an image processing section for detecting the upper surface contour and equipment of the vehicle based on the binary image data from the vehicle shape detection means, and image processing A car wash control unit that controls the car wash processing device based on the top surface contour of the automobile detected by the unit and the equipment, and the image processing unit is arranged on the Y axis from the binary data detected by the vehicle shape detection means. The boundary point where the translucency and shading of X The top surface contour data of the car is extracted by connecting to the direction, and the first top surface contour data connecting the uppermost boundary point of the boundary points and the second connecting the lowermost boundary point. The top contour data is created, the outer contour of the vehicle body including the rear mirror is detected from the first top contour data, and the rear tire is detected from the second top contour data .

  According to the present invention, another top surface contour data formed below the top surface contour data is stored separately from the top surface contour data that forms the outline of the car by image processing of the binary image data. Thus, even if a plurality of equipments are mixed in the height direction of the automobile, such as an automobile equipped with both a rear mirror and a rear tire, it is possible to recognize the presence of the rear tire located on the lower side. Therefore, the vehicle body can be cleaned in a cleaning mode suitable for the equipment, and damage to the brush and the vehicle body can be prevented.

  The car wash machine of Example 1 shown below.

Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same. In this example, the car wash machine travels across a car and the car-type car wash machine performs washing and drying. Is shown.
The car wash machine main body 1 reciprocates on the pair of left and right rails 2 and 2 and moves so as to straddle the automobile stopped between the rails 2 and 2. Reference numerals 3, 4, and 4 are rotating brushes as a car wash processing device provided in the car wash machine body 1, 3 is an upper surface brush that moves up and down along the vehicle body surface and mainly cleans the upper surface of the vehicle body, and 4 and 4 are along the vehicle body surface. A pair of left and right side brushes that open and close and clean the side and front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body. Blower nozzles 5, 6, and 6 are provided in the car wash machine body 1 as car wash processing devices for drying the vehicle body after washing, 5 is an upper blower nozzle that moves up and down along the vehicle body surface, and 6 and 6 are along the vehicle body surface. It is a pair of left and right side blower nozzles that move up and down. 7 is a vehicle shape detection device that is provided in front of the main body 1 and reads the shape from the side of the automobile as the main body 1 travels; 8 is an encoder that outputs a pulse each time the car wash machine main body 1 travels a unit distance; Reference numerals 9 and 9 denote motors for driving the main body 1.

  Among these, the car shape detection device 7 is provided in front of the car wash machine 1 and corresponds to the light emitting part 7a in which a plurality of light emitting elements L1 to Ln are arranged in the vertical direction so as to hold the automobile in the width direction, and to the light emitting elements on a one-to-one basis. The light receiving unit 7b in which a plurality of light receiving elements R1 to Rn are arranged is provided to face each other, and an optical signal is transmitted and received between the light emitting unit 7a and the light receiving unit 7b at a predetermined timing. The vehicle body is detected by detecting whether it is shielded or transmitted by the vehicle body.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the control system of the embodiment.
A car wash control board 10 includes a travel position detection unit 13, a car shape detection unit 14, an image processing unit 15, a data storage unit 16, and a car wash control unit 17, and includes information obtained from the car shape detection device 7 and the travel encoder 8. Based on the vehicle shape data such as the position, shape, equipment, etc. of the vehicle, the vehicle washing processing device such as a brush and blower nozzle is operated via the car wash drive board 11 based on the vehicle shape data, and the position, shape of the vehicle. Car wash according to equipment. Reference numeral 12 denotes an operation board for selecting car wash details and inputting the start of car wash, and for outputting guidance and operation procedures and the like by display and voice to the operating person.

Hereinafter, the processing contents in the car wash control board 10 will be described by taking as an example the case of detecting the automobile (jeep car: equipped with a roof carrier, a rear mirror, and a rear tire) of the form shown in FIG.
The travel position detection unit 13 counts the pulse signal transmitted from the travel encoder 8 to detect the travel position of the car wash machine body 1. Each time a predetermined number of pulse signals are transmitted from the encoder 8, the vehicle shape detection unit 14 operates the vehicle shape detection device 7 to capture the light shielding / transmission data of each of the optical axes B1 to Bn, and the traveling position detection unit The vehicle shape image data is created in correspondence with the travel position of the car wash machine body 1 given at 13. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, each time the vehicle shape detector 7 travels a unit distance while moving in the X direction from the detection start position Pa to the detection end position Pb as the car wash machine body 1 travels. The light shielding / transmission data in the Y direction is taken from the vehicle shape detection device 7. The image data created in this way is developed on a matrix shown in FIG. 5A, where the horizontal axis is the unit travel distance of the car wash machine body 1 and the vertical axis is the arrangement pitch of the optical axes, and the light transmission is “0”. , Expressed as binary data with the shading set to “1”.

The image processing unit 15 performs image processing on the binary data created by the vehicle shape detection unit 14, and performs car contour extraction, car wash control data creation, vehicle body reference point detection, and equipment detection.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the outline extraction of an automobile is such that the light-shielding cell represented by black is first located at the lowest and leftmost among the connected components continuously present in the surroundings. Search for cell D1. Next, the cell D1 is aligned with the center of the logic filter shown in FIG. 6B, and the eight cells adjacent to the cell D1 are examined clockwise, and the first cell D2 that switches from light transmission to light shielding is detected. Next, the filter center is moved to the cell D2, and the cell D2 is obtained by performing the same processing as described above for the cell D2. Thereafter, this process is repeatedly executed. When there are no cells to be transferred, the process is terminated, and the contour data shown in FIG. 6C is obtained by using the cells D1 to Dn detected in the process so far as the contour line. Actually, the binary data of the car is sequentially created as the car wash machine 1 travels, and the contour line is traced while being developed on the matrix, and the binary data of the entire car is captured, The contour data of the automobile shown in FIG. 5B is extracted.

  The car wash control data is created by selecting one piece of data in the height direction (Y axis) of the car from the extracted contour data. FIG. 7A shows contour data obtained by enlarging the portion A of FIG. 5B, and a plurality of contour points exist on the same Y axis of the contour data. In the figure, the highest point on the same Y axis is represented by ● point, the lowest point is represented by ▲ point, and the other middle point is represented by ■ point. There are contour points of P1, rear mirror lower surface point P2, rear tire upper surface point P3.

  From this contour data, the uppermost point (● point) on the Y axis is taken out and connected to create the first upper surface contour data of the automobile as shown in FIG. 7B. Since this data is an outline of the automobile, it is mainly used for controlling the upper surface brush 3. Next, by taking out the lowest point (point) on the Y-axis from the contour data and connecting them, the second top surface contour data of the automobile as shown in FIG. 7C is created. This data is mainly used for extraction of the rear tire when the rear mirror and the rear tire exist on the same Y axis as in the automobile shown in FIG. In this way, the two top surface contour data shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D are extracted from the contour data, and the rear tire can be detected even in an automobile equipped with a rear mirror and a rear tire.

  The vehicle body reference point is detected from the extracted first and second top surface contour data, such as a vehicle body front end a, a boundary b between the bonnet and the windshield, a roof front end c, a roof rear end d, and a vehicle rear end e. A point is detected. FIG. 8A shows an example in which the reference point of the automobile is detected from the first top surface contour data. The front end a of the vehicle body is recognized by detecting a point where the upper surface level exceeds a preset vehicle body lower limit height CL. The boundary b is between the time when the car washer 1 travels the predetermined distance L1 until the upper surface level reaches the preset roof lower limit height RL and on the condition that the predetermined distance L0 is separated from the vehicle body front end a. A starting point where the upper surface level has increased by a predetermined value H1 or more is detected and recognized. In addition, in the type of vehicle without a bonnet, such as a one-box vehicle, there is no part that satisfies this condition. Therefore, giving up recognition of the boundary b when the upper surface level reaches the roof lower limit height RL, Move on to point recognition. The roof front end c is a starting point at which the upper surface level does not rise above the predetermined value H2 while the car wash machine body 1 travels the predetermined distance L2 on the condition that the upper surface level is equal to or higher than the preset roof lower limit height RL. Detected and recognized. The roof rear end d is recognized by detecting a point which is a predetermined distance L3 before the point where the upper surface level is lowered by a predetermined value H3 or more from the height of the roof front end c. The rear end e of the vehicle body is recognized by detecting a point where the upper surface level is below the vehicle body lower limit height CL. The reference point is detected from the second upper surface contour data in the same procedure.

  The detection of the equipment is performed by detecting the presence or absence of the equipment of the automobile from the first and second top surface contour data from which the reference point is detected, and the type of equipment based on the position of the automobile body from which the equipment is detected. Is detected. In other words, when the car wash machine body 1 travels a predetermined distance, the upper surface level rises above a predetermined value and the protrusion rises. Then, the type of the equipment is determined from the position of the vehicle body where the equipment is detected. In the second upper surface contour data shown in FIG. 8 (b), protrusion rise and protrusion fall are detected in the range from the roof front end c to the roof rear end d, and the protrusion height ΔH1 is equal to or greater than the roof carrier determination value Ha. If so, the protrusion is determined as a roof carrier. Further, if the protrusion rise and protrusion drop are detected in the range from the roof rear end d to the vehicle body rear end e and the protrusion height ΔH2 is equal to or greater than the rear tire determination value Hb, the protrusion is determined to be a rear tire. If the recognition conditions are set, the equipment type determination can be executed for other protrusions.

  Note that equipment such as front mirrors and rear mirrors are connected to the vehicle body with relatively thin arms, etc., so that if the connection arm is not detected by the detection accuracy, the connected component with the vehicle body is lacking and contour extraction may be performed. It may not be possible. Therefore, in order to reliably detect these equipments, a labeling process is performed every time binary image data for a predetermined distance is captured for a specific part of the vehicle body, and the vehicle body and other assemblies are separated. I try to recognize it. In the case of the rear mirror, since it is attached approximately in the range from the rear end of the vehicle body roof to the rear end of the vehicle body, the labeling process is intensively performed within the range of the vehicle body reference point for recognition. Incidentally, a specific method of the labeling process is realized by the contents disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-338103 proposed by the present applicant.

  The vehicle shape data thus detected by the image processing unit 15 is stored in the data storage unit 16, read based on a car wash command from the operation panel 12, and reflected in the control of the car wash control unit 17. The car wash control unit 17 gives each car wash processing device control according to information such as the upper surface contour of the automobile and the type of equipment obtained from the car shape data, and drives the car wash processing device via the car wash drive board 11.

Then, the control method of the car wash processing apparatus in the car wash control part 17 is demonstrated based on FIG. FIG. 9 shows the movement locus of the side brush.
The side brush brushes the side surface of the vehicle body as the main body 1 travels while maintaining a predetermined distance from the vehicle body. When the side brush reaches the rear part of the vehicle body and there is no equipment on the rear surface of the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. 9A, the side brush is closed on the rear surface of the vehicle body, and the corner and rear surface of the rear part of the vehicle body are brushed. . When there is a rear mirror RM and a rear tire RT on the rear surface of the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. 9B, the side brush is opened at the position of the rear tire RT to avoid it, and when the vehicle reaches the rear end of the vehicle body, the main body stops running. Then, the brush is closed and the rear surface of the rear tire RT is brushed. This prevents damage to equipment and brush catching.

  The present invention can be implemented as described above, and since it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a rear tire even in a vehicle in which a rear mirror and a rear tire are mixed, it becomes possible to prevent troubles caused by interference with a brush in advance. It was. It should be noted that various embodiments of the present invention can be considered without departing from the scope of the claims. In the embodiment, the example is shown for a gate type car wash machine, but the present invention can also be applied to a continuous type car wash machine in which a car is moved by a conveyor or the like in a stationary car wash machine.

It is a front view which shows the car wash machine of Example 1. FIG. It is a side view of the car wash machine. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control system according to the first embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the motor vehicle which detects a vehicle shape, and its detection form. It is explanatory drawing which shows the vehicle shape data detected. It is explanatory drawing which illustrated the procedure which extracts outline data from binary data. It is explanatory drawing which shows the procedure which extracts the 1st and 2nd upper surface outline data from outline data. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which detected the vehicle body reference point and the accessory from upper surface outline data. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of washing | cleaning of the vehicle rear surface by a side brush.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine body 7 Car shape detection apparatus 8 Encoder 10 Car wash control board 12 Operation board 14 Car shape detection part 15 Image processing part 17 Car wash control part

Claims (1)

A car wash machine body incorporating a car wash processing device, position detection means for detecting a relative movement position of the car wash machine and the car to be washed, and an optical axis is formed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the car wash machine with the car sandwiched therebetween. The vehicle body detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of the vehicle body by the light transmission / shielding of the optical axis, and the presence / absence of the vehicle body is detected by the vehicle body detection means every time the position detection means detects that the vehicle has moved a predetermined distance. Vehicle shape detection means for creating binary data by light / shading, an image processing section for detecting the upper surface contour and equipment of the vehicle based on the binary data from the vehicle shape detection means, and detection by the image processing section A car wash control unit for controlling the car wash treatment device based on the upper surface contour and equipment of the car,
The image processing unit extracts, from the binary data detected by the vehicle shape detection unit, upper surface contour data of an automobile by connecting a boundary point where light transmission and light shielding on the Y axis are switched in the X axis direction. The first upper surface contour data connecting the uppermost boundary point among the boundary points and the second upper surface contour data connecting the lowermost boundary point are created, and the first upper surface contour is generated. A car washer characterized by detecting an outer contour of a vehicle body including a rear mirror from data and detecting a rear tire from second top surface contour data .

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