JP5168210B2 - Mobile robot charging system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile robot that uses a battery charger that is smaller than the total number of mobile robots to automatically run a mobile robot with a low remaining battery charge among a plurality of mobile robots and move the mobile robot to the charger to perform a charging operation. It relates to a charging system.

  Conventionally, using a smaller number of chargers than the total number of mobile robots, the mobile robots that have a low battery charge among multiple mobile robots are automatically driven to move to the chargers, and charging work for multiple mobile robots Mobile robot charging systems are known.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a device that exchanges information wirelessly with a plurality of autonomous mobile devices and sets charging to be performed preferentially for autonomous mobile devices that have a low rechargeable battery voltage. Yes.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a charging station in a power saving mode in which power consumption is less than normal based on the current position of the mobile robot and the position of the charging station for a mobile robot whose power storage amount is below a predetermined level. A system for moving to is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 2, a state in which the remaining charge is equal to or less than the first threshold value is set to a charge request mode state in which charging is required, and the remaining charge further decreases, so that the mobile robot does not travel. The state is the charge priority mode state. When the maximum number of mobile robots that can be charged by the charger is being charged, and there are mobile robots that are in the charge priority mode, the remaining charge remaining among the plurality of mobile robots that are being charged. The charging operation of a mobile robot with a large amount of power is forcibly terminated and the mobile robot in the charge priority mode is charged.

JP 2007-148583 A JP 2000-047728 A

  However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when there are mobile robots that are being charged and mobile robots that are waiting to be charged, consideration is given to how to determine the mobile robot that performs charging by comparing the two. It has not been.

  Further, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the maximum number of mobile robots that can be charged by the charger is being charged, if there is a mobile robot that is in the charge priority mode, charging of the mobile robot being charged is performed. The remaining robots are compared to determine the mobile robot that interrupts charging. For example, if a different type of mobile robot is charged, the charging of the mobile robot with the largest remaining charge is not necessarily interrupted. It is not always appropriate.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile robot charging system that can optimally control charging operations of a plurality of mobile robots.

  The mobile robot charging system according to the present invention acquires a plurality of mobile robots, a charger for charging the batteries of the plurality of robots, and information indicating a remaining charge of the battery from the mobile robot, and An appropriate priority is set for each mobile robot among a plurality of priorities set in advance according to the amount, and the mobile robot that needs to be charged according to the state of charge is automatically driven to the charger for charging work. The charging control device includes a charging robot that is charged with the maximum number of the mobile robots that can be charged by the charger and that needs to be newly charged. Is lower than the priority of the mobile robot being charged, the lowest priority is set among the mobile robots being charged. The charging of the mobile robot in the charging is stopped, and wherein said causing new perform charging operation to the mobile robot charging is needed.

  In this way, by setting priorities even for mobile robots that are being charged, for example, even if different types of mobile robots are used, charging is performed simply by comparing the set priorities. The robot can be easily determined.

  The present invention

It is a figure which shows the example of whole structure of the mobile robot charging system concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the priority set in the mobile robot charging system concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the mobile robot charging system concerning Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of each mobile robot of the mobile robot charging system concerning Embodiment 1, and a charger.

Embodiment 1
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration example of a mobile robot charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This mobile robot charging system includes a plurality of mobile robots 7A to 7C, a charger 8 that charges the batteries of the plurality of robots 7A to 7C, and a charge control device 9 that controls the charging of the mobile robots 7A to 7C. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the number n of mobile robots 7 that can be charged by the charger 8 is 1, in order to simplify the description.

  The mobile robots 7A to 7C have a function of communicating with the charging control device 9 and the charger 8, and operate in a power saving mode as necessary. The plurality of mobile robots 7A to 7C may be the same type of mobile robot, or may be mobile robots of different types and functions. Hereinafter, the plurality of mobile robots 7 </ b> A to 7 </ b> C are collectively shown as the mobile robot 7.

  When the maximum number n of mobile robots 7 that can be charged by the charger 8 are being charged in the charger 8 and there is a mobile robot 7 that needs to be newly charged, Based on the priority set for the mobile robot 7 that is being charged and the priority set for the mobile robot 7 that is newly charged, the charging operation of the mobile robot 7 that is being charged is stopped, The mobile robot 7 that needs to be charged is charged.

  The charging control device 9 includes a charging scheduling unit 1, a charger management unit 2, a priority management unit 3, a remaining amount management unit 4, a movement instruction unit 5, and a charging instruction unit 6. The charging scheduling unit 1 periodically acquires the charging order of the mobile robot 7 acquired from the priority management unit 3 and performs charging scheduling.

  The charger management unit 2 periodically acquires the usage state of the charger 8 and transmits the information to the charging scheduling unit 1. Here, the usage state of the charger 8 is “in use” in which the charger 8 is in use, “in use” in which the charger 8 is in use, and “in use” in which another robot 7 in use has reserved use. “Medium” and “Unused” which is not used by any mobile robot 7.

  The priority management unit 3 periodically obtains the remaining charge of the battery and the state of charge (priority) of the battery from the remaining amount management unit 4 and charges the mobile robot 7 that needs to be charged. To decide. Specifically, the priority management unit 3 sets the charging order, which is the order in which charging is performed, according to the priority set by the remaining amount management unit 4. Here, when there are mobile robots 7 having the same priority, the priority management unit 3 further compares the remaining charge amounts, and sets the charging order so that charging is performed in order from the smallest remaining charge amount. Further, when there is a mobile robot 7 having the same priority and remaining charge, the priority management unit 3 determines the charging order according to the preset priority of the mobile robot.

  The remaining amount management unit 4 periodically acquires the remaining amount of charge of the batteries of the mobile robots 7A to 7C. The remaining amount management unit 4 selects an appropriate charging state from preset charging states by comparing the remaining charging amount with a plurality of threshold values, and sets it as the charging state of each of the mobile robots 7A to 7C. To do. Each state of charge is given a priority. In other words, the state of charge and the priority have a one-to-one correspondence.

  Here, the state of charge of the battery is set when the mobile robot 7 is being charged and when it is being discharged. Specifically, when the mobile robot 7 is being charged, there are states such as “danger”, “caution”, and “normal” in order from the state in which the remaining charge is small. On the other hand, when the mobile robot 7 is discharging without performing the charging operation, there are states such as “can be interrupted” and “cannot be interrupted” in order from the one with the smallest remaining charge. The state of charge of the battery will be described with reference to FIG.

  The movement instruction unit 5 instructs the movement destination of the mobile robot 7. Specifically, when there is a mobile robot 7 that needs to be charged, the movement instructing unit 5 moves the mobile robot 7 to a charge start position or to a charge standby position. The positional relationship between the charging start position and the charging standby position will be described later.

  The charging instruction unit 6 instructs the mobile robot 7 and the charger 8 to perform automatic charging control.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the remaining charge amount acquired by the remaining amount management unit 4 and the charging state (priority) set by the remaining amount management unit 4. The remaining charge on the mobile robot 7 that is being charged is shown on the paper, and the remaining charge on the mobile robot 7 that is not being charged is shown below the paper. The charging state of the mobile robot 7 is determined according to three threshold values A to C. The remaining charge danger threshold A is a dangerous threshold unless charging is performed. The charging start threshold value B is a threshold value that requires starting charging. Further, the charging interruption threshold C is a threshold that is sufficiently charged and does not need to be repeatedly charged and discharged.

  In the discharging state, the charging state of the mobile robot 7 is divided into three charging states “DANGER”, “CAUTION”, and “NORMAL” depending on the remaining charge danger threshold A and the charge start threshold B. ing. Specifically, the state of charge when the remaining charge is equal to or less than the remaining charge danger threshold A is “danger”, the remaining charge is greater than the danger threshold A, and less than the charge start threshold B In this case, the state of charge is “CAUTION”, and when the remaining charge is larger than the charge start threshold B, it is “NORMAL”.

  On the other hand, in the mobile robot 7 being discharged, the remaining charge amount is divided into two charged states by the charge interruption threshold value C. When the remaining charge is below the charge interruption threshold C, the charge state is “cannot be interrupted”, and when the remaining charge is greater than the charge interruption threshold C, the charge state is “can be interrupted”. It is.

Each threshold value is determined by the following formulas (1) to (3).
A = d + α Formula (1)
B = A + m + (n−1) c + β Formula (2)
C = e + (n−1) c + γ Formula (3)

here,
d is the amount of charge required for docking with the charger 8,
m is the amount of charge n required to move to the charging start position, and the maximum number c of mobile robots that can be charged by one charger 8 is the time required for the mobile robot 7 to charge to the charging interruption threshold C. The amount of charge e consumed is the amount of charge consumed when replacing the mobile robot 7 to be charged,
α, β, and γ represent margins.

  In addition, a priority is set for each state of charge. Specifically, priority is 2 for "Danger", priority 3 for "Caution", priority 5 for "Normal", priority 1 for "Cannot be interrupted", priority "Can be interrupted" Degree 4 is set. In addition, charging is performed preferentially, so that a priority is small. The charging state and priority can be set to different values for each mobile robot according to the type and function of the mobile robot 7.

  Next, the operation of the mobile robot charging system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile robot charging system according to the present embodiment. The charging scheduling unit 1 periodically acquires the charging order of all the mobile robots 7 that need to be charged from the priority management unit 3 (S101). The charging scheduling unit 1 repeats the following steps S103 to S108 until charging of all mobile robots 7 is completed (YES in S102).

  The charging scheduling unit 1 acquires the usage state of the charger 8 from the charger management unit 2, and determines whether or not the charger 8 is “in use” (S103). If the charger 8 is “in use” (YES in S103), the movement instructing unit 5 instructs the mobile robot 7 to move to the charging standby position (S104).

  The charging scheduling unit 1 compares the priority of the mobile robot 7 that is being charged with the priority set for the mobile robot 7 that has been moved to the charging standby position and is newly charged (S105). If the priority set for the mobile robot 7 that needs to be newly charged is higher than that of the mobile robot 7 that is being charged (YES in S105), the charging of the mobile robot 7 that is being charged is canceled and a movement instruction is issued. The unit 5 is moved to a charging standby position different from that of the mobile robot 7 being charged (S106).

  Then, the movement instructing unit 5 gives an instruction to move the mobile robot 7 that is newly charged from the charging standby position to the charging start position (S107). When the mobile robot 7 that has newly required charging arrives at the charging start position, the charging instruction unit 6 instructs the mobile robot 7 to be charged to start charging (S108).

  In step S105, when the mobile robot 7 that has been newly charged is lower than the priority of the mobile robot 7 being charged (NO in step S105), the process returns to step S102.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S103 that the charger 8 is “unused” (NO in S103), the process proceeds to step S107, and the mobile robot 7 that has newly required charging is moved to the charging start position. The charging operation is started (S108).

  Next, a specific operation example of the mobile robot charging system will be described with reference to FIG. 4, reference numeral 305 denotes a charging start position where the mobile robot 7 starts charging by autonomous control. Is shown. The second charging standby position 307 is closest to the charging start position 305, the first charging standby position 306 is closest to the charger 8, and the third charging standby position 308 is slightly apart from the charger 8 and the charging start position 305. In the position.

  In FIG. 4, the mobile robot 7 </ b> A is a mobile robot that is being charged by the charger 8 and has a low priority. The mobile robot 7B is a mobile robot having a higher priority than the mobile robot 7A. The mobile robot 7C is a mobile robot having a lower priority than the mobile robot 7B.

  In the situation as described above, as indicated by the arrow 401, the mobile robot 7B having a high priority moves to the charging standby position 307 closest to the charging start position 305 in accordance with an instruction from the movement instruction unit 5. Here, the mobile robot 7A that is being charged has a lower priority than the mobile robot 7B that is waiting, so that the charging is stopped by the instruction from the charging instruction unit 6 and the charger 8 is the most instructed by the instruction from the movement instruction unit 5. Move to a nearby charging standby position 306 (arrow 402).

  The mobile robot 7B moves to the charging start position 305 according to an instruction from the movement instruction unit 5 (arrow 403), and starts charging according to an instruction from the charging instruction unit 6.

  In the above description, the charger 8 is configured to charge only one mobile robot 7. However, the present invention may be applied to a system including a charger that can charge a plurality of mobile robots with a similar mechanism. Can be applied.

  In the mobile robot charging system configured as described above, by setting priorities even for mobile robots that are being charged, for example, even for different types of mobile robots, simply compare the set priorities. By doing so, it is possible to easily determine the most suitable mobile robot for charging.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charge scheduling part 2 Charger management part 3 Priority management part 4 Remaining quantity management part 5 Movement instruction | indication part 6 Charging instruction | indication part 7 Mobile robot 8 Charger 9 Charge control apparatus

Claims (1)

Multiple mobile robots,
A charger for charging the batteries of the plurality of robots;
Information indicating the remaining charge of the battery is acquired from the mobile robot, an appropriate priority is set for each mobile robot among a plurality of priorities set in advance according to the remaining charge, and the charge state is set. A charging control device is provided for automatically charging the mobile robot that needs to be charged to the charger to perform a charging operation.
The charge control device is configured such that the priority set for the mobile robot in which the maximum number of the mobile robots that can be charged by the charger is being charged in the charger, and newly needs to be charged, If the priority of the mobile robot being charged is higher than the priority, the charging of the mobile robot being charged with the lowest priority among the mobile robots being charged is stopped, and the newly charged A robot charging system characterized by charging a mobile robot when needed.

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