JP6718586B2 - Unmanned work vehicle - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned work vehicle that performs various work while moving by autonomous driving or remote control by wire or wireless.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, unmanned work vehicles that perform various tasks while moving by autonomous driving or remote control by wire or wireless are used in places where it is difficult or impossible for workers to go directly, such as the moon and disaster sites. The unmanned work vehicle has a configuration or a structure that greatly differs depending on the work purpose, but as shown in, for example, Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, a manipulator (robot arm) that carries out various works is mounted and a large number of wheels ( It is configured to be movable by Patent Document 1) or a crawler (Patent Document 2).

Patent Document 1 discloses an unmanned work vehicle (running robot) having drive wheels at the front and rear of the vehicle body (Patent Document 1 [Claim 1]). The front drive wheel is supported by a support leg that swings in the front-rear direction with respect to the suspension arm (rotates about the pitch axis). The suspension arm swings in the left-right direction with respect to the vehicle body (rotates about the roll axis). The rear drive wheel is supported by a swing leg that swings in the front-back direction with respect to the support leg. The support leg swings back and forth with respect to the vehicle body. The unmanned work vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a self-sustaining drive type (Patent Document 1 [0001]) suitable for lunar surface exploration, and changes the direction by rotating a front drive wheel around a vertical axis (Patent Document 1). Reference 1 [0025]).

Patent Document 2 discloses an unmanned work vehicle (self-propelled exploration and work robot) having left and right crawlers (Patent Document 2 [Claim 1]). The manipulator has a robot hand and a CCD camera. The robot hand installs or collects a bait, and the CCD camera sends a captured image as a search image to a host computer (Patent Document 2 [0022]). The unmanned work vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a self-sustaining drive type (Patent Document 2 [0001]) used for exterminating termites and the like, and can reverse the direction on the spot by reversely rotating the left and right crawlers (Patent Document 2). Reference 1 [0014]).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-235692 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-137148

In the unmanned work vehicle, the difference in whether the wheel or the crawler is adopted as the traveling means depends on the place of use and the required specifications. Here, the unmanned work vehicle using the crawler as the traveling means has an advantage that the right and left crawlers can be reversely rotated to change the direction on the spot (see Patent Document 2). It is considered that even an unmanned work vehicle using wheels as a traveling means can similarly reversely rotate the left and right wheels and change the direction on the spot if all the wheels are drive wheels.

However, when the unmanned work vehicle reversely rotates the left and right wheels and crawlers and changes the direction on the spot, the property of the ground contact surface, unevenness or inclination becomes a problem. For example, if the ground contact surface is soft ground (such as muddy ground) or sandy ground (such as the moon surface), rotating the left and right wheels or crawlers in the opposite direction will cause it to dive into the ground contact surface, making it difficult to escape from the position where it dipped. There is a problem of being stuck. In addition, when the ground contact surface has unevenness (disaster site etc.) or inclination (slope etc.), rotating the left and right wheels or crawlers in reverse makes the unmanned work vehicle instable and causes the unmanned work vehicle to topple over. There is.

As described above, the unmanned work vehicle can change the direction on the spot regardless of whether the traveling means is the wheel or the crawler, but if the left and right wheels or the crawler are reversely rotated, the direction can be changed on the spot. , Making the movement difficult or impossible, or causing a fall. Therefore, in order to develop an unmanned work vehicle which can turn on the spot without making the movement difficult or impossible or tipping over, regardless of whether the vehicle is a wheel or a crawler as a traveling means, an investigation was conducted.

In the unmanned work vehicle, which was developed as a result of the examination, performs various work while moving by autonomous driving or remote control by wire or wireless, a running body having wheels or crawlers on each of the left and right sides, and a work body carrying various work. The work body is horizontally swingable with respect to the traveling body, is bendable by a large number of joints, and has a work attachment that does not ground when the grounding end is grounded. More than one is provided, and the grounding ends of all supporting legs are grounded outside the turning range of the traveling body that surrounds the part of the traveling body that is farthest from the center of rotation of the working body, and the bending state of each of the supporting legs is controlled The unmanned work vehicle is characterized in that the wheels or crawlers of the traveling body are moved away from the ground contact surface by lifting the working body, and the traveling body is horizontally swung with respect to the working body to change the direction of the traveling body.

The number of wheels or crawlers included in the traveling main body may be at least three, regardless of the number, as long as stable traveling and stopping are possible according to a conventionally known configuration. In this case, at least one drive wheel or drive crawler. The traveling body may include both wheels and crawlers. The work body is a work device including any one or more of an observation device, a measurement device, a manipulator, and the like for performing various works, a turning device for the traveling body, the work device and the turning device, a wheel or crawler control device, and communication with the outside. It is equipped with a device and a battery to power these devices. Since the working main body can be horizontally swung with respect to the traveling main body, it is preferable that the working device and the like are mounted on a turning table that is turned by an electric motor, for example.

The unmanned work vehicle of the present invention does not use the wheels or crawlers that the traveling body has, but in a state where the working body and the traveling body are lifted by the support legs, by horizontally swiveling the traveling body with respect to the working body, Turn the traveling body on the spot. The support leg may be fixed in a bent state in a state where the work body and the traveling body are lifted, and the work leg and the traveling body are maintained in a horizontal state in accordance with horizontal turning of the traveling body with respect to the work body. The bending state may be controlled according to the elevation of the main body and the traveling main body. The joints of the supporting legs may be those capable of lifting the work body and the traveling body to maintain the bent state and controlling the bent state. The joint of the support leg is, for example, a servo motor for a relatively small unmanned work vehicle, and a cylinder for a relatively large unmanned work vehicle, and the bending angle is controlled by an angle sensor of the bending axis or a stroke sensor of the cylinder. The configuration is suitable.

The unmanned work vehicle of the present invention may have a configuration in which only the support legs are provided without providing the manipulator on the work body. Further, when the manipulator is provided on the work body, it may be provided separately from the support legs. However, when one of the support leg and the manipulator is used, the other is not used = the exclusive use relationship, but the support leg and the manipulator often have a common structure in that they have multiple joints. Therefore, the support leg may serve as a manipulator by providing a work attachment that does not ground when the ground end is grounded. Preferably, the support leg may also serve as a manipulator by sandwiching a joint near the ground contact end and projecting the work attachment in a direction opposite to the ground contact end.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an unmanned work vehicle capable of changing the direction of the traveling main body on the spot without making the movement difficult or impossible or tipping over, regardless of whether the vehicle is a wheel or a crawler as a traveling means. This is an effect that the support leg lifts the working body and the traveling body, and horizontally orients the traveling body in which the wheels or the crawlers are separated from the ground contact surface. Since the wheels or the crawlers of the traveling main body are separated from the ground contact surface, there is no possibility of being buried in the ground contact surface in the first place. Further, since the support leg does not move during the direction change of the traveling main body only by grounding the ground contact end, there is no fear that the unmanned work vehicle will have an unstable posture and will fall.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The unmanned explorer vehicle of the present invention can be used for a relatively small lunar explorer vehicle and a relatively large construction machine. Here, the configuration that also serves as the support leg and the manipulator has an advantage that the support leg and the manipulator having an exclusive use relationship are put together, and the installation space of the work body can be used without waste, and particularly, a relatively small unmanned work vehicle. It can have a preferable configuration. Further, the configuration in which the work attachment is projected in the direction opposite to the installation end eliminates the risk of the work attachment being grounded when the grounding end is grounded, and the work main body and the traveling main body can be safely lifted.

It is a perspective view showing an example of an unmanned work vehicle to which the present invention is applied. It is a front view of an unmanned work vehicle of this example. It is a rear view of an unmanned work vehicle of this example. It is a left side view of an unmanned work vehicle of this example. It is a right view of the unmanned work vehicle of this example. It is a top view of the unmanned work vehicle of this example. It is a bottom view of an unmanned work vehicle of this example. It is a side view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of this example grounded the grounding end of the support leg. It is a top view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of this example grounded the grounding end of the support leg. It is a side view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of this example controls the bending state of the support legs and lifts the work body and the traveling body. It is a top view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of this example lifted the working body and the traveling body by controlling the bending state of the support legs. It is a side view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of this example horizontally turns the traveling body with respect to the working body. It is a top view showing the state where an unmanned work vehicle of this example makes a run body turn horizontally to a work body. It is a side view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of the present example controls the bending state of the support legs and grounds the traveling body again. It is a top view showing the state where the unmanned work vehicle of this example controlled the bending state of the support leg and grounded the traveling body again.

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An unmanned work vehicle 1 to which the present invention is applied, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, has a traveling main body 11 having a pair of crawlers 111 on the left and right, and a working main body 12 having three support legs 2 also serving as manipulators. Composed of and. In the unmanned work 1 of this example, the work device 122 of the work main body 12 wirelessly transmits and receives an operation signal and a monitoring signal to and from an external operation device, a monitoring device, and the like (not shown), and is remotely operated. If it does not interfere with the crawler 111, the work device 122 may send and receive an operation signal and a monitoring signal by wire with an external operating device, a monitoring device, and the like (not shown).

The traveling main body 11 supports a revolving table 121 of the working main body 12 so as to be horizontally rotatable with respect to a drive device 112 that rotationally drives the crawler 111. The turning means for turning the turning table 121 horizontally may be provided on the drive device 112 side or may be provided on the turning table 121 side. Since the traveling main body 11 lifted by the support legs 2 is horizontally swiveled, the traveling main body 11 is viewed in a point-symmetrical plan view about the swivel center C (see FIG. 9 below) of the work main body 12 (in particular, the swivel table 121). It may have an outer shape (see FIG. 6 or FIG. 7).

The work main body 12 includes a work device 122 having a star-shaped plan view that protrudes in three directions at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around a rotation center C (see FIG. 9 below) of the work main body 12, and a protruding portion of the work device 122. The supporting leg 2 provided between the two is provided on the revolving table 121. The working device 122 is configured such that a control device for the traveling main body 11 and the support legs 2, a communication device for transmitting and receiving operation signals and monitoring signals, an antenna of the communication device, and a battery serving as a power source of each device are surrounded by an exterior. It The configuration and appearance of the work device 122 are not limited by the present invention.

The support leg 2 is composed of a first arm 22, a second arm 24 and a grounding foot 27 which are bendable by a first joint 21, a second joint 23 and a third joint 25, and a work attachment 26 is attached to the grounding foot 27. By doing so, it is also used as a manipulator. The work attachment 26 in this example is of three types: a clamshell bucket, an auger, and a grapple. The plurality of work attachments 26 provided may be of different types as in this example, or any or all of them may be of the same type. The unmanned work vehicle 1 of the present invention is assumed to be used in a place where it is difficult or impossible for a worker to directly go to it. Therefore, use as many kinds of work attachments 26 as possible so as to eliminate the need for replacement. Is desirable.

In the support leg 2 of this example, a grounding end 271 is provided at one end of the grounding foot 27, and a work attachment 26 is attached to the other end of the grounding foot 27, with a third joint 25 provided in the middle of the grounding foot 28 interposed therebetween. ing. The ground end 271 of this example is an end portion of a pair of metal plates forming the ground foot 27, and is configured by pivotally mounting a swingable ground ground block in a side view between the metal plates. When the grounding end 271 is directed downward, the grounding block is grounded on the ground 3 with its wide bottom facing downward (see FIG. 8 below). If the grounding block is allowed to swing, the bottom surface of the grounding block will always face downward under gravity.

The first joint 21 bends the first arm 22 with respect to the revolving table 121 in a radial vertical plane centered on the revolving center C (see FIG. 9 below) of the work body 12. The second joint 23 bends the second arm 24 with respect to the first arm 22 in the vertical plane. The third joint 25 bends the ground foot 27 with respect to the second arm 24 in the vertical plane. The second joint 25 is rotatable with respect to the second arm 24, and the ground foot 27 can be turned upside down. Each of the first joint 21, the second joint 23, and the third joint 25 is composed of a servomotor that can control the bending angle and maintain the bending angle.

A case where the unmanned work vehicle 1 of this example changes the direction of the traveling body 11 on the spot will be described. The unmanned work vehicle 1 normally has the work attachment 26 directed downward. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the unmanned work vehicle 1 that changes direction turns the third joint 25 with respect to the second arm 24 by 180 degrees to turn the ground foot 27 upside down in a stopped state, and moves downward. The grounded end 271 directed toward the ground 3 is grounded. Since the unmanned work vehicle 1 of this example has three support legs 2, the ground ends 271 of the support legs 2 which are divided into one and two groups on the left and right of the traveling body 11 are grounded. In the case of an even number of support legs 2, the same number is distributed to the left and right of the traveling main body 11 and each grounding end 271 is grounded.

The grounding end 271 of each support leg 2 is grounded outside the turning range S of the traveling body 11. The turning range S in this example is inside a circle having a radius from the turning center C of the turning table 121 to the corner of the crawler 111. The ground 3 on which each ground contact end 271 contacts the ground may have a height difference within a range in which the bending state of the support leg 2 can be changed. When there is a height difference on the ground 3, the bending state of each support leg 2 is controlled, and the traveling main body 11 is placed in a horizontal posture. Here, in order to stably lift the traveling main body 11 and the working main body 12 by the support legs 2, it is desired that the horizontal distances L1, L2, L3 from the turning center C of the ground contact ends 271 are equal. However, when the horizontal distances L1, L2, L3 cannot be equalized due to the undulation of the ground 2, the horizontal distances L1, L2, L3 may be different within a range in which the bending state of the support leg 2 can be changed. Good (L3 is a little long in this example).

Thus, the unmanned work vehicle 1 that has finished the grounding of the grounding end 271 controls the bending state of each support leg 2 to lift the traveling main body 11 and the working main body 12 together, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Each support leg 2 not only lifts the traveling main body 11 and the working main body 12, but also separates the first joint 21, the second joint 23, and the third joint 25 so that the traveling main body 11 takes a horizontal posture. Bend to control the bending state. The bent state of the support leg 2 is finely changed according to the elevation of the traveling main body 11 and the working main body 12 to maintain the horizontal posture of the traveling body 11.

When the crawler 111 of the traveling main body 11 is separated from the ground 3 in this way, the working main body fixed in position by the support legs 2 by using the turning means of the working main body 12 with respect to the traveling main body 11, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The traveling main body 11 is horizontally swung with respect to 12. In this example, the traveling body 11 is horizontally turned counterclockwise at a turning angle of 45 degrees in a plan view. The grounding foot 27 extends in the vertical direction from the grounding end 271 at the lower end to the third joint 25, and as long as the grounding end 271 is grounded to the outside of the turning range S of the traveling main body 11, the grounding foot 27 is located at the lower stage of the traveling main body 11. There is no risk that the located crawler 111 interferes with the support leg 2 (especially the ground foot 27).

When the traveling main body 11 completes the horizontal turning, the bending state of each supporting leg 2 is controlled to lower the traveling main body 11 and the working main body 12, and as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the crawler 111 is grounded again. Then, the direction change of the traveling main body 11 is completed. When the unmanned work vehicle 1 moves, the ground contact end 271 functions as a brake when the ground contact end 271 remains grounded. Therefore, the ground contact end 271 also needs to be separated from the ground 3. However, if only the unmanned work vehicle 1 is moved, it is not necessary to rotate the third joint 25 to turn the grounding foot 27 upside down and turn the work attachment 26 downward.

As described above, in the unmanned work vehicle 1 of the present invention, when the traveling main body 11 is turned around on the spot, the crawler 111 is lifted and separated from the ground 3, so that there is no possibility of being buried in the ground. In addition, the support leg 2 controls the bending state so that the lifted traveling main body 11 and the working main body 12 are horizontally moved, and the crawler 111 can be caused to pass over the step without touching the ground 3. Although the unmanned work vehicle 1 can climb over a step even when the crawler 111 travels, there is no risk of causing the posture to become unstable and tipping over when climbing over a step, and collapse of debris and the like can be avoided. Even if the vehicle falls over, the unmanned work vehicle 1 of the present invention can be raised by controlling the bending state of the support legs 2.

1 unmanned work vehicle
11 Running body
111 crawler
112 Drive
12 Working body
121 swivel table
122 Working device 2 Support legs
21 1st joint
22 boom
23 Second joint
24 arms
25 Third joint
26 Work attachment
27 Grounded feet
271 Grounding edge 3 Ground S Turning range of moving body L1 to L3 Horizontal distance from turning center to grounding edge

Claims (2)

In an unmanned work vehicle that performs various tasks while moving by autonomous driving or remote control by wire or wireless,
A traveling body having wheels or crawlers on each of the left and right,
It is composed of a work body that carries out various tasks,
The work body is horizontally swingable with respect to the traveling body, bendable by a large number of joints, and has a work attachment that does not ground when the ground end is grounded, and has three or more support legs that also function as manipulators. Becomes
Lifting the work body by controlling the bending state of each of the support legs by grounding the grounding ends of all the support legs outside the turning range of the travel body that surrounds the part of the travel body that is farthest from the center of rotation of the work body. According to the above, the unmanned work vehicle is characterized in that the wheels or crawlers of the traveling main body are separated from the ground contact surface, and the traveling main body is horizontally turned with respect to the working main body to change the direction of the traveling main body. Support legs across the ground end nearest the joint, said by projecting the working attachment to the ground terminal and opposite, claim 1 Symbol placement unmanned work vehicle also serves as a manipulator.

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