JP7151035B2 - travel control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a travel control device.

BACKGROUND ART As a conventional travel control device, for example, a technique such as that described in Patent Document 1 is known. The travel control device described in Patent Document 1 includes a laser distance sensor that emits a laser beam and detects the reflected light to measure the distance to an object. The current position of the automatic guided vehicle is estimated by matching the measurement data from the laser distance sensor and the map data with the data memory that stores the correspondence information with the coordinates, and the automatic guided vehicle is determined based on the estimation result. and a processing unit for running according to the route data.

JP 2011-253414 A

When estimating the position of a moving body as in the above conventional technology, it is necessary to set the initial position of the moving body at the start of position estimation. In this case, in order to grasp the current position of the mobile object, the user needs to obtain the position coordinates of the mobile object from, for example, a CAD drawing. However, since such work is extremely complicated, there is a high possibility that the initial position of the moving body is set incorrectly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a travel control device that can easily set the initial position of a mobile object.

A travel control device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a position estimating unit that estimates a position of a moving object, and a driving unit that drives the moving object so that the moving object travels based on the estimated position of the moving object obtained by the position estimating unit. a control unit that controls the unit, information on the positions of a plurality of travel start locations for starting travel of the mobile object, and a plurality of pieces of specific information associated with the positions of the plurality of travel start locations, respectively, for specifying the travel start locations. an input unit for inputting specific information; a position of a travel start location corresponding to the specific information input by the input unit is obtained from the storage unit; a setting unit for setting a position, and a position estimating unit for estimating the position of the mobile object based on the initial position set by the setting unit.

In such a travel control device, when the position estimating section starts estimating the position of the moving body, the input section inputs the specific information. Then, the position of the starting place of travel corresponding to the input specific information is acquired from the storage unit, the position of the starting place of travel is set as the initial position of the moving object, and the position of the moving object is estimated based on the initial position. be done. This eliminates the need for the user to find the position coordinates of the moving body from a CAD drawing or the like and set and input the position coordinates as the initial position. This makes it possible to easily set the initial position of the moving body.

The travel control device determines whether or not the specific information input by the input unit is correct based on the initial position set by the setting unit and the estimated position of the mobile object obtained by the position estimation unit. A determination unit may be further provided for outputting an anomaly issue signal when it is determined to be incorrect. In such a configuration, when the specific information input by the input unit is incorrect, the abnormality issue signal is output. You can prevent running.

The determination unit determines whether the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is equal to or less than a specified value, and when determining that the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is greater than the specified value, It may be determined that the specific information is incorrect. With such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the specific information input by the input unit is correct by simple calculation processing.

The input unit may be an input device for manually inputting the specific information by the user. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to provide the specific information on the floor surface of the travel start location, so the initial position of the moving body can be set at low cost.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the initial position of a mobile body can be set simply.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a cruise control system including a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a travel control device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing details of an arithmetic processing procedure executed by the SLAM controller shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a travel start location where automatic travel of a moving body is started; 4 is a table showing an example of a file containing information and specific information regarding the position of a travel start location; 3 is a flowchart showing details of a setting processing procedure executed by an initial position setting unit shown in FIG. 2; 3 is a flow chart showing details of a determination processing procedure executed by an initial position determination unit shown in FIG. 2; 3 is a flowchart showing details of a control processing procedure executed by a drive control unit shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing how an initial position of a moving body is set;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a cruise control system provided with a cruise control device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a travel control system 1 is a system for unmanned travel of a mobile object 2 such as a forklift from a start point 3A to a destination point 3B. The travel control system 1 includes a travel control device 4 that automatically causes the mobile object 2 to travel along a virtual guide line 3 from a start point 3A to a destination point 3B, and travel instruction data for the mobile object 2 to travel. It has an associated magnetic mark 5.

The virtual guide line 3 is a travel route virtually set on the data. Although the virtual guide line 3 is a straight path in FIG. 1, it may be a curved path. The positions of the virtual guide line 3 including the start point 3A and the destination point 3B are represented by two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y). Here, the two-dimensional coordinates of the starting point 3A are (0, 0). The two-dimensional coordinates of the destination point 3B are (100, 0).

The magnetic mark 5 is installed on the floor. The magnetic mark 5 is embedded at a position corresponding to the side of the virtual guide line 3 on the floor surface.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the travel control device 4. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the traveling control device 4 of this embodiment is mounted on the moving body 2. As shown in FIG. The travel control device 4 includes a position estimation unit 6 , a touch panel 7 , a magnetic mark sensor 8 and an automatic travel control unit 9 .

The position estimation unit 6 is a position estimator that estimates the position of the mobile object 2 . The position estimation unit 6 estimates the position of the mobile body 2 based on the initial position (described later) set by the automatic cruise control unit 9 . The position estimation unit 6 estimates the self-position of the mobile body 2 using, for example, SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) techniques. SLAM is a self-localization technique that performs self-localization using sensor data and map data. SLAM uses a laser range scanner or the like to simultaneously estimate its own position and create an environment map.

The position estimation unit 6 has a laser sensor 10 and a SLAM controller 11 . The laser sensor 10 detects the distance to an object around the moving body 2 by irradiating the surroundings of the moving body 2 with a laser and receiving the reflected light of the laser. As the laser sensor 10, for example, a laser range finder is used.

The SLAM controller 11 is composed of a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an input/output interface, and the like. The SLAM controller 11 performs an estimation calculation of the position of the moving body 2 based on the detected value of the laser sensor 10 . The position of the moving body 2 is represented by two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) and orientation θ.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the details of the arithmetic processing procedure executed by the SLAM controller 11. As shown in FIG. This process is executed when the mobile body 2 is powered on.

Here, when the power of the moving body 2 is turned off, the position of the moving body 2 at that time is stored in a backup RAM (not shown) of the automatic travel control unit 9 . After that, when the mobile body 2 is powered on, the position stored in the backup RAM is sent to the SLAM controller 11 as the initial position of the mobile body 2 , and the SLAM controller 11 performs an estimation calculation of the position of the mobile body 2 . However, the value of the backup RAM may not be correct, for example, after the moving body 2 has traveled manually in a place where the position cannot be estimated (a place with no map data). In this case, the user needs to set the initial position of the moving body 2 . The processing shown in FIG. 3 is processing that is executed in a situation where setting of the initial position of the moving body 2 by the user is required.

In FIG. 3, the SLAM controller 11 first determines whether initial position data has been input from the automatic cruise control unit 9 (step S101). When the SLAM controller 11 determines that the initial position data has been input, it acquires the detection value of the laser sensor 10 (step S102).

Then, the SLAM controller 11 performs an estimation calculation of the position of the moving body 2 (step S103). Specifically, the SLAM controller 11 matches the distance to objects around the moving body 2 detected by the laser sensor 10 with a map of the surrounding environment of the moving body 2, and performs an estimation calculation of the position of the moving body 2. I do. As a result, the estimated position of the moving object 2 is obtained. The SLAM controller 11 then outputs the estimated position of the mobile body 2 to the automatic cruise control unit 9 (step S104), and executes step S102 again.

Returning to FIG. 2, the touch panel 7 is an input device for a user to perform an input operation. The touch panel 7 is attached to a portion of the mobile body 2 that is easy for the user to operate. The touch panel 7 constitutes an input unit for a user to manually input specific information (described later).

A magnetic mark sensor 8 is a sensor that detects the magnetic mark 5 . A magnetic mark sensor 8 is attached to the lower portion of the moving body 2 .

The automatic travel control unit 9 performs predetermined processing based on the estimated position of the mobile object 2 obtained by the position estimation unit 6 so that the mobile object 2 automatically travels from the start point 3A to the destination point 3B. It controls the traveling motor 12 and the steering motor 13 .

The traveling motor 12 is a motor that rotates traveling wheels (not shown). The steering motor 13 is a motor for steering a steering wheel (not shown). The travel motor 12 and the steering motor 13 constitute a driving section of the moving body 2 .

The automatic travel control unit 9 is composed of a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an input/output interface, and the like. The automatic travel control unit 9 has a storage unit 14, an initial position setting unit 15 (setting unit), an initial position determination unit 16 (determination unit), a deviation amount calculation unit 17, and a drive control unit 18. there is

The storage unit 14 stores information related to the travel of the moving body 2, such as the positions of the virtual guide lines 3 and the magnetic marks 5, travel instruction data, and the like. The positions of the virtual guide line 3 and the magnetic marks 5 are stored as two-dimensional coordinates. Driving instruction data is associated with each magnetic mark 5 as described above. The travel instruction data includes, for example, an acceleration instruction, a stop instruction, a right turn instruction, a left turn instruction, and the like.

In addition, the storage unit 14 stores information about the positions of a plurality of travel start locations P at which automatic travel of the mobile body 2 is started, and information associated with the positions of the plurality of travel start locations P, and information for specifying the travel start locations P. A plurality of specific information are stored.

The travel start location P is predetermined so as to overlap the virtual guide line 3, as shown in FIG. The travel start location P is drawn in a rectangular shape on the floor, for example, with paint. Here, the travel start location P1 is the first (No. 1) travel start location P, and the travel start location P2 is the second (No. 2) travel start location P.

Information about the position of the travel start place P and specific information are stored in the storage unit 14 as a file F, as shown in FIG. The position of the travel start place P is represented by two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) and orientation θ. The position of the travel start location P is a position with the travel start location P1 as the origin (reference). The specific information is a number associated with the position of the travel start place P. FIG. In addition to the two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) and orientation θ of the travel start location P, other necessary information may be registered as the information regarding the position of the travel start location P. FIG.

The initial position setting unit 15 acquires from the storage unit 14 the position of the travel start location P corresponding to the number, which is the specific information input through the touch panel 7, and uses the travel start location P as the initial position of the mobile body 2. set.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the details of the setting processing procedure executed by the initial position setting unit 15. As shown in FIG. As with the SLAM controller 11, this process is also executed when the mobile body 2 is powered on.

In FIG. 6, the initial position setting unit 15 first determines whether or not the number of the travel start location P has been input from the touch panel 7 (step S111). When the initial position setting unit 15 determines that the number of the travel start location P has been input, the initial position setting unit 15 acquires the location of the travel start location P corresponding to the input number from the storage unit 14 (step S112). Then, the initial position setting unit 15 sets the position of the acquired travel start place P as the initial position of the moving body 2 (step S113). The initial position setting unit 15 then outputs the initial position data to the SLAM controller 11 (step S114).

The initial position determination unit 16 determines specific information input through the touch panel 7 based on the initial position of the mobile object 2 set by the initial position setting unit 15 and the estimated position of the mobile object 2 obtained by the position estimation unit 6. is correct, and when it is decided that the number is incorrect, an abnormality issue signal is output to the warning indicator 19 .

As the warning indicator 19, for example, an indicator lamp that lights up or blinks when an abnormality issue signal is input is used. The warning indicator 19 may emit a warning sound simultaneously with the warning display when the anomaly issue signal is input.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the details of the determination processing procedure executed by the initial position determination unit 16. As shown in FIG. As with the SLAM controller 11, this process is also executed when the mobile body 2 is powered on.

7, the initial position determination unit 16 first acquires the initial position of the mobile object 2 set by the initial position setting unit 15 and the estimated position of the mobile object 2 obtained by the position estimation unit 6 (step S121). ). The initial position determination unit 16 then determines whether the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is equal to or less than a specified value (step S122).

At this time, the initial position determination unit 16 determines that both the absolute value of the difference between the coordinates of the initial position and the coordinates of the estimated position and the absolute value of the difference between the direction of the initial position and the direction of the estimated position are equal to or less than a specified value. Alternatively, it may be determined whether only the absolute value of the difference between the coordinates of the initial position and the coordinates of the estimated position is equal to or less than a specified value.

When the initial position determination unit 16 determines that the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is equal to or less than the specified value, it determines that the number input from the touch panel 7 is correct, and terminates this process.

When the initial position determination unit 16 determines that the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is not less than the specified value, that is, the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is larger than the specified value, the touch panel 7 The input number is determined to be incorrect, and an abnormality issue signal is output to the warning indicator 19 (step S123). As a result, the warning indicator 19 displays a warning, so that the user can recognize that the entered number is incorrect.

Further, the initial position determination unit 16 outputs a control signal (stop control signal) for stopping the moving body 2 to the traveling motor 12 (step S124). As a result, the moving body 2 remains stopped without starting to travel.

Based on the position of the virtual guide line 3 stored in the storage unit 14 and the estimated position of the moving object 2 obtained by the position estimation unit 6, the deviation amount calculating unit 17 calculates the difference between the virtual guide line 3 and the moving object 2. Calculate the amount of deviation. At this time, the deviation amount calculator 17 calculates the deviation amount between the coordinates of the virtual guide line 3 and the coordinates of the moving body 2 and the deviation amount between the direction of the virtual guide line 3 and the direction of the moving body 2 .

Based on the amount of deviation between the virtual guide line 3 and the moving object 2 calculated by the deviation amount calculating unit 17, the drive control unit 18 controls the traveling motor 12 and the moving object 2 so that the moving object 2 travels along the virtual guide line 3. It controls the steering motor 13 . Further, when the magnetic mark 5 is detected by the magnetic mark sensor 8 , the drive control unit 18 controls the travel motor 12 and the steering motor 13 so that the moving body 2 travels according to the travel instruction data associated with the magnetic mark 5 . to control.

Based on the estimated position of the mobile object 2 obtained by the position estimation unit 6, the displacement calculation unit 17 and the drive control unit 18 operate the traveling motor 12 to cause the mobile object 2 to travel along the virtual guide line 3. and a control unit for controlling the steering motor 13 .

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the details of the control processing procedure executed by the drive control section 18. As shown in FIG. This process is also executed when the power of the moving body 2 is turned on, like the arithmetic process by the SLAM controller 11 .

In FIG. 8, the drive control unit 18 first determines whether or not the magnetic mark 5 is detected by the magnetic mark sensor 8 (step S131). When the drive control unit 18 determines that the magnetic mark 5 has been detected, it acquires the travel instruction data corresponding to the number of the magnetic mark 5 from the storage unit 14 (step S132).

At this time, when the magnetic mark sensor 8 detects the first (number 1) magnetic mark 5 from the start point 3A, the travel instruction data associated with the number 1 magnetic mark 5 is acquired. When the magnetic mark sensor 8 detects the second (second) magnetic mark 5 from the start point 3A, the travel instruction data associated with the second magnetic mark 5 is acquired.

Then, the drive control unit 18 outputs a control signal corresponding to the acquired travel instruction data to the travel motor 12 and the steering motor 13 (step S133). For example, when the acquired travel instruction data is an acceleration instruction, the drive control unit 18 outputs a control signal to the travel motor 12 to increase the rotational speed of the travel motor 12 . As a result, the speed of the moving body 2 is increased.

After step S133 is executed, or when it is determined in step S131 that the magnetic mark 5 has not been detected, the drive control unit 18 determines whether the virtual guide line 3 calculated by the shift amount calculation unit 17 and the moving body 2 is acquired (step S134). Then, the drive control unit 18 outputs a control signal to the traveling motor 12 and the steering motor 13 so that the amount of deviation between the virtual guide line 3 and the moving body 2 becomes 0 (step S135). As a result, the coordinates and orientation of the moving body 2 come closer to the virtual guide line 3 .

Subsequently, the drive control unit 18 determines whether or not the moving body 2 has reached the destination point 3B (step S136). When the drive control unit 18 determines that the moving body 2 has not reached the destination point 3B, it executes the procedure S131 again. When the drive control unit 18 determines that the moving body 2 has reached the destination point 3B, the process ends.

In the travel control system 1 configured as described above, for example, when the moving body 2 is not on the virtual guide line 3, as shown in FIG. is moved to a specified travel start location P (here, the first travel start location P1).

Then, as shown in FIG. 9(b), the user A manually inputs the number (here, number 1) of the travel start location P1 on the touch panel 7. FIG. Then, in the automatic travel control unit 9, the position of the travel start place P1 corresponding to the input number is set as the initial position of the moving body 2, and the initial position data is sent to the position estimation unit 6.

When the position estimation unit 6 receives the initial position data from the automatic cruise control unit 9 , the position estimation of the mobile object 2 is started, and the estimated position of the mobile object 2 is sent to the automatic cruise control unit 9 . Then, the automatic travel control unit 9 compares the initial position of the moving body 2 with the estimated position of the moving body 2, and when it is determined that the initial position of the moving body 2 is incorrect as a result of the comparison, a warning indicator is displayed. A warning display by 19 is performed. In this case, the user A will re-enter the number of the travel start location P using the touch panel 7 .

When it is determined that the initial position of the mobile object 2 is correct, the position estimation unit 6 continues to estimate the position of the mobile object 2, so that the mobile object 2 moves from the start point 3A (initial position) to the destination point 3B. It is controlled to run along the virtual guide line 3 .

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the position estimation unit 6 starts estimating the position of the moving body 2, the number, which is the specific information, is input through the touch panel 7. FIG. Then, the travel start location P corresponding to the input number is acquired from the storage unit 14, the position of the travel start location P is set as the initial position of the mobile object 2, and the position of the mobile object 2 is determined based on the initial position. is estimated. Therefore, the user does not need to find the position coordinates of the moving body 2 from a CAD drawing or the like, and set and input the position coordinates as the initial position. This makes it possible to easily set the initial position of the moving body 2 .

Further, in this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the number input by the touch panel 7 is correct based on the initial position of the moving body 2 and the estimated position of the moving body 2. When it is determined that the number is not correct, , an abnormal issue signal is output. When the number input by the touch panel 7 is wrong in this way, an abnormality issue signal is output, so that the mobile body 2 runs while the estimated position of the mobile body 2 obtained by the position estimation unit 6 is erroneous. can be prevented.

Further, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the absolute value of the difference between the initial position of the moving body 2 and the estimated position of the moving body 2 is larger than the specified value, it is determined that the number is incorrect. Therefore, it is possible to judge whether or not the number input by the touch panel 7 is correct by simple calculation processing.

In addition, in this embodiment, since the user manually inputs the number on the touch panel 7, the number does not need to be provided on the floor of the travel start place P, so that the initial position of the moving body 2 can be set at low cost. can be done.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, a number is used as the specific information associated with the position of the travel start location P, but the specific information is not particularly limited to a number, and may be alphabetic characters (A, B . . . ). good too.

Further, in the above embodiment, the user manually inputs the specific information through the touch panel 7, but the form is not particularly limited. , an RFID reader for reading RFID may be attached to the lower part of the moving body 2 . In this case, when the moving body 2 moves to the travel start location P, the RFID is read by the RFID reader, and the specific information registered in the RFID is input.

Further, in the above embodiment, the automatic travel control unit 9 is provided with the storage unit 14, the initial position setting unit 15, and the initial position determination unit 16 that store information and specific information regarding the position of the travel start location P, Such functions may be provided in the position estimation unit 6 instead of the automatic cruise control unit 9 .

In the above embodiment, the position estimation unit 6 estimates the position of the moving body 2 by using the SLAM technique using laser as the self-position estimation technique. The method is not limited, and a SLAM method using an image captured by a camera or a GNSS (global navigation satellite system) positioning method using a satellite may be used.

In the above-described embodiment, the moving body 2 is caused to travel along the virtual guide line 3 virtually set on the data, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this form. It can also be applied to a system in which the moving body 2 travels along magnetic guide lines installed so as to be detectable.

In addition, the traveling control device of the above embodiment is a device that causes a forklift to travel as the mobile body 2, but the present invention can be applied to any mobile body that runs by estimating its position, such as a carrier. be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2... Moving body 4... Travel control apparatus 6... Position estimation unit (position estimation part) 7... Touch panel (input part) 12... Travel motor (drive part) 13... Steering motor (drive part) 14... Storage unit 15 Initial position setting unit 16 Initial position determination unit 17 Deviation amount calculation unit (control unit) 18 Drive control unit (control unit) P Travel start location.

Claims (4)

A travel control device that automatically travels a mobile body along a travel route,
Saida position estimating unit that estimates the position of a mobile object;
locating the moving object based on the estimated position of the moving object obtained by the position estimating unit;along the travel routea control unit that controls the driving unit of the moving body so as to run;
A memory for storing information relating to the positions of a plurality of travel start locations for starting travel of the mobile body, and a plurality of pieces of specific information associated with the positions of the plurality of travel start locations, respectively, for specifying the travel start locations. Department and
an input unit for inputting the specific information;
a setting unit that acquires from the storage unit the position of the travel start location corresponding to the specific information input by the input unit, and sets the location of the travel start location as an initial position of the moving body;
The travel start location is predetermined to overlap the travel route and is drawn on the road surface of the travel route,
The position of the travel route is represented by two-dimensional coordinates,
The position of the travel start location is represented by the two-dimensional coordinates and orientation,
The travel control device, wherein the position estimating unit estimates the position of the moving object based on the initial position set by the setting unit. Based on the initial position set by the setting unit and the estimated position of the mobile object obtained by the position estimating unit, it is determined whether the specific information input by the input unit is correct, and 2. The traveling control device according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that outputs an abnormality issue signal when it determines that the information is incorrect. The determination unit determines whether an absolute value of a difference between the initial position and the estimated position is equal to or less than a specified value, and the absolute value of the difference between the initial position and the estimated position is greater than the specified value. 3. A traveling control device according to claim 2, wherein said specific information is determined to be incorrect when it is determined that said specific information is incorrect. The travel control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the input unit is an input device for manually inputting the specific information by a user.

Images