JP7216582B2 - Vehicle cruise control system - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle travel control system that is used to control the travel of a vehicle that automatically travels along a preset target route.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is one described in Patent Document 1, for example, as a running control system for a vehicle. Patent Literature 1 relates to a control system for industrial machinery that travels along a mine route. This control system detects the position of the industrial machine by the position detection means, stores the position of the upward projecting object detected by the non-contact sensor as map information, and controls the travel along the travel route. Then, when the detection accuracy of the position detection means is lowered, the control system stops storing the map information to prevent the accuracy of the map information from being lowered.

Japanese Patent No. 6059846

By the way, in vehicle travel control, a GPS or a gyro sensor is used as means for detecting the vehicle's own position. However, in the case of GPS, errors may occur due to disturbances such as ionospheric anomalies and multipaths, and in the case of gyro sensors, errors may occur due to gyro drift and the like.

In particular, in the case of controlling the travel of a vehicle in a container yard, when the vehicle travels near highly stacked containers or cranes, there is a high possibility that GPS reception will be partially disabled. Also, when a crane is used to load and unload containers from a vehicle, if the vehicle travels on an accurate route and does not stop at a predetermined position, it is necessary for the crane to align the position. Alignment requires time and skill.

For this reason, in a vehicle that automatically travels along a preset route, in particular, if it is equipped with means for detecting its own position, even if there is an error in the detected value, it is possible to accurately travel along the route. was desired to be realized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional situation, and is a cruise control system for a vehicle that automatically travels along a preset target route, in which an error occurs in the detected value of the self-position of the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a travel control system for a vehicle capable of correcting the error and realizing accurate travel along a target route even when the vehicle is in a state of error.

A vehicle travel control system according to the present invention is used when automatically traveling along a preset target route, and includes a position detector for detecting the self-position of the vehicle and a It is provided with a distance detector that detects the distance to a measurement object, a vehicle control device that controls the running system of the vehicle, and an action planning device that creates an action plan for the vehicle.

In the vehicle travel control system described above, the action planning device determines the error between the preset target route and the current position based on the distance to the measurement object detected by the distance detector while the vehicle is traveling. and outputs a command to the vehicle control device to return the vehicle to the target route based on the error, the vehicle is a trailer for transporting containers, and the traveling area of the vehicle is a plurality of A container yard in which compartments for accumulating containers are arranged at predetermined intervals, including a loading/unloading position of containers by a traveling crane, and a preset target route being a route along the compartments, and the distance detection. The object to be measured by the device is a container and a crane, and the distance detector has a function of recognizing shapes by detecting the distances at multiple locations, and the action planning device detects the distance to the crane detected by the distance detector. Based on the distance, it has a function to output a command to the vehicle control device to stop the vehicle at the container loading and unloading position, and the distance to the crane used in the action planning device is the shape of the crane recognized by the distance detector It is the distance to the specified part
It is characterized by

A vehicle cruise control system according to the present invention employs the above-described configuration. Even if an error occurs in the detected value, the error can be corrected to achieve accurate travel along the target route.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a vehicle travel control system according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a vehicle equipped with the cruise control system shown in FIG. 1; It is a front view explaining the position of the vehicle in a container yard. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which a vehicle is traveling on a target route; 4 is a flowchart for explaining the process of running control; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the vehicle deviates from the target route;

A vehicle travel control system according to the present invention performs travel control of a vehicle that automatically travels along a preset target route. Basically, it is desirable that this running control system be unitized and mounted on the vehicle. It is also possible to

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle travel control system is mounted on a vehicle M, and generally includes position detectors 1 and 2, a distance detector 3, an action planning device 5, and a vehicle control system. It comprises a device 6 , a camera 7 , a main control device 8 and a wireless communication device 9 . The vehicle M can be driven by a person, and can switch between artificial driving and automatic driving including remote control driving and autonomous driving.

The position detectors 1 and 2 detect the vehicle M's own position. The position detectors 1 and 2 of this embodiment are GPS (Global Positioning System) and INS (Inertial Navigation System), and a GPS antenna 1A is provided on the roof of the vehicle M. FIG. The position detector may use both GPS(1) and INS(2) as described above, or either one of them, and devices other than GPS and INS may be used.

The distance detector 3 may detect a distance from the vehicle M to an object to be measured on at least one side in the vehicle width direction. A sensor (for example, a laser range finder (LRF)) located on the roof of the vehicle M; Note that the distance detector 3 may scan the entire circumference of the vehicle M with a laser beam.

The action plan device 5 is a computer or a part thereof, and creates an action plan for the vehicle M. FIG. A characteristic function of the action planning device 5 will be described later.

The vehicle control device 6 controls the driving system of the vehicle M, that is, controls the accelerator A, the brake B, and the steering S of the vehicle M. It includes actuators for driving the brake B and the steering wheel S. Further, the vehicle control device 6 may detect the operation of actuators and perform feedback control.

The camera 7 is attached to the roof of the vehicle M and photographs the front of the vehicle M, as shown in FIG. The main controller 8 is a computer or part thereof, and controls the entire system. The radio communication device 9 transmits and receives data between the main control device 8 and a communication device provided at a remote location, and its antenna 9A is provided on the roof of the vehicle M. As shown in FIG.

In the travel control system of the vehicle M, the action planning device 5 calculates the error between the target route P1 and the current position based on the distance to the measurement object detected by the distance detector 3 while the vehicle M is traveling. Then, based on the error, it has a function (program) to output a command to the vehicle control device 6 to return the vehicle M to the target route.

Here, in the travel control system for the vehicle M, a suitable example of the travel area of the vehicle M is a container yard. In this case, the vehicle M is a trailer for transporting the container C. In the container yard, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, compartments CA for stacking a plurality of containers C are arranged at predetermined intervals.

The container C is a well-known rectangular parallelepiped that is horizontally long. In each section CA, when the longitudinal direction of the container C is defined as the front-rear direction, the containers C are arranged in the front, rear, left, and right directions on a plane, and are stacked in appropriate numbers. All the containers C are stacked while facing the same direction. Since the container C has guides (not shown) in the upper four corners with which the lower four corners of another container C are engaged, the stacking state can be stably maintained.

In the container yard, a crane (transfer crane) 100 straddling one section CA is arranged. This crane 100 has legs 101, 101 that form a pair on the left and right sides of the section CA (left and right sides in FIG. 3), a beam 102 that extends between the upper ends of the legs 101, and a movement that moves along the beam 102. It has a platform 103 and a crane body 104 arranged on the mobile platform 103 .

In the container yard, the storage position of the container C, the movement area of the crane 100, and the travel area of the vehicle are determined in advance for each section CA. Specifically, the space between the stacked container C and the leg 101 of the crane 100 is defined as a working lane L1 for the vehicle M that loads and unloads the container C, and the legs 101, 101 of the adjacent cranes 100, 100 are connected to each other. is defined as an overtaking lane L2 for the vehicle M.

The crane main body 104 includes a gripping portion 104A that grips the upper portion of the container C, a plurality of suspension cables 104B that suspend the gripping portions 104A, and a drive section 104C that pays out and winds up the suspension cables 104B. Further, the crane 100 has a traveling device at the lower end of the leg, and can self-travel in the front-rear direction of the container C (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3) while straddling one section.

The crane 100 described above moves the selected container C to a desired position by combining the movement of the carriage 103 in the horizontal direction of the container C, the self-propelled movement of the container C in the longitudinal direction, and the lifting and lowering of the gripper 104A. can be moved to

The travel control system of this embodiment has functions suitable for the container yard. That is, in the travel control system, the travel area of the vehicle M includes the loading/unloading position of the container C by the crane 100 that can travel. Therefore, in the travel control system, the distance detector 3 detects the distance to the crane 100, and the action planning device 5 detects the distance to the crane 100 detected by the distance detector 3. On the other hand, it has a function of outputting a command to stop the vehicle M at the container loading/unloading position. At this time, the measurement target portion of the crane 100 includes a predetermined portion of the leg portion 101, the position of the tire, and the like.

Furthermore, the travel control system of this embodiment has a function of recognizing a shape by detecting distances at a plurality of locations by the distance detector 3 . A preferred example of the distance detector 3 is a laser range finder. Therefore, in the travel control system, the distance to the crane 100 used in the action planning device 5 is set to the distance to a predetermined part of the crane 100 whose shape is recognized by the distance detector 3, and the vehicle control device 6 instructs the vehicle M to move the container to the container. A command to stop at the loading/unloading position can be output.

The target route P1 of the vehicle M shown in FIG. 4 can be set by selecting one of the sections CA, since the vehicle travel area is predetermined for each section CA. In this case, the object to be measured by the distance detector (LRF) 3 is the container C.

Next, based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, the operation of the travel control system for the vehicle M in the container yard will be described.

In the travel control system, in step S1, a section CA (driving area) is selected, thereby setting a target route P1. In the container yard, the container C is loaded and unloaded from the vehicle M at a predetermined position, so the target route P1 including the stop positions thereof is set.

In the target route setting in step S1, since the storage position of the container C, the movement area of the crane 100, the work travel lane L1 and the overtaking travel lane L2 of the vehicle M are strictly determined for each section CA in the container yard, The route information of the travel area of the vehicle M is stored in the action planning device 5 for each section CA. Accordingly, it is possible to set the target route P1 (driving area) by selecting the section CA in which the vehicle M is desired to travel.

Next, in step S2, the travel control system causes the vehicle M to automatically travel along the target route P1 of the selected block CA stored in the action planning device 5 in order to load and unload the container C. At that time, the travel control system drives the accelerator A, the brake B, and the steering wheel S of the vehicle M by the vehicle control device 6 so that the vehicle M travels along the target route P1.

Here, since the travel control system uses GPS and INS as the position detectors 1 and 2, an error E may occur in the position data due to disturbances such as GPS multipath and INS gyro drift. . FIG. 6 shows a state in which the vehicle M deviates to the left from the target route P1 and travels.

Therefore, in the travel control system, in step S3 during automatic travel, the data of the position detectors 1 and 2 and the distance detector 3 are acquired, and the self position of the vehicle M is detected by the position detectors 1 and 2. On the other hand, the distance between the vehicle M and the container C is calculated by the distance detector 3 .

In the travel control system, the storage position of the container C and the travel area (target route P1) of the vehicle M are set for each section CA, and the interval between the container C and the target route P1 is known. 5, the current position is calculated based on the distance obtained by the distance detector 3 (step S4), and the error E between the current position and the target route P1, that is, the known distance between the container C and the target route P1 is calculated. (step S5).

After that, the cruise control system performs vehicle control in step S6. In this vehicle control, the steering wheel S is driven so that the error E becomes zero. In the state shown in FIG. 6, the steering wheel S of the vehicle M is operated to the right so as to return the vehicle M to the target route P1.

As a result, the cruise control system can quickly return the vehicle M to the target route P1 even if the position detectors (GPS or INS) 1 and 2 have detection errors due to disturbances. After that, the travel control system repeats steps S2 to S6 described above, automatically travels the vehicle M along the target route P1, and stops the vehicle M at the position where the container C is unloaded by the crane 100.

At that time, when the action planning device 5 determines that the distance to the crane 100 detected by the distance detector 3 reaches a predetermined value, or determines that the predetermined position has been reached by shape recognition, the travel control system controls the vehicle. The device 6 activates the brake B; As a result, the travel control system can accurately stop the vehicle M at the container C loading/unloading position.

In addition, since the above travel control system is provided with a camera 7 for photographing the front of the vehicle M, a main control device 8 for storing all data, and a radio communication device 9 for transmitting and receiving data, remote control can be performed. The running state of the vehicle M can be constantly monitored at the location. In addition, since the travel control system can also stop the vehicle M by remote control, highly safe automatic travel is possible.

Further, the travel control system employs, as the distance detector 3, a laser range finder that scans the left and right sides and the front side of the vehicle M with a laser beam. As a result, the travel control system can acquire distance data whether the position of the object to be measured is on one side or both sides in the vehicle width direction, and can detect obstacles in front and avoid them. It is also possible to

Moreover, the laser range finder can detect not only the distance in the width direction of the vehicle but also the distance in the oblique direction. It is possible to detect the error E between the current position and the target route P1 and correct the route.

Furthermore, in the container yard, a large trailer for transporting containers is used as the vehicle M, and it is necessary to accurately stop the large trailer with respect to the lifting position of the crane 100. The above travel control system that corrects the position of the vehicle M accordingly is suitable for automatic travel of the vehicle M.

Also, the crane 100 used in the container yard is slower than the traveling speed of the vehicle M. Therefore, generally, the crane 100 is moved to the unloading position, and the vehicle M is stopped at the unloading position. At this time, the travel control system can detect the distance from the vehicle M to the crane 100 and stop the vehicle M, as described above. It should be noted that the position of the crane 100 to be detected by the distance detector 3 is not limited to the position of the leg 101 or the tire, and may be the periphery thereof or a separately provided detection marker.

In this manner, the travel control system corrects errors in the position detectors 1 and 2, automatically travels the trailer (vehicle M) accurately along the target route P1, and accurately moves the trailer to a predetermined position. It is possible to stop at In addition, in the container yard, since the containers C are stacked in a plurality of compartments CA in an aligned state, the containers C themselves can be used as objects to be measured by the distance detector 3, and the sizes and shapes of the containers are usually approximately the same. Since the container C is used, it can be easily detected as an object to be measured, and there is no need to install a new object to be measured.

Furthermore, the travel control system described above can travel based on the data of the position detectors 1 and 2 when traveling in a wide area where a certain amount of detection error of the position detectors 1 and 2 is acceptable. However, since the above-described travel control system deals with detection errors of the position detectors 1 and 2, it can be used particularly in narrow areas where detection errors have a large effect, such as the work travel lane L1 in the container yard. When traveling, the distance data of the distance detector 3 is preferentially used to control the traveling of the vehicle M. FIG.

The configuration of the vehicle cruise control system according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. In addition, the vehicle travel control system of the present invention is not limited to vehicles that automatically travel in container yards, and can be implemented in various travel areas. It is also possible to use a three-dimensional installation object, and if a distance detector that performs image processing is used, white lines and the like can be used as objects to be measured in addition to the three-dimensional installation object.

1 GPS (position detector)
2 INS (position detector)
3 Range Detector (LRF)
5 action planning device 6 vehicle control device 7 camera 9 wireless communication device 100 crane C container (object to be measured)
CA Section M Vehicle P1 Target route

Claims (3)

A travel control system for a vehicle that automatically travels along a preset target route,
a position detector for detecting the self-position of the vehicle;
a distance detector that detects the distance from the vehicle to an object to be measured on at least one side in the vehicle width direction;
a vehicle control device that controls a running system of the vehicle;
and an action planning device that creates an action plan for the vehicle,
The action planning device calculates the error between the preset target route and the current position based on the distance to the measurement object detected by the distance detector while the vehicle is running, and based on the error, vehicle control is performed. Has a function to output a command to return the vehicle to the target route to the device,
The vehicle is a trailer for transporting containers,
A vehicle travel area is a container yard in which a plurality of containers are stacked and arranged at predetermined intervals, and includes loading and unloading positions of containers by a crane that can travel, and a preset target route is along the compartments. and
The object to be measured by the distance detector is a container and a crane, and the distance detector has a function of recognizing shapes by detecting distances at a plurality of locations,
The action planning device has a function of outputting a command to the vehicle control device to stop the vehicle at the container loading/unloading position based on the distance to the crane detected by the distance detector,
A travel control system for a vehicle, wherein a distance to a crane used in the action planning device is a distance to a predetermined part of the crane whose shape is recognized by a distance detector . 2. The vehicle running control system according to claim 1, wherein the distance detector is a laser range finder that scans a laser beam at least to the left, right, and front sides of the vehicle. 3. A traveling control system for a vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a wireless communication device for transmitting and receiving data to and from a remote location.

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