JP7245130B2 - snow removal system - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a snow removal system for removing snow from station platforms and the like.

In areas with heavy snowfall, it is necessary to remove snow from station platforms. Conventionally, a station platform snow removal device for removing snow from a platform has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). This station platform snow removal device is attached to a snow removal vehicle running on a railroad track, has a snow removal plate, and removes snow by projecting the snow removal plate to the edge of the platform (edge of the station platform). Therefore, such a station platform snow removing device cannot remove snow from platforms other than the edges of the platform.

Conventionally, there is a technology for autonomous movement (see Non-Patent Document 1), and it is used for robots that clean floor surfaces and the like. Therefore, in order to save labor in removing snow from the platform, it is conceivable to have the snow remover move autonomously on the platform. In order for the snow blower to move autonomously, the snow blower's self-location information is necessary. 2. Description of the Related Art An autonomous mobile device that has driving wheels as a moving mechanism and acquires self-position information from the number of revolutions of the driving wheels is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, since the drive wheels spin or skid due to freezing of the moving surface, etc., acquisition of self-position information using the drive wheels is not suitable for the snow remover.

GPS is a general means for acquiring self-location information. However, the self-location information acquired by GPS contains an error. Therefore, if the snowplow is allowed to move autonomously on the platform using GPS, there is a risk that the snowplow will fall out of the snow removal range on the platform and fall from the platform onto the railroad tracks. Should the snowplow fall onto the railroad track, it may interfere with the operation of the train. Although the degree of influence differs, the risk of moving the snowplow autonomously and leaving the predetermined movement range also exists when snowplows are performed other than on the platform.

JP-A-10-231508 JP 2010-170315 A

JIS B 0186:2003 "Mobile Robots - Vocabulary"

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems, and to allow the snow remover to move autonomously and prevent the snow remover from deviating from a predetermined range of movement.

The snow removing system of the present invention is a system comprising a snow remover that removes snow while moving on a moving surface, further comprising a moving surface marking arranged on the moving surface, the snow removing machine being provided at the front part. an imaging unit that captures a moving surface behind the snow removal device and acquires the captured image; a position information acquisition device that acquires self-position information by receiving radio waves for positioning; A storage unit storing map information including a range, a movement mechanism for movement, and a control unit for controlling the movement mechanism. is shown in appearance, and the control unit controls the movement mechanism based on the self-position information and the map information, and when the captured image includes the movement surface indication, the movement mechanism is controlled according to the movement surface indication It is characterized by controlling.

In this snow removing system, it is preferable that the position information acquisition device acquires self-position information using an interferometric positioning satellite positioning system.

In this snow removal system, it is preferable that the snow removal device is a snow removal plate that pushes away snow.

In this snow removal system, a line designating a path along which the snow blower should move is arranged as the movement surface marking, and the control unit moves along the line when the captured image includes the line. It is preferable to control the moving mechanism as follows.

In this snow removing system, a restriction marking for restricting entry of the snowplow into a predetermined entry restriction area is arranged as the movement surface marking, and the control unit controls the moving surface marking when the captured image includes the restriction marking. The movement mechanism may be controlled so as not to enter the entry restricted area or to exit from the entry restricted area.

In this snow removing system, it is preferable that the moving surface is a platform surface of a station, and the restricted access area is an edge of the platform.

In this snow removal system, a mark designating a point at which the snow blower should change direction, decelerate, or stop is arranged as the moving surface marking, and the control unit controls the direction change when the captured image includes the mark. , the moving mechanism may be controlled to decelerate or stop.

According to the snow removal system of the present invention, the controller controls the movement mechanism based on the self-location information and the map information, so the snow removal machine autonomously moves on the moving surface. Since the imaging unit images the moving surface behind the snow removal device, it images the snow-removed moving surface. When the captured image includes a moving surface indication, the control unit controls the moving mechanism according to the moving surface indication. It is possible to move so as not to deviate from the predetermined movement range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The side view which shows the structure of the snow removal system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. A plan view of the same snow removal system on a station platform.

A snow removing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1 , the snow removal system 1 includes a snow remover 2 . As indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 1 , the snow remover 2 is a machine that removes snow while moving on a moving surface 3 .

The snow remover 2 includes a snow remover 21 , an imaging unit 22 , a position information acquisition device 23 , a storage unit 24 , a moving mechanism 25 and a control unit 26 . The snow remover 21 is provided at the front portion of the snow remover 2 . As indicated by the black arrow in FIG. 1, the image capturing unit 22 captures the moving surface 3 behind the snow removing device 21 to obtain a captured image. The position information acquisition device 23 acquires the self-position information of the snow blower 2 by receiving radio waves for positioning. The storage unit 24 stores map information including a predetermined movement range. The moving mechanism 25 is a mechanism for moving the snow remover 2 . The controller 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 .

Snow removal system 1 further comprises a moving surface marking 4 . A moving surface marker 4 is placed on the moving surface 3 . The movement surface mark 4 is a mark that visually indicates information specifying or restricting movement of the snowplow 2 .

The control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 based on the self-location information acquired by the location information acquisition device 23 and the map information stored in the storage unit 24 . The control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 according to the moving surface marking 4 when the captured image captured by the imaging unit 22 includes the moving surface marking 4 .

Each component of the snow removing system 1 will be further described in detail. In this embodiment, the moving surface 3 is the platform surface of a station. The snow removal device 21 is a device for removing the snow 31 on the moving surface 3, and is a snow removal plate (blade) for pushing the snow 31 aside in this embodiment. The imaging unit 22 is a digital video camera, and the captured image is digital image data.

The position information acquisition device 23 is a mobile station to be positioned in the satellite positioning system. In this embodiment, the self-location information of the snow blower 2 is obtained using an interferometric positioning satellite positioning system (RTK-GPS: Real Time Kinematic GPS). In the interferometric positioning method, in addition to the mobile station (position information acquisition device 23) mounted on the snowplow 2, the fixed station 5 whose position is known also receives radio waves from the positioning satellite to improve the positioning accuracy.

The control unit 26 is a computer. The storage unit 24 is a memory from which the computer reads and writes data. The moving mechanism 25 is an electric crawler. In addition to the above configuration, the snow remover 2 is equipped with a storage battery 27 as an energy source.

The moving surface marking 4 is a line having a width, a surface color or pattern, a figure, or the like, and is drawn on the moving surface 3 with paint or the like, for example.

The operation of the snow removal system 1 configured as described above will be described. The controller 26 of the snow blower 2 controls the movement mechanism 25 based on the self-location information and the map information. That is, the snow blower 2 acquires its own position information in real time and moves autonomously with reference to the map information. The map information includes a predetermined movement range. The predetermined movement range is the range in which the snow remover 2 removes snow. The map information includes route information for autonomous movement within the movement range. The snow remover 2 removes snow from the moving surface 3 with a snow removing device 21 while moving on the moving surface 3. - 特許庁A snow removing device 21 is provided in front of the snow removing device 2, and an imaging unit 22 images the moving surface 3 behind the snow removing device 21, so that the snow removed moving surface 3 is imaged.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the snow removal system 1, a line 4a is arranged as the movement surface marking 4 to specify the path along which the snow removal machine 2 should move. When the captured image captured by the imaging unit 22 includes the line 4a (image processing), the control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 to move along the line 4a (movement control). That is, the snow blower 2 moves by line tracing. When the snowplow 2 moves by line tracing, even if there is an error in the self-position information acquired by the position information acquisition device 23, it is not affected by the error. Further, the snow blower 2 can travel along the line 4a even if the position information acquisition device 23 cannot acquire its own position information while it is moving by line tracing. Therefore, from the viewpoint of ensuring safety, the line 4a is mainly arranged on the movement path near the edge of the platform. The line 4a may be provided only for the snow removing system 1, or facilities arranged on the platform surface for passengers may be used as the line 4a. For example, by using a guide block of Braille blocks as the line 4a, the snow on the guide block can be reliably removed. When the snow blower 2 reaches the end of the line 4a, it moves autonomously again based on the self-position information acquired by the position information acquisition device 23 and the map information stored in the storage unit 24. FIG.

In the snow removing system 1, as the movement surface marking 4, a restriction marking 4b is arranged to restrict the entry of the snow blower 2 into a predetermined access restriction area. In this embodiment, the restricted access area is the platform edge 32 . The limit sign 4b may be provided only for the snow removing system 1, or facilities arranged on the platform surface for passengers may be used as the limit sign 4b. For example, a braille warning block may be used as the restriction sign 4b. The limit marking 4b may be a paint color, zebra, or the like that indicates the platform edge 32. FIG. The control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 so as not to enter the restricted entry area or to leave the restricted entry area when the restricted sign 4b is included in the captured image captured by the imaging unit 22 . As a result, even if there is an error in the self-location information acquired by the location information acquiring device 23, the movement of the snow blower 2 is restricted so that it does not move within the restricted entry area.

As the moving surface marking 4, a mark specifying a point at which the snowplow 2 should turn, decelerate, or stop may be arranged. The control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 to change direction, decelerate, or stop when the mark is included in the captured image captured by the imaging unit 22 .

As described above, according to the snow removal system 1 according to the present embodiment, the controller 26 controls the movement mechanism 25 based on the self-location information and the map information, so the snow removal machine 2 moves autonomously on the moving surface 3 . Since the imaging unit 22 images the moving surface 3 behind the snow removal device 21, the imaging unit 22 images the snow-removed moving surface 3. FIG. When the moving surface indicator 4 is included in the captured image, the control unit 26 controls the moving mechanism 25 according to the moving surface indicator 4. Therefore, even if there is an error in the self-position information acquired by receiving radio waves, The snow remover 2 can move within a predetermined range of movement.

The position information acquisition device 23 acquires the self-position information using the satellite positioning system of the interferometric positioning method, thereby increasing the accuracy of the self-position information.

Since the snow removal device 21 is a snow removal plate that pushes snow away, it has a simple structure.

By arranging a line 4a that designates the path along which the snowplow 2 should move as the moving surface marking 4, the snowplow 2 is prevented from moving by line tracing and deviating from the predetermined movement range.

As the movement surface marking 4, a restriction marking 4b for restricting the entry of the snowplow 2 into the predetermined entry restriction area is arranged, thereby restricting the movement of the snowplow 2 so as not to move within the entry restriction area. The machine 2 is prevented from leaving the predetermined range of movement.

When the moving surface 3 is the platform surface of the station and the restricted entry area is the edge portion 32 of the platform, the snow remover 2 is prevented from falling from the platform.

By arranging a mark designating a point at which the snowplow 2 should change direction, decelerate, or stop as the moving surface indicator 4, the snowplow 2 can be prevented from failing to change direction, decelerate, or stop, and can move in a predetermined direction. Avoid going out of range.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible without changing the gist of the invention. For example, the moving surface 3 over which the snowplow 2 moves may be the surface of an outdoor walkway. The snow removing device 21 may be a blower for blowing snow or a rotary for raking and throwing snow. The position information acquisition device 23 may use radio waves emitted by beacons as radio waves for positioning.

1 snow removal system 2 snow removal machine 21 snow removal device 22 imaging unit 23 position information acquisition device 24 storage unit 25 moving mechanism 26 control unit 4 moving surface marking

Claims (7)

A snow removing system comprising a snow blower that removes snow while moving on a moving surface,
further comprising a moving plane indicator positioned on the moving plane;
The snowplow acquires self-location information by receiving a snowplow provided at the front, an imaging unit that picks up a moving surface behind the snowplow and acquires a captured image, and radio waves for positioning. a position information acquisition device for performing a movement, a storage unit storing map information including a predetermined movement range, a movement mechanism for movement, and a control unit for controlling the movement mechanism,
The movement surface marking visually indicates information specifying or restricting movement of the snowplow,
The control unit controls the moving mechanism based on the self-location information and the map information, and controls the moving mechanism according to the moving surface indication when the captured image includes the moving surface indication. A snow removal system. 2. The snow removing system according to claim 1, wherein the position information acquiring device acquires the self-position information using an interferometric positioning satellite positioning system. 3. The snow removal system according to claim 1, wherein the snow removal device is a snow removal plate that pushes snow away. A line designating a route to be moved by the snowplow is arranged as the movement surface marking,
4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the captured image includes the line, the control unit controls the moving mechanism so as to move along the line. snow removal system. As the movement surface marking, a restriction marking for restricting entry of the snowplow into a predetermined entry restriction area is arranged,
1. The control unit controls the moving mechanism so as not to enter the restricted entry area or to exit from the restricted entry area when the captured image includes the restricted sign. Item 4. The snow removal system according to any one of Item 3. The moving surface is a platform surface of a station,
6. The snow removing system according to claim 5, wherein the limited access area is a platform edge. A mark that designates a point where the snowplow should change direction, decelerate, or stop is arranged as the moving surface indicator,
4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit controls the moving mechanism to change direction, decelerate, or stop when the captured image includes the mark. snow removal system.

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