JPH01112411A - Traveling control device for automatic traveling working vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a working vehicle from not traveling and stopping by stopping the working vehicle when the turn to detect the reception abnormality is continuous. CONSTITUTION:At a control device 10, a traveling control means 100 to make a working vehicle automatically travel along a routing, a turn control means 101 to move it to a next routing, a stopping control means 102 to stop the traveling by the signal of a receiver 17 to receive the signal from a transmitter 16 to execute respective types of the instruction with a remote operation and a means 103 to detect the reception abnormality of the receiver 17 are provided. Until an instruction from a transmitter 16 is received by the receiver 17 and the traveling distance detected by a rotation number sensor S4 arrives at a reference value, a steering control is executed based on the detecting information of profile sensors S1 and S2 and an azimuth sensor S3. When a traveling distance arrives at a reference value, turning is executed to a next routing, at this time, the reception abnormality is discriminated by the means 103 again and when the reception abnormality is continuously detected, the work is forcibly completed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a travel control means for controlling a work vehicle to automatically travel along each of a plurality of work strokes lined up in the width direction of the vehicle body. , turn control means for automatically turning the working vehicle toward the starting end of the next working stroke as the working vehicle reaches the end of one working stroke; and remotely instructing the working vehicle to stop traveling. Driving control of an automatic driving work vehicle, comprising a receiver that receives instruction information from a transmitter, and a stop control means that stops the work vehicle when the receiver receives instruction information to stop driving. Regarding equipment.

[Conventional technology]

The travel control device for the above-mentioned type of autonomous work vehicle is capable of remotely instructing the work vehicle, which travels automatically over multiple work processes lined up in the width direction of the vehicle body, to stop traveling. This allows the vehicle to travel automatically without setting a scheduled number of strokes.

However, if you forget to instruct the vehicle to stop, or if the instruction is delayed, the work may progress to a distance beyond which the vehicle can receive the instruction to stop the vehicle, and you may not be able to stop the vehicle. There is. For this reason, it is conceivable to provide means for detecting a reception abnormality in the receiver that receives the driving stop instruction information from the transmitter, and to immediately cause an emergency stop when the reception abnormality is detected.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when even one reception abnormality is detected, an emergency stop is immediately performed, which has the disadvantage that the work range in which automatic travel is possible is narrowed, and an improvement has been desired.

In other words, since multiple work strokes are set to line up in the width direction of the vehicle body, the work vehicle will move sequentially in the width direction of the vehicle body while reciprocating through each work stroke. The operator instructs the vehicle to stop traveling while monitoring the progress of the work at one end of the work process.

For this reason, if the vehicle is stopped immediately due to a reception error - times as in the past, if one work stroke is long, the work vehicle will not be able to function normally at one end of the work stroke when it approaches the transmitter's damper side. Even though it is possible to instruct the work vehicle to stop, there are cases where the work vehicle immediately stops traveling even if a reception error occurs when the work vehicle travels toward the other end of the work path away from the transmitter operator. The range of work that can be traveled will be restricted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent the inability to instruct the work vehicle to stop driving while widening the work range in which the work vehicle automatically travels as much as possible. There is a particular thing.

[Means for solving problems]

A characteristic configuration of the travel control device for an automatic traveling work vehicle according to the present invention is that reception abnormality detection means is provided for detecting whether or not the receiver has generated a reception abnormality before or during the turn of the work vehicle, The stop control means is configured to stop the work vehicle when there are consecutive turns in which reception abnormality has occurred based on the detection information of the reception abnormality detection means, and the operation and The effects are as follows.

[For production]

In other words, it is determined whether or not a reception abnormality is detected before or during a turn, and if there are consecutive turns in which a reception abnormality is detected, the vehicle is stopped.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, since the work vehicle is stopped when there are consecutive turns in which a reception abnormality is detected, the distance between the operator located at one end of the work path and the work vehicle that has traveled to the other end of the work path becomes large. Even if a reception error occurs, do not stop it immediately.
Automatic traveling can be performed until the distance between the operator and the work vehicle that has traveled to one end of the work path becomes large and a reception abnormality occurs. As a result, it is possible to accurately prevent the work vehicle from not stopping due to inability to receive an instruction to stop traveling, while making it possible to widen the work range in which the work vehicle can automatically travel as much as possible.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, a pair of left and right front wheels (1-
F) and a pair of left and right rear wheels (IR). A lawn mowing device (2) as a working device is suspended from the lower abdomen of the vehicle body so that it can be raised and lowered and stopped freely, and is used for cutting grass, weeds, etc. A work vehicle (V) is configured.

4, (3) is a hydraulic cylinder for lifting and lowering the lawn mowing device (2).

As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of work strokes are set in line in the width direction of the vehicle body, with the section from the - side to the opposite side of the rectangular uncut land (B) being set as one work stroke. The vehicle (V) automatically travels along its length in each work stroke, and as it reaches the end of one work stroke, it is moved to the start of the next work stroke adjacent to that work stroke. It is configured to automatically mowing a predetermined area by traveling back and forth through each work process while repeating turns.

However, in this embodiment, as will be described in detail later, the work area is surrounded by a rectangular uncut area (B) surrounded by an already cut area (C).
) This makes it possible to start automatic driving immediately from the first work process without having to divide the process into sections. In other words, the reference distance for the work process is automatically set based on the travel distance in the first work process, and each time the work vehicle (V) travels the set reference distance, the reference distance for the next work process is automatically set. I'm trying to make it turn automatically.

Further, the work vehicle (V) is configured to repeatedly move forward and backward for each stroke, and travel back and forth through a plurality of work strokes. Therefore, the turn to move to the next work stroke is made by traveling the reference distance. Accordingly, in the forward or reverse state, the vehicle body is moved sideways toward the starting end of the next work stroke without changing its direction, and then the vehicle is switched between forward and backward motion.

The work vehicle (V) is configured so that it can be driven not only automatically, but also by manual operation by a worker on board, or by remote control. By using a remote control configuration, various information during automatic driving can be instructed from outside the vehicle body.

To explain the control configuration of the work vehicle (V), the first
As shown in the figure, the front and rear wheels (LF).

Steering hydraulic cylinders (4F), (4R), and their control valves (5F) that operate each of the (IR) separately
.

(5R), a control valve (6) for the hydraulic cylinder (3) for raising and lowering the lawn mower (2), an electromagnetically operated clutch (7) for intermittent driving of the lawn mower (2), and forward/reverse switching. Based on the hydraulic continuously variable transmission device (8) that can freely change speeds in both forward and backward directions, its speed change motor (9), various travel control information set and stored in advance, and information detected by various sensors described later, Each control valve (5F), (5
R), (6) A microcomputer-based control device (lO) for controlling the clutch (7) and the variable speed motor (9) is provided.

However, using the control device (10), the work vehicle (
Travel control means (V) that automatically travels along the work process
100), turn control means (101) for moving the working vehicle (V) to the next working process, and instruction information from a transmitter (16) for remotely controlling various instructions to the working vehicle (V). stop control means (102) for stopping running based on information received by the receiver (17); and reception abnormality detection means (10) for detecting reception abnormality in the receiver (17).
3) will be configured.

In Fig. 1, (E) indicates the front and rear wheels (IF), (I
R) and an engine for driving the lawn mower (2), which is operatively connected to the transmission (8).

Further, (11) means that the transmission device (8) is operated during boarding operation.
), and (12) is a speed change arm of the speed change device (8), and neither the speed change motor (9) nor the speed change pedal (11) can operate the speed change device ( 8) is operatively connected to the speed change motor (9) and the speed change pedal (11).

However, the speed change motor (9) is configured to be able to be connected to and connected to the speed change arm (12) on and off using a manually operated clutch mechanism (13).

The clutch mechanism (13) is configured to be turned on and off by a manually operated clutch lever (14) (see FIG. 5). That is, during boarding operation, the clutch lever (14) disconnects the transmission motor (9) and the transmission arm (12), and during remote control or automatic driving, the clutch lever (14) is engaged to disconnect the transmission motor (12). 9) and the transmission arm (12) are linked together.

A clutch switch (S6) is provided for detecting the operating state of the clutch lever (14), and the control device (10) controls the control device (S6) based on the detection information of the clutch switch (SL) when a person gets on board and operates the clutch lever (14). It is determined whether the vehicle is in a running state (boarding operation) or a running state without a person on board (automatic driving or remote control).

Note that switching between automatic driving and remote control will be described later.

By the way, since the front and rear wheels (IF) and (IR) are configured to be able to be steered independently, the front and rear wheels (I
Select from three types of steering types: a parallel steering type in which the F) and (IR) are steered in the same phase, a four-wheel steering type in which the wheels are steered in opposite phases, and a two-wheel steering type in which only the front wheels (IF) are steered. It is now possible to do so. During remote control, the configuration is such that the parallel steering type and the four-wheel steering type can be switched by remote control, and during boarding operation, one of the three types of steering types is selected, although the explanation will be omitted. Selective use available.

However, during automatic driving, the above parallel steering type and 4
The system is configured to automatically switch between the wheel steering type and the wheel steering type.

Next, various sensors equipped on the work vehicle (V) will be explained.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the deviation in the width direction of the vehicle body with respect to the boundary (L) between the uncut area (B) and the cut area (C) as information indicating the position of the work process is A pair of left and right copying sensors (S+) and (St) to detect are located at the tips of four sensor support arms (15) extending in both the front and rear directions of the vehicle body from both ends of the working range of the lawn mowing device (2). provided for each.

Each of the copying sensors (s+) and (sz) includes a pair of light projecting section and a light receiving section that face each other in the vehicle width direction, and the light directed from the light projecting section to the light receiving section is directed toward the light receiving section. The unmowed land (B) is determined based on whether it is blocked by cut grass or not.
It is configured to detect separately whether it is a mown field (C) or a mown field (C).

During automatic driving, one of the four sets of copying sensors (St) and (SZ) provided at both the front and rear ends of the vehicle body is located on the front side with respect to the vehicle body traveling direction and on the boundary (L) side. One set is used to determine the deviation in the width direction of the vehicle body with respect to the boundary (+,).

To explain the determination of the deviation in the width direction of the vehicle body with respect to the boundary (L), the pair of copying sensors (St)
, (SZ), the copying sensor (S,) on the outside of the vehicle body
detects the mown field (C), and the tracing sensor (S2) on the inside of the vehicle body detects the unmown field (B),
It is determined that there is no deviation from the boundary (L).

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, an orientation sensor (S,) using a geomagnetic sensor is used to detect the orientation of the vehicle body relative to a preset reference orientation based on the length direction of the work process.
is attached to the rear end of the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 1, a rotation speed sensor (S4) is provided which is rotationally driven by the output of the transmission (8) and outputs a set number of pulse signals per unit rotation speed. Based on the distance traveled by the work vehicle (V), the distance traveled by the work vehicle (V) is detected.

In addition, a potentiometer (Ro
), a potentiometer (R1) for detecting the steering angle of each of the front and rear wheels (IF) and (IR).

(R2) and a vehicle speed detection potentiometer (R3) that indirectly detects the vehicle speed by detecting the operating state of the transmission (8).

To explain the transmitter (16), as shown in FIG. 2, it is a steering lever that instructs the target steering angle during remote control by moving left and right, and instructs to switch the steering type used by moving back and forth. (18), a gear shift lever (19) that switches between forward and backward motions and instructs the vehicle speed in both forward and reverse directions; a switch (20) for raising and lowering the lawn mower (2); a switch (20) for operating the lawn mower (2); A clutch switch (21) that instructs to intermittent drive, that is, to switch the working device between an operating state and a stopped state, a start switch (22) that instructs the start of automatic travel, a turn switch (23) that instructs the start of a turn, Each of the work end switches (24) is provided to issue an instruction to stop the work vehicle (V) and end the work.

In FIG. 2, (25) indicates a first mode (“0
”) and a second mode (“1゛) for remotely giving auxiliary instructions such as starting or stopping the work vehicle (V) during automatic driving.” It is a switch for

In other words, this radio control mode switching switch (25
), the transmitter (16) can instruct switching between remote control and automatic driving.

Although not shown in the drawings, there are provided various sensors for detecting the operating states of the levers and switches, and various transmitting devices for modulating the detected information and transmitting the modulated information to the receiver (17). It turns out.

Note that the transmitter (16) corresponds to each of the levers (1B).

(19) and the pulse signals output for each channel set corresponding to each switch (20) to (25) are pulse width modulated so that the pulse width corresponds to their operating state, and configured to transmit to said receiver (17).

Therefore, the control device (10) controls the receiver (17).
The instruction status of each instruction information by the transmitter (16) is determined based on the reception pulse width of each channel received by the transmitter (16).

Then, the control device (10) is used to determine whether or not the receiver (17) is receiving a signal from the transmitter (16), thereby detecting the presence or absence of a reception abnormality. In the control operation described later, the process of detecting the presence or absence of the reception abnormality is performed by the reception abnormality detection means (1).
03).

Incidentally, even if the reception pulse width and its period for each channel received by the receiver (17) are not within a preset appropriate range, it is treated as a reception abnormality.

Next, automatic traveling of the work vehicle (V) will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the clutch lever (14) is engaged to link the transmission (8) and the transmission motor (9), and the radio control mode changeover switch (25) of the transmitter (16) is turned on. After switching to the second mode selection state, the start switch (22) of the transmitter (16)
This will instruct the start of automatic driving. Then, the turn start in the first working process is performed by the transmitter (16).
), and the end of the work, that is, stopping of running, is given with the work end switch (24).

The control device (10) controls the direction sensor (S3) as the receiver (16) receives an instruction to start traveling.
After setting and storing the direction detected by the vehicle, that is, the direction of the vehicle body at the time of start of travel, as the reference direction for the first work process, the transmission device (
8) to start traveling, and by controlling the steering so that the direction detected by the direction sensor (s3) is within the set dead zone with respect to the reference direction, the machine moves along the length direction of the work process. The vehicle will be driven automatically.

In other words, as mentioned above, the planned work area is a rectangular uncut area (
If work is started without dividing into B), in the first work process, the boundary (L) between the uncut land (B) and the cut grass (C) is not formed, so the The boundary (
Since it is not possible to determine the deviation with respect to L), automatic running is performed only by using only the information detected by the azimuth sensor (s3) and by azimuth control that controls the running direction of the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 6, in each work process after this first work process, 1. Since the boundary (1,) between the uncut area (B) and the already cut area (C) is formed on the north side, each work process is lined up in the width direction of the vehicle while avoiding any uncut areas. In order to do this, the copying sensor (Sυ,
(S-Z) and the detection information of the azimuth sensor (S3) are both used to control the steering.

After the start of travel, the receiver (1
Based on the received information in step 7), it is determined whether or not an instruction to start a turn has been received, and when the instruction to start a turn is received, the start of running detected by the rotation speed sensor (S4) is determined. After setting the traveling distance from the point to the time when the turn start signal is received as the reference distance for each work process after the first work process tα, turn control to move to the next work process is started.

However, if the turn start instruction is not received, as described above, it is determined whether or not a reception abnormality is detected based on the reception information of the receiver (17), and if there is no reception abnormality, Steering control based only on the information detected by the azimuth sensor (S3) is repeated until the turn start instruction is received or a reception abnormality is detected.

When a reception abnormality is detected, first, it is determined whether the distance traveled from the star point has reached a preset distance or more, and if it has reached the preset distance or more, Similarly to the case where the turn start signal is received, the travel distance up to the time when the reception abnormality is detected is set and stored as the reference distance, and turn control is started.

Even if a reception abnormality is detected, if the distance traveled from the starting point has not reached the set distance or more, - To prevent malfunctions due to temporary reception abnormalities and to ensure safety. 1 until the reception abnormality is resolved. (!Next, the vehicle is stopped running and put on standby in a state where it can be resumed.

After turning for the next work process, the travel distance detected by the rotation speed sensor (S#) reaches the set and memorized reference distance, or the distance detected by the rotation speed sensor (S#) reaches the reference distance set and stored, or As described above, the copying sensor (
Steering control is performed based on Sυ, (S2) and the detection information of the orientation sensor (S,).

When the travel distance of the work vehicle (V) reaches the reference distance, the work vehicle (V) is made to turn for the next work process, and when an instruction to end the work is received, the work is ended. This will cause it to stop running.

However, if the travel distance reaches the reference distance, before starting the turn control, it is determined again whether or not a reception abnormality is detected, and if a reception abnormality is detected, the forced Be sure to finish the work in a timely manner.

In order to prevent the work from being forcibly terminated due to a malfunction or the like in the negative reception abnormality detection, the work is ended only when there are consecutive turns in which a reception abnormality is detected.

In other words, when a reception abnormality is detected, it is determined whether or not a termination notice flag indicating that there was a turn in which a reception abnormality was detected is set, and if the termination notice flag is set, the work As in the case where a termination instruction is received, the work is terminated and traveling is stopped.

If a reception abnormality is not detected, the end notice flag is reset and the turn control is started, and if a reception abnormality is detected and the end notice flag is not set. , the end notice flag is set and the turn control is started.

Finally, since the work vehicle (V) travels back and forth during the work process, it is determined whether or not instruction information from the transmitter (16) can be received each time it travels a reference distance. If there are consecutive turns in which reception abnormality is detected, 1.
For safety reasons, the work is forced to end.

Therefore, in the first work process, steering control is performed only based on the detection information of the orientation sensor (S3), and in the subsequent work process, the steering control is performed based on the information detected by the copying sensors (s,), (Sz) and the orientation sensor (S,). A series of processes for steering control based on detected information are performed by a travel control means (100 ).

Moreover, in the first working process, the receiver (17
) makes a turn when the turn start signal is received, and in the subsequent work process, makes the work vehicle (V) turn every time the traveling distance reaches the reference distance, which corresponds to the turn control means (101). Therefore, when an instruction to end the work is received, or when there are consecutive turns in which a reception abnormality is detected, the process of completing the work and stopping the vehicle is a stop control means that stops the work vehicle (V). (102).

To explain the steering control, the direction sensor (S
, ) deviates from the reference direction, the front and rear wheels (IF) , (
IR) to control the direction of the vehicle and correct the orientation of the vehicle.
If the position in the vehicle width direction determined by the scanning sensors (s+), (sz) deviates from the boundary (L), the front and rear wheels (IF), (IR
) to correct the position in the width direction of the vehicle body.

In addition, if there is no deviation in both the vehicle body direction and the vehicle body width direction with respect to the boundary (L), the front and rear wheels (IF),
(IR) is maintained in a neutral steering state corresponding to a straight-ahead state.

Further, in each of the azimuth control and the copying control, the steering control performs a process of returning the front and rear wheels (IF) and (IR) to the steering neutral position after steering them to the set steering angle. This is set as a unit sequence.

Therefore, if the positional deviation in the direction of the vehicle body or in the width direction is not resolved by - times of steering control, the above process is repeated every time steering control is performed.

To explain the turn control, as mentioned above, the work vehicle (V) repeats forward and backward movement, and uses the parallel steering type to travel a set distance at the maximum turning angle in order to travel back and forth during each work stroke. By running it, the vehicle is moved closer to the next work stroke side and then switched between forward and backward travel.

[Another example]

In the above embodiment, the case is illustrated in which the vehicle moves back and forth repeatedly for each stroke and travels back and forth through a plurality of work strokes. The turn control means (101) may be moved to the next working stroke while being reversed, and the specific configuration of the turn control means (101) can be changed in various ways.

Further, in the above embodiment, when a reception abnormality is detected in the first work process, the turn control is started, but the turn control may be stopped and waited until the reception abnormality is resolved. For safety, the work may be forcibly terminated.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the scheduled work area is a rectangular uncut area (
B) In order to be able to start automatic driving from the first working process, the driving control means (100) is set in the reference orientation set based on the orientation of the vehicle body at the time of starting the driving in the first working process. Then, in the subsequent work process, the direction of travel is the reference direction, and the vehicle is steered along the boundary (L) between the unmoved area (B) and the mowed area (C). We have given an example of a case where the steering is controlled so that both the direction of the vehicle body and the width direction of the vehicle body are in the appropriate state for automatic driving. If the area is divided, the boundary (L) between the uncut area (B) and the cut area (C) is determined from the first work process.
Orientation control and tracing control may be used together so that the vehicle automatically travels along the following directions.

Further, in the above embodiment, the reception abnormality is detected before the turn starts, but the reception abnormality may be detected during the turn.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a lawn mowing work vehicle is illustrated, but the present invention can be applied to various work vehicles, and the specific configuration of the work device and the work vehicle, as well as the Various modifications can be made to the specific configuration for automatically driving the work vehicle along each of the plurality of work routes.

Incidentally, although reference numerals are written in the claims section for convenient comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings by the reference numerals.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the travel control device for an automatic traveling work vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the control configuration, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control configuration.
3 is a control flowchart for automatic travel, FIG. 4 is an overall side view of the working vehicle, FIG. 5 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the working area. (V)...Work vehicle, (16)...Transmitter, (17)...Receiver, (100)...
... Travel control means, (101) ... Turn control means, (102) ... Stop control means, (103
)...Reception abnormality detection means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Travel control means (100) for controlling the work vehicle (V) to automatically travel along each of a plurality of work strokes lined up in the width direction of the vehicle body, the work vehicle (V) having one work stroke; Turn control means (
101), a receiver (17) that receives instruction information from a transmitter (16) that remotely instructs the work vehicle (V) to stop traveling; the receiver (17) receives instruction information to stop traveling; A travel control device for an automatic traveling work vehicle, which is provided with stop control means (102) for stopping the work vehicle (V) in accordance with the reception of a turn start or a turn of the work vehicle (V). A reception abnormality detection means (103) is provided therein for detecting whether or not a reception abnormality has occurred in the receiver (17), and the stop control means (102) detects whether or not the reception abnormality detection means (103) A travel control device for an automatically traveling work vehicle configured to stop the work vehicle (V) when there are consecutive turns in which a reception abnormality occurs based on the information.