JPH03273310A - Guiding equipment for cleaning work vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily indicate running control information for a cleaning work vehicle and control information related to the operation of a cleaning work device by storing running control information and work information of the cleaning work vehicle in an indicating tool provided on the ground side. CONSTITUTION:Running control information for automatic running of the cleaning work vehicle and control information for work are stored in an indicating tool A. A reader 7 is provided with a position detecting means P which detects the position of the indicating tool A. A controller 19 automatically runs the cleaning work vehicle and discriminates which cleaning device 12 should be operated based on information of the reader 7 and the position detecting means P. That is, a rotary brush 9, a sprinkler 10, and a waste water recovering device 11 are selected in accordance with a cleaning place to perform the cleaning work.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to guiding equipment for a cleaning vehicle.

[Conventional technology]

For example, when cleaning the floors of a store, the floors may have different finishes, such as tiled areas and carpeted areas. It is also desirable to change the content of the cleaning work depending on the surface to be cleaned, such as wiping with water for tiled areas and only brushing for carpeted areas.

Therefore, in order to automatically perform cleaning work while running a cleaning work vehicle automatically, travel control information regarding the travel route of the cleaning work vehicle and control information regarding the cleaning work device to be operated must be correlated with each other. It is necessary to give it.

Therefore, as a means of instructing the cleaning work vehicle to travel control information and control information for operating the cleaning work equipment, for example, map information regarding the work range is stored, and information related to the map information is stored. It has been considered to store a work table or the like for each work location.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] If all travel control information and work information are stored in the work vehicle, the amount of information to be managed by the work vehicle increases, which has the disadvantage of complicating the control configuration. . Furthermore, in the above-mentioned stores, etc., the travel routes of work vehicles and the content of cleaning work for work areas often change due to changes in the layout of product displays, etc. Therefore, if all travel control information and work information are stored in the work vehicle, it will be necessary to replace the control information stored in the work vehicle every time the travel route or work content is changed. It is troublesome to operate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to easily instruct a cleaning vehicle with travel control information and control information regarding the operation of a cleaning device. It is in.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A characteristic configuration of the guidance equipment for a cleaning work vehicle according to the present invention is that a plurality of indicating tools for storing running control information and work information of the cleaning work vehicle are provided on the ground side. travel control means for causing the work vehicle to automatically travel based on travel control information read by the memory information of the indicating tool; A work control means for controlling the operation is provided.

[For production]

Travel control information and work information of the cleaning work vehicle are stored in each of a plurality of indicating tools provided on the ground side, and the cleaning work vehicle is automatically driven based on the information read by the indicating tools, and the cleaning work device is operated. This eliminates the need for the mobile vehicle to store travel control information for the work area to which it travels and information for controlling the operation of the cleaning work device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the mobile vehicle does not need to store travel control information for the work area it travels or information that controls the operation of cleaning work equipment, it is possible to simply change the memory contents of the indicating device installed on the ground side. The travel route and work content can be easily changed without changing the control configuration of the moving vehicle. This makes it possible to easily instruct the cleaning vehicle with travel control information and control information regarding the operation of the cleaning device, and to simplify the control configuration on the mobile vehicle side.

〔Example〕

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

As shown in Fig. 2, a cleaning work vehicle (an indicator device that stores travel control information and work control information, which will be described later), is placed on the ground side, which is the floor surface of a store or the like where the cleaning work is performed. A plurality of pieces (A) are embedded in the floor surface in a distributed arrangement in a grid pattern.

To explain the indicator (A), the work vehicle (B
), the distance to the next adjacent pointing tool (A), and the traveling speed are stored as traveling control information regarding the traveling route on which the work vehicle (B) is automatically traveling;
And, for example, in order to enable wiping with water when the floor surface is tiled, and only brushing when the floor surface is carpeted, each of the indicating tools (A) Floor material information indicating the state of the location to which the mark is attached is stored as work control information.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a pair of loop-shaped receiving antennas (1a) and transmitting antennas (2a),
Power supply antennas (3a) for receiving operating power supplied from the outside are arranged concentrically from the inner circumference to the outer circumference in that order in plan view. Flooring materials such as tiles that cover the floor surface and are constructed of an electromagnetic type that transmits and receives stored information using
It is incorporated into the lower part of the.

Therefore, the indicator (A) is operated by electric power given from the outside via the power supply antenna (3a) for power reception, and based on the command given via the reception antenna (1a), the The stored information is transmitted via the antenna (2a). Although not described in detail, power is supplied by the power supply antenna (3a) to the receiving antenna (la) and the transmitting antenna (3a).
A signal with a frequency lower than the frequency of the electromagnetic waves used for transmitting and receiving information according to 2a) is used, and power is mainly supplied by magnetic coupling.

In addition, in order to be able to respond to changes in the cleaning content for the floor surface, changes in the travel route, etc., the instruction tool (A)
is configured such that its stored information can be freely rewritten.

To explain the work vehicle (B), Figs. 1 and 3
As shown in the figure, four running wheels (6), each of which can change direction independently and are driven to rotate by an electric motor (5) for propulsion, are provided on each of the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body. A reader (7) serving as a reading means for reading the information stored in the indicating tool (A) is provided at approximately the center lower part of the indicator to detect the traveling distance and traveling speed based on the number of rotations of the traveling wheels (6). An encoder (8) is provided. Further, at the front of the vehicle body, there is a rotary brush (9,) for performing rebrushing by wiping the floor surface with water, and a water sprinkling device () for supplying cleaning water for wiping to the rotary brush (9).
10), and a vacuum-type sewage recovery device (11) for suctioning and recovering sprayed cleaning water, dust, etc. is provided on the rear side of the rotating brush (9). That is, the rotary brush (9), the water sprinkling device (10), and the sewage recovery device (11) are connected to the cleaning work device (1).
This corresponds to 2). In FIG. 3, (13) is a tank for supplying cleaning water to the water sprinkling device (10), (
14) is a wastewater tank for collecting collected wastewater and dust.

To explain the reader (7), as shown in FIG. 1, it has a receiving antenna (1b), a transmitting antenna (2b), and a power supply having the same size and the same arrangement as the pointing device (A). The power supply antenna (3b) includes an antenna (3b) and fluctuates in output of the power supply antenna (3b) depending on the degree of magnetic coupling between the power supply antenna (3a) on the indicator side and the power supply antenna (3b) on the reader side. Five pickup coils (PI), (P2), (P3) that detect
, (P4), and (PC).

The five pickup coils (PI), (P2).

One (PC) of (P3), (P4), (PC)
) is arranged at the center of the power supply antenna (3b) in plan view, and the other four (Pi), (P2), (
P3) and (P4) are arranged in pairs so that they are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and the width direction of the vehicle body, respectively.
They are arranged on each of the four sides of the outer edge of the power supply antenna (3b).

To explain, the power supply antenna (3) on the indicator side
a) and the power supply antenna (3b) on the reader side,
Since power is exchanged mainly by magnetic coupling, the degree of electromagnetic coupling is maximum when the distance between them is the shortest, and as a result, the power supply antenna (3b) on the reader side Each pickup coil (PI), (P2), (P3), (P4),
The voltage induced in (PC) is minimized. Therefore, a pair of pickup coils (
PL, P2).

(P3. P4) Taking the difference between the respective detection signal levels,
As shown in FIG. 8, the relative position (
A signal having a value corresponding to d) will be obtained.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each of the pickup coils (Pi), (P2), and (P3).

The signal levels generated at (P4) and (PC) are affected by distance fluctuations in the direction of movement and in the vertical direction with respect to the power supply antenna (3a) on the pointing device side. The difference in the detection signal level between objects can be calculated from the sum of the detection signal levels in the initial state without the indicator (A) (shown by the broken line in the figure) to the sum of the detection signal levels in the state with the indicator (A) (indicated by the broken line in the figure). Normalize by dividing by the value obtained by subtracting the value (shown by the solid line).

However, if the distances between the two sides located opposite each other are large, the detection accuracy near the center of the power supply antenna (3b) will decrease, as shown in FIG. The detection signal of the central pickup coil (PC) is used to correct the sum of the detection signal levels. In Fig. 1, (15) indicates each of the pickup coils (PL), (P2), (P3), (P
4), a rectifier circuit that detects the detection signal level of (PC), (16) a subtracter that calculates an output difference, and (17) an adder that calculates an output sum.

Therefore, the four pickup coils (PI).

The value obtained by dividing the difference (P2-PI) between the detection signals between the two sides of (P2), (P3), and (P4) located on the left and right sides by the sum of those signals and the one located in the center (P1+P2+PC) can be used as information corresponding to the relative position (d) of the pointing tool (A) and the work vehicle (B) in the left-right direction (X). Similarly, the value obtained by dividing the difference (P4-P3) between the detection signals of the objects located on the front and rear sides by the sum of those signals and that of the object located in the center (P3+P4+PC) is calculated by (B) in the anteroposterior direction (
It can be used as information corresponding to the relative position (d) in y). That is, the five pickup coils (PI), (P2), and (P3).

(P4) and (PC) correspond to the position detection means (P) that detects the relative position with respect to the pointing tool (A).

The information on the relative position to the indicator (A) in the vehicle width direction detected by the position detection means (P) is together with the information on the distance between the two indicator tools (A) adjacent in the running direction. , is used as steering control information for correcting the inclination of the working vehicle (B) with respect to the traveling direction each time the vehicle (B) travels between two pointing tools adjacent in the traveling direction. Note that the relative position information with respect to the indicator (A) in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body is used as information for identifying the reading position of the indicator (A) by the reader (7).

Next, a control configuration for automatically performing cleaning work while automatically driving the working vehicle (B) based on the memory information of the pointing tool (A) and the information of the position detecting means (P) will be explained. explain.

As shown in FIG. 1, the running wheels (6) are rotationally driven based on the information read by the reader (7), the information from the position detection means (P), and the information from the encoder (8). Travel control means (100) that controls the operation of the propulsion electric motor (5) and the steering electric motor (18) for changing the direction and steering the traveling wheels (6).
), and a work control means (101) that controls the operation of the rotating brush (9) as a cleaning work device (12), the water sprinkling device (10), and the sewage recovery device (11). A control device (19) is provided.

To explain the operation of the control device (19), when a travel start command is given, the instruction tool (A)
If there is an indicator (A), it determines which of the cleaning work devices (12) to operate based on the read memory information, that is, the work information for the floor surface. If it is determined that the carpet is tiled, all of the rotating brush (9), the water sprinkling device (10), and the sewage recovery device (11) are operated to wipe the carpet. In some cases, the rotating brush (9) and the sewage recovery device (11) are operated to perform the brushing work.

At the same time, information on the distance and direction to the next pointing tool read by the reader (7) and the position detecting means (P
) and the information from the encoder (8), the inclination of the actual travel route with respect to the target travel route that virtually connects adjacent pointing tools is determined, and the next pointing tool (A) is determined.
The electric motor for steering control (18) is operated to control the steering so that the deviation from the target travel route becomes zero when the vehicle has traveled up to
The vehicle will run autonomously at the speed instructed by A).

Incidentally, as mentioned above, the leader (7) is connected to the indicator (A>
Each time the stored information is read, the direction of movement of the indicator (A) is read based on the information of the relative position to the indicator (A) in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle detected by the position detection means (P). In addition to identifying the position, the detected distance by the encoder (8) is corrected to prevent errors in the detected distance from accumulating. Then, based on the detected distance information and the read distance information between the pointing devices, it is determined whether or not the driver has deviated from the travel route, and if the driver has deviated from the travel route, an emergency emergency is carried out for safety. It's meant to be stopped.

Therefore, the work vehicle (B) is simply instructed to start traveling, and after that, it runs autonomously based only on the information read by each of the instruction tools (A), and performs cleaning work according to the flooring material. It is now possible to have this happen automatically.

Therefore, even if, for example, the travel route of the work vehicle (B) or the content of work on the floor changes due to a change in the layout of product display in a store, etc., all that is required is to rewrite the memory contents of the ground-side indicating tool (A). , there is no need to change the control configuration of the work vehicle (B), and equipment changes can be made easily.

[Separate solid line side]

In the above embodiment, the cleaning vehicle (B) is configured to run autonomously, but for example, a magnetic or optical traveling guide may be attached along the traveling route, and the cleaning vehicle (B) may be configured to travel autonomously. (B) may be provided with a means for detecting these traveling kites so that the traveling kites are caused to travel automatically along the traveling guide.

In the above embodiment, a case where the cleaning vehicle (B) is configured to clean the floor surface on which it travels was illustrated, but the present invention can also be applied when cleaning the ceiling surface, wall surface, etc. The specific configuration of each part, such as the configuration of the pointing tool (A) and the work vehicle (B), which are applicable and necessary to carry out the present invention, can be changed in various ways.

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.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the guidance equipment for a cleaning work vehicle according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the control configuration, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the travel route and layout of the indicating tool, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the working vehicle, FIG. 4 is a cutaway plan view showing the configuration of the indicator, FIG. 5 is a sectional view thereof, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are explanatory diagrams of relative position detection. (A) Indicator, (B) Cleaning vehicle, (P) Position detection means, (7)
. . . Reading means, (12) . . . Cleaning work device, (100) . . . Travel control means, (10
1)...Work control means. Figure 4"4I:l Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of indicating tools (A) for storing traveling control information and work information of the cleaning work vehicle (B) are provided on the ground side, and the working vehicle (B) is provided with a plurality of indicating tools (A) for storing travel control information and work information of the cleaning work vehicle (B). A reading means (7) for reading information; a travel control means (100) for automatically driving the work vehicle (B) based on the travel control information read by the reading means (7); Work control means (101) that controls the operation of the cleaning work device (12) based on the read work information
Guidance equipment for cleaning work vehicles equipped with