JPH04333903A - Travel controller for self-traveling vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely monitor the inside of a working site or to recognize the condition as well as arbitrarily and easily setting the traveling route of a self- traveling vehicle. CONSTITUTION:An image photographed by a video camera 5 on a self-traveling vehicle 3 is transmitted to a monitor device 10 of a monitor center 8 by a transmitter 13, and the condition of the working site is monitored. Traveling route map data are transmitted from a traveling route map generator 9 of the monitor center 8 to the self-traveling vehicle 3, the position of the self- traveling vehicle is calculated by comparing these traveling route map data with the image data of a working site traveling route obtained by binarizing the image photographed by the video camera 5, and the self-traveling vehicle 3 is automatically traveled within the working site based on these position data and traveling route map data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a travel control device for self-propelled vehicles that automatically travel through factories, work sites, etc., and in particular, self-propelled vehicles that enable monitoring and situational awareness within work sites through automatic travel. The present invention relates to a travel control device.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, methods for monitoring work conditions in factories, work sites, etc. include (a) methods in which a supervisor goes directly to the site and confirms the site condition with the eyes of a supervisor; (b) A system in which a television camera is installed at a specific location on the site, and the site conditions captured by the television camera are reproduced on a monitor screen at a monitoring center for monitoring. (c) A self-driving mobile vehicle is equipped with a computer and a television camera to control it, and the vehicle is driven along a course predetermined by the computer, and the site situation photographed by the television camera is sent to a monitoring center. A system that transmits data to and monitors it. and so on.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, the above (
Method a) requires a person to go directly to the site, which increases the time, distance, and economic burden, and also increases the human burden on the observer. In addition, (b) above
With this method, it is not possible to monitor the site situation that would be a blind spot for the TV camera, and if there were no blind spot, the number of TV cameras installed at the work site would be enormous.
There is a problem of high cost and lack of feasibility. Furthermore, in the method (c) above, only a predetermined course can be automatically traveled, and the program for setting the course is complicated, and manual operation may be required in some cases. Furthermore, if full automation is attempted, the program for automatic driving will become even more complicated, and the product will also be a custom-made system, resulting in an expensive system that increases the initial cost of the product. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides travel control for a self-propelled vehicle that allows the travel route of the self-propelled vehicle to be arbitrarily and easily set, and that ensures monitoring and situational awareness within the work site. The purpose is to provide equipment.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a self-propelled vehicle that automatically travels within the site premises, a video camera mounted on the self-propelled vehicle for photographing the site premises, and a video camera mounted on the self-propelled vehicle for photographing the site premises. A transmitter installed in a self-driving vehicle and transmitting an image signal taken by the video camera to a monitoring center; and a transmitter that binarizes the image taken by the video camera to generate image data for a driving route for position recognition. An image processing circuit to be created, a receiver for receiving driving route map data transmitted from a monitoring center, and comparing the driving route map data received by the receiver with the image data from the image processing circuit. a processing means that determines the position of the self-propelled vehicle and determines the travel route of the self-propelled vehicle based on the position data and the travel route map data; and a self-propelled vehicle that is controlled according to the travel route data from the processing means. a drive means for driving the vehicle along a travel route; a route map generation means provided in the monitoring center for determining a travel route of the self-propelled vehicle within the site premises; and a route map generated by the route map generation means. A transmitter for transmitting data to the self-propelled vehicle; and a monitor provided in the monitoring center for receiving image signals sent from the transmitter of the self-propelled vehicle and displaying the on-site situation. Features.

[0005]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of this embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a site of a factory, workshop, etc., and within this site site 1, obstacles 2 such as materials and working machines are arbitrarily scattered. 3 is a self-propelled vehicle that travels along a travel route 4 within the site premises 1 while avoiding obstacles 2; A video camera 5, a transmitting antenna 6, and a receiving antenna 7 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the monitoring center are installed. At the monitoring center 8, a self-propelled vehicle 3
A route map generation device 9 consisting of a personal computer etc. that calculates travel route map data etc. and sends it to the self-propelled vehicle 3; and a monitor device 10 that monitors photographed images of the site site transmitted from the self-propelled vehicle 3. is installed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of the self-propelled vehicle 3, route map generation device, and monitor device. In the figure, a video camera 5 is installed on a pan head 11 having a built-in rotating and tilting mechanism. A drive circuit 12 is connected to the pan head 11 to drive and control the rotating and tilting mechanism. Further, an image processing circuit 15 is connected to the video camera 5 via a transmitter 13 that transmits the captured image and an A/D conversion circuit 14. Reference numeral 16 denotes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) that controls the entire system, and to this CPU 16, a pan head drive circuit 12 is connected via a D/A conversion circuit 17, and an image processing circuit 15 is also connected. Also, C
A receiver 18 is connected to the PU 16 via an A/D conversion circuit 19, which receives travel route map data, pan head operation data, etc. transmitted from the monitoring center 8, and also receives travel route map data, etc. A memory 20 for storing data is connected. Reference numeral 21 denotes an ultrasonic, infrared, or other sensor that detects the distance from the vehicle 3 to the obstacle 2 and the direction of the obstacle 2, and this sensor 21 is connected to the CPU 16 via an A/D conversion circuit 22. 23 is a self-propelled vehicle drive control circuit, this drive control circuit 23 is connected to the CPU 16 via a D/A conversion circuit 24, and the drive control circuit 23 includes a drive wheel motor 25 of the self-propelled vehicle 3 and a steering wheel. motors 26 are connected to each.

The route map generation device 9 includes a CPU 91 that controls and manages the entire system, an input device 92 that is connected to the CPU 91 and includes a keyboard, etc., and a floppy disk that stores floor plan data of the work site, traveling route map data, etc. etc., a memory 94 for temporarily storing driving route map data and pan head operation data inputted from the input device 92, and a D/A to the CPU 91.
A transmitter 96 is connected via a conversion circuit 95 and transmits driving route map data etc. to the self-propelled vehicle 3, and a D is connected to the CPU 91.
It is composed of a display device 98 such as a CRT connected via a /A conversion circuit 97. In addition, the monitor device 10
is composed of a receiver 101 that receives an image signal sent from the self-propelled vehicle 3, and a television receiver 102 that displays the image signal received by the receiver 101.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, the input device 92 is operated to read the entire plan view data of the work site site 7 from the external storage device 93, and the data is outputted to the display device 98 through the CPU 91 and the D/A conversion circuit 97 for display. Next, while looking at the site plan displayed on the screen of the display device 98, the driver determines a desired driving route within the monitoring area. Thereafter, by operating the input device 92, the driving area and driving route map data are read from the external storage device 93, and the driving route map of the self-propelled vehicle 3 is stored in the CPU 91.
, and temporarily stores it in the memory 94. Thereafter, the travel route map data temporarily stored in the memory 94 is read out, converted into an analog quantity by the D/A conversion circuit 95, and inputted to the transmitter 96. The transmitter 96 modulates the travel route map data and transmits it to the self-propelled vehicle 3. At this time, the operation data of the pan head 11 and the self-propelled vehicle 3,
Data such as initial operation of the video camera is also transmitted at the same time.

On the self-propelled vehicle 3 side, the travel route map data including the site plan and other transmitted data sent from the monitoring center 8 are sent to the receiver 18 through the antenna 7.
After receiving and demodulating the signal, it is taken into the CPU 16 through the A/D conversion circuit 19 and stored in the memory 20. Thereafter, the video camera 5 is started by the start signal to start photographing. The image signal photographed by the video camera 5 is modulated by the transmitter 13 and transmitted from the antenna 6 to the monitoring center 8. In the monitoring center 8, the image signal is received by the receiver 101 of the monitor device 10, and the image signal is received by the receiver 101 of the monitor device 10.
By outputting images of the work site to the receiver 102,
to be displayed. Therefore, by viewing the image displayed on the screen of the receiver 102, the situation at the work site can be monitored.

On the other hand, the image taken by the video camera 5 is binarized frame by frame by the A/D conversion circuit 14 and input to the image processing circuit 15. The image processing circuit 15 generates image data for travel route recognition by subjecting the binarized input image to filtering processing such as smoothing and edge extraction for each frame. This image data is compared with travel route map data stored in the memory 20, and thereby the position of the self-propelled vehicle 3 within the site is determined. Then, based on this position data and travel route map data, the CPU 15
A travel command is output to the self-propelled vehicle drive control circuit 23 through the /A conversion circuit 24. The drive control circuit 23 drives the drive wheel motor 25 and the steered wheel motor 26 in accordance with the travel command signal, thereby causing the self-propelled vehicle 3 to automatically travel along the travel route 4 in FIG. 1 .

Images taken by the video camera 5 as the self-propelled vehicle 3 travels are transmitted through a transmitter 13 to a monitor device 10 in a monitoring center 8, which sequentially monitors the images taken along the travel route. At the same time, the image taken by the video camera 5 is processed by the image processing circuit 15, and then compared with travel route map data, the position of the self-propelled vehicle 3 is recognized and the self-propelled vehicle 3 is caused to travel along the route 4. Obstacles 2 scattered within the site premises 1 are recognized by image processing, and the distance and direction to the obstacles 2 are detected by the sensor 21. Based on this detection data and the recognition data of the obstacles 2, obstacles 2 are recognized. By executing the object avoidance routine, the self-propelled vehicle 3 is caused to avoid the object. That is, the self-propelled vehicle 3 is moved to a turning point while avoiding obstacles 2, and after confirming whether it matches the route map, the self-propelled vehicle 3 is caused to change direction and drive.

In this embodiment, the self-propelled vehicle 3
Since it is equipped with a video camera 5 and is driven around the site, there is no need for humans to go directly to the site, unlike in the past.
In addition to greatly reducing human costs, since the video camera 5 photographs the scene while driving, only one video camera is required, and there are no blind spots in monitoring the scene situation. In addition, the driving route map data necessary for driving the self-propelled vehicle 3 is
The route map can be determined by simply creating it with the route map generation device 9 in the monitoring center and transmitting it to the self-propelled vehicle 3, and obstacles can be avoided through image processing, so there is no need for complicated programs like in the past. In addition to being versatile, it can significantly reduce the economic burden. Furthermore, since the driving route can be changed arbitrarily according to on-site conditions, there is no need for a strict driving program or feedback system. In addition,
The present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the above embodiments,
Various changes may be made without departing from the scope set forth in the claims.

[0013]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the monitoring center generates a travel route map of a self-propelled vehicle, transmits this travel route map data to the self-propelled vehicle, and
The image data of the driving route is extracted from images taken with a video camera, and the position of the self-propelled vehicle is determined by comparing this image data with the driving route map data, and is obtained based on this position data and the driving route map data. Since the self-propelled vehicle is configured to automatically travel along the travel route, the travel route of the self-propelled vehicle can be arbitrarily and easily set, and
It is possible to reliably monitor and recognize the situation within the work site while driving automatically.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Site site 3 Self-propelled vehicle 5 Video camera 8. Monitoring center 9 Route map generation device 10 Monitor device 13 Transmitter 15 Image processing circuit 16 CPU 18 Receiver 23 Self-propelled vehicle drive control circuit 25, 26 motor 91 CPU 92 Input device 96 Transmitter

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A self-propelled vehicle that automatically travels within the site premises;
a video camera mounted on the self-propelled vehicle for photographing the site premises; a transmitter installed on the self-propelled vehicle for transmitting an image signal photographed by the video camera to a monitoring center; and an image photographed by the video camera. an image processing circuit that binarizes and creates driving route image data for position recognition; a receiver that receives driving route map data transmitted from a monitoring center; Processing means for determining the position of the self-propelled vehicle by comparing travel route map data with image data from the image processing circuit, and determining the travel route of the self-propelled vehicle based on this position data and the travel route map data. a drive means that is controlled according to the travel route data from the processing means and causes the self-propelled vehicle to travel along the travel route; and a drive means that is provided in the monitoring center and is configured to control the travel route of the self-propelled vehicle within the site premises. a route map generation means for determining a route map, a transmitter for transmitting the route map data generated by the route map generation means to the self-propelled vehicle, and an image provided in the monitoring center and sent from the transmitter of the self-propelled vehicle. A travel control device for a self-propelled vehicle, comprising: a monitor means for receiving a signal and displaying the on-site situation.