JPH0436404B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (1) Industrial application field This invention relates to a driving device, a braking device, and a
The present invention relates to a guidance control device for guiding a ground vehicle equipped with a steering control device using a highly directional signal wave such as a laser beam and controlling its operation.

(2) Conventional technologies and problems Conventionally, for the above-mentioned ground vehicles, electric guidance methods using guide wires buried underground or laid on the ground surface, and reflective tapes attached to the ground surface have been used. Optical guidance method using reflected light from the vehicle, or without guidance from outside the vehicle, using data from a direction detector such as a gyro mounted on the vehicle and an encoder that measures the distance traveled from the point where the direction is switched. There are technologies that control travel using a predetermined program, but methods using guide wires and reflective tape require a great deal of cost and effort to create, maintain, and change guidance routes, and program control methods also have a problem with travel distance data. There were problems such as errors occurring and the need to change the program each time the route was changed.

Therefore, in order to solve such problems, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-64818 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-
As disclosed in Publication No. 139212, a technique has been proposed for automatically guiding a ground moving object using a laser beam. Because the route is designed to be formed using
There are problems such as increased costs and complicated equipment for the entire route.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a guidance control device for a ground vehicle that simplifies the formation of a guidance route using highly directional signal waves such as laser beams. be.

(3) Means for solving the problems In order to solve the above problems, this invention
Guidance signal scanning means for scanning highly directional guidance signals arranged on each of a plurality of specific external guidance routes for guiding the ground vehicle from the outside according to a predetermined route pattern; and a guidance signal attached to the ground vehicle. A detector, a direction detector attached to the ground vehicle, and while the ground vehicle is on the external guidance route, the output of the guidance signal detector is used as a control input, and the ground vehicle is on the two external guidance routes. an arithmetic unit for controlling the traveling/steering control device using the output of the direction detector as a control input while on the self-guidance route; a memory for storing the reference direction when traveling on the self-guidance route; A control mounted on a ground vehicle having input switching means for switching the device and the control input and storing the output of the direction detector in the storage device at a turning point from an external guidance route to a self-guidance route. A guidance control device for a ground vehicle is provided.

(4) Effect In the guidance and control system for a ground vehicle of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the ground vehicle has the following features:
External guidance is provided by a signal supplied to the guidance signal detector from the guidance signal scanning means disposed in each of these parts, and in the straight path portion between these specific parts, the direction of transition to the straight path is recorded in the storage device. The control device compares the output direction of the direction detector with this direction as a reference direction, and controls the travel/steering control device based on the comparison result to self-guide the ground vehicle. Then, when entering the next external guidance section, the control device performs control again using the guidance signal supplied from the guidance signal scanning means.

(5) Embodiment In FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser beam scanning device 1 emits a laser beam L with sharp directivity from above the road surface G on which the ground vehicle 2 runs, for example, as indicated by the symbol A in FIG. Scans in one direction or in a reciprocating manner on a flat or curved surface at a constant angle. The laser beam L scanned in this way is applied to the ground vehicle 2.
is incident as a guiding signal on a first laser beam detector 3 ₁ and a second laser beam detector 3 ₂ which are mounted on the front and back of the upper part of the laser beam detector 3 2 with their center lines aligned with each other,
For example, a pattern as shown by solid lines in FIGS. 3 and 4 is drawn on a horizontal plane S including laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂ parallel to the road surface G. 3 and 4 show examples of branching parts and intersections of the running route of the ground vehicle, and these parts form an external guidance route E along which the ground vehicle 2 is guided by the laser beam L from the outside. There is. In addition, the straight line portion between these external guidance paths E indicated by the dashed line is
This is a self-guidance route in which the ground vehicle 2 is self-guided in accordance with the output from a direction sensor, which will be described later, without relying on laser beam scanning.

The straight portion D and the curved portion C of the external guide path E are formed by scanning the laser beam L on a plane and on a curved surface, respectively. In addition,
The points indicated by the symbol X in FIG.
). Note that it is desirable that these boundary beams UL intersect on the plane S, as shown in FIG. Moreover, each scanning range forming each external guidance path E is
The laser beam scanning devices 1 shown in the figure may be provided individually for scanning, or one laser beam scanning device 1 may emit a plurality of beams for scanning. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, each external guidance route E is controlled by a route center signal L _C indicating the center of the route, and route width signals L L , which are scanned with a constant width d to the left and right of the route parallel to the center signal L _C . It can also be formed with L _R. In this case, a pattern with a path width as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3 is formed on the plane S. Furthermore, it is desirable to include information that can be distinguished from each other in the path center signal L _C and the path width signals L _L and L _R , respectively.

Next, an embodiment of the control system on the ground vehicle side of the guidance control device of the present invention will be described.

In FIG. 5, the first and second laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂ detect the laser beam L when the ground vehicle 2 is on the external guidance path, and their outputs are supplied to the arithmetic unit 4 . Then, the arithmetic unit 4 has two laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂
The deviation of the ground vehicle 2 from the center of the route is calculated from the output of , and when there is a deviation, a steering angle signal necessary for correcting the deviation is supplied to the travel/steering control device 5. In this way, the ground vehicle 2 is controlled to always travel in the center of the external guidance route E. The calculation device 4 also operates a travel/steering control device 5 according to travel control signals such as stop, increase/decelerate, etc. carried on the laser beam L.
In addition, if the ground mobile object 2 deviates significantly from the external guidance route E for some reason, the detector 3 ₁ and 3 Even when both ₂ do not detect the laser beam, the ground mobile 2
The driving/steering control device 5 sends a signal to stop the
supply to. Note that in the embodiment using the path width signals L _L and L _R as shown in FIG. 2, the detector 3 ₁
or 3. When ₂ detects these signals, the arithmetic unit 4 outputs an output that increases the steering angle for direction correction.
The signal is then supplied to the travel/steering control device 5.

Each external guidance path E of the aforementioned boundary beam UL
A signal for activating the input switching circuit 6 in synchronization with the boundary beam corresponding to the entrance and _exit of When this input switching signal is detected, the input switching circuit 6
is activated, causing the memory 7 to read the output of the direction detector 8 at that moment, and at the same time the arithmetic unit 4
The control inputs of laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂
The output is switched from the output of the direction detector 8 to the output of the direction detector 8.
Note that a gyro or the like can be used as the direction detector 8, and instead of emitting the input switching signal in synchronization with the boundary beam UL, the input switching circuit 6 can be used to connect both the detectors ₃₁ and ₃₂ . For example, when the laser beam is not detected within a predetermined period such as one operation cycle, the control input to the arithmetic unit 4 is switched to the output of the direction detector 8, and then when the detector ₃₁ or ₃₂ detects the laser beam. A circuit may be used which operates to switch the control inputs back to the outputs of the laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂ .

The output of the direction detector 8 read into the memory 7 is supplied to the arithmetic unit 4 as a reference direction. In this way, the arithmetic unit 4 detects the direction detector 8 while the ground vehicle is on the self-guidance path I (see FIGS. 3 and 4) consisting of a straight section between the two external guidance paths E. The output and the reference data from the memory 7 are constantly compared and the travel/steering control device 5 is controlled so that the difference between them becomes zero, thereby causing the ground vehicle 2 to move toward the next external guidance route E. It is self-guided to run immediately without any guidance signals from the driver. Then, when the next external guidance route E is reached,
By the operation of the input switching circuit 6, the arithmetic unit 4 performs control by external guidance again, but if the path width signal as shown in FIG. This is effective because it is easy to capture.

The above first and second laser beam detectors 3
₁ and 3 ₂ are each formed of a large number of detection elements 9 such as photodiodes and phototransistors arranged in the shape of an obtuse isosceles triangle, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. They are arranged at the front and rear portions with the bisector of the apex angle aligned with the center line of the ground vehicle 2 and the bottom sides facing each other. Note that these two detectors may be attached with their triangular directions aligned with each other.

As shown in detail in FIG. 7, the output of each detection element 9 forming the first and second laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂ is individually amplified by each sense amplifier 11 of the amplifier unit 10 and The signal is input to the discrimination circuit 12 of No. 4. The discrimination circuit 12 discriminates which detection element 9 is supplied with the output,
Positional deviation data corresponding to the result is output, and the laser beam is incident on both the first and second laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂ as shown by the two-dot chain line P in FIGS. 6 and 7. In this case, due to the combination of the outputs of the detection elements at the bottom of both detectors, the direction of the ground vehicle 2 is greatly shifted as shown by the two-dot chain line Q, and one detector, for example, the first detector 3 When the laser beam is incident on only ₁ , positional deviation data is output according to the combination of the outputs of the detection elements on the oblique side and the bottom side. and,
The arithmetic unit 4 runs and runs according to the output data of the discrimination circuit 12 so that the output is always obtained from the detection elements on the center line of the two laser beam detectors 3 ₁ and 3 ₂ .
A steering angle signal is supplied to the steering control device 5 (FIG. 5).

(6) Effects As explained in detail above, according to the guidance control device for a ground vehicle according to the present invention, external guidance using highly directional signal waves is applied to curved sections and intersections of the traveling route of the ground vehicle. , branching parts, and the like, and the straight sections between these parts are self-guiding, which greatly simplifies the formation of the guiding route.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show an embodiment of the guidance control device for a ground vehicle according to the present invention. The figure is a plan view showing an example of the external guidance path pattern, Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system, Figure 6 is a layout diagram showing the position of the laser beam detector, and Figure 7 is the laser beam detector. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration and output processing system of FIG. 1... Laser beam scanning device, 2... Ground vehicle, 3 ₁ , 3 ₂ ... Laser beam detector, 4...
...Arithmetic unit, 5...Travel/steering control device, 6...
Input switching circuit, 7...Memory, 8...Direction detector, 9...Detection element, 12...Discrimination circuit, L...
Laser beam, E...external guidance path, I...self guidance path.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Guidance control of a ground vehicle, which uses highly directional signal waves to guide and control the operation of a ground vehicle, which is equipped with a traveling drive means, a braking means, and a travel/steering control device. The device includes a guidance signal scanning means for scanning highly directional guidance signals arranged on each of a plurality of specific external guidance routes for guiding the ground vehicle from the outside according to a predetermined route pattern; A guidance signal detector mounted on the ground vehicle, a direction detector mounted on the ground vehicle, and while the ground vehicle is on the external guidance route, the output of the guidance signal detector is used as a control input, and the ground vehicle While on the self-guidance route between the two external guidance routes, a calculation device uses the output of the direction detector as a control input to control the running/steering control device, and stores the reference direction when traveling on the self-guidance route. and a storage device for switching the control input, and input switching means for storing the output of the direction detector in the storage device at a turning point from an external guidance route to a self-guidance route. A ground vehicle guidance control device consisting of a control device mounted on a 2. The ground vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the guidance signal comprises a route center signal indicating the center of each external guidance route and a route width signal scanned with a constant width on both sides in parallel with the route center signal. guidance control device. 3. Two of the above-mentioned guidance signal detectors are arranged at the front and rear of the ground vehicle with their center lines aligned with each other, and each of the guidance signal detectors is arranged in an obtuse isosceles triangle shape and each independently receives the above-mentioned guidance signal. It consists of a plurality of sensing elements capable of sensing, and the arithmetic unit is a combination of the output of the sensing element on the equal side and the output of the sensing element on the bottom side of each of the guidance signal detectors, or two guidance signal detectors. The guidance control for a ground vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising means for determining a deviation from the center of the external guidance path of the ground vehicle based on a combination of outputs of detection elements on the bottom side of the ground vehicle. Device.