JPH0445194B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a control device for a disaster prevention work robot in a so-called oil base such as an oil rig or an oil refining complex, and particularly for controlling a disaster prevention work robot that performs firefighting work, etc. This invention relates to a disaster prevention work robot control device for guiding a robot to an optimal position convenient for work, etc.

"Background of the Invention" Petroleum handled at oil terminals has a very high risk of fire and explosion, and is actually used at refineries, petrochemical plants, etc.
Several accidents occur every year involving tankers and other vehicles. The causes of such fires and explosions include natural disasters such as lightning strikes, but the most common cause is leakage of flammable gas or steam from piping or equipment, which is ignited by sparks from welding or electrical equipment. This is the case.

In the case of disasters at bases such as oil plants, as mentioned above, if initial disaster response operations fail, there are many dangers such as intense heat radiation from fire, harmful gas, explosion, etc., making it difficult to carry out effective disaster response operations, and defensive defenses. This often leads to large-scale disasters due to the huge amount of energy stored in oil tanks. Disaster prevention equipment in petroleum industrial complex areas across the country has been dramatically improved due to the strengthening of the Fire Service Act, Stone Disaster Act, High Pressure Gas Control Act, etc. However, taking into account the current state of affairs such as the wide variety of base layouts, work styles, weather conditions, etc., many problems still remain. The main issues are listed below.

Disaster response is limited by obstacles such as oil embankments.For example, there are oil embankments and oil ditches around oil tanks to prevent oil spills, and there are also oil embankments and oil dikes all around the premises. Very few plants have roads. Furthermore, if we take into account the disaster situation inside the oil dike and the wind direction, there is very little probability that workers or chemical fire engines will be able to approach the oil tank and perform appropriate work, and various disaster response equipment will be needed. etc. are often unable to fully demonstrate their functions.

It is difficult to grasp the situation of a disaster Normally, petroleum complexes have ITV cameras and various sensors (temperature sensors, smoke sensors, etc.) installed all over the place, but these are usually fixed at limited locations. Not enough information available. In particular, in the case of a fire, workers cannot get close to the fire source due to radiant heat, and the fire source is often in a high place, making it difficult to properly grasp the situation of an accident or disaster, making it difficult to carry out effective disaster response work. There are many things that cannot be done.

Uselessness of fixed fire extinguishing equipment Fixed fire extinguishing equipment such as foam cannons and fire hydrants are generally provided, but because the base is large, these equipment may not be available near the point of fire outbreak. Moreover, even if it is hot, it may be destroyed by an accident such as an explosion and cannot be used.

Due to many other problems, it has been extremely difficult with conventional fire extinguishing systems for effective equipment, such as chemical fire engines, to quickly arrive at the location of the fire and to reach the optimal position for extinguishing the fire, such as upwind.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disaster prevention work robot control device for quickly guiding a robot dedicated to disaster prevention work to an optimal work position at a fire outbreak point.

"Structure of the invention" In order to achieve the above object, the main means adopted by the present invention consists of a disaster detection sensor group and a weather sensor group, and an external sensor group for detecting disaster data. , a storage means for storing base maps such as equipment layout and piping maps, a disaster prevention work robot that is equipped with fire equipment, ITV cameras, etc. and can freely travel within the oil base, and disaster data detected by the above external sensor group. and an information processing means for calculating optimal work position data in the vicinity of a disaster occurrence location from the base map stored in advance in the storage means, and the disaster prevention work robot based on the optimal work position data calculated by the information processing means. This is a disaster prevention work robot control device comprising a robot control means for guiding the robot.

Among the above components, the disaster detection sensor group refers to, for example, artificial sanitation or monitoring installed on high-rise towers.
This includes simple sensors such as ITV cameras and infrared cameras that monitor the occurrence of fires from the sky, as well as a group of sensors to detect the location of fires, such as fire sensors, smoke sensors, and temperature sensors installed throughout the oil base. .

In addition, a group of weather sensors are installed inside or near an oil base, and are used to monitor the wind direction and speed near the location of the fire.
Further, there is a group of sensors for detecting weather phenomena such as whether it is rainy or sunny, and well-known sensors can be used as these sensors.

Disaster data necessary for disaster prevention work is detected by an external sensor group consisting of the disaster detection sensor group and the weather sensor group.

The storage means also includes information such as the location of oil tanks in oil bases, the location of breakwaters and ports, the location of equipment and facilities such as dikes, oil ditches, roads, etc., and the status of equipment and piping installed there. It is used to store all information in advance as a base map, and for example, determine the shortest and most optimal route for the disaster prevention robot to quickly reach the block on the map where the fire outbreak location is located from the standby position of the disaster prevention robot. This will serve as material for

Furthermore, the disaster prevention work robot is equipped with fire pumps, water cannons, and other firefighting equipment such as water cannons, and television cameras for detecting fire points such as infrared cameras and ITV cameras, as shown in the examples described later. A variety of robots are used that are equipped with wheels, etc., and can move freely within oil terminals, as well as perform disaster prevention work such as extinguishing fires and opening and closing valves based on commands from control towers and their own intelligence.

``Example'' Next, examples embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. Here, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the signal flow of the entire disaster prevention work robot control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the schematic configuration of the entire oil base, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an example of the oil terminal being made into blocks, FIG. Figures 6 and 7 are perspective views showing an example of a disaster prevention robot that can extinguish a fire, and Figures 8 and 9 are views of other disaster prevention robots. One example is shown in FIG. 8, which is a partially sectional front view, and FIG. 9, which is a front view showing the operating state of the disaster prevention robot.

An outline of the flow of information in a disaster prevention work robot control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained using FIG.

In this embodiment, a disaster prevention work robot control system operated at an oil base A as shown in FIG. 2 will be explained. In this control device, a computer E is notified of the occurrence of a fire by an ITV camera D installed on an artificial satellite B as shown in FIG. 4 or a surveillance tower C as shown in FIG. The occurrence and location of such a fire are also detected by a fire sensor F, which consists of a heat-sensitive sensor, a smoke sensor, etc. installed in the oil base A, and the temperature at the location where the fire occurred is
The temperature is detected by the temperature sensor G, and all of these are transmitted to the computer E. This computer E corresponds to information processing means.

The most important thing in disaster prevention at oil terminals is to quickly detect the location and situation of a fire as described above, and how quickly to move disaster prevention equipment (robots) to the location of the fire. For the former, ITV camera D, fire sensor F, temperature sensor G, etc. mentioned above are useful.
In particular, it can be constantly monitored from the sky.
ITV cameras are available. Regarding the latter,
The disaster prevention device is not only placed close to the fire point, but also placed upwind of the fire point as a suitable place to properly judge the fire situation and spray extinguishing agent to the appropriate location. It is extremely important to guide the work robot. The wind direction sensor H, the wind speed sensor I, and other weather sensors shown in FIG. 1 are designed to serve this purpose, and the role of the wind direction sensor H is particularly important. External sensor group as mentioned above, i.e. disaster detection sensor
Signals from the ITV camera D, the fire sensor F, the temperature sensor G, the wind direction sensor H as a weather sensor, the wind speed sensor I, and others are all sent from time to time to the signal processing means of the computer E as disaster data. A large-capacity storage device J is connected to the computer E, and this storage device J stores the geographical situation of the oil base A. The entire oil base A is stored in a plurality of blocks like a checkerboard, e.g. As shown in FIG. 3, it is divided into a plurality of blocks divided by ruled lines in the X and Y directions, each block is assigned an address, and the geographical situation at each address is stored. This geographical situation includes, for example, the location of oil tanks, oil refining equipment, and other equipment within oil base A, as well as piping maps, road maps, locations of oil embankments, and locations of valves in pipelines. The base map is memorized.

Therefore, the work procedure in this disaster prevention work robot control device is structured as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, for example, image information from an ITV camera D in the sky is input to the signal processing means K of the computer E. The signal processing means K has various functions, for example, in this case, the ITV camera D
Converts two-dimensional image information from to digital information,
It is sent to comparison means L. Comparison means L compares and compares digital information corresponding to the panoramic view of oil base A input from ITV camera D with geographic information stored in storage device J where no fire has occurred, and determines whether a fire has occurred. Recognize the address on the map that corresponds to the location. For example, if the address (X/Y) shown in FIG. 3 is the location where the fire occurred, this is stored. At the same time, information from other disaster detection sensors such as fire sensor F and temperature sensor G and signals from weather sensors such as wind direction sensor H and wind speed sensor I are taken in, and the situation is judged. In particular, the determination means M determines the upwind address closest to the location of the fire based on the signal from the weather sensor. For example, if the wind is blowing in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 3,
(X-1/Y-1) or (X/Y-1) address is specified. Next, it is determined whether the address set in this way is a convenient location for fire extinguishing activities. In other words, it is first determined whether the address is upwind from the location where the disaster occurred, and if it is upwind, it is determined whether the address is a flat area where disaster prevention robots can enter, in other words, it is determined whether the address is upwind from the location where the disaster occurred. Determine whether there are any buildings, etc. that will get in the way, and if it is determined that the area is flat and will not cause any actual damage to firefighting activities, if water is sprayed from that location next time, make sure that there are buildings, etc. that will get in the way of water spraying near the location of the fire. Determine whether or not there is a difference between the two. In the above procedure, if the set address is not upwind from the location of the disaster, or is occupied by a building, or there is a building that poses an obstacle to waterproofing, then Set the next address and repeat the same judgment.

In this way, the computer E calculates optimum work position data in the vicinity of the disaster occurrence position from the disaster data and the base map.

In addition, if it is determined that there is no obstacle to water spraying, the route map stored in the storage device J is compared with the waiting position data of the disaster prevention work robot and the optimal work position data to determine the shortest distance between the two positions. A route is searched, and the control device N causes the disaster prevention work robot R to follow the determined route.
control and rush to the fire scene. This control device N corresponds to robot control means.

Figures 4, 6, and 7 show a disaster prevention work robot R accompanying a fire extinguishing agent carrier P, a pump truck Q, a command vehicle S loaded with the control device N, etc., carrying out actual fire extinguishing work. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of an actual disaster prevention robot R. This disaster prevention work robot R runs on crawlers a attached to the left and right, and a television camera b.
Fire extinguishing activities are carried out by ejecting chemical extinguishing agents from foam nozzles C while monitoring the surrounding situation by using ITV cameras D and ITV cameras to monitor the point of fire.
It has a halogen light e to illuminate the field of view of the ITV camera d. Further, during actual fire extinguishing work, it is necessary to securely fix the disaster prevention work robot R, and an outrigger device f as shown in FIG. 7 is housed in a window g of the robot body. h is an ultrasonic sensor that detects the presence or absence of obstacles in front of the vehicle.
i is an antenna for receiving a remote control operation signal from the command vehicle S.

In addition, the ITV camera d is equipped with a telescoping pole j.
A flexible arm attached to the tip of
It is attached to the tip of the pole j, and is configured so that when the pole j is extended, the situation at the flame spot can be observed from a high position as shown in FIG. The robot shown in Fig. 6 is a modification of the one shown in Fig. 5, in which the pole j has a foam nozzle c' at its tip;
It is constructed so that extinguishing agent can be sprayed from a high position.

In the case of fires at oil bases, firefighting activities are mainly carried out in high-rise buildings such as oil tanks, so foam nozzles c′ and ITV cameras d are attached to the above-mentioned telescoping poles j, and monitoring and firefighting activities are carried out from a high position. is advantageous.

The above-mentioned disaster prevention work robot R shown in Fig. 5 is an example of such a robot. It may be equipped with equipment, monitoring equipment, etc. In FIG. 8, 1 _a and 1 _b are moving bodies that are examples of moving means,
These are constructed by providing crawlers 3 on both sides of a machine body 2 corresponding to a vehicle body. And each aircraft 2
As shown in Fig. 8, a frame 4, a shaft support 5 fixed to both sides of the frame that supports a horizontally long crawler 3, a support shaft 10 protruding from the frame 4, and an axis with the axis oriented vertically. It is composed of a shaft-shaped rotating body 6 rotatably mounted on a support shaft 10.

Each crawler 3 is stretched around the outer periphery of a driving wheel 7 provided at one end of the shaft support 5 and a driven wheel 8 provided at the other end, and the intermediate portion of the crawler 3 is attached to the shaft support 5. It is supported by guide rollers 9.

In each of the rotating bodies 6, the supporting shaft 10 protruding from the frame 4 is inserted into a connecting part _6a integrally provided at the lower end thereof and having a concave longitudinal section.
An inverted L-shaped bracket 11 installed upright on the frame 4
The upper part is inserted into a support hole 12 in a horizontal wall of the frame 4, and is rotatably attached to the frame 4.

13 is a gear formed on the lower end surface of the connecting portion _6a of the rotating body 6, and 14 is a pinion meshed with the gear 13, which drives the motor 15 attached to the vertical wall of the bracket 11 with its axis in the horizontal direction. fixed to the shaft. 16 is between the rotating body 6 and the support shaft 10,
Reference numeral 17 denotes bearings interposed between the rotating body 6 and the bracket 11, respectively.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a plate-shaped support provided horizontally above the movable bodies 1 _a and 1 _b . Each rotary body 6 is attached to a support arm 19 protruding from the lower surface at a position inwardly from both ends of the plate-shaped support. The upper ends of the support member 18 are rotatably connected by a pin 20, and support the support member 18 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. Therefore, the support body 18 is arranged along the straight line connecting the centers of the movable bodies 1 _a and 1 _b , that is, along the direction in which the movable bodies 1 _a and 1 _b are lined up. Reference numeral 21 denotes a cylinder bracket protruding from each rotary body 6 on the side where the movable bodies 1 _a and 1 _b face each other, and the tip of the piston rod 23 of the hydraulic cylinder 22 is swingably attached to this cylinder bracket via a pin 25 . , support 1
Attach pin 2 to rod bracket 24 provided on the bottom of 8.
It is attached via 6.

Further, reference numeral 27 denotes a pair of rails provided along the entire length of the support body 18 along the direction in which the movable bodies 1 _a and 1 _b are lined up.
It is attached via. A drive device consisting of a motor and a speed reducer is provided on the lower surface of the truck 28, and a pinion that drives the drive device is attached to the rail 27 on the support body 18.
The carriage 28 is moved by meshing with a rack fixed parallel to the rack. Reference numeral 33 denotes a robot body mounted on a trolley 28, to which a work arm 34 for performing fire extinguishing work and management work is rotatably attached. Inside the robot body 33, if the robot is electric, the battery and control equipment, etc. are housed together with the motor, and if it is hydraulic drive, the pump unit, control equipment including valves, etc. are housed together with the motor, and the robot itself becomes quite heavy. It constitutes a regulatory body. The upper end of the rail 27 is made slightly wider to prevent the bearing case 29 from separating.

This moving device configured as described above has the eighth
As shown in the figure, when the robot body 33 is placed in the middle of the support body 18 and the crawler 3 is rotated, the robot body 33 and its working arm 34 move in the direction in which the moving bodies 1 _a and 1 _b are lined up. the work arm 3 at the stopped position.
4 performs the necessary work. When the hydraulic cylinder 22 of the moving body 1 _a is operated in the state shown in FIG. 8, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the moving body 1 _a
A pin 20 connecting the rotating body 6 and the support arm 19
The support body 18 rotates upward using the fulcrum as a fulcrum, and lifts the movable body _1b . At this time, due to the operation of the drive device, the pinion engaged with the rack rotates, and the robot body 33 is moved along the rail 27 to the moving body 1a _.
in the direction of the side ends to balance the moment around the pin 20 caused by the weight of the moving body 1 _b . Therefore, it is possible to move the moving body _1a in this state.

Furthermore, when the motor 15 shown in FIG. 8 is operated in the state shown in FIG.
Since the movable body 1 _b is rotated together with the support body 18 attached to the rotating body 6, the positional relationship between the movable bodies 1 _a and 1 _b can be changed. When the moving body _1b lands, the robot body 33 is returned to the center of the support body 18. The movement and stopping of the moving bodies 1 _a and 1 _b , and the operation of the hydraulic cylinder 22, the driving device provided on the truck 28, and the motor 15 provided on the body 2 are as follows:
It is controlled by remote control based on commands from the command vehicle, or based on information from television cameras installed at appropriate locations on the moving objects _1a , _1b , etc., or information from sensors based on reflections of light or radio waves, etc., especially under various conditions. Any means can be adopted, such as computer control, which instructs the driver to perform pre-recorded work operations and arrive at the destination location by instructing the operator of a driving route.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, the present invention consists of a disaster detection sensor group and a weather sensor group, and includes an external sensor group that detects disaster data, and a memory that stores base maps such as equipment locations and piping maps. means and fire apparatus;
A disaster prevention work robot equipped with an ITV camera, etc. that can move freely within the oil base, and disaster data detected by the external sensor group and the base map stored in the storage means in advance to perform optimal work in the vicinity of the disaster location. an information processing means for calculating position data;
Since this is a disaster prevention work robot control device comprising a robot control means for guiding the disaster prevention work robot based on the optimal work position data calculated by the above information processing means, it is possible to quickly detect the occurrence of a fire at an oil base. As a result, the disaster prevention robot can be quickly guided to a suitable position for fire work near the point of fire, allowing it to carry out appropriate disaster prevention activities, thereby minimizing the spread of fires at oil terminals and preventing major accidents. It is something that can be prevented from developing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the signal flow of the entire disaster prevention work robot control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the schematic configuration of the entire oil base, and Fig. 3 is a FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an example of the base being made into blocks; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the entire oil base showing a fire extinguishing operation performed by the above-mentioned work robot control device; FIG. 5 is a diagram of a disaster prevention system that can be used for the same work FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views showing an example of the work robot, and FIGS.
Figures 9 and 9 show examples of other disaster prevention work robots, with Figure 8 being a front view with a partial cross section, and Figure 9
The figure is a front view showing the operating state of the disaster prevention work robot, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure in the optimal disaster prevention work system of the present invention. (Explanation of symbols), A...Oil base, D...ITV
Camera, E...Computer, F...Flame sensor, G...Temperature sensor, H...Wind direction sensor, I...
...Wind speed sensor, J...Storage device, K...Signal processing means, L...Comparison means, M...Judgment means, R...
Disaster prevention robot, N...control device, P...extinguishing agent carrier, Q...pump truck, S...command vehicle, T...
...Truck, a...Crawler, b...TV camera,
c...foam nozzle, d...ITV camera, e...halogen light, f...outrigger device, g...
Window, h...Ultrasonic sensor, i...Antenna, j
...Paul, k...arm.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An external sensor group consisting of a disaster detection sensor group and a weather sensor group, which detects disaster data, a storage means for storing base maps such as equipment locations and piping maps, a firefighting system, and an ITV. A disaster prevention work robot equipped with a camera etc. and capable of moving freely within the oil base, and an optimal work position near the disaster occurrence location based on the disaster data detected by the external sensor group and the base map stored in advance in the storage means. A disaster prevention work robot control device comprising: information processing means for calculating data; and robot control means for guiding the disaster prevention work robot based on optimal work position data calculated by the information processing means.