JPH05141906A - Inclination angle detecting device for object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply determine the inclination angle of an object in a shortened calculating time. CONSTITUTION:A pair of coaxial wheels 4 are provided at the lower section of a main body 1, the wheels 4 are rotated forward or reversely in response to the inclination of the main body 1 to keep the main body 1 in the erect state, a rocking arm 7 is rotatably supported by a pivotal shaft 6 protruded to the side on the side face of the main body 1, and a potentiometer 8 is provided between the rocking arm 7 and the side face of the main body 1. A travel body 10 having a pair of running wheels rolled on the floor face 5 is connected to the rocking arm 7 expandably in the axial direction of the rocking arm 7 via a connecting pipe 9. When the main body 1 is inclined, the travel body 10 is moved in the direction parallel with the floor face 5, the displacement of the pivotal shaft 6 against the erect direction can be absorbed by the connecting pipe 9, the inclination angle theta of the main body 1 coincides with the relative angle alpha of the rocking arm 7 against the main body 1, thus the inclination angle theta can be simply detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an object tilt angle detecting device, and more particularly to an object tilt angle detecting device for detecting the tilt angle of an object placed on a flat floor surface with respect to the floor surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a coaxial two-wheeled robot as shown in FIG. 2, a main body 1 which may be a plate having a predetermined width in the front and back direction of the paper surface is mounted on a floor surface 5. In order to maintain the main body 1 in a vertical state at all times, when the main body 1 tilts, the lower part of the main body 1 may be moved in the tilting direction.
In the above coaxial two-wheeled robot, a pair of wheels 4 coaxially provided at both ends of an axle 3 supported by a drive unit 2 provided at the bottom of the main body 1 and extending in the width direction of the main body 1 are driven. Therefore, it is necessary to control the wheels 4 to appropriately rotate in the normal and reverse directions according to the tilting of the main body 1.

The data necessary for performing the above control is the main body 1
Is a tilt angle with respect to the floor surface, and in order to detect the tilt angle, one arm 21 can be rotated on a plane along the paper surface in the figure along the tilt direction of the main body 1. The base end is pivotally supported at an arbitrary position of the main body 1, and the arm 2
The free end of No. 1 is slid on the floor surface 5, and the arm 2
This is possible by detecting the relative angle of 1 with respect to the main body 1 with the potentiometer 8.

In such a detection structure, the angle (α) detected by the potentiometer 8 is upright from the relative angle θ1 between the main body 1 and the arm 21 in the tilted state as shown by the imaginary line in the figure. Body 1 and arm 21 in
Is a value (α = θ1−θ0) obtained by subtracting the relative angle θ0 from the floor angle 5. Since the pivot axis 6 of the arm 21 moves on an arcuate orbit of a radius R of rotation from the floor surface 5, the tilt angle θ of the main body 1 desired
Is different from.

For example, the turning radius R of the pivot 6 of the arm 21
Is 80 mm and the turning radius of the arm 21 is 95 mm,

Θ can be calculated as θ = 0.990285α−0.0109774α ² + 0.000133α ³ .

However, when it is necessary to obtain θ more accurately when the above equation is used, the calculation accuracy is calculated by calculating the number of digits of each coefficient of the polynomial and the correlation coefficient when the polynomial is approximated. The problem arises that it depends on the degree of approximation. Further, since the complicated calculation is performed, the calculation time becomes relatively long, which is not preferable in performing the quicker control in the upright control of the coaxial two-wheeled robot.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems of the prior art, the main object of the present invention is to detect the tilt angle of an object that can easily and shorten the calculation time when obtaining the tilt angle of the object. To provide a device.

[0009]

According to the present invention, such an object is an object tilt angle detecting device for detecting a tilt angle of an object placed on a flat floor with respect to an upright position. A swing arm pivotally supported by the object so as to be rotatable about an axis parallel to the floor surface and orthogonal to the tilt axis of the object; and a parallel movement with respect to the floor surface and the upright arm. A traveling body connected to the swing arm so as to be capable of expanding and contracting in a direction, and an angle detector provided between the object and the swing arm for detecting a tilt angle of the object. This is achieved by providing a tilt angle detection device for a moving object.

[0010]

With this configuration, when an object placed on a flat floor surface tilts, the pivot axis of the swing arm draws a circular arc trajectory, so that the direction along the floor surface due to the movement on the trajectory. The displacement of the traveling body follows the displacement of, and the displacement in the direction of approaching and separating from the floor surface is caused by the relative displacement between the swinging arm and the traveling body which are displaceable in the direction orthogonal to the pivot axis. Since the rotation angle of the swing arm about the pivot axis with respect to the object and the tilt angle of the object become the same, the tilt angle of the object is detected at the detected angle by detecting the rotation angle of the swing arm. The angle can be measured as it is.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire coaxial two-wheeled vehicle robot similar to the conventional example to which an object tilt angle detecting device according to the present invention is attached. The same parts as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals. Will be omitted and the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This coaxial two-wheeled vehicle robot, like the conventional example, has a main body 1 as an object whose tilt angle is to be detected, a drive unit 2 provided below the main body 1, and a front and rear direction of the main body 1 in the drawing. And an axle 3 supported by the drive unit 2 so as to extend in the lateral width direction, and a pair of wheels 4 provided at both ends of the axle 3 and coaxial with each other. Then, the axle 3 is driven by a drive motor (not shown) in the drive unit 2 so that the wheels 4 can roll on a flat and horizontal floor surface 5, for example.

Further, at the upper part of the front side surface of the main body 1 in the drawing, the side surface of the main body 1 which is parallel to the floor surface 5 and orthogonal to the tilt axis of the main body 1 is projected. A pivot shaft 6 is fixed to the pivot shaft 6, and a disc-shaped base end portion 7a of a swing arm 7 is rotatably supported on the pivot shaft 6. The swing arm 7 has a round bar-shaped arm portion formed so as to extend outward from the base end portion 7a in a radial direction which is a direction orthogonal to the axis of the pivot shaft 6. Therefore, the swing arm 7
Is rotatable on a plane along the locus plane of the tilt axis of the main body 1 that can tilt in the direction of arrow A in the figure. A potentiometer 8 is provided between the base end portion 7 a of the swing arm 7 and the side surface of the main body 1 to detect the rotation angle of the swing arm 7 with respect to the main body 1. The potentiometer 8 may have the resistor side fixed to the main body 1 and the slider side fixed to the swing arm 7.

One end of a connecting pipe 9 is fitted and coaxially fixed to the free end of the swing arm 7. A columnar boss-shaped projecting head 10a of the traveling body 10 is supported in the other end of the connecting pipe 9 in a retracted state. The projecting head 10a is coaxially displaceable in the connecting pipe 9. Has been done. In addition, the traveling body 10 has a leg portion 10b that is symmetrically extended from a protruding head portion 10a that is a connecting portion with the connecting pipe 9 and has a curved shape, and both axial end portions of the leg portion 10b. It has a pair of running wheels 10c provided. These running wheels 10 c are adapted to roll on the floor surface 5 so as to move the running body 10 along the tilt locus surface of the tilt axis of the main body 1 and in parallel with the floor surface 5. In this way, the tilt angle detection device is configured.

As described above, the projecting head 10a of the traveling body 10 is movable within the connecting pipe 9 fixed to the swing arm 7, and the swing arm 7 is indicated by the arrow B in the figure. As shown, the traveling body 10 is connected so as to be extendable and contractible in the upright direction. A compression coil spring 11 is coaxially provided in the connection pipe 9 between the extension arm 7 and the projecting head 10a, and the traveling body 10 is constantly elastically urged toward the floor. It is like this. Therefore, the swing arm 7 supported by the pivot 6 that makes an arc motion in response to the tilt of the main body 1 moves toward and away from the floor surface 5 according to the tilt of the main body 1, but travels toward the floor surface 5. Since the body 10 is elastically urged, both traveling wheels 10c collide with the floor surface 5, and the angle of the axis of the projecting head 10a of the traveling body 10 with respect to the floor surface 5 (the present embodiment). 90 degrees) is always constant. A long hole 12 is provided in the connecting pipe 9 in a direction along the axis, and a screw 13 screwed in the protruding head 10a in the radial direction and the long hole 12 are engaged with each other to swing the arm. The connection state between 7 and the traveling body 10 is prevented from being disconnected.

In the coaxial two-wheeled vehicle robot thus constructed, when the main body 1 is tilted as shown by the imaginary line in the figure, the pivot 6 moves so as to draw an arcuate locus. At this time, the traveling body 10 moves with respect to the displacement of the pivot 6 in a direction parallel to the floor surface 5, and the inside of the connecting pipe 9 projects with respect to the displacement of the pivot 6 in the upright direction approaching and separating from the floor surface 5. Since the installation head 10a is relatively displaced, both wheels 10c of the traveling body 10 are always in contact with the floor surface 5 as described above, and the swing arm 7 is always upright with respect to the floor surface 5.

Therefore, the angle (θ) at which the main body 1 is tilted,
The relative angle (α) of the swing arm 7 with respect to the main body 1 coincides with each other, and the angle detection value by the potentiometer 8 becomes the tilt angle of the main body 1 as it is. Therefore, with respect to the angle detection value by the potentiometer 8, It is not necessary to calculate the tilt angle of the main body 1 by performing complicated calculation as in the conventional example. Therefore, in the coaxial two-wheeled robot that is controlled so that the main body 1 is always held upright as in the present embodiment, the wheels 4 are driven according to the tilt of the main body 1 to correct the tilt of the main body 1. At this time, since the tilt angle of the main body 1 can be obtained extremely quickly, the above control can be suitably performed.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the rotation angle of the swing arm about the axis with respect to the object and the tilt angle of the object are the same, the rotation angle of the swing arm is detected. Since the tilt angle of the object can be directly measured with the detected angle, it is not necessary to perform the complicated calculation from the detected value of the potentiometer to obtain the tilt angle, and high-speed processing for the tilt of the object can be easily realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a coaxial two-wheeled vehicle robot to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a coaxial two-wheeled robot using a conventional tilt angle detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body 2 Drive Unit 3 Axle 4 Wheel 5 Floor 6 Pivot 7 Swing Arm 7a Base End 8 Potentiometer 9 Connecting Pipe 10 Traveling Body 10a Projecting Head 10b Leg 10c Traveling Wheel 11 Compression Coil Spring 12 Long Hole 13 Screw 21 arms

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tilt angle detection device for an object for detecting a tilt angle of an object placed on a flat floor with respect to an upright position, the tilt angle detecting device being parallel to the floor and orthogonal to a tilt axis of the object. A swing arm pivotally supported by the object so as to be rotatable about an axis line, and a traveling body that is parallel to the floor surface and is extendably and contractably connected to the swing arm in the upright direction. A tilt angle detecting device for an object, comprising: an angle detector provided between the object and the swing arm to detect a tilt angle of the object.