JPH0588746A - Safety device for automatically governed vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a safety device which surely detects the obstacles within the traveling area of an automatically governed vehicle and never detects erroneously the structures, etc., of the facilities. CONSTITUTION:An obstacle sensor 11a is provided at the center part of an automatically governed vehicle 2 against the traveling direction 9 to cover a wide range together with the obstacle sensors 12a and 12b provided at both ends of the vehicle 2 to cover a narrow area respectively. These sensors detect the obstacles respectively and detect the traveling areas of the vehicle 2 with high accuracy. Meanwhile the sensors are previously instructed at such a position where the structures of the facilities are detected erroneously at the curve parts. Then only one of both sensors 12a and 12b is invalidated in order to eliminate a state where all obstacles cannot be detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a safety device for a traveling vehicle such as a self-propelled robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional safety device for an unmanned vehicle as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-222889. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a self-propelled robot in which an articulated robot arm 3 is mounted on an unmanned vehicle 2. The unmanned traveling vehicle 2 can be driven to move forward and backward, traverse, and diagonally by four driving wheels 4. The unmanned traveling vehicle 2 has front and rear surfaces 5, 6 or both side surfaces 7, 8 for detecting obstacles, respectively. Light emitting and receiving sensors Sn1 to Sn6 are installed. In addition, La and Lb are light emitting and receiving type sensors Sn1 to S
A range of light projected and received from n6 is shown, and 9 is a traveling direction of the unmanned vehicle 2.

Next, the operation will be described. First, in the main control device, it is determined whether or not the next operation is traveling of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2, and if it is traveling, the operation of the light emitting and receiving sensors Sn1 to Sn6 for traveling is moved to, and if it is not traveling, the traveling operation is locked. To do. That is, in the case of traveling, if the traveling direction 9 is the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, the light emitting / receiving sensor Sn1 attached to the front surface 5 of the unmanned traveling vehicle is turned on to operate while detecting an obstacle. At this time, the other light emitting and receiving sensors Sn2 to Sn
6 is in an OFF state, and no obstacle is detected.

The detection area of the light emitting and receiving sensor Sn1 is a narrow light area because the unmanned vehicle 2 is decelerated when only a large light area La detects an obstacle due to the range of light projected from the light projector. When Lb is detected, the unmanned vehicle 2 is stopped.

[0005]

An obstacle detection sensor (generally manufactured sensor of this type) generally used in a conventional safety device for an unmanned vehicle has a long detection distance. If so, the detection range is expanded in the width direction, but if the detection distance is shortened, the width is also narrowed, and it is not possible to arbitrarily set the distance and the width. Therefore, it is impossible to cover the entire traveling area of the unmanned vehicle without interfering with the structure on the equipment side, or it is necessary to kill the function of all obstacle sensors at the place where it interferes with the equipment side. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it detects obstacles in the traveling area of an unmanned vehicle with high accuracy and ignores structures on the equipment side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety device that prevents false detection as an object.

[0007]

A safety device for a traveling vehicle according to the present invention comprises a sensor which is set at the center of the traveling direction of the traveling vehicle so as not to interfere with a facility side for detecting a wide range of obstacles. It has a spot-like sensor for detecting an obstacle on the left and right end lines of the traveling vehicle. For obstacle detection on the left and right edge lines, it is judged whether there is a structure on the equipment side or not, and if it is a structure on the equipment side, it is not detected as an obstacle to prevent erroneous detection. Is.

[0008]

According to the vehicle safety device of the present invention, a sensor having a wide detection area and a sensor having a spot-like detection area are combined. The obstacles in the traveling area are detected with high accuracy by being assigned to a specific obstacle.
Further, in the structure or the like on the equipment side, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection and improve safety by disabling only some of the spot-like sensors arranged at the left and right ends.

[0009]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, 2 is an unmanned traveling vehicle, 4 is a drive wheel of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2, 5 and 6 are front and rear surfaces of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2, respectively, and an arrow 9 is a traveling direction (forward) of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2.
Indicates. Reference numeral 10 is a track on which the unmanned traveling vehicle 2 travels, 11a and 11b are wide-area obstacle detection sensors attached to the central portions of the front surface 5 and rear surface 6 of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2, and 12a and 12b are front surfaces 5 of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2. , Narrow area obstacle sensors attached to both ends of the rear surface 6. Further, Ha indicates the detection area of the wide area obstacle sensor, and Na and Nb indicate the detection area of the narrow area obstacle sensor. Reference numeral 14 is a motor that is a drive source of the drive wheels 4, and 15 is a position detection device that detects the position (running distance) of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2 attached to the motor 14. This position detection device 15 is
By detecting the traveling distance of the unmanned vehicle 2 from the standby position, the position where the unmanned vehicle 2 is constantly traveling is grasped. Further, in FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 13 denotes a shelf which is a structure on the equipment side.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the unmanned vehicle 2 travels, if the start is from the standby position, the position detection device 15 is reset to zero by the traveling distance correction function.
On the other hand, when the vehicle is not in the standby position, the current traveling distance is used as the inspection vehicle position data. After that, the obstacle sensor to be made to function is selected by the traveling direction command of the unmanned vehicle 2. Specifically, when the arrow direction 9 shown in FIG. 1 is set as the forward direction, the wide area obstacle sensor 11a and the narrow area obstacle sensors 12a, 12b provided on the front surface 5 of the unmanned vehicle 2 are turned on.

Next, the operation of obstacle detection will be described. First,
For an obstacle such as a shelf 13 that is a structure on the equipment side, the position detection device 15 is used as a dead zone (a region where a structure or the like is not erroneously detected as an obstacle) in advance for the traveling vehicle position and left / right information.
I will teach you. Then, the wide-range obstacle sensor 11a provided in the central portion of the unmanned traveling vehicle 2 is caused to constantly check the obstacle, and if the obstacle detection signal is responded to, the unmanned traveling vehicle 2 is stopped. On the other hand, the narrow area obstacle sensors 12a and 12b provided on the left and right of the front side 5 of the unmanned vehicle 2 determine whether or not the dead zone is shown above, and if it is the dead zone, the obstacle detection operates. However, it is ignored, and the unmanned traveling vehicle 2 is stopped only when the obstacle detection operates outside the dead zone.

Although the forward movement (direction of arrow 9) has been described in the above embodiment, the backward movement may be performed by using the obstacle sensors 11b, 12c and 12d on the rear surface 6 side.

Other Embodiments. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the wide-area and narrow-area obstacle sensors are provided on the front and rear surfaces, respectively. However, it is sufficient to select the optimum sensor according to the size and shape of the unmanned vehicle. Further, the wide area and the narrow area represent the detection area, and the detection area may be changed by using the same sensor. (The detection area shown in the figure is an example of adjustment, and it can be widened or narrowed according to the place of use.) The number of attachments was explained in three places on the front and back sides, but if necessary, There is no problem even if it is increased / decreased, and the same effect can be obtained regardless of whether the detector system is light, laser light, ultrasonic wave, or the like. Although the interference position with the equipment is explained by teaching the distance, a limit switch may be provided near the track.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, obstacle sensors having different detection ranges are combined to accurately cover the traveling area, and the interference on the equipment side is not erroneously detected as an obstacle. Since it is configured, it is possible to drive an unmanned vehicle with peace of mind, and there is an effect that the investment of safety equipment conventionally provided as a safety measure can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a safety device for a traveling vehicle that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation state diagram of the safety device for a traveling vehicle of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation state diagram of the safety device for a traveling vehicle according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a conventional safety device for a self-propelled robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Unmanned vehicle 4 Drive wheel 5 Front surface 6 Rear surface 10 Track 11a, b Wide area obstacle sensor 12a-d Narrow area obstacle sensor 14 Motor 15 Position detection device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A safety device for a traveling vehicle, which is equipped with a sensor for traveling by itself and detecting an obstacle, comprising:
A sensor that detects obstacles over a wide area and a sensor that detects obstacles in spots are installed.The wide area detection sensor searches for obstacles in a predetermined main area, and the spot detection sensor partially detects obstacles in the remaining area. Safety device for traveling vehicles that is designed to be covered. 2. The traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein at a position where the facility-side structure interferes with the obstacle detection range, erroneous detection is prevented by temporarily disabling a sensor that detects the obstacle spotwise. Safety device.