JPH06149372A - Traveling controller for beam-light-guided working vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To exactly judge whether the cause of the non-light reception of an optical sensor for a steering control is due to the deviation of a body side control position, or due to the abnormality of a guidance beam light so as to execute an appropriate processing by stopping a steering control based on the received information of the optical sensor in the case of the abnormality based on the information of a working vehicle side communicating means. CONSTITUTION:When the light output of a guiding beam light projecting means B1 is not present, a ground side communicating means 27 transmits the abnormality information to a working vehicle V. And also, even when an object interrupting the optical path of a guiding beam light A1, that is, an optical path interrupting object is present, the ground side communicating means 27 transmits the abnormality information to the working vehicle V. The working vehicle V stops the steering control based on the received information of an optical sensor 17 for the steering control in the case of the abnormality, based on the information from a working vehicle side communicating means 19. Thus, when the guiding beam light A1 is not received by the optical sensor 17 for the steering control, it is possible to judge whether the cause is due to the deviation of the body of the working vehicle V, or due to the abnormal projection, and to erase the unnecessary steering control.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention projects a guide light beam from one end side to the other end side of each traveling stroke so that a work vehicle automatically travels along each of a plurality of traveling strokes. A guidance beam light projection means is provided on the ground side, and the work vehicle receives the steering beam light for guidance, and the work based on the light reception information of the steering control light sensor. The present invention relates to a travel control device for a beam light guided work vehicle, which is provided with steering control means for steering control so that the vehicle automatically travels along the guiding beam light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A traveling control device for a beam light guided work vehicle of this type is designed to guide light beams projected from one end side to the other end side of a plurality of traveling strokes set for work. In order for the work vehicle to automatically run along the vehicle body, the vehicle body of the vehicle body is determined from the light receiving information of the steering control optical sensor provided on the work vehicle side (for example, the information of the light receiving position of the plurality of light receiving elements arranged in the vehicle width direction). The steering position in the width direction is determined and the control is performed so that the steering position becomes the proper steering position.However, in the past, when the steering control optical sensor stopped receiving the guiding light beam, For example, the direction in which the beam light is deviated from the light receiving position of the optical sensor before the non-light receiving state is predicted, and the light beam is steered in that direction to return to the light receiving state.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, for example, when the guiding light beam projection means such as a laser light emitting device fails to stop outputting the light beam, the light beam is received. Returning to the state Since the beam of light cannot be detected even if the steering is continued, it will be greatly deviated from the proper steering position.For example, when traveling on the shore, the car body may collide with the shore. . Alternatively, in the case where the guiding beam light is temporarily not projected because the operator crosses the front side in the projection direction of the guiding beam light, etc., the light receiving state is restored after a predetermined time elapses. It resulted in unnecessary steering.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art when the steering control optical sensor does not receive the guiding light beam. In addition, it is necessary to accurately judge whether the cause of the non-reception is due to the shift of the steering position of the vehicle body or the fact that the guiding beam light is not normally projected, and perform the unnecessary steering control. To avoid.

[0005]

A characteristic configuration of a traveling control device for a beam light guide type working vehicle according to the present invention is to detect the presence or absence of a light beam output from the guiding beam light projecting means on the ground side. Detecting means, detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an optical path blocker for blocking the optical path of the guiding beam light projected from one end side to the other end side of each traveling stroke, and the beam light Based on the detection information of the output presence / absence detection means and the optical path blocker presence / absence detection means, when there is no optical output of the guiding beam light projection means or when there is an optical path blocker that blocks the optical path of the guiding beam light In the case of at least one of them, it is determined that there is an abnormality, and the ground side communication means for transmitting the discrimination information to the work vehicle side is provided, and the work vehicle side is provided with the transmission information from the ground side communication means. Receive Working vehicle side communication means is provided, and the steering control means, based on the information of the working vehicle side communication means, in the case of the abnormality, the steering based on the light reception information of the steering control optical sensor. It is configured to stop the control.

[0006]

According to the characteristic configuration of the present invention, on the ground side,
The presence / absence of light output of the guiding beam light projection means is detected by the beam light output presence / absence detecting means, and the presence / absence of an optical path blocker for blocking the optical path of the guiding light beam is detected by the optical path blocker presence / absence detecting means. Based on the detection information of, the ground side communication means, in the case of at least one of the case where there is no optical output of the guidance beam light projection means or there is an optical path blocker for blocking the optical path of the guidance beam light, It is determined to be abnormal, and the determination information is transmitted to the work vehicle side. Further, when the steering control optical sensor stops receiving the guiding beam light, the working vehicle automatically traveling while controlling the steering based on the light reception information of the steering control optical sensor, the working vehicle side communication means. Check whether or not the abnormality determination information is transmitted from the ground side, and if the abnormality information is not transmitted, it is determined that the cause of the non-light reception is due to the shift of the vehicle body steering position. The direction in which the vehicle body steering position is deviated is predicted from the light reception information of the optical sensor before the non-light receiving state, and the return steering is performed in that direction. On the other hand, if the abnormality information is transmitted, it is determined that the reason why the light is not received is that the guidance light beam is not normally projected, and based on the light reception information of the steering control optical sensor. Stop steering control.

[0007]

Therefore, according to the feature of the present invention, when the work vehicle is automatically traveling while performing the steering control based on the light receiving information of the steering control optical sensor, the steering control light is used. If the sensor no longer receives the guiding light beam,
Is the cause of the non-light reception due to the shift of the steering position of the car body,
Alternatively, it is accurately determined whether or not the guidance beam light is no longer normally projected, and based on this determination result, when the guidance beam light is no longer normally projected, the steering The steering control based on the light reception information of the control optical sensor is stopped, and thus the occurrence of the above-mentioned inconvenience caused by performing unnecessary steering control as in the conventional case is effectively avoided, and the steering of the beam light guide type work vehicle is effectively prevented. It has become possible to improve reliability.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a traveling control device for a rice planting work vehicle will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 5, in a plurality of work traveling strokes set in a field parallel to each other, a rice planting work vehicle V is automatically driven along the length direction of the traveling stroke. Laser beam as a guiding beam light projection means for projecting the guiding beam light A1 which serves as a guide for the traveling from the one end side to the other end side along the length direction of the traveling path. The light projection device B1 is installed on the ground side at a position corresponding to the middle of the two traveling strokes at a ratio of one to two traveling strokes adjacent to each other along the direction in which the plurality of traveling strokes are arranged. Therefore, the guiding beam light A1 can be projected in each of a plurality of parallel traveling strokes. In this embodiment, the work vehicle V guided by the guiding beam light A1 is adapted to reciprocate in each traveling stroke while changing the direction by 180 degrees at both ends of each traveling stroke.

Further, the turning beam light A2 for indicating the positions of both ends in the length direction of the traveling stroke and for indicating the start position of the turning operation for the next traveling stroke is used as the guiding beam light. A turning laser light projection device B2 for projecting in a direction orthogonal to the projection direction of A1 is provided at a lateral side of the field where the traveling strokes are arranged corresponding to both ends in the longitudinal direction of the traveling strokes. Has been. Thus, as the working vehicle V reaches the end of each traveling stroke, the working vehicle V is turned by 180 degrees toward the next traveling stroke, so that the planting work in the field in the predetermined range is continued. So that it can be done automatically.

As shown in FIG. 6, the guiding laser beam projection device B1 includes a laser diode 2 for outputting a beam of light.
1 and a galvano scanner 25 that scans the output light of the laser diode 21 within a predetermined angle range in the vertical direction. Further, a part of the output light of the laser diode 21 is taken out by the prism 22 and reflected by the mirror 23 to be a photodiode 24 which is a light receiving element.
Is incident on. When the laser diode 21 outputs the beam light, the photodiode 24 is turned on. On the other hand, when the beam light is not output, the photodiode 24 is turned off. A beam light output presence / absence detecting unit for detecting presence / absence of light output of the projection unit B1 is configured. Further, an ultrasonic wave signal for detection is projected from the guiding laser beam projection device B1 side toward the projecting direction of the guiding laser beam A1, that is, toward the optical path, and when there is an object on the front side of the optical path, a reflection signal from the object. Is provided and an ultrasonic sensor 26 configured to be turned on is provided, and the guidance beam light projected by the ultrasonic sensor 26 from one end side to the other end side of each traveling stroke. Optical path blocker presence / absence detection means for detecting the presence / absence of an optical path blocker that blocks the optical path of A1 is configured.

Further, based on the detection information of the photodiode 24 and the ultrasonic sensor 26, when there is no light output of the guiding beam light projecting means B1 or an optical path blocker for blocking the optical path of the guiding beam light A1. In at least one of the cases where there is
The projection state of 1 is abnormal, that is, it is determined that the guidance beam light A1 is not sent to the work vehicle V side, and the determination information is wirelessly transmitted to the work vehicle V side. Side communication means 27 is provided. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned discrimination information, the transmission information from the ground side communication means 27 is added with discrimination information for discriminating which traveling stroke the discrimination state is regarding the projection state of the guiding beam light A1. ing. The guiding laser beam projection device B1, the ultrasonic sensor 26, the ground side communication means 27, etc. are mounted and fixed by a mounting mechanism (not shown) on a stand 21 provided at a predetermined height on the ground side. There is.

The structure of the work vehicle V will be described below.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a seedling planting device 6 as a working device is provided at a rear portion of a traveling machine body 5 including a pair of left and right front wheels 3 and rear wheels 4 so as to be movable up and down and stop driving. There is. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the front and rear wheels 3, 4
Is composed of a pair of left and right sides so that steering operation can be freely performed in the front and rear, and hydraulic cylinders 7 and 8 for steering and electromagnetic control valves 9 and 10 for them are provided. That is, a two-wheel steering system that steers only one of the front wheels 3 or the rear wheels 4, a four-wheel steering system that steers the front and rear wheels 3, 4 in opposite phases and at the same angle, and the front and rear wheels 3, 4 in the same phase. In addition, it is possible to selectively use three types of steering types, that is, a parallel steering type that steers at the same angle.

In FIG. 1, 11 is a hydraulic continuously variable transmission that shifts the output from the engine E to drive the front and rear wheels 3 and 4 at the same time, 12 is an electric motor for gear shifting operation, 1
3 is a hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering the planting device 6, 14 is a control valve thereof, and 15 is an electromagnetically-operated planting clutch that connects and disconnects the drive of the planting device 6 by the engine E. Further, a control device 16 using a microcomputer for controlling the traveling of the work vehicle V and the operation of the planting device 6 is provided, and the control device 16 is based on input information from various sensors described later. The shift motor 12, the control valves 9, 10, 14 and the planting clutch 15 are configured to be controlled respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, the work vehicle V includes steering angle detection sensors R1 and R2 using potentiometers for detecting steering angles of the front and rear wheels 3 and 4, and a shift of the transmission 11. A vehicle speed sensor R3 that uses a potentiometer to indirectly detect the forward / backward traveling state and the vehicle speed based on the state,
An encoder S4 for counting the number of rotations of the output shaft of the transmission 11 to detect the traveling distance, a turning optical sensor S3 described later, and various sensors for a steering control optical sensor 17 described later are provided. There is. Further, the work vehicle side communication means 1 for wirelessly receiving the transmission information from the ground side communication means 27.
9 is provided, and this received information is input to the control device 16. A means for decoding the identification information in the transmission information is configured in the control device 16.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the guiding beam light A1 is used to detect the deviation in the lateral direction of the machine body with respect to the guiding beam light A1 based on the light receiving position in the lateral direction of the machine body. A steering control optical sensor 17 for receiving light is provided on the front side on the right side of the machine body, and a turning optical sensor S3 for receiving the turning beam light A2 is further provided for the turning direction from either side of the machine body. The steering control light sensor 17 is provided on each of the left and right sides of the fuselage so that it can receive the beam light A2. The turning optical sensor S3 is configured to detect only whether or not the turning beam light A2 is received, and the light receiving position cannot be determined.

The steering control optical sensor 17 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the steering control optical sensor 17 is arranged so as to be positioned at a distance d in the longitudinal direction of the machine body and at a distance in the vertical direction. It is composed of a pair of front and rear optical sensors S1 and S2, and in order to be able to receive the guiding beam light A1 with no difference even when it is incident from any direction in the front and rear of the body, A reflecting mirror 18 is provided for reflecting the incident light from each direction toward the light receiving surface of each of the optical sensors S1 and S2. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the pair of front and rear optical sensors S1 and S2 has a plurality of light receiving elements D arranged side by side in the lateral direction of the machine body, and is located at the sensor center D0 in the lateral direction. With the position of the light receiving element as a reference, the positions X1 and X2 of the respective light receiving elements before and after the reception of the guiding beam light A1 can be detected.

Then, the control device 16 is used to steer the work vehicle V so as to automatically travel along the guidance beam light A1 based on the light reception information of the steering control optical sensor 17. As the steering control means 100 for controlling the work vehicle V reaches the end portion of one travel stroke, the work vehicle V is moved toward the start end portion of the next travel stroke adjacent to the one travel stroke. A turning control means 101 for performing a turning operation in a predetermined turning pattern is configured.

Explaining the steering control means 100, the positions X1 and X2 of the light receiving elements of the pair of front and rear optical sensors S1 and S2 of the steering control optical sensor 17 and their mounting in the vehicle front-back direction are attached. Based on the distance d, the inclination φ of the traveling machine body 5 with respect to the projection direction of the guiding beam light A1 and the position deviation x in the lateral width direction are obtained from the following equation.

[0020]

## EQU1 ## φ = tan ^-1 (| X1-X2 | / d) x = X1

In this example, the position deviation in the lateral width direction is set to the light receiving position of one (S1) of the pair of photosensors S1 and S2, but an error due to the inclination φ does not occur. In order to do so, the pair of optical sensors S
You may make it use the average value of the light receiving positions X1 and X2 of 1 and S2, respectively. The work vehicle V has the inclination φ.
The target steering angle is set and steering control is performed so that both the deviation x and the deviation x become zero. However, in the present embodiment, the steering control is performed in a two-wheel steering system in which only the front wheels 3 are steered in each traveling stroke.

Further, the steering control means 100 controls the steering based on the information of the work vehicle side communication means 19 and, in the case of the abnormality, the received light information of the steering control optical sensor 17. It is configured to stop. That is,
In the case of the above-mentioned abnormality, the guidance beam light A that serves as a traveling guide for steering control in the traveling stroke of the work vehicle V is traveling.
1 is not projected to the work vehicle V side, and normal steering control cannot be performed even if control is continued in this state.

Next, the turning control means 101 will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, the turning optical sensor S3 is used.
Is a point at which the turning light beam A2 is detected, and a turning operation of 180 degrees is started from a point f at which a distance a is traveled based on the detection information of the encoder S4 from the point e, and a predetermined turning is performed. It means that the vehicle has reached the end point h of the turning motion through the section g and moved to the start end portion of the next traveling stroke. Therefore, the turning pattern is set by the routes e to h from the point e to the point h.

Next, referring to the flow chart shown in FIG. 2, the discrimination operation of the guiding beam light projection state of the ground side communication means 27 will be described. In the case where the photodiode 24 is in the non-light receiving state, When either of the cases where the sound wave sensor 26 is in the ON state,
The projection light beam projection state is determined to be abnormal, and the determination information is transmitted. On the other hand, when the photodiode 24 is in the light receiving state and the ultrasonic sensor 26 is in the off state,
Since the guiding light beam projection state is determined to be normal, the determination information is not transmitted. Then, the above operation is repeated.

Next, the operation of the control device 16 will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the work vehicle V, the guiding laser beam projection device B1 is used.
In the state of receiving the guiding beam light A1 projected from the rear side of the machine body, the first traveling path set on one end side of the field is traveled from one end side to the other end side along the length direction thereof. Start (see Figure 5).

After the start of traveling, if the abnormality information of the guiding beam light projection state is not transmitted, the above-mentioned information is received based on the light receiving position information of the guiding beam light A1 by the steering control sensor 17. As described above, the light receiving positions of both of the pair of optical sensors S1 and S2 are at the center of the sensor.
Steering control of the front wheels 3 is performed in a two-wheel steering system. However, when the abnormality information is transmitted from the ground side communication means 27, the steering control by the steering control sensor 17 is stopped and the traveling is immediately stopped to finish the work. The turning optical sensor S3
However, when receiving the turning beam light A2 projected on one end side of the traveling stroke, the planting device 6 is driven as the vehicle travels a set distance from that point and reaches the planting start position.
The planting work is started by lowering and driving.

Further, while confirming that the abnormality information is not transmitted from the ground side communication means 27, the traveling is continued,
When the working vehicle V reaches the end portion of the traveling stroke and the turning optical sensor S3 receives the turning beam light A2 projected on the other end side of the traveling stroke (point e), the planting device 6 is operated. Stop driving and stop planting work. still,
When it is determined that the work is completed based on the number of times of turning, the next turning operation is not performed, the traveling is stopped, and the entire process is ended.
The steering control sensor 17 detects the steering position from the point e, and the vehicle travels toward the point f.

When the vehicle arrives at point f, the two-wheel steering type is switched to the four-wheel steering type and the turning section g for turning the working vehicle V by 180 degrees toward the start end of the next traveling stroke. The turning operation according to is started. When the vehicle arrives at point h, which is the end point of the turning operation in the turning section g, the four-wheel steering type is switched to the two-wheel steering type, and the steering control sensor 17 is used in the next traveling stroke. Shift to steering control.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the control device 16 is arranged so that when abnormal information is transmitted from the ground side communication means 27, the traveling is immediately stopped to finish the work.
However, in addition to this, for example, the vehicle may be driven for a predetermined distance and stopped when the abnormality information is still transmitted. According to this configuration, there is an advantage that the work is not interrupted more than necessary when the abnormal state is temporary and the normal state is restored after a predetermined time.

Further, in the above embodiment, the light beam output presence / absence detecting means 24 is constituted by the photodiode 24, but various light receiving elements other than this can be used. Further, although the light path blocker presence / absence detecting means 26 is configured by a reflection type ultrasonic sensor, the present invention is not limited to this, and a reflection type photoelectric sensor or the like can be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the turning of the vehicle body is performed in the four-wheel steering type in the turning operation is illustrated, but it may be turned in the two-wheel steering type. The pattern e
Various patterns can be set in accordance with the steering performance of the work vehicle V, etc.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is applied to the traveling control device of the work vehicle for rice planting, but it is also applicable to agricultural machines other than rice planting machines and various traveling work vehicles. In that case, the specific configuration of each unit can be variously changed.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[0034]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control configuration.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view illustrating a traveling stroke and a turning operation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a work vehicle and a beam light projection means for guidance.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a light receiving position of a steering control optical sensor.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a turning pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 V work vehicle A1 guidance beam light B1 guidance beam light projection means 17 steering control optical sensor 100 steering control means 24 beam light output presence / absence detection means 26 light path block presence / absence detection means 27 ground side communication means 19 work vehicle side Communication means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The guide beam light (A1) is projected from one end side to the other end side of each traveling stroke so that the work vehicle (V) automatically travels along each of the plurality of traveling strokes. A guidance beam light projection means (B1) is provided on the ground side, and a steering control optical sensor (17) for receiving the guidance beam light (A1) on the work vehicle (V) and its steering control. The work vehicle (V) is based on the light reception information of the optical sensor (17) for use.
Is a traveling control device for a beam light guided work vehicle, which is provided with steering control means (100) for controlling the steering so that the vehicle automatically travels along the guiding beam light (A1), and A beam light output presence / absence detecting means (24) for detecting the presence / absence of light output of the guiding beam light projection means (B1)
And an optical path blocker presence / absence detection means (2) for detecting the presence or absence of an optical path blocker that blocks the optical path of the guiding beam light (A1) projected from one end side to the other end side of each traveling stroke.
6), based on the detection information of the beam light output presence / absence detection means (24) and the light path block presence / absence detection means (26), when there is no light output of the guiding beam light projection means (B1), or Ground-side communication for determining that there is an abnormality and transmitting the determination information to the work vehicle (V) side in at least one of cases where there is an optical path blocker that blocks the optical path of the guiding beam light (A1) Means (27) are provided, work vehicle side communication means (19) for receiving transmission information from the ground side communication means (27) is provided on the work vehicle (V) side, and the steering control means is provided. (100) stops the steering control based on the light-receiving information of the steering control optical sensor (17) in the case of the abnormality based on the information of the work vehicle side communication means (19). Beam light guided work configured Cruise control device.