JPH08255019A - Automatic traveling vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a pilot lamp which indicates an operation state to the outside in the vehicle which can travel autonomously. CONSTITUTION: A traveling vehicle body 10 is, for example, a self-traveling lawn mower and a main frame 20 is supported by two front wheels 22 and one rear wheel 24. On the main frame 20, an engine 30 is mounted and drives a hydraulic pump 150. On the main frame 20, a seat 50 for an operator is fitted in the center, and a steering device 52 is arranged in front of the seat 50. A manual mode for manned operation and an automatic mode for unmanned operation are selected on a console panel provided to the vehicle and can be controlled by a remote controller. When the engine is started or when the automatic operation is started, an interlocking mechanism operates to confirm safety.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autonomous vehicle such as a work vehicle capable of unmanned driving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a riding type lawnmower has a driving seat, an engine, an operating device, etc. on a frame, controls steering and driving of wheels, and is a power driven cutting unit. To cut the lawn. By mounting an automatic control device on this type of traveling vehicle, unmanned autonomous driving is possible.

[0003]

In this type of automatic traveling vehicle, it is necessary to equip a sensor for detecting the present position, traveling direction, traveling speed, etc. of the vehicle. As the sensor, a sensor such as a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a GPS sensor, an optical fiber gyro or the like can be used in addition to the speed sensor that detects the rotation of the wheels. However, the vehicle in the unmanned driving state needs to transmit the driving state to the outside. Further, it has means for selectively switching between a manual mode by manned driving and an automatic mode by unmanned driving. Especially in the automatic mode, it is necessary to confirm that there is no problem in starting the engine and the program.
Further, regarding steering and accelerator work required for driving a vehicle, there is a need for a device for reliably operating a manned driving device by unmanned driving. The present invention provides an automatic vehicle that reliably responds to this switching of driving modes.

[0004]

The automatic traveling vehicle of the present invention has, as basic means, a frame of the vehicle, an engine mounted on the frame, wheels driven by the power of the engine, and a traveling operation device. A control device for controlling the traveling operation device, a body mounted on the vehicle, an indicator lamp mounted on the upper part of the body, and an operation panel having a switch for switching between a manual mode for manned driving and an automatic mode for unmanned driving. A remote controller for instructing switching, starting, and stopping of operation modes by remote control. An operating device having a clutch attached to the steering device of the vehicle and an operating device having a clutch attached to the accelerator device of the vehicle are provided. In the automatic mode, the clutch is connected to unmanned the steering device and the accelerator device. It is something to operate.

[0005]

Since the automatic mode is operated via the clutch, the clutch is released to reliably return to the manual mode when a trouble occurs. In addition, the interlock mechanism operates at engine start and automatic operation start to check safety.

[0006]

1 is a plan view of a traveling vehicle showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. The traveling vehicle generally denoted by reference numeral 1 has a traveling vehicle body 10 and a body 300 that is exteriorly mounted on the traveling vehicle body 10. The traveling vehicle body 10 is, for example, a self-propelled lawnmower, and the main frame 20 is supported by two front wheels 22 and one rear wheel 24. The engine 30 is mounted on the main frame 20 and the hydraulic pump 2
00 and 250 are driven. In this lawnmower, a fuel tank 34, a battery 32, and the like are arranged in the vicinity of the engine 30, which is hydraulically supplied with power for traveling and driving force of a lawn cutting unit and the like.

A seat 50 for an operator is mounted on the central upper portion of the main frame 20, and a steering device 52 is arranged in front of the seat 50. Around the seat 50, in addition to the manual brake lever 54 and the control switch 80 of the cutting unit, a forward pedal and a reverse pedal (not shown) of the vehicle are arranged. The body 300 mounted on the traveling vehicle body 10 includes a bumper body 310 that surrounds the main frame 20 with a curved surface. An engine cover 320 that covers the periphery of the engine 30 and a front cover 330 that covers the front part of the vehicle body are attached to the upper portion of the bumper body 310. These bodies are made of plastic or the like and are appropriately coated.

For this unmanned operation, various sensors and control devices are mounted. Controller 100 of control device
Are arranged around the seat 50. GP that uses a satellite as a sensor to detect the position and traveling direction of the vehicle
S (Global Positioning System) sensor 12
1, a geomagnetic sensor 123, and an optical fiber gyro sensor 124 for detecting the attitude of the vehicle. Before and after the bumper body 310, an object sensor 111 for detecting an obstacle and a contact sensor 113 for stopping the vehicle when touching an obstacle or a person are arranged. In addition, a ground sensor 112 for detecting that the vehicle is on the ground.
Is also provided. GPS sensor 121 and geomagnetic sensor 12
3 and the optical fiber gyro sensor 124, the traveling position of the vehicle can be detected. However, in order to more accurately control the work range of lawn mowing and the like, a vehicle speed sensor 140 for contacting the ground and detecting the vehicle speed is provided.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the system configuration of the traveling vehicle of the present invention. The engine 30 drives two hydraulic pumps 200 and 250. First hydraulic pump 200
Is a turf cutting unit and a hydraulic pump for steering operation. The output of the hydraulic pump 200 is sent to the vertical movement cylinder 62 of the front cutting unit 60 and the vertical movement cylinder 72 of the rear cutting unit 70 via the control valve unit 40A to perform the vertical movement of the cutting units 60, 70. . This hydraulic pressure is sent to the hydraulic motors 202 and 204 which drive the cutting units 60 and 70, and rotationally drives the cutting units. This cutting unit 60,
Reference numeral 70 has a fixed blade and a reel blade, and by rotationally driving the reel blade, grass can be sharply cut between the fixed blade and the fixed blade.

The output of the control valve unit 40A is also supplied to the steering hydraulic motor 210. The steering hydraulic motor 210 is connected to the steering 52, and when the steering 52 is operated, the steering hydraulic motor 210 sends hydraulic pressure to the cylinder 212 that steers the rear wheel 24. The steering cylinder 212 steers the rear wheel 24. The second hydraulic pump 250 is a hydraulic pump for transmission, and its output is output via the control valve unit 40B to the hydraulic motor 252 for driving the front wheels 22 and the rear wheels 2.
4 to the driving hydraulic motor 254. By alternately depressing the forward pedal 90 and the reverse pedal 92 provided in the driver's seat, the forward and reverse movements of the vehicle are achieved via the control valve unit 40B. The rear wheel 24 is equipped with a disc brake 25, which is mechanically braked by a manual brake lever 54.

The controller 100 having a board computer receives information from the obstacle recognition sensor 110 mounted on the bumper body 310. The obstacle recognition sensor 110 has a contact sensor 111, a ground sensor 112, and an objective sensor 113. Further, information is also input from sensors such as the geomagnetic sensor 121, the acceleration sensor 122, the GPS sensor 123, the optical fiber gyro 124, and the vehicle speed sensor 140 that detect the traveling of the vehicle. Further, the actual position of the vehicle is detected and the error correction signal 126 is also given to the controller 100.

The traveling vehicle 1 can select an unmanned operation mode and a manned operation mode, and has a switch 102 for switching between the operation modes. A door interlock switch 138 is provided to confirm the unmanned operation mode and the manned operation mode. Steering motor 23 for controlling hydraulic motor 210 for steering to achieve unmanned operation
0, the controller 100 sends an output signal to the steering motor 230 according to the information of the steering angle sensor 130. Similarly, an actuator 136 for operating the forward pedal 90 and the reverse pedal 92 is provided, and the depression amount of the pedal is controlled via the accelerator amount detection sensor 134. The ignition switch 36 that starts the engine 30 is
When the contact sensor 111 of the obstacle recognition sensor 110 directly operates and touches an obstacle or a person, the ignition switch 36 is shut off and the operation of the engine 30 is stopped. The rotation speed of the engine 30 is controlled by the throttle lever 37.

1 and 2 show a state in which the traveling vehicle 1 is driven unmanned. Front cover 330 of body 300
Then, the engine cover 320 is closed and the side surface is formed in an oval shape. The planar shape is also a substantially elliptical shape. The front portion 312 of the bumper body 310 is formed in a shape that covers the reel blade of the front cutting unit 60, and prevents foreign matter from being wound into the reel blade. The steering wheel 52 is foldable as necessary and is accommodated during unmanned operation. When driven unattended in this state, the streamlined body has an extremely novel design, making it easy to draw attention. Front cover 330, engine cover 3
20 may be formed of transparent plastic, and may be colored with an appropriate design.

4 and 5 show a state in which the traveling vehicle 1 of the present invention is driven by a manned person. In the vehicle of this embodiment, the engine cover 320 slides backward on the slide rail 380 fixed to the main frame 20 of the traveling vehicle body 10. Since the front cover 330 is fixed to the main frame 20, the space S is formed between the front cover 330 and the front cover 330 by opening the engine cover 320.

On the front cover side of the engine cover 320, a window 350 is openably and closably mounted via a hinge arm 340. The window 350 is held open by the stopper 355. The driver D uses the space S to get in the seat 50, returns the steering wheel 52 to a predetermined position, and drives the traveling vehicle 1. The configuration of the traveling vehicle body 10 is the same as that described with reference to FIGS.

6 and 7 are explanatory views showing the details of the vehicle speed sensor mounted on the traveling vehicle of the present invention. Code 1 as a whole
The vehicle speed sensor indicated by 40 includes a frame 142 and three rollers 143, 1 rotatably supported by the frame 142.
44 and 146, and a crawler belt 148 is wound around these rollers. Crawler belt 14 if necessary
Tension roller 14 for adjusting the tension of 8
5 may be provided. The crawler belt 148 has teeth formed on both sides to prevent slippage with a contact partner.

As described above, the automatic lawnmower of the present invention can select the manual mode for manned operation and the automatic mode for unmanned operation. The present invention provides an interlock device for ensuring safety when the manual mode or the automatic mode is selected. When switching between manual mode and automatic mode, steering and accelerator work are switched.
The steering and accelerator work have a clutch mechanism, and the manual mode is selected by turning the clutch off, and the auto mode is selected by turning the clutch on.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the steering wheel. The steering wheel 52 is detachably attached to the shaft 211. This is a mechanism for keeping the vehicle height low by pulling out the steering wheel 52 during unmanned operation, and can also be a tilting mechanism. The rotation of the shaft 211 is transmitted to the hydraulic motor 210, and the output of the hydraulic motor 210 is transmitted to the hydraulic cylinder 212 via the pipes 210a and 210b. As a result, the piston rod 212a of the hydraulic cylinder 212 is expanded and contracted. The movement of the rod 212a is converted into rotation of the shaft 212b by, for example, a mechanism of a rack and a binion, and the direction of the wheels 24 is operated. The direction of the wheel 24 is detected by the rotation angle sensor 130 and sent to the control device.

A gear 234 is attached to the shaft 211 of the steering hydraulic motor 210, and the clutch 23
2 is connected to the motor 230. That is, in the auto mode, the clutch 232 is turned on and the shaft 2 of the hydraulic motor 210 is changed according to the rotation amount of the motor 230.
11 is rotated and the wheels 24 are steered.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing an accelerator operating device. When the forward pedal 90 or the reverse pedal 92 mounted on the vehicle body is stepped on, the link lever 900 moves to the shaft 9
Rotate around 04. The link lever 900 is urged by a spring 902 so as to return to the neutral position. The operation of the link lever 900 is the transmission link 910.
Is transmitted to the other link lever 920 via, and the link lever 920 is rotated together with the shaft 921. The movement of the link lever 920 is transmitted to the accelerator-controlled hydraulic valve 40B via the rod 922 to adjust the accelerator opening. Forward pedal 90 or reverse pedal 92
When is not stepped on, the link levers 900 and 920 are forcibly returned to the neutral position, the valve 40B is closed, hydraulic pressure is not sent to the hydraulic motor for driving the wheels, and the hydraulic motor is locked.

FIG. 11 shows an accelerator work device for the automatic mode. The DC motor 930 is configured to rotate the shaft 921 via the speed reducer 932 and the clutch 934. That is, in the auto mode, the clutch 934 is turned on, the shaft 921 is driven and the control valve 40B is operated according to the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the DC motor 930 that is rotated by the output of the control device. The rotation amount of the shaft 921 is determined by the rotation angle sensor 936.
Detected by.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the processing of the accelerator work. In the process started in step S10, the clutch 934 is checked to be turned on in step S11. If the clutch 934 is on, step S1
2, the DC motor 930 operates the accelerator control valve 40B to automatically control the forward or backward movement of the vehicle and the vehicle speed. If the clutch 934 is off, the process proceeds to step S13, and the link lever 90
0 and 920 are returned to the neutral position by the action of the spring 902. In this state, the accelerator cannot be controlled by the DC motor 930 (step S14), it is necessary to switch to the manual mode and depress the forward pedal 90 or the reverse pedal 92.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the operation panel mounted on the vehicle body. On the surface of the operation panel 500, operation buttons 510 and program number input buttons 5
20, an engine key switch 530, and an engine stop button 540 are attached. The operation button 510 is
It has an auto mode selection button, a manual mode selection button, and the like. On the engine key switch 530,
The off position, the heat position of the glow lamp, the power on position, the start position of the starter motor, etc. are provided.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of a remote controller for operating the vehicle switched to the automatic mode from outside the vehicle. The remote controller 600 has a start button 601, a stop button 602, a manual button 603, an engine stop button 604, and the antenna 6
A vehicle is remotely controlled by a signal transmitted from the vehicle 10.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the process for starting the vehicle. The process started in step S100 is
In step S101, the key switch is rotated to turn on the power of the vehicle, and the key is further rotated to rotate the starter motor to start the engine (step S102). When the auto mode button on the operation panel is pressed, the process proceeds to step S104, and it is checked in step S105 whether to return to the manual mode. In step S106, the program number is entered using the button 520, and the vehicle cover is closed.
When the start button of the remote controller 600 is pressed (step S107), the vehicle runs on its own and performs the work instructed by the program number.

When the program ends in step S108, the process returns to step S105. If the program is being processed, the need to stop the vehicle is checked in step S109. In step S113, the necessity of the emergency stop of the vehicle is checked, and if there is no need for the emergency stop, the process returns to step S108 to continue the program processing. When the stop button 602 is pressed in step S110, the vehicle stops at that location. The restart is checked in step S111, and when the start button 601 is pressed in step S112, the vehicle starts traveling again.

When the cover of the stopped vehicle is opened and the manual button on the operation panel is pressed, the process returns to step S104. If the necessity of emergency stop is checked in step S113, the engine of the vehicle is stopped. When the cause of the emergency stop is removed and the return button on the operation panel is pressed in step S114, the process returns to step S102 and the engine can be restarted.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the states of the vehicle in the manual mode and the automatic mode, and the transition of each state. By switching between manual mode and auto mode, the color of the vehicle's indicator lamp is changed to notify the mode to the outside. The emergency stop and the abnormal stop of the vehicle in this figure are as follows. (1) Emergency stop Emergency stop processing is performed when the bumper switches attached to the front and rear of the bumper of the lawn mower are turned on and when the engine stop switch of the operation unit is pressed.
The lawn mower stops the engine and keeps that state in a hardware manner. For the restoration, after releasing the cause, the restoration button is pressed and the cancellation processing is performed by software processing. (2) Abnormal stop Due to an abnormality judged by the lawn mower itself, abnormal stop processing of this machine is performed. The lawn mower enters the clutch-off manual mode state and holds that state in a hardware manner. Return shall be the same as for an emergency stop.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an interlock function for starting the engine and an interlock function for starting in the automatic mode. In order to start the engine, the condition is that the key switch is on, the power circuit of the engine is normal, the emergency stop signal is not input, and the bumper switch of the vehicle does not operate.
To start automatic driving, the clutch is on, the engine is rotating, the auto mode switch is on, the steering wheel lock is off, and the door interlock switch that confirms that the vehicle body cover is closed is on. The condition is that the auto mode button is selected (the steering and accelerator work clutches are on) and the start switch is pressed. FIG. 18 shows an electric circuit diagram mounted on a vehicle in order to achieve the functions described above.

[0030]

The traveling vehicle of the present invention is equipped with a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a GPS sensor, an optical fiber gyro, and the like, and is capable of autonomous traveling. During unmanned driving, the current driving state is notified to the outside by a display lamp and voice, so the supervisor checks the contents of the program currently being executed by the vehicle from the outside and promptly confirms that the vehicle is in trouble. I can know.

In order for the vehicle to achieve the manual mode by manned driving and the automatic mode by unmanned driving, it is necessary to switch the steering device and the accelerator device to the manual mode and the automatic mode. In the present invention,
An actuator via a clutch is attached to the device for manual operation, and the auto mode is executed. Therefore, when trouble occurs in the automatic mode, the clutch is released and the mode returns to the manual mode, so that safety is ensured.
Further, when the engine is started or the automatic operation is started, the interlock mechanism operates to ensure safety.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an unmanned operation state according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the unmanned operation state of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a system of a traveling vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a manned driving state according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a manned driving state according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a vehicle equipped with a driving state display lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with the driving state display lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a chart showing the operation of an operating state display lamp.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a steering operation device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an accelerator operating device.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an accelerator operating device.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of accelerator work.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle operation panel.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a remote controller.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of processing in a manual mode and an automatic mode.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a transition between a manual mode and an automatic mode.

FIG. 17 is a logic circuit diagram of an interlock mechanism.

FIG. 18 is an electric circuit diagram mounted on the vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 traveling vehicle 10 traveling vehicle main body 20 main frame 22, 24 wheels 30 engine 40 control valve unit 50 seat 52 steering 60, 70 cutting unit 90 forward pedal 92 backward pedal 100 controller 111 contact sensor 112 ground sensor 113 objective sensor 121 geomagnetic sensor 122 Acceleration sensor 123 GPS sensor 124 Optical fiber gyro 130 Rotation angle sensor 210 Hydraulic pump 212 Hydraulic motor 230 Steering operation motor 232 Clutch 280 Operating status display lamp 300 Body 350 Window 500 Operation panel 510 Operation button 530 Key switch 600 Remote controller 900, 920 Link Lever 910 Transmission link 930 Accelerator operating motor 934 Class Chi 936 rotation angle sensor

Front page continued (72) Inventor Kenjiro Fujii 4-6 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Within the Industrial Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Toshihiro Aono Toshihiro Aono 502 Kintate-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Hitsuritsu Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tokuhisa Miyake 502 Kintatemachi, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Hiritsu Seisakusho Research Laboratory (72) Inventor, Masami Otomo, 7-1, 1-1 Higashi Narashino, Narashino City, Chiba Hitachi Keiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuo Kobayashi 4-6, Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Hitachi Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A frame of a vehicle, an engine mounted on the frame, wheels driven by the power of the engine, a traveling operating device, a control device for controlling the traveling operating device, and a vehicle mounted on the vehicle. Body, an indicator lamp mounted on the upper part of the body, an operation panel that has a switch that switches between manual mode for manned operation and automatic mode for unmanned operation, and a remote controller that commands operation mode switching and start / stop by remote operation. An autonomous vehicle comprising and. 2. A steering device and an accelerator device, comprising: an operating device having a clutch attached to a steering device of a vehicle; and an operating device having a clutch attached to an accelerator device of the vehicle. The automatic vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is operated unmanned. 3. The self-driving vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an interlock device for confirming a condition for starting the engine when the engine of the vehicle is started. 4. The self-driving vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an interlock device for confirming a condition of the automatic mode driving start when the vehicle starts the automatic mode driving.