JPH0944246A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To place a moving body in different operation according to the position of a moving object on a substrate by controlling specific operation according to physical characteristics decided by the area decision part of a moving body and performing drive control according to an input signal. SOLUTION: An operator of a race game moves a robot 1 on a game board by inputting operation instructions from a transmitter 12. The moving speed of the robot 1 is previously set to a moving speed corresponding to each area discriminated with the color of the game board and the specific speed is selected by receiving the detection result of the color detected by a sensor part 7 provided on the bottom surface of the robot 1. The operation instructions from the transmitter 12, on the other hand, are transmitted to the robot 1 with a radio wave signal and a control part 15 controls a driving part 9 so as to perform operation based upon the operation instructions. Further, the detection result of the sensor part 7 is received and a driving part 9 is controlled to move the robot at the specific speed corresponding to the detected area according to a predetermined conversion table.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control device for remotely controlling a moving body such as a robot in game machines and industrial machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a remote control device applied to a game machine such as an automobile race.
A remote control car is an example of such a game machine. Generally, a remote control car includes a board body, a car (moving body) that moves on the board body, a control unit that controls the operation of the car, and an operation for an operator to input an operation command to the car. By operating the operation unit, the operator can freely drive the automobile on the board. In this case, the speed of the automobile changes only by the input from the operation unit, and always travels at a constant speed unless a new input is made from the operation unit.

[0003]

Thus, for example, when the conventional remote control device is applied to a remote control car, the remote control car is fixed unless the operator inputs from the operation unit to change the speed. Since the player continued to run at speed, the game development was not surprising to the operator and was monotonous. Also, for example, when the conventional remote control device is applied to an industrial robot, the operator
When you want the robot to perform a specific operation at a specific location on the substrate, you must first move the robot to that specific location and then enter an operation command from the investigative unit to execute the specific operation. No, the investigation was complicated.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device capable of causing a moving body to perform various different operations depending on where on the substrate the moving body is located.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a remote control device according to the present invention has a substrate body whose surface is divided into a plurality of areas distinguished by physical characteristics such as color, and an operating means. A mobile body whose operation is remotely controlled according to a motion command signal input from the mobile body and which moves along the surface of the substrate body, and which is provided at the bottom of the body or the like and has physical characteristics such as color of the surface of the substrate body. Based on a physical characteristic such as a color determined by the area determining unit and the color determining unit, the mobile body is caused to perform a predetermined operation that is determined in advance corresponding to the physical characteristic such as the color. And a control unit that controls the drive mechanism of the moving body according to the operation command signal input from the operating unit.

Alternatively, a remote control device according to the present invention is a substrate body as described above, a movable body that moves along the surface of the substrate body, and an area determination unit as described above,
A mobile unit having a control unit that controls a drive mechanism in accordance with an operation command, and a signal transmitted from the mobile unit indicating the determination result of the area determination unit are received, and based on the determination result, the color etc. And a central control means for transmitting an operation command to the mobile body so as to cause the mobile body to perform a predetermined operation defined corresponding to the physical characteristic of the mobile body.

Further, the regions may be distinguished by attaching magnets having different magnetic flux densities on the substrate and distinguishing by the magnetic strength.

[0008]

In the remote control device according to the present invention,
Taking the case where the physical characteristics are distinguished by color as an example, the predetermined operation of the moving body corresponding to each area distinguished by color is set in advance, and the area judgment unit always judges the area. Based on the determination result, the control unit controls the drive mechanism of the moving body so as to cause the moving body to perform a predetermined operation corresponding to the area. That is, as long as the moving body is moving on one area, the area determination unit continues to detect the color applied to the area, so that the controller does not perform the predetermined operation corresponding to the gradation of this color. The selected object remains selected, and the moving object continues to execute this predetermined operation under the control of the control unit.However, when the moving object moves to another area, the color detected by the sensor unit changes. In response, the control section selects a new predetermined operation corresponding to this new color, and as a result, the moving body starts executing this new predetermined operation.

Alternatively, in the remote control device according to the present invention, the radio wave signal indicating the result of the color judgment in the sensor section is always transmitted to the central control means, and the central control section, based on the judgment result, A predetermined operation corresponding to the color is selected, and an operation command is transmitted to the mobile body as a radio signal so that the mobile body executes the predetermined operation. On the side of the mobile body, the mobile body executes the predetermined operation under the control of the control unit based on the operation command. Although the case where the physical characteristics are distinguished by colors has been described above as an example, the physical characteristics are not limited to colors, and various characteristics such as magnetic characteristics and surface irregularities are conceivable.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In an embodiment of the present invention,
A remote control device applied to a racing game will be described. In this race game, the operator moves the robot 1 on the game board 2 as shown in FIG. 2A by inputting an operation command from the transmitter 12 using a key or a stick. The moving speed of the robot 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, each area is predetermined.
The rule is to set the white area 3 as a regular course, and compete for how accurately the robot 1 can be operated so as not to deviate from this course and to quickly return to the start point. If the robot 1 deviates from the course and enters the black area 4 during traveling, the robot 1 moves at a very slow speed, and if it enters the ash area 5, it is slightly It is set to move at a slow speed.

The game board 2 used for the racing game in this embodiment has a board surface area of, for example, 800 × 1000 mm.
In addition, the material is a vinyl sheet, and as shown in FIG. 2A, a black area 4, a white area 3, and an ash area 5 that are intricately formed are formed by the color of the applied pigment. . These pigments correspond to colors by using a matte specification that diffuses reflected light. On the contrary,
The area defined by these color codes may be mirror-finished and defined by the light condition of the mirror surface (difference in reflectance). Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 2 (b), if a 160 mm square hazard seal 6 consisting of a black and white paper with a width of 20 mm is installed at an appropriate position on the plate surface with a removable adhesive sheet, the robot 1 Since the waves are equivalently run, the game can be made even more interesting. However, hazard seal 6
In the case of sticking, the width of the draft of the hazard seal 6 must be larger than the diameter of the irradiation range of the photodiode 8 of the sensor unit 7. Otherwise, even if the robot 1 is right above the white area 3, the sensor unit 7 also senses a part of the black area 4, so that the gradation of the color is recognized as gray, for example. The robot 1 cannot be caused to travel at the speed set for the area 3.

The moving body used in the race game in this embodiment has a bottom surface having a diameter as shown in FIG. 4 (a).
The robot 1 has a height of 60 mm and a height of 60 mm, and has a pair of wheels 10R and 10L as a driving unit 9 and a stepping motor 1 on the bottom surface.
1R and 11L are attached, and Fig. 4 (b)
As shown in, a sensor unit 7 is provided for determining in which area on the game board 2 the robot 1 exists. The maximum rotation speed of the stepping motors 11R and 11L is 900 rpm, the maximum speed of the robot 1 is 18 cm / sec, and the sensor output level measurement cycle of the sensor unit 7 for area determination is 10 ms. An antenna 13 for receiving signals of various operation commands transmitted from the transmitter 12 is installed on the upper part of the body. A receiving unit 141, a control unit 15, a battery, and a motor control circuit 16 are provided inside the robot 1. In the remote control device according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an operation command signal input from the transmitter 12 is transmitted to the robot 1 in the form of a radio wave signal, and the control unit 15 on the robot 1 side. Controls the drive unit 9 of the robot 1 so as to execute the operation according to the operation command, and receives the detection result detected by the sensor unit 7 to detect the detection result based on a predetermined conversion table. The drive unit 9 is controlled so as to travel at a predetermined speed (or moving direction) corresponding to the designated area. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, the input from the transmitter 12 is input to the microcomputer 171 in the central control unit 17, and accordingly the microcomputer 1
The robot 1 in the form of an operation command signal from 71 in the form of a radio signal
At the same time as being transmitted to the central control unit 1 from the transmitting unit 142, a radio wave signal indicating the result of the color determination in the sensor unit 7 is transmitted to the central control unit 1 at the same time.
7, the central control unit 17 selects a predetermined operation corresponding to the color based on the determination result,
An operation command may be transmitted to the mobile body as a radio signal so that the mobile body executes the predetermined operation. In addition to radio waves, infrared rays may be used for transmitting and receiving signals. Alternatively, a coil is laid on the game board 2 and a coil is installed on the bottom surface of the robot 1, and an electromagnetic wave generated between both coils is used. You may transmit and receive a signal using guidance.

Next, the sensor section 7 will be described with reference to FIG. A voltage of 5 V is constantly applied to the resistor R1 and the light emitting diode 8 regardless of the static motion of the moving body. The phototransistor 18 conducts in proportion to the amount of light received. The end of the resistor R2 opposite to the phototransistor 18 is set to 5 volts. When the substrate body is irradiated with the light from the light-emitting diode 8, the substrate body emits a reflected light of a light amount proportional to the brightness of the color applied to the surface of the substrate body of the irradiation portion, and the reflected light is photogenerated. Transistor 18
When the light is irradiated onto the phototransistor, the resistance value of the phototransistor 18 changes in inverse proportion to the amount of light. That is, when the color of the substrate body is white, the resistance value becomes almost 0 and the phototransistor 18 is turned on, so that a current flows through the resistor R2, and as a result, the potential of the terminal P1 becomes almost 0 V, and the A / D conversion unit 19 An analog signal having a voltage of 0V is taken into. On the contrary, when the color of the substrate is black, the resistance value becomes infinite and the phototransistor 18 is turned off, so that no current flows through the resistor R2,
The potential of the terminal C becomes approximately 5V, and the analog signal having a voltage of 5V is taken into the A / D conversion section 19. The sensor circuit shown in FIG. 7 is configured in consideration of the influence of ambient light. That is, it is configured to eliminate low-frequency light reception level fluctuations caused by light from the surrounding environment, such as sunlight, fluorescent lights, and inverter fluorescent lights.

Further, the sensor section may use a Hall sensor 20 as shown in FIG. 8A, which detects a magnetic field and obtains a linear output with respect to the magnetic field strength. In this case, magnets 211, 212 and 213 having different magnetic flux densities are installed on the surface of the game board 2 as shown in FIG. 8B so that the area is defined by the magnetic flux densities. Next, FIG.
The controller 15 will be described with reference to. The voltage value from the sensor unit 7 is A / D converted into one of 16 gradations from 0 to 15 in the A / D conversion unit 19, and the converted digital signal is input to the microcomputer MC. . The microcomputer MC executes various arithmetic processes according to programs stored in advance in the program area 231 of the ROM 22. Work RAM 2
In 4, the intermediate result of the calculation in the microcomputer MC is temporarily stored in the process of the calculation. Data area 23
2 includes various speeds, spins, sound reproduction, etc.
The operation data of the radio controlled car is stored, and the address of the data area 232 is designated by the microcomputer MC according to the gradation of the digital signal input to the control unit 15, and the operation data to which the address is attached is specified. Is read by the microcomputer MC, and control is performed according to the content of this operation data. For example, the sound driver 25 is controlled to play a sound. Further, with the circuit configuration as shown in FIG. 15A, that is, the signal from the microcomputer MC is converted into the D / A conversion circuit 1.
A digital signal is converted into an analog signal by 60, and a change in the voltage of the analog signal is controlled by the voltage control type oscillation circuit 16
1 converts the oscillation frequency into a change, and the motor driver circuit 162 controls the rotation speeds of the stepping motors 11R and 11L according to the oscillation frequency. The two D / A conversion circuits 160, 160 shown in FIG.
Also, instead of the two voltage control type oscillation circuits 161, 161, an oscillator 170 and a programmable timer PT as shown in FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, the microcomputer MC and the A / D conversion unit 19 are configured by separate chips, but both may be built in one chip.

When the robot 1 moves from one area to another area, if the speed is changed in proportion to the change in the sensed gradation, the stepping motor 11
Since the rotational speeds of R and 11L change abruptly, there is a risk that the stepping motors 11R and 11L may malfunction due to insufficient torque. To prevent this, when the sensor level changes, it is necessary to perform a smoothing process that gradually changes the rotation speed so as not to burden the stepping motors 11R and 11L. FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing the flow of this smoothing process. When the radio-controlled model car, which is a robot, moves on the game board 2 in which the white area, the gray area, and the black area are formed, the sensor output changes according to the color of the passing area, as shown in FIG. As a result, the frequencies of the excitation pulses CKA and CKB that control the rotation speed of the stepping motor 11 change, and as a result, the rotation speed of the stepping motor 11 changes. Here, the acceleration time t is determined according to each of all the movement patterns of the robot 1 from one area to another area.
A table of this correspondence is stored in the program area 231.

FIG. 10 shows a microcomputer M.
9 is a flowchart showing a flow of smoothing processing in C. When the detection level Ht is output from the sensor unit 7 in step S1, the difference between the output value Ht and the previous output value Ht _-1 is calculated in step S2, and whether the magnitude of this difference is larger than the predetermined value Δ or not. Determine whether or not. If the value is less than the predetermined value Δ, there is no fear that the stepping motor will malfunction.
The process moves to, and set the motor clock number corresponding to H _t, replaces the value of H _t-1 to H _t is the latest value at step S4. On the other hand, if the value of H _t -H _t-1 is greater than the predetermined value Δ is set to motor clock number corresponding to H _t, because there is a risk of imbalance, that value is greater than zero and proceeds to step S5 Determine whether or not. H _t −H
_When the value of _t-1 is smaller than zero, the process proceeds to step S6 and is set to a value obtained by subtracting a certain value a from the number of motor clocks (a value that does not cause malfunction). Then, replace the value of H _t-1 to H _t-1 -b a latest value in step S7. Also, H
_When the value of _t- Ht _-1 is greater than zero, step S8
Then, the value is added to the number of motor clocks and a value a is set (a value that does not cause malfunction). Then, replace the value of H _t-1 in the latest values H _t-1 + b in step S9.
The above process is performed every 10 ms, whereby the speed can be controlled without causing the stepping motor to fail. The value of Δ may be changed during acceleration and during deceleration.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the output timing of the detection level by the sensor section 7. The scanning gate signal A is output from the microcomputer MC every 10 ms. During the first T _{2 when} the scan gate signal A is H, the light emitting diode 8 emits light and senses the reflected light. The reflected light is photoelectrically converted by the phototransistor 18, and the potential corresponding to the reflected light is filtered by the bandpass filter BPF and then stored as electric charge in the inverting amplification / integration circuit 27 during the period T ₂ . Immediately before the end of the first T _{2, the} sampling signal is output from the microcomputer MC to detect the charge amount stored in the inverting amplification / integration circuit 27, and the signal G indicating the level of this charge amount is detected.
Is updated to a signal of a new level and input to the A / D conversion unit 19, converted to a certain gradation of 16 gradations and input to the microcomputer MC. When T ₂ ends and the scan gate signal becomes L, the charge amount stored in the inverting amplification / integration circuit 27 is discharged.

By the way, the value of T ₂ is set on the reference (for test) white surface of each moving body at the time of shipment in order to absorb the variation in performance of each of the light emitting diode or the light receiving unit. Input the reflected light and adjust the length so that the integrated output level becomes the reference value. Specifically, the moving body is placed on the reference white surface, a test command is transmitted from the transmitter, and the value of T ₂ is gradually increased so that the integrated output level becomes exactly the reference value. Set to T ₂ . This adjustment can be performed by software with a microcomputer. Normally, the value of T ₂ will be about 5 ms. Further, in order to save power of the light emitting diode, the scan gate signal A is kept at L when there is no input from the transmitter, and the period of T ₂ is H when there is an input from the transmitter. T ₁ −
It is better to set the period of T ₂ to L. Further, in order to simplify the circuit configuration, it is better to fix the cycle T ₁ to 10 ms. However, to keep the sampling accuracy constant,
It is necessary to change the cycle T ₁ according to the moving speed of the robot 1. For example, when the moving speed of the robot 1 is high, the cycle T ₁ is shortened to increase the sampling cycle.

In addition to the change in speed proportional to the gradation of reflection, the game board 2 is divided into areas that are distinguished by red, green, blue, and white, and the sensor unit as shown in FIG. , The surface of the game board 2 is irradiated with a white light source, the reflected light is passed through a filter 28 to be divided into respective wavelengths, and the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 is performed. In step S1, the microcomputer MC receives signals from each sensor unit,
In step S2, chromaticity calculation is performed to remove the luminance component. Next, C which is the result of chromaticity calculation in step S2
Based on the value of, the color is determined in step S3. The value of C,
That is, if the values of r, g, and b belong to the red judgment area of the chromaticity plane shown in FIG. 14, the robot 1 is spun for 1 second. If the value of C belongs to the green judgment area of the chromaticity plane, the robot 1 is spun for 0.5 seconds. If the value of C belongs to the blue determination area of the chromaticity plane, the operation input is invalidated for 1 second. Further, if the value of C belongs to another determination area (area indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 14) on the chromaticity plane, another operation may be set. on the other hand,
If no color is detected in step S3, the robot 1
Has passed through the black and white area, so step S
4, the brightness calculation is performed, and the result (E _r ) is calculated as H _t.
Is adopted as the value of, and the above smoothing processing is performed in step S5. Note that the coefficient αβγ used for the brightness calculation in step S4 is a visibility correction coefficient, and generally α =
0.3, β = 0.59 and γ = 0.11. Furthermore, the robot 1 has a sound driver 25 and a speaker 29.
And when the robot 1 enters the specific color area,
Sound driver 25 by microcomputer MC
The robot 1 may emit a sound under the control of.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a race game has been described. However, as another embodiment, the present invention can be applied to remote operation of an industrial robot. In this case, the operator moves the industrial robot by remote operation on the substrate composed of a plurality of areas distinguished by color, and the predetermined operation of the robot is associated with each area in advance, and the operator is present. When a robot is required to perform a specific work, when the robot is moved to a specific area associated with the work, the robot automatically starts the work without the operator's operation.

[0021]

When the present invention is applied to a game, it is possible to cause the mobile unit to perform various different operations depending on where on the substrate the mobile unit is located, which makes the game more interesting. When applied to a multi-functional industrial robot, the operator can selectively use a large number of functions of the robot with simple operations.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a control unit of a remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a game board used for a racing game in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a traveling speed and a motor rotation speed of a robot and a region in a racing game according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a robot used in a racing game according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a state of communication between a central control device and a mobile body of a remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a manner of communication between an operation input and a moving body of the remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a sensor unit using a light emitting diode of the remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a sensor unit using a hall sensor of the remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart for explaining smoothing processing in the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a smoothing process according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart showing a state of detection of a sensor unit using a light emitting diode according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a sensor unit of the sensor unit according to the present invention, which performs sensing based on RGB sensor outputs.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of sensing by RGB sensor output of the sensor unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining color determination based on chromaticity calculation.

FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration relationship between a microcomputer MC and stepping motors 11R and 11L in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Robot 2 Game Board 3 White Area 4 Black Area 5 Gray Area 6 Hazard Seal 7 Sensor Section 8 Light Emitting Diode 9 Driving Section 10R Wheel 10L Wheel 11R Stepping Motor 11L Stepping Motor 12 Transmitter 13 Antenna 141 Receiving Section 142 Transmitting Section 15 Control Section 16 Motor control circuit 17 Central control unit 171 Microcomputer 18 Phototransistor 19 A / D converter 20 Hall sensor 211 Magnet 212 Magnet 213 Magnet MC Microcomputer 22 ROM 231 Program area 232 Data area 24 Work RAM 25 Sound driver 27 Inversion amplification / integration Circuit 28 Filter 29 Speaker

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A remote control device comprising: a substrate body; a moving body that moves along a surface of the substrate body; and control means for controlling an operation of the moving body, wherein the substrate body has a physical characteristic. Are divided into a plurality of different regions, and the moving body has a region determining means for determining which region of the plurality of regions the moving body is on by detecting the physical characteristics. However, the control means includes a table memory that stores control data for causing the moving body to perform a predetermined operation corresponding to the physical characteristics, and the table memory corresponds to the detection result of the area determination means. A remote control device, which controls the moving body based on the read control data. 2. An operation input unit for inputting an operation command to the moving body and transmitting the operation command to the control unit, wherein the control unit has an operation transmitted from the operation input unit. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the drive mechanism of the moving body is controlled according to control data read from the table memory according to a command and a determination result of the area determination means. 3. The predetermined area determined by the area determining means is detected while the moving body is performing an operation according to an operation command input from the operation input means. And the control means causes the moving body to perform an operation based on the control data read from the table memory corresponding to the area in preference to an operation based on an operation command from the operation input means. Characteristic remote control device. 4. A substrate body, a driving means, a control part, and a first signal transmission means, and the control means controls the driving means according to an operation command signal received by the first signal transmission means. A moving body that is controlled to move along the surface of the substrate body; and a second control means, and a central control means that transmits the operation command signal to the moving body by the second transmission means. In the remote control device, the substrate body is divided into a plurality of regions having different physical characteristics, and the moving body determines for each region which one of the plurality of regions the moving body is on. The system further comprises area determination means for making a determination by detecting the unique physical characteristic, and the area detection determination result of the area determination means is transmitted to the central control unit by the first transmission means, and the central control is performed. Means , Further comprising a table memory storing control data for causing the moving body to perform a predetermined operation corresponding to each area, and controlling data according to the area determination result transmitted from the moving body from the table memory. A remote control device which is read out, generates an operation command signal to the mobile body, and transmits the operation command signal to the mobile body by the second transmission means. 5. Each of the plurality of regions of the substrate body is separated from other regions by a reflectance of light unique to each region, and the region determining unit determines a reflectance of light reflected from the substrate surface. The remote control device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the area where the moving body is present is determined by the above. 6. Each of the plurality of regions of the substrate body is separated from other regions by the color applied to the surface of each region, and the region determining means determines the color of the substrate surface, The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the mobile unit determines an area on the mobile unit. 7. Each of the plurality of regions is divided from other regions on the surface of each region by the magnetic field intensity unique to the region, and the region determining means detects the magnetic field intensity on the substrate surface. The remote control device according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that the region in which the moving body exists is determined.