JPH10105237A - Control method for unmanned cleaning car - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method for an unmanned cleaning car which leaves no uncleaned area at the intersection of a 1st and a 2nd path if the reference surface of the 2nd path is on the side of the 1st path when the 1st path and the 2nd path crossing the tail of the 1st path at right angles are cleaned successively. SOLUTION: For a stored travel, the path length L1 of the 1st path 51 and the path width W2 of the 2nd path 52 are calculated by moving a car body 44 to right before a guide 62. For a cleaning travel, the car body 44 is made to have going travels A1 to An by the distance as long as the sum of the path length L1 of the 1st path 51 and the path width W2 of the 2nd path 52. The car body 33 is moved back from the travel end point E1 of the 1st path 51 corresponding to the path width W2 of the 2nd path 52 to arrange the car body 44 at the travel start point S2 of the 2nd path 52.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling an unmanned cleaning vehicle, and more particularly, to a first passage and a first passage.
When continuously cleaning the second passage orthogonal to the end of the passage, when the reference surface of the second passage is on the first passage side, the first passage
The present invention relates to a method of controlling an unmanned cleaning vehicle in which an uncleaned area does not occur at an intersection of a passage and a second passage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A passage 40 shown in FIG. 4 is formed linearly and continuously from a starting end (lower in the figure) to an end (upper in the figure) along a pair of wall surfaces 41 and 42 inside a building. The unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 introduced for cleaning the passage 40 includes a cleaning means (not shown) such as a rotating brush provided on the vehicle body 44 and a non-contact type detection for detecting the periphery of the vehicle body 44. (Not shown). The detecting means is a plurality of ultrasonic distance sensors provided around the vehicle body 44, and detects a front obstacle of the vehicle body 44 and monitors a relative position of the vehicle body 44 with respect to a reference plane (wall surface 41). I have. Such an unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 cleans the passage 40 by moving the vehicle body 44 straight along the wall surface 41 adopted as the reference surface.

In the meantime, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 is required to have a flat and vertical reference surface such as a wall surface 41 in order to move the vehicle body 44 straight due to the characteristics of the detecting means. In other words, the wall 42 provided with a large number of doorways and pillar projections
Is not suitable as a reference surface for the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43.

When the width W of the passage 40 is equal to or greater than a predetermined length, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 is set so as to satisfy the following conditions. That is, <Conditions> From the traveling start point S closest to the reference plane (wall surface 41) to the traveling end point E farthest to the reference plane (wall surface 41), the forward traveling A ( A1 to An) and a return travel B (B1 to Bn) that causes the vehicle body 44 to move straight toward the start end on a reference plane (wall surface 4).
It is performed alternately so as to gradually separate from 1) and not to overlap the traveling trajectories. <Conditions> Of the respective outbound travels A (A1 to An), the first outbound travel A1 causes the vehicle body 44 to travel straight until the detecting means detects a forward obstacle. <Conditions> Of the respective outbound travels A (A1 to An), the second and subsequent outbound travels A2 to An follow the first outbound travel A1 to move the vehicle body 44 straight.

[0005] The unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 is appropriately set so as to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions, and when the vehicle body 44 is started from the traveling start point S, the wall surface 45 ( The vehicle body 44 travels straight (forward traveling A1) until the detecting means detects the end side wall surface as a forward obstacle (the forward traveling A1). Thereafter, the backward traveling B (B1 to Bn) and each forward traveling A (A2 to An) are alternately performed. Thus, the entire area of the passage 40 is cleaned.

FIG. 5 shows a first passage 51 inside a building.
And a second passage 52 orthogonal to the end of the first passage 51. The unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 is connected to the first passage 51.
When continuously cleaning the second passage 52 and the second passage 52, the storage traveling for storing the passage lengths of the first passage 51 and the second passage 52 is performed in advance, and the cleaning traveling for traveling the vehicle body 44 based on the memory is performed from the next time. Is controlled as follows. The passage lengths of the first passage 51 and the second passage 52 are:
By running the vehicle body 44 in accordance with the above-described conditions, the straight-line distance of the vehicle body 44 is detected.

By the way, the second passage 52 has a pair of wall surfaces 5 extending from a starting end (right side in the figure) to an end (left side in the figure).
The wall surface 53 on the first passage 51 side is flat and vertical, and the wall surface 54 apart from the first passage 51 has a large number of entrances. For this reason, in order for the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 to reciprocate the vehicle body 44 in the second passage 52, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 adopts the wall surface 53 on the first passage 51 side as a reference surface, and sets a position along the wall surface 53 as a traveling start point. S
Must be set as

Conventionally, in order to satisfy such a condition, the first traveling A (A1) in the first passage 51 and the wall surface 5
By installing a guide 60 that can be detected by the detecting means as a front obstacle at a position where the crossing 3 intersects (see C in the figure),
The vehicle body 44 is moved straight ahead of the guide 60. That is, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 moves the first passage 51
From the beginning (not shown) to the guide 60 of the first passage 51
Is stored as the path length L1.

Therefore, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 reciprocates the vehicle body 44 in the first passage 51 based on the passage length L1 in the cleaning passage when performing the cleaning traveling. Then, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 is disposed at the traveling start point S (S2) of the second passage 52 by advancing the vehicle body 44 by a predetermined distance from the traveling end point E (E1) of the first passage 51 and then turning it by 90 degrees. .

[0010]

According to the control method of the unmanned cleaning vehicle 43 described above, when the cleaning traveling is performed in the first passage 51, the vehicle body 44 turns in a U-shape just before the guide 60. When the continuous cleaning of the first passage 51 and the second passage 52 is completed, there is a problem that an uncleaned region P (see a hatched portion in the drawing) is generated at the end of the cleaning region of the first passage 51. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to continuously clean a first passage and a second passage orthogonal to an end of the first passage. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling an unmanned cleaning vehicle in which an uncleaned area does not occur at an intersection of a first passage and a second passage when a reference surface of the passage is on a first passage side.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is premised on satisfying the following conditions as in the prior art. <Conditions> From the traveling start point closest to the reference plane to the traveling end point farthest from the reference plane, the forward traveling in which the vehicle goes straight toward the end and the return traveling in which the vehicle goes straight toward the starting end are referred to. It is performed alternately so as to gradually separate from the surface and not to overlap the traveling trajectory. <Conditions> In the first outbound traveling, the vehicle travels straight until the front obstacle is detected by the detecting means. <Conditions> Of the forward travels, the second and subsequent forward travels follow the first forward travel to move the vehicle straight.

The invention described in claim 1 achieves the above object by satisfying the following conditions in addition to these conditions. <Conditions> In the stored traveling in the first passage, the vehicle body is set in advance so that the n-th outbound traveling of the outbound traveling is straight ahead until a forward obstacle is detected, and the first outbound traveling and the first outbound traveling are performed. A guide that can be detected as a front obstacle is installed at a position where the reference planes of the two passages intersect. <Condition> Based on the stored traveling in the first path, the path length of the first path is calculated from the first outward traveling, and the path width of the second path is calculated from the absolute difference between the first outward traveling and the nth outward traveling. Are calculated and stored. <Conditions> In cleaning traveling in the first passage, forward traveling and returning traveling are performed in correspondence with the total length of the passage length of the first passage and the passage width of the second passage. <Condition> The vehicle body is disposed at the traveling start point in the second passage by retreating the vehicle body from the traveling end point in the first passage corresponding to the passage width of the second passage.

In this case, retreating does not mean simply retreating the vehicle body, but means moving the vehicle body from the traveling end point toward the traveling starting point side. Therefore,
The vehicle body may be literally retracted, or may be reversed and then advanced. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning area of the first passage and the cleaning area of the second passage overlap as a result. The problem of creating a cleaning area can be solved, thereby achieving the above object.

Further, the invention according to a second aspect is characterized in that the guide is installed on an extension of the n-th outbound travel when performing the storage travel and the cleaning travel in the first passage. . According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the entrance and the exit are provided at the intersection of the second passage and the n-th forward traveling on the wall surface on the side remote from the first passage. The guide allows the vehicle body to move straight to an appropriate position, whereby the passage width of the second passage can be reliably calculated.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment described below, the first passage 5 already described with reference to FIG.
Regarding the state and the like of the first and second passages 52, the description is simplified or omitted by giving the same reference numerals in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment according to the present invention. The unmanned cleaning vehicle 10 in the present embodiment is set so as to satisfy the following conditions as in the related art.

<Conditions> Starting from the running start point S (S1, S2) closest to the reference surfaces 41, 53, the reference surfaces 41, 53
Forward traveling A (A1 to A1) in which the vehicle body 44 goes straight toward the end to the traveling end point E (E1, E2) farthest from the vehicle.
n) and a return travel B (B1 to Bn) that causes the vehicle body 44 to move straight toward the start end are alternately performed so as to be separated from the reference surfaces 41 and 53 in a stepwise manner and that the traveling trajectories do not overlap. <Conditions> The first outbound travel A (A1) of the outbound travels A (A1 to An) causes the vehicle body 44 to move straight until the detection unit detects a forward obstacle. <Conditions> Of the forward traveling A (A1 to An), the second and subsequent forward traveling A (A2 to An) follow the first traveling A (A1) forward traveling the vehicle body 44 straight.

The unmanned cleaning vehicle 10 is provided with a first passage 5
In order to continuously clean the first and second passages 52, as in the related art, after performing the storage traveling, the cleaning traveling is performed. Then, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 10 of the present embodiment is set so as to satisfy the following conditions in the storage traveling and the cleaning traveling.

<Conditions> In the memorized traveling in the first passage 51, each outbound traveling A (A1 to An) is performed in advance.
Among them, the n-th outbound travel A (An) is also set so that the vehicle body 44 goes straight until a forward obstacle is detected, and the first outbound travel A (A1) and the reference surface 53 of the second passage 52 are set. C and the nth outbound travel A
Guides 61 and 62, which can be detected as obstacles in front, are installed on the extension D of (An). <Conditions> By the stored traveling in the first passage 51, the passage length L of the first passage 51 from the first forward traveling A (A1).
1 is calculated, the passage width W2 of the second passage 52 is calculated from the absolute difference between the first outbound travel A (A1) and the nth outbound travel A (An), and stored. <Conditions> In the cleaning traveling in the first passage 51, the forward traveling A (A) corresponds to the total length of the passage length L1 of the first passage 51 and the passage width W2 of the second passage 52.
1 to An) and the return travel B (B1 to Bn). <Conditions> Travel end point E (E1) in first passage 51
After turning the body 44 by 180 degrees in the second passage 5
By moving the vehicle body 44 forward by a distance corresponding to the second passage width W2 and then turning the vehicle body 90 degrees, the vehicle body 44 is disposed at the traveling start point S (S2) in the second passage 52.

Such an unmanned cleaning vehicle 10 has a first passage 5
1 is performed according to the routine shown in FIG. That is, in step ST1, the vehicle body 44 is set as the first forward traveling A (A1) until immediately before the first guide 61.
And the straight traveling distance of the first forward traveling A (A1) is stored as the passage length L1 of the first passage 51 in step ST2. If it is not the n-th outbound traveling in step ST3 (NO), the vehicle body 44 is made to travel straight along the first outbound traveling A (A1) in step ST4, and then returns to step ST3. On the other hand, in step ST3, when it is the nth outbound traveling (Y
In step ES5, the vehicle body 44 is made to go straight to the position just before the second guide 62 in step ST5. Next, step ST6
Is calculated from the absolute difference between the straight travel distance of the first forward travel and the straight travel distance of the nth forward travel at the passage width W2 of the second passage 52.
Is calculated and stored.

Next, the unmanned cleaning vehicle 10 performs cleaning traveling in the first passage 51 according to a routine shown in FIG. That is, in step ST1, a forward traveling A is performed in which the vehicle body 44 travels straight in a straight traveling distance obtained by adding the passage length L1 of the first passage 51 and the passage width W2 of the second passage 52, and the process proceeds to step ST2. In step ST2, if it is not the n-th outbound traveling (NO), the process returns to step ST1. If it is the nth outbound traveling (YES), the process proceeds to step ST3 after the straight traveling is completed. And step S
After the vehicle body 44 is turned 180 degrees at T3, the vehicle body 44 is advanced from the traveling end point E (E1) of the first passage 51 in accordance with the passage width W2 of the second passage 52 at step ST4, and then, at step ST5, The traveling start point S (S
Place in 2).

According to this embodiment as described above, the first passage 51 and the second passage 5 orthogonal to the end of the first passage 51 are provided.
In the case where the wall surface 53 of the second passage 52 on the side of the first passage 51 is used as a reference surface in the continuous cleaning of the second and the second passages 52, the cleaning region of the first passage 51 and the cleaning region of the second passage 52 overlap as a result. Therefore, the first passage 51 as in the related art is used.
The problem that an uncleaned area occurs at the end of the cleaning area can be solved. In this embodiment, the wall 54 of the second passage 52
, The n-th outbound traveling A in the first passage 51
Even if an entrance or an entrance is provided at a location D intersecting with (An), the guide 62 allows the vehicle body 44 to move straight to an appropriate position, whereby the passage width W2 of the second passage 52 can be reliably calculated. .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and improvements, modifications, and the like within a range in which the present invention can be achieved are included in the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the vehicle body 44 is turned by 180 degrees in order to be disposed from the traveling end point E (E1) of the first passage 51 to the traveling start point S (S2) of the second passage 52, The first passage 51 is advanced in accordance with the passage width W2.
From the travel end point E (E1) to the travel start point S of the second passage 52
The vehicle body 44 may be moved backward until (S2).

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the first passage and the second passage orthogonal to the end of the first passage are continuously cleaned, the reference surface of the second passage is set to the reference surface. When it is on the first passage side, the cleaning area of the first passage and the cleaning area of the second passage overlap as a result.
The problem that an uncleaned area is formed at the end of the cleaning area of the passage can be solved. According to the second aspect of the present invention,
The vehicle guides the vehicle straight to an appropriate position on the wall surface of the second passage on the side away from the first passage even if an entrance or an unevenness is provided at a point intersecting with the nth outbound traveling in the first passage. Thus, the passage width of the second passage can be reliably calculated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a stored travel.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of cleaning travel.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the unmanned cleaning truck.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Unmanned cleaning truck 41 Reference surface of first passage 44 Body 51 First passage 52 Second passage 53 Reference surface of second passage 61, 62 Guide S (S1, S2) Start of travel E (E1, E2) End of travel L1 Passage length of one passage W2 Passage width of second passage A (A1 to An) Outbound traveling B (B1 to Bn) Inbound traveling

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A straight line running along said reference plane while detecting the surroundings by a non-contact type detecting means in order to clean a passage extending linearly from a start end to an end along a flat and vertical reference plane. A possible vehicle body, from a traveling start point closest to the reference plane to a traveling end point farthest from the reference plane, forward traveling in which the vehicle body goes straight toward the end, and toward the start end. The backward traveling to straight forward the vehicle body is performed stepwise apart from the reference plane and alternately performed so that traveling trajectories do not overlap, and the first forward traveling of each forward traveling is performed until a forward obstacle is detected. The vehicle body goes straight, and the second and subsequent outbound traveling is a control method of an unmanned cleaning vehicle set so that the body goes straight following the first outbound traveling, and the first passage includes: 1st passage When continuously cleaning the second passage orthogonal to the end of the first passage, when the reference surface of the second passage is on the first passage side, the n-th outbound traveling of the outbound traveling is also a forward obstacle. Is set so that the vehicle body goes straight until the
A guide that can be detected as a forward obstacle is installed at a position where a reference plane of the second forward passage and the reference plane of the second passage intersect, and the forward travel and the return travel are performed in the first passage, whereby the second travel is performed. After performing the storage traveling for calculating the passage length of one passage and the passage width of the second passage, the distance is calculated by adding the passage length of the first passage and the passage width of the second passage in the first passage. By performing the forward travel and the return travel in response, a cleaning travel for cleaning the first passage is performed, and then the first travel is performed.
A method of controlling an unmanned cleaning vehicle, comprising: disposing the vehicle body at the traveling start point in the second passage by retracting the vehicle body from the traveling end point in the passage in accordance with the passage width of the second passage. . 2. The unmanned cleaning vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the guide is installed on an extension of the n-th outbound travel when performing the storage travel and the cleaning travel in the first passage. Control method.