JPH1020934A - Guide steering device for unmanned driving vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute guidance and the rotation of a branching point with a simple device in an unmanned driving vehicle. SOLUTION: The guide steering device of the unmanned driving vehicle mounted on a vehicle whose front wheel 3 and a rear wheel 5 can freely be steered has image sensor cameras 13 and 15 and steering motors 7 and 9, which correspond to the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 5 and which are respectively connected. Counters 23 and 25 and comparators 27 and 29 are provided in series between the image sensor cameras 13 and 15 and the steering motors 7 and 9. A setting unit 31 is provided by connecting it to the comparators 27 and 29. A white line adhered on the ceiling face of the travel route of the vehicle along the travel route is tracked by the image sensor cameras 13 and 15, and intersection points provided in the middle of the white line are detected by the image sensor cameras 13 and 15. The number of the intersection points counted by the counters 23 and 25 is compared with the setting value of the setting unit 31. When they are matched, a rotation steering command for changing the travel direction of the vehicle is issued.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle that runs unmanned along a predetermined route.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In factories, warehouses or similar facilities, unmanned vehicles are used to transport various articles.
In this type of facility, although the degree of complexity varies, the transport route of the articles is predetermined, so that unmanned operation in which the driver does not directly operate the transport vehicle is convenient. As a method for guiding such an unmanned vehicle, various types have been proposed and used. To explain a few general ones, in the electromagnetic induction system, an induction wire is buried under the floor of a traveling route, and an induced current is passed to generate a magnetic field along the traveling route. An unmanned vehicle is equipped with a detection coil and travels while detecting the magnetic field using the detection coil, and is guided along a traveling route. An optical reflection tape is attached to the floor surface of the traveling route, and the vehicle advances and is guided along the traveling route while detecting reflected light. Further, there is an inertial guidance system. In this method, a gyrocompass is mounted on a vehicle, a memory for storing a traveling route, an encoder for detecting a traveling distance of the vehicle, and an arithmetic device for determining a traveling direction from an angular velocity signal from the gyrocompass and a distance detection signal from the encoder. Unmanned driving of the vehicle using.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional guidance system has the following problems. That is, in the electromagnetic induction system, a large cost is required for burying the induction wire, and the initial investment cost is increased. In addition, it is not easy to change the traveling route, and when the traveling route has a branch, a special device is required. Further, in the system in which the optical reflection tape is attached to the floor of the traveling route, there are problems such as peeling of the tape and contamination, and the operation of attaching the tape where the traveling route is curved becomes complicated. On the other hand, in the inertial guidance system, there is nothing provided on the traveling road side, but there is a problem that an expensive and complicated device such as a gyrocompass is required. In addition, it is necessary to accurately store the traveling route in the memory, and when the traveling route is complicated, the operator is burdened. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a guidance steering apparatus for an unmanned vehicle that is simple to use and easy to operate.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image sensor in which a front wheel and a rear wheel are mounted on a steerable vehicle and correspond to the front and rear wheels and are connected to each other. Having a camera and a steering motor,
In an unmanned driving vehicle that guides the vehicle by tracking the white line attached to the ceiling surface of the traveling path along the traveling route with the image sensor camera and guiding the vehicle, the guidance steering device includes a counter between the image sensor camera and the steering motor. A comparator and a comparator are connected in series and connected to the comparator, and a setting device is attached.The number of breaks detected by the image sensor camera at a break provided in the middle of the white line and counted by the counter When the set value of the setting device is compared with the set value, turning steering is performed and the traveling direction of the vehicle is changed.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring first to FIG. 1, an unmanned vehicle in the form of a forklift truck 1 is shown.
Although not shown, the forklift truck 1 uses a storage battery as a power source. The front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 5 are suspended and supported so as to be steerable, and a running motor driven by the storage battery is connected to the rear wheel 5. ing. In some cases, front wheel 3
May also contact the travel motor. Such front wheels 3 and rear wheels 5 are provided with steering motors 7, 9, respectively. The image sensor camera 1 is mounted on the support 11 above the forklift truck 1 so as to be located on the vehicle center line.
3 and 15 are provided so as to face white lines of a fixed width attached to the ceiling 19 of the traveling path 17. This white line 21
Are attached almost continuously to the ceiling 19 along the traveling route as described later. Forklift truck 1
Is equipped with counters 23 and 25, comparators 27 and 295, and a setting unit 31, which constitute the steering device 10 and the electrical control connection thereof is shown in FIG.

[0006] The image sensor cameras 13 and 15 of the guidance steering device 10, counters 23 and 25, and comparators 27 and 2
2, the setting device 31, and the steering motors 7, 9 are electrically connected as shown in FIG. 2, and the steering motors 7, 9 are mechanically connected to the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 5, respectively, as described above. Each steering operation is performed. The basic operation of the steering apparatus 10 having the control circuit of FIG.
3 generates two types of signals. One is that if the image sensor camera 13 captures the white line 21 and the image is shifted laterally from a specified position on the screen of the image sensor camera 13, it is determined that the forklift truck 1 is shifted from the traveling route and output. This is the guidance control signal. The second is a break point detection signal indicating that there is no white line when a break point of the white line 21 is encountered. The guidance setting signal is directly input to the steering motor 7 to finely adjust the steering angle of the front wheels 3 so that the forklift truck 1 returns to a predetermined traveling route. On the other hand, the break detection signal is input to the counter 23 and counted. This count value is compared in the comparator 27 with a set value previously input to the setter 31, and if they match, the comparator 27 gives a turning command signal to the steering motor 7. Thereby, the steering angle at which the front wheel 3 can turn is given.

A state where the forklift truck 1 travels along a predetermined traveling route using the above-described guidance steering device 10 will be described. FIG. 3 shows an example of a traveling route. The main route 43 extending from the standby point 41 branches into a plurality of sub routes 45a, 45b,..., 45n,. , 45n, are a plurality of depth locations 47a, 47b,.
47n,... And each branch point and depth location 4
7a, 47b,..., 47n,.
9 (the main path 43 and the sub path 4
, 45n, ... are indicated by white lines attached to the ceiling. ). Then, a set value is input to the setting device 31 in order to input the second depth position 47b of the sub-path 45b in the second column, which is the destination, to the forklift truck 1 stopped at the standby position 41. That is, the column number 2 of the sub route 45a and the number 2 of the depth portion 47b are input with the standby point 41 as the origin, and a forward start command is given. Then, the forklift truck 1 starts traveling forward, and the image sensor cameras 13 and 15 follow the white line on the ceiling and are guided along the main route 43. At that time, the image sensor cameras 13 and 15 detect a portion where there is no white line, that is, a break point 49, and count by the counters 23 and 25. When two break points 49 are counted, the count value matches the set value.
Gives a turning command to the steering motors 7 and 9 to turn the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 5 to turn the forklift truck 1. During this turning, the image sensor camera 13,
15 follows the curved white line of the sub route 47b and guides the forklift truck 1 so that the traveling route matches the white line. At the time of the above-mentioned turning travel, the front image sensor camera 13 first detects the second break point 49, so that the front wheel 3 is instructed to turn first. Since the point 49 is detected and the rear wheel 5 performs turning steering, the forklift truck 1 turns smoothly and changes the forward direction.

[0008] The forklift truck 1 has a sub route 47b.
After entering the camera, the image sensor camera 13
When 9 is detected twice and the count value of the counter 23 becomes 2,
When the value matches the set value of the setting device 31, the forklift truck 1 is stopped. That is, the forklift truck 1 has reached the depth location 47b, and unloads it there.
When this is completed, the forklift truck 1 moves to the reverse traveling, and the image sensor cameras 13 and 15 follow the white line and return to the waiting point 41 while moving the traveling route along the white line.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, a white line stuck on the ceiling of a steering route is projected by an image sensor camera to detect a deviation, and a steering motor is driven so as to eliminate the deviation. Since the vehicle is steered, the white line on the ceiling can always be reliably operated without any risk of soiling. Moreover, the white line can be easily attached, and the equipment mounted on the vehicle can be an ordinary one, so that the necessary cost can be minimized. Furthermore, accurate turning and branching and stopping can be performed simply by providing a break point of the white line corresponding to the branching point and the stopping point, so that even if the traveling route becomes complicated, the unmanned driving vehicle can be reliably reached to the destination. Can be guided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall side view of an unmanned driving vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing an entire arrangement of the guidance steering apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a traveling route in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Forklift truck 3 Front wheel 5 Rear wheel 7, 9 Steering motor 10 Guidance steering device 13, 15 Image sensor camera 17 Runway 19 Ceiling surface 21 White line 23, 25 Counter 27, 29 Comparator 31 Setting device 41 Standby place 43 Main path 45a , 45b,..., 45n,... Sub-paths 47a, 47b,.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A front wheel and a rear wheel are mounted on a steerable vehicle, and have an image sensor camera and a steering motor respectively corresponding to the front and rear wheels and connected to each other, and are mounted on a ceiling surface of a traveling path of the vehicle. In an unmanned driving vehicle that guides the vehicle by tracking a white line attached along a traveling path with the image sensor camera, a counter and a comparator are arranged in series between the image sensor camera and the steering motor. And a setting device connected to the comparator, and a break provided in the middle of the white line is detected by the image sensor camera, and the number of breaks counted by the counter and the setting device A guidance steering apparatus for an unmanned vehicle, wherein a traveling direction of the vehicle is changed by comparing a set value.