JPH10234202A - Assist device for traveling - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assist device for traveling by which the driving burden on worker is reduced and steering property is improved, by displaying target operation information for steering for traveling a traveling car body along with a predetermined traveling route. SOLUTION: When traveling a traveling car body provided with a steering operating means 21 to be manually operated along the predetermined traveling route, the position where the traveling car body is predicted to be after the lapse of a set time, is repeatedly found with traveling, the target operation information for steering to be operated for traveling the traveling car body along with the predetermined traveling route is found at that predictive position, and that found target operation information for steering is displayed by using a display means 1. In this case, it is preferable that this device is provided with a position detecting means 102 for time sequentially detecting the position of traveling car body, a storage means 103 for storing position information, a predicting means 100 for predicting the position of traveling car body after the lapse of set time based on the detected information of position detecting means 102, an arithmetic means 101 for operating the target operation information, and a display means 1 for displaying the target operation information operated by the arithmetic means 101.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving assist device for assisting a driver in steering when a traveling vehicle such as a work vehicle is manually driven along a predetermined traveling route.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when an agricultural tractor is driven to perform a scraping work or a basal fertilizer work in a field, there is no running target in the field scene, so the driver himself / herself operates the working device. While setting the traveling route based on the conditions such as the working width, the steering operation is performed so that the vehicle body travels along the traveling route as much as possible.

[0003]

However, in the above prior art, it is difficult to set an appropriate traveling route, and the steering operation is performed by visual judgment. Unworked parts, or
It has been difficult to avoid inconveniences such as the occurrence of portions that are duplicated. Although automatic driving by automatic driving is also possible, there is a disadvantage that the configuration of the device is complicated due to various automatic control devices, and the cost becomes excessive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art by reducing the driving load on an operator and performing scheduled driving of a vehicle body by manual operation. An object of the present invention is to provide a traveling assist device for traveling in a proper steering state along a route.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the traveling vehicle body is caused to travel along the planned traveling route, a position where the traveling vehicle body is predicted to be located after a set time is repeatedly obtained with traveling. At the predicted position, steering target operation information to be operated in order to cause the traveling vehicle to travel along the planned traveling route is obtained and displayed. Manually operates the steering operation means provided on the traveling vehicle body.

Therefore, since the driver only has to perform the steering operation in accordance with the display of the steering target operation information, the driving burden is reduced as compared with the case where the driver himself or herself judges the details of the steering operation. At the same time, since the steering operation corresponds to the predicted position after the set time instead of the current vehicle body position, for example, even when the deviation of the steering position from the planned traveling route suddenly increases, Thus, the steering operation can be corrected so that the deviation of the steering position is minimized, so that the vehicle body can be driven in an appropriate steering state along the planned traveling route.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the steering target operation information is displayed when the current position of the traveling vehicle body is more than a set permissible amount from the planned traveling route. It is not displayed if the vehicle is not separated from the traveling route by more than the set allowable amount.

Accordingly, when the current position of the traveling vehicle body is located at or near the proper steering position on the planned traveling route and no steering operation is required, unnecessary target operation information is not displayed, and the steering operation is not performed. Only when it is necessary, the driver can display the target operation information and perform an accurate operation,
The preferred means of claim 1 is obtained.

According to a third aspect, in the first or second aspect, the steering target operation information is information corresponding to a predicted position of the traveling vehicle body after a time corresponding to an operation delay time in the manual operation. Is displayed.

Therefore, an appropriate steering operation is performed so as to cancel the influence of the operation delay time from when the driver views the display of the target operation information to when the driver actually performs the steering operation. The preferred means of claim 1 or 2 is obtained.

According to a fourth aspect, the first to third aspects are described.
In any one of the above, while the position of the traveling vehicle body is detected in chronological order, the position of the traveling vehicle body after a set time is predicted based on the chronological position detection information,
The target operation information is calculated and displayed based on the predicted vehicle body position information and the storage information of the position corresponding to the planned traveling route.

Accordingly, the accuracy obtained by comparing the position of the traveling vehicle body after the set time, which is predicted by extending the change tendency of the time-series position detection information until after the set time, and the position of the pre-stored planned traveling route. The target operation information for steering having a high value can be displayed to the driver, so that the suitable means according to any one of claims 1 to 3 can be obtained.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, a carrier signal from a GPS satellite is received by a GPS reference station at a reference position on the ground side, and carrier phase information at the GPS reference station is used as a reference communication signal. On the other hand, on the traveling vehicle body, the vehicle base station receives the carrier signal from the GPS satellite received by the GPS mobile station and the transmission information of the reference side communication means, and transmits the signal to the vehicle body side. Based on the double phase difference information obtained from the carrier phase information, the position of the traveling vehicle body is obtained as time-series position data.

Therefore, time-series position data of a traveling vehicle body is obtained by GPS position detection based on double phase difference information of a carrier signal from a GPS satellite capable of accurate position detection, and based on the GPS position data. The position of the traveling vehicle body after the set time can be more accurately obtained, and the preferable means of the fourth aspect can be obtained.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of a traveling assist device according to the present invention will be described in which a farming tractor (hereinafter referred to as a work vehicle V) is used for tilling work along a planned traveling route in a predetermined range of a field. A case in which the vehicle travels while performing the operation will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, a local horizontal coordinate system E (east direction), N (north direction), H (earth center Is installed at a ground-side reference position whose position (coordinate values in the coordinate system E, N, H) is known with high precision in the height direction from the ground, and spreads the spectrum from at least four GPS satellites 2. GPS receiving modulated carrier signal
An antenna 19a for a reference station R (hereinafter also simply referred to as the reference station R), a GPS receiver 19 for processing a received signal of the antenna 19a to obtain carrier phase information,
A ground-side data transceiver 20 having a transmission antenna 20a for transmitting carrier phase information at the GPS reference station from the receiver 19 is provided.

On the other hand, the work vehicle V includes a GPS receiving antenna 17a for receiving a carrier signal from the GPS satellite 2, a GPS receiver 17 for processing a signal received by the GPS receiving antenna 17a to obtain carrier phase information, A data transceiver 18 having a data receiving antenna 18a for receiving transmission information (carrier phase information at the reference station R) of the transceiver 20 on the ground side is provided, and the GPS mobile station I (hereinafter simply referred to as mobile station I) is provided. ) Is configured.

The GPS receivers 19 and 17 of the reference station R and the mobile station I have substantially the same configuration as shown in FIG. 3, and have respective GPS receiving antennas 19a and 19a.
The radio signal received at 17a is first sent to the high-frequency signal processor 3
It is input to 0, 40 and converted to a low frequency. The C / A code analyzers 31 and 41 decode the low frequency-converted signals into satellite numbers and the like, and the carrier wave phase measurement units 33 and 43 create C / A signals created according to the satellite numbers. The carrier is reproduced in correlation with the code, and the phases of the carrier are measured at set time intervals by built-in clocks 34 and 44. At the same time, the C / A code analysis units 31 and 4
1 based on the information from the route message decoding unit 32,
At 42, satellite position information and the like are determined. Then, information from each of the above-described units is transmitted to the respective control computers 35 and 4.
5 to obtain carrier phase information at each reference station R and mobile station I.

Further, the carrier phase information at the reference station R output from the reference station R side computer 35 is transmitted from the transmitting antenna 20a through the transceiver 20 on the ground side, received by the antenna 18a on the work vehicle V side, and transmitted and received. The data is input to the computer 45 on the mobile station I side via the device 18. Then, the mobile station I-side computer 45 obtains double phase difference information from the carrier phase information at the mobile station I and the received carrier phase information at the reference station R, and based on the double phase difference information, A position data calculating means 45 for obtaining the position of the mobile station I, that is, the traveling body 5 of the work vehicle V with respect to R as time-series position data at predetermined time intervals is configured.

The outline of the double phase difference information will now be described. Each carrier signal from two different satellites 2 is
Received by each of the two receiving stations (the reference station R and the mobile station I),
The two phase differences corresponding to each satellite 2 are obtained, and the difference between these two phase differences is called a double phase difference. As a result, the influence of the phase disturbance of the transmission signal in each satellite 2 is removed, and the influence of the synchronization shift of the clock for measuring the phase of each receiving station is removed. Accurate phase difference information with less influence of errors can be obtained. In order to determine the position vector r of the mobile station I with respect to the reference station R (see FIG. 4), three independent double phase differences are actually determined based on carrier signals from four different satellites 2. become.

The detection of the position of the traveling vehicle body 5 based on the three pieces of double phase difference information will be specifically described. First, the work vehicle V is positioned at a position whose position is known with high accuracy in the local horizontal coordinate system E, N, H, and received by the GPS receivers 17 and 19 on the mobile station I side and the reference station R side. From the information, three double phase differences are calculated, and since the relative position between the reference station R and the work vehicle V is known, uncertainty (integer value bias) of an integral multiple of the carrier wavelength included in the double phase difference information is obtained.
Confirm. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a position vector r from the reference station R to the work vehicle V is obtained from three pieces of double phase difference information when the work vehicle V is moved to an unknown point in the field F, From the position vector r and the position of the reference station R,
The position of the work vehicle V (the traveling vehicle body 5) on the ground is determined.

As described above, the position detecting means 102 capable of detecting the position of the traveling vehicle body 5 in time series is provided by the GPS reference station R
And a data transceiver 20 as reference communication means for transmitting carrier phase information at the GPS reference station R are installed at a reference position on the ground, and the GPS mobile station I and the data transmission / reception on the ground are used. The data transmitting / receiving device 18 as the vehicle body side communication means for receiving the transmission information of the machine 20 and the position data calculating means 45 are provided in the traveling vehicle body 5.

Next, the configuration of the working and traveling devices of the work vehicle V will be described. As shown in FIG.
A vertically movable top link 26 and a pair of left and right lower links 27 constituting a three-point link mechanism are supported by a rear side transmission case 25.
7, a rotary tillage device 6 is connected to be able to move up and down and tilt freely. Power is transmitted from the drive shaft 28 at the rear of the vehicle body to the tillage device 6 so that the internal tillage claw rotates.

A pair of left and right lift arms 29, which are vertically oscillated by the lifting hydraulic cylinder 13, are provided above the transmission case 25. The pair of lift arms 29 and the lower link 27 are connected to a lift rod 36 and a lower rod 27. They are connected via a double-acting tilt hydraulic cylinder 23.
Here, the raising / lowering position of the tilling device 6 with respect to the vehicle body 5 can be changed by operating the lifting / lowering hydraulic cylinder 13, and the tilting hydraulic cylinder 23 can be operated to activate the vehicle body 5 of the tilling device 6.
(The inclination in the vehicle width direction around the connection point with the lift rod 36) can be changed.

The tillage depth of the tillage device 6 for the field scene is
Rear cover 6A provided on tilling device 6 to be able to swing up and down
And a stroke sensor S2 for detecting the inclination of the tillage device 6 with respect to the vehicle body 5 in the width direction of the vehicle as the amount of expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 23 for tilting. .

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right front wheels 3 and rear wheels 4 provided on a traveling vehicle body 5 are configured to be steerable independently of each other as left and right pairs, and hydraulic cylinders 7 and 8 for steering are provided.
And electromagnetically operated control valves 9 and 10 corresponding thereto, and a handle 21 as a steering operation means which is manually operated. That is, a two-wheel steering system in which only one of the front wheels 3 or the rear wheels 4 is steered by a changeover switch (not shown), a four-wheel steering system in which the front and rear wheels 3 and 4 are steered in opposite phases and at the same angle, front and rear wheels It is possible to select three types of steering modes, that is, a parallel steering mode in which the steering wheels 3 and 4 are steered in the same phase and at the same angle. Note that straight traveling along a later-described scheduled traveling route (working stroke L) is performed by a two-wheel steering system in which only the front wheels 3 are steered.

In FIG. 1, E is an engine, and 11 is an engine E
A continuously variable transmission that drives the front and rear wheels 3 and 4 at the same time by changing the output from the motor, 12 is an electric motor for gear shifting operation, 14 is a control valve for the hydraulic cylinder 13 for elevation, and 24 is A control valve 15 for the tilt hydraulic cylinder 23 is an electromagnetically operated tilling clutch that intermittently transmits power from the engine E to the tilling device 6. Reference numeral 16 denotes a control device using a microcomputer for controlling the running of the work vehicle V, the operation of the tilling device 6, and the like, based on detection information of various sensors and work data stored in advance, and controls the speed change motor 12, The valves 9, 10, 14, 24, the tilling clutch 15 and the like are operated.

The sensors installed in the work vehicle V will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the steering angles of the front and rear wheels 3, 4 are detected in addition to the tillage depth sensor S1 and the stroke sensor S2. Steering angle detection sensor R using potentiometer
1, R2, a vehicle speed sensor R3 using a potentiometer for indirectly detecting the forward / backward traveling state and the vehicle speed based on the speed change state of the transmission 11, and a steering using a potentiometer for detecting the steering angle (rotation angle) of the steering wheel 21. An angle detection sensor R4 and an encoder S3 that counts the number of revolutions of the output shaft of the transmission 11 and detects the traveling distance are provided.

Then, the control device 16 controls the tillage depth sensor S1.
The control valve 14 is actuated to operate the lifting hydraulic cylinder 13 to raise and lower the tillage device 6 so that the detected value of the tillage becomes the setting tillage depth set by a tillage depth setting device (not shown). Automatic attitude control for driving the control valve 24 and operating the tilt hydraulic cylinder 23 to maintain the tilling apparatus 6 in the leaning attitude with respect to the vehicle body such that the detection value of the sensor S2 is set to a tilting state set by a tilt setting device (not shown). And execute

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of work steps L as a planned traveling route are set in a rectangular field F along a longitudinal direction of the field and at a set interval in a short direction. ing. Then, storage means 10 for storing position information corresponding to the planned traveling route in the control device 16.
3 are configured. Specifically, the route information of each work process L is defined as E, N coordinates (H coordinates are constant) on the ground side, and for example, as shown in FIG. In the case of following the direction, the data in which two E coordinate values that specify the positions of one end and the other end of each work process L are set for one N coordinate value, Numbers are remembered. In FIG. 4, St indicates a traveling start position on the planned traveling route of the field, and Se indicates a traveling end position.

When working in a different work mode by replacing the tilling device 6 or the like with another work device, for example, an appropriate planned traveling route corresponding to a change in the working part conditions such as a working width and a working interval is selected. As shown in FIG. 1, information on each work is stored as information on the planned traveling route.
As shown in FIG. 2, a work mode selection switch 22 for inputting work mode selection information to the control device 16 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle body 5, in order for the driver to run the vehicle body 5 along the planned traveling route (each work process L), the steering is performed. The display device 1 for steering is set as a display means for displaying target operation information for use. That is, when the driver is to maintain the current steering angle, the arrow points in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and when the steering angle is to be changed to either the left or right side, the arrow turns to the corresponding left or right side. An arrow-shaped indicator 1C is provided rotatably about a vertical axis p.

As shown in FIG. 1, a display motor 1A for rotating the arrow-shaped display 1C about the vertical axis p is driven by the control device 16, and
The detection information of the display angle sensor 1B for detecting the rotation angle of the arrow-shaped display 1C is input to the control device 16.

The control device 16 is used to detect information (time-sequential position data) of the position detecting means 102.
Means for predicting the position of the traveling vehicle body 5 after a set time based on the position information, position information predicted by the predicting means 100, and information stored in the storage means 103 (path information of each work process L). Computing means 101 for computing the steering target operation information based on the above.

Here, the set time is a time corresponding to an operation delay time in the manual operation, that is, a delay time from the time when the display is viewed until the driver actually performs the steering operation (usually 0.
(About 5 seconds), and the steering target operation information is information corresponding to a position where the traveling vehicle body 5 is predicted to be located after the set time. And the current position of the traveling vehicle body 5 is
The target operation information is displayed on the steering display device 1 when the vehicle is separated from the planned traveling route by a set allowable amount or more. Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, a proper steering position of the work stroke L is indicated by a straight line L0, and a set permissible amount is defined by each width ΔL on both the left and right sides of the straight line L0. The position of the traveling vehicle body 5 is measured at discrete points i spaced apart on the traveling trajectory. For example, the y direction is along the straight line L0, and the x direction is a direction orthogonal to the straight line L0 (the origin is the straight line L0). ), The current position is the coordinate value (x, y), and the position at the point immediately before the current position is the coordinate value (x1, y1).
It is represented by

Next, an angle formed by a straight line connecting two points, that is, the current point (x, y) and the point (x1, y1) immediately before the current point, with the information of the straight line L0 indicating the direction of the work path L is as follows. The azimuth φ of the traveling vehicle body 5 is obtained, and the predicted position (x ′, y ′) after the set time is calculated by the following equation. In the expression, d is a moving distance (vehicle speed × set time) in which the vehicle body 5 moves during the set time. X of the above position data
The coordinate values x and x ′ correspond to a lateral displacement with respect to the proper steering position.

[0038]

X ′ = x + d · sin (φ) y ′ = y + d · cos (φ)

The calculating means 101 calculates information on the displacement x 'after the set time, information on the vehicle body azimuth φ, and information on the steering angle θ of the front wheel 3 (this is detected by the steering angle detection sensor R1). ), The target steering angle θs with respect to the front wheels 3 calculated by the following equation is calculated as the target steering operation information corresponding to the position where the traveling vehicle body 5 is predicted to be located after the set time. Note that k1, k2, and k3 are predetermined gain coefficients.

[0040]

[Equation 2] θs = k1 · x ′ + k2 · φ + k3 · θ

In FIG. 6, the displacement x at the current position is the set allowable amount ΔL of the work stroke L with respect to the proper steering position L0.
As described above, the calculated target steering angle θs is used as the display steering angle θs in the display device 1 by the arrow-shaped indicator 1C in which the larger the angle value is, the larger the turning angle to the left or right is. Is displayed.

Next, the operation of the control device 16 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when a work mode is selected by the mode selection switch 22, predetermined planned travel route information (here, route information of the work process L shown in FIG. 4) is read and set as control data.

Next, after manually moving the work vehicle V to the work start point (St in FIG. 4), when the start input is performed by a switch or the like, the positional deviation x with respect to the work process L is input.
Is greater than or equal to the set amount ΔL. And
If the displacement x is equal to or greater than the set amount ΔL, the steering angle θ
s is calculated, the display motor 1A is driven such that the angle of the arrow-shaped display 1C becomes an angle corresponding to the steering angle θs, and when the displacement x is less than the set amount ΔL, the arrow-shaped display 1C is operated. The display motor 1A is driven such that the angle of the display 1C is in the neutral position (a state in which the display 1C faces the vehicle front-rear direction).

Then, while manually performing the steering operation according to the displayed steering angle θs, the traveling end point (S in FIG. 4) is determined.
e). When the vehicle travels along one work stroke L and reaches the end of the stroke (e in FIG. 4), the driver manually moves to the start position (f in FIG. 4) of the adjacent work stroke L.

[Alternative Embodiment] In the above embodiment, the angle information corresponding to the target steering angle θs of the wheel (front wheel 3) to be steered is displayed as the steering target operation information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a direction opposite to the direction of positional deviation from the planned traveling route may be displayed as the steering direction.

Display means 1 for displaying target operation information for steering
Is not limited to the one in which the target steering angle θs is displayed on the movable arrow indicator 1C. For example, as shown in FIG.
The solid line may indicate the neutral state, and the dotted line may indicate the direction of the steering angle.

The position detecting means 102 is not limited to the configuration based on the GPS reception data shown in the above embodiment. For example, a reference beam light is projected along the planned traveling route, and based on light receiving information of an optical sensor provided on the vehicle body side,
The position (displacement) of the traveling vehicle body with respect to the planned traveling route may be detected.

In the above embodiment, the steering operation means which is manually operated is constituted by the handle 21. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a steering clutch which separates power transmission to the left and right wheels. May be.

In the above embodiment, the set time is set to a time corresponding to the operation delay time in the manual operation. However, the set time is not limited to this, and can be set in consideration of various conditions.

In the above embodiment, the case where the traveling assist device is applied to an agricultural tractor is illustrated, but other riding-type agricultural machines, civil engineering machines, and the like may be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a work vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a work vehicle and a GPS reference station.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a GPS receiving station.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a planned traveling route of a work vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a display unit of steering target operation information.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of calculation processing of steering target operation information.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a working device of the working vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a control operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display state of steering information by a display unit of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 display means 5 running vehicle body 18 vehicle body side communication means 20 reference side communication means 21 steering operation means 45 position data calculation means 100 prediction means 101 calculation means 102 position detection means 103 storage means R GPS reference station I GPS mobile station

Claims (5)

[Claims] When a traveling vehicle body provided with a steering operation means that is manually operated is caused to travel along an expected traveling route, a position where the traveling vehicle body is predicted to be located after a set time is set in accordance with the traveling. In addition to repeatedly obtaining the steering target operation information to be operated in order to cause the traveling vehicle body to travel along the planned traveling route at the predicted position, the obtained steering target operation information is displayed. A traveling assist device configured as follows. 2. The traveling according to claim 1, wherein the target operation information for steering is displayed when a current position of the traveling vehicle is away from the planned traveling route by a set amount or more. Assist device. 3. The travel assist device according to claim 1, wherein the set time is set to a time corresponding to an operation delay time in a manual operation. 4. A position detecting means capable of detecting a position of the traveling vehicle body in time series, a storage means for storing position information corresponding to the planned traveling route, and Prediction means for predicting the position of the traveling vehicle body after the set time; calculation means for calculating the target operation information based on position information predicted by the prediction means and information stored in the storage means; The traveling assist device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a display unit configured to display the target operation information calculated by the calculation unit. 5. The position detecting means includes: a GPS reference station for receiving a carrier signal from a GPS satellite; and a reference communication means for transmitting carrier wave phase information at the GPS reference station. A GPS mobile station for receiving a carrier signal from the GPS satellite; a vehicle body side communication means for receiving transmission information of the reference side communication means; a carrier phase information at the GPS mobile station and the vehicle body side communication means. Position data calculating means for obtaining the position of the traveling vehicle body as time-series position data based on the double phase difference information obtained from the carrier wave phase information received by the GPS reference station. The driving assist device according to claim 4, wherein the driving assist device is configured as follows.