JPS5848104A - Control system for moving body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To guide a moving body securely by moving a light beam and allowing its irradiation surface to follow the moving body, and then controlling its movement. CONSTITUTION:A light beam 23 from a projecting means 20 is projected and when photodetectors 61B-61R of a light beam displacement detecting means 60 are all in the irradiation surface 24 of the beam 23, the photodetectors 61B- 61R have the equal quantities of photodetected light, so differential amplifying circuits 63A and 63B both generate outputs 0 and a moving body 10 is still at its position. When the beam 23 is moved, the photodetectors 61F and 61B have a difference in the quantity of photodetected light and it is amplified by a differential amplifying circuit 63A. Then, a positive displacement signal proportional to the difference in the quantity of photodetected light is supplied from the differential amplifying circuit 63A and amplified by a run controlling means 70 to drive the running part 12A of a run driving means 12, thereby moving the moving body forth.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control system for a mobile body that freely moves within a certain area and performs various stock operations, and more particularly to a control system that guides and controls the mobile body using a light beam.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, mobile bodies have been developed that are self-propelled and equipped with travel drive means to carry, store, and take out articles, weld products, and assemble products. Such a mobile body needs to be configured to freely move within a certain area in response to remote control by an operator. In this case, the problem is how to transmit the operation signal from the operator to the moving object.

As this means, there is a method in which a signal cable is connected to the mobile body K11. However, with this method, cables tend to interfere with the movement of the moving object, the heavy cables are routed, which places a load on the moving object, and cables can become entangled when multiple moving objects are used. There are drawbacks. Another method is to remotely control the papermaking using radio waves. This method is advantageous in that it does not use cables, so it does not obstruct movement or impose unnecessary loads, but it also has the disadvantages that it easily picks up noise, and that signal transmission is not always reliable. l1m! There are drawbacks such as the risk of affecting the GK, the limitation on the usable frequency band of radio waves, and the problem of frequency division when controlling a large number of mobile objects simultaneously.

The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks, and its purpose is to move a light beam, make the irradiation surface track a moving object, and control the movement of the light beam, thereby eliminating the cables that obstruct the movement. It is possible to reliably guide Kll moving objects without using or being affected by noise, and other!
! It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile object control method that does not affect the I-device at all.

Another additional object of the present invention is to transmit operation commands to a mobile object by pulsing a light beam, so that in addition to the above-mentioned movement control, work operation commands can also be transmitted without the use of cables. In addition, it is a mobile control system that can reliably transmit data to a mobile unit without being affected by noise, has no effect on other WFKs, and is not subject to frequency band restrictions as is the case with radio waves. The purpose is to provide a method.

In order to achieve the above first object, the first invention of the present invention provides a light projecting means for projecting a light beam to a position where the moving body and its moving area surface can be seen, and a skeleton light projecting means, which a light beam moving means for freely moving the beam irradiation surface on the moving area surface in response to an external operation; a light beam displacement detection means that detects the front-rear and left-right displacement of the light beam and outputs each displacement signal; Alternatively, it is configured to include a travel control means for controlling the travel drive means to turn left or right and track the light beam.

Moreover, in order to achieve the above second object, the second invention of the present application is as follows:
In accordance with the structure of the tenth invention, a command signal generation means for generating commands related to various work operations of the movable body, and a modulation means for modulating and projecting the light beam according to the wrinkle command signal are combined with the light projecting means. a receiving means for detecting the command signal by receiving the irradiation of the light beam with a light receiving element; and work control means for controlling each work means driving device.

Below, these first. The second invention will be explained based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment of the first invention of the present application.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing an overview of the mobile object control system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the above embodiment.

Main body 11. It is applied to a moving body 10 that has a traveling drive means 12 and a working means 16 and moves freely on the moving area surface 1, and includes a light projecting means 20 and a light beam moving means 30.
, a light beam displacement detection means 60 , and a traveling control means 70 .

The moving body 10 to which this embodiment is applied is provided with a traveling driving means 12 consisting of a traveling section 12A and a steering section 12B at the lower part of the main body 11, and arms 161 and
The working means 16 consisting of the gripping portion 16b and the holding portion 16b is a general company.

This moving body 10 can be equipped with a storage battery and driven using this as a power source, but is not limited to this, and may also be equipped with a fuel cell. Father, moving area surface 11C, power supply K11l
In addition to installing a large number of connected electrode plates, a current collector is provided on the movable body 1011, and the movable body and a power source are freely connected via the electrode plates and the current collector! il#J! It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which power is supplied. Father, the mobile object 1o of this embodiment is ml@
At 13, the vehicle is equipped with a steering mechanism (not shown) and a steering mechanism (not shown). However, the traveling mechanism and the steering mechanism can also be of other types.

The light projecting means 20 (consisting of a light source 21, a beam forming means 22, and a light source drive path 25) is provided on the ceiling surface 2, and projects a guiding light beam 23 onto the moving body 10. However, since the light projecting means 2o only needs to be able to reliably project the Wako beam 23 onto the moving body 10, it is possible to install it not only on the ceiling surface 2 but also at a position where the moving body 10 and its movement area can be seen. Enough.

The light 11121 is composed of a laser diode or a light emitting diode, and the zero light emitted by being driven by the light source state circuit 25 may be continuous light emission or may be pulsed light emission with a constant frequency. On the other hand, the beam forming means 22 consists of a lens barrel 22m and a lens 22b.
The light I[21 is placed at the focal position of the light source 21, and the light from the light source 21 is made into a substantially parallel light beam to form a light beam 23.

In addition, the beam forming means 22 is not limited to this example, and may be constructed by, for example, a parabolic mirror IIIK.

The light projecting means 20 is provided in conjunction with a light beam moving means 30 for arbitrarily moving the light beam 23 on the movement area surface 1. This light beam moving means 30 includes an X-axis member 3 which supports the light projecting means 20 and an X-axis member 31
It consists of a U-shaped Y-axis member 32 that is fixed, and an X-axis servo mechanism 33 and a Y-axis servo mechanism 34 that respectively rotate the X-axis member 31 and the Y-axis part @32 by a predetermined angle.This light beam movement The means 30 rotates the X-axis member 31 and the Y-axis member 32 in response to a flight signal from the outside, so that the projection port 201 of the light projecting means 200 supported by the X-axis member 31 can be directed in any direction. The irradiation surface 24 of the light beam 23 is moved to a desired position along a desired path by continuously changing the light beam 23.

The light beam displacement detection means 60 includes four light receiving elements 61F and 61B that are irradiated with the light beam 23.

61R, 61L, and detection circuits 62F, 62B,
62R, 62L, and differential amplifier circuits 63A, 63B, and the front and rear and rearward and rearward directions as the light beam 23 moves.
Detects left and right displacement and outputs the corresponding displacement signal.

The light receiving elements 61F, 61B, 61R, 61L are
It consists of semiconductor light-receiving elements such as photodiodes, phototransistors, photoconductors, etc., and one
They are arranged corresponding to the front, rear, left and right sides. The arrangement is such that the light beam 2 is placed on the top part 11a of the main body at an arbitrary position on the moving area plane l.
3 forms an irradiation surface (circle or ellipse in this example) 24
It is set in a cross shape in range 8 that falls within the range 8. In this embodiment, a circular light-receiving element is used, but a rectangular, triangular, or other shape may be used, and the ratio of change in electric signal to displacement can be set as appropriate depending on the shape of the light-receiving surface.

The light receiving elements 61F, 61B, 61R, 61L are
The corresponding detection circuits 62F, 62B, 6
Connected to 2R and 62L. This detection circuit 62F,
62B, 62R, 62L are each light receiving element 61F,
The photoelectrically converted signals of 61B, 61R, and 61LK are output as voltage signals corresponding to changes in the amount of light.

The differential amplifier circuits 63A and 63B are connected to the detection circuit 62.
It amplifies the difference signals of F and 62B, 62R and 62L, respectively, and 63A #i detects the displacement before and after the light beam 230, and the light receiving elements 61F and 61B K output corresponding displacement signals before and after, while 63B is light beam 2
The light-receiving elements 61R and 61LK detect the left and right displacement of 3, and output left and right displacement signals in response to the light receiving elements 61R and 61LK.

Although four light receiving elements are used in this embodiment, the number is not limited to this.For example, when the light beam is guided in only one direction, two light receiving elements corresponding to that direction It is sufficient to have one light receiving element. A configuration may also be adopted in which several light-receiving elements are provided on each of the front, rear, left, and right sides.

The output of the light beam displacement detecting means 60 is connected to the traveling control means 70. This traveling control means 7° consists of amplifier circuits 71A and 71B, and the former is a differential amplifier circuit 6.
3A and the traveling part 12AK of the traveling drive means 12, and sends out an operation signal for moving the moving body 10 forward or backward by amplifying the front and rear displacement signals, and the latter is a differential drive unit 12AK. The amplifier circuit 63B is connected between the amplifier circuit 63B and the steering section 12B of the travel drive means 12, and amplifies the left and right displacement signals and sends out an operation signal to the steering section 12BK for causing the mobile body 10 to turn left or right.

Next, the above-mentioned figures and Fig. 3A describe the guidance control operation of the moving body by the moving body control method of the above embodiment.

This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3B and 30.

Now, the top of the moving object )O which is on the moving area 11rl】1a
A light beam 23 is projected from the light projecting means 20 to each of the light receiving elements 61F, 61B, 61B of the light beam displacement detecting means 6o.
61R and 61L are all the irradiation surface 24 of the light beam 23
(see 3rd A!!!l), the amount of light received by each of the light receiving elements 61F, 61B, 61R, and 61L is equal, so the outputs of both the differential amplifier circuits 63A and 63B are 0. Therefore, the moving body 1o is stationary at that position.

In this state, the y-axis servo ridge structure 34 is activated by an external operation by the operator, and the Y-axis member 32 is gradually rotated.
When the light beam 23 is moved in the direction of arrow A, as shown in FIG.
It gradually comes off.

Therefore, there is a difference in the amount of light received by the light receiving elements 61F and 61B, which is amplified by the differential amplifier circuit 63AK. If the output of the differential amplifier circuit 63A is set to be positive when the output of the light receiving element 61F is larger than the output of the light receiving element 61B, in the above case, the output of the differential amplifier circuit 63A is proportional to the difference in the amount of light received. A positive displacement signal is output. This displacement signal is amplified by the travel control means 70, and the travel drive means 120 travel section 12
A, the motor (not shown) of the voice producing section 12A is driven, and the movable body 10 is moved forward.

Here, when the moving speed of the light beam 23 is increased, the difference in the amount of light received by the light receiving elements 61F and 61B increases, so the displacement signal 4 increases accordingly, and the rotating speed of the 12 members of the traveling section also increases accordingly. Thus, the moving body 10 moves following the moving speed of the wrinkled light beam 23. Similarly,
When the speed of the light beam 23 decreases, the speed f4 of the moving body 10 decreases.
When the speed slows down and the light beam 23 stops, the moving body 10 also stops.

Then, when the X-axis servo mechanism 33 is also activated and the X-axis member 31 is gradually rotated, the light-receiving element 61B on the left side together with the light-receiving element 61B on the rear side 1 as shown in 3rd CIIK, for example.
1L comes off the irradiation surface 24.

Therefore, the light receiving elements 61F, 61B, 61R, and 611.
A difference in the amount of light received is caused in the differential amplifier circuits 63A and 63B.
The difference is amplified by K, and positive and noble displacement signals are sent to differential amplifier circuits 63A and 63 corresponding to the respective magnitude relationships.
Output from B. These displacement signals are sent to the traveling section 12A and the steering section 12BK via the traveling control means 70,
The moving body 10 is made to turn right while moving forward.

Therefore, the moving object ]0 is the irradiation surface 24 of the light beam 23.
By moving the light beam 23, the moving body 10 can be freely guided to the target position along an arbitrary route.

Next, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the travel control means 70 and travel drive means 12 in the mobile body control system of the present invention. Note that what is shown in the figure can also be applied to the second invention of the present application, which will be described later.

The traveling control means 70 shown in the figure includes amplification fits 72R and 72L whose inputs are connected to the outputs of the 63 differential amplifier circuits (for longitudinal displacement detection) shown in FIG. 2, and differential amplifier circuits 63B ( It consists of an inverter 73R and a buffer amplifier 73L whose inputs are connected to the output of the lateral displacement detector (for left/right displacement detection). The amplification 972R has its output connected to the morph 14RK, and the amplifier 72L has its output connected to the morph 14RK.
m! be done. In addition, the inverter 73R amplifies its output 9
The buffer amplifier 73L is connected to the input of the amplifier 72H, and the buffer amplifier 73L is connected to add the output signal to the input of the amplifier II 78L, respectively.

On the other hand, the traveling drive means 12 is
L and gears 15R, 151, and Karasei, the above amplifier 72
The left and right wheels 1.3 and 13 are driven independently according to the outputs of R and 72L.

With such a configuration IC, when one optical beam moves to a position KV on the front side of the moving body as described above, a positive displacement signal is output from the differential amplifier circuit 63A, so the amplifiers 72R and 72L increase this. to drive the left and right Som-14R114L equally. Furthermore, when the light beam is displaced to the right 11,
As described above, the % displacement signal is output from the differential amplifier circuit 63B. Here, if the differential amplifier circuit 63B is set to output a positive displacement signal when the light beam is at the right KIR position, a positive displacement signal will be output in the above case.

This displacement signal is divided into two, one having its sign inverted via an inverter 73R, and the other having its 11 signs via a buffer amplifier 73L.
It is added to the output of A. As a result, the input signal of the amplifier 72R decreases, while the input signal of the amplifier II 72L increases, causing the rotation of the basket 14H to slow down, causing the motor 1 to rotate more slowly.
The rotation of 4L is controlled to become faster, and the robot 1O turns right.

Next, FIGS. 1 and 5 show an embodiment of the second invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the above embodiment.

In these figures, the control method of this embodiment is the first one described above.
This is applied to a moving body 10 similar to the embodiment of the invention,
The first implementation f14Jf includes a light projecting means 20, a light beam moving means 30, a light beam displacement detecting means 60, and a traveling control means 70, a command signal generating means 40, and a modulating means 50.
, a receiving means 80 and a work control means 90 are added. Components that are the same as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

The command signal generating unit R4G is a known input unit R (not shown) consisting of a switch, a variable resistor, etc., an encoder (not shown), a parallel-series converter (not shown), etc., and various types of moving objects IO. Generate instructions regarding work operations as pulse codes. The modulating means 5oFi is connected to the command signal generating means 40 and the light source driving circuit 25, and controls the light source driving circuit 25 to modulate the light beam 23 according to the pulse code and project the light beam. Note that the modulation means 50 is not limited to the above-mentioned direct modulation method, but may also be a mechanical means such as a high-speed shutter or a sector, or an external modulation method using a modulation element such as an electro-optic effect element or an acousto-optic effect element. good.

The receiving means 80 includes a light receiving element 81, a detection circuit 82, and a serial-to-parallel converter 1183, and detects the pulse code. The light receiving element 81 is composed of a photodiode, for example, and is the same as the above-mentioned light receiving element 61F.

It is arranged approximately in the center of 61B, 61R, and 6L. Since the light receiving element 81 can respond to the pulse frequency of the light beam, it is preferable to use a device that can respond at high speed, such as a PIN photodiode or an avalanche photodiode. The detection circuit 82 detects a pulse code from the electrical signal converted into photoelectric power by the light receiving element 81 . The series-parallel converter 83 is
It converts serially transmitted pulse codes into parallel data, and functions as an interface for work control means 90, which will be described later. Note that as the light receiving element 81, the light receiving element 61F
.

61B, 61R, and 61L may be used as appropriate.

The work control means 90 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and □ decodes the pulses to extract work operation instructions;
The corresponding work means driving devices 17a, 17b, . . . are controlled by reading a pre-stored stone movement pattern from a memory (not shown) to perform a predetermined work.

Among them, when the work to be represented is a double line, the work control means 9
0 can be configured with a decoder and a sequence controller. Alternatively, all operation patterns can be directly instructed by the operator via a light beam.

In this example, a pulse modulation method is used, but the method is not limited to this, and an amplitude modulation method or a frequency modulation method may also be used.For example, in the former case, the command signal is shaped into a constant waveform. A method can be considered in which the continuously emitted light beam is modulated by this waveform.

According to this configuration, the light beam 2 is transmitted through the modulation means 50 according to the operation command generated by the command signal generation means 40.
By modulating the signal 3 and having it detected by the light receiving element 81 and the detection circuit 82, work operation commands can be transmitted from the operator to the moving object 10. Also, mobile object 1G
The movement can be performed in exactly the same manner as in the first embodiment, and furthermore, the work can be performed simultaneously with this movement.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where one mobile body is controlled is shown, but the present invention can also control several mobile bodies at the same time. In this case, the light projecting means 20 and the light beam moving means 30 may be provided in correspondence with the number of moving bodies. Among them, KFi eliminates signal interference, and if you keep it, the wavelength (color) of light
etc. can be changed.

Furthermore, the present invention is applicable not only to wheel-running moving objects but also to walking robots and the like, and furthermore, to the guidance of vehicles having automatic driving devices. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to demonstration robots such as geese and toy robots that do not perform special tasks.

As explained above, Honfukumei does not control the movement of the armpit moving object by moving the light beam and having the irradiated surface track the moving object, but rather uses a cable that obstructs the movement. The moving body can be reliably guided to the target position without any interference, and since the signal transmission medium is light, there is no electrical noise. This has the effect that it does not pick up noise, nor does it generate noise that affect other equipment. Furthermore, since light is used as a medium, there are no restrictions on usable frequencies as with radio waves, so there is an advantage that signal O transmission can be performed in any frequency band.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is part 1 of the present application. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the first invention, FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3BII! and Article S
Cm is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the light beam irradiation surface and the light receiving element in the above embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the travel control means and travel drive means in the mobile object control system of the present invention. Figure, No. s! 11#i is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the second invention of the present application. ]2... Traveling drive means 12A... Traveling part 12
B... Steering section 13... Wheels 16... Working means 17... Working means drive device 20...
- Light projection means 21... Light source 22... Beam forming means 23... Light beam 24... Irradiation surface
25... Light source drive circuit 30... Light beam moving means 31... X axis 5W32... Y axis member
33...X-axis servo mechanism 34...Y-axis servo mechanism 40...Command signal generation means 50...Modulator 9
6G...Light beam level detection means 61F, 6
1B, 6]R, 61L... Light receiving element 62F, 62B,
62R, 62L...detection circuit 63A, F13B...
Differential amplifier circuit 70... Traveling control means 71A, 71B
...Amplifier circuit 72R, 72L...Amplifier 73R
...Inverter 73L...Buffer amplifier 8
0... Receiving means 81... Light receiving element 82...
・Detection circuit 83...Series-parallel variation! II device 90...work control means operator Motoda Electronics Co., Ltd. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] +1) In a control method for a moving body that is equipped with a traveling drive means and performs various tasks by freely moving within a certain area, a light beam is provided at a position where the moving body and its moving area can be seen. and a light beam moving means that is linked to the light projector WIK and moves the light beam irradiation surface freely on the moving area surface in response to an external operation, and A light beam displacement detection means for receiving the light beam at the light receiving element of the moving body, detecting the longitudinal and horizontal displacement of the beam, and outputting each displacement signal;
A moving body characterized by a traveling control means for controlling a traveling drive means to move the moving body forward, backward, or to turn left or right in response to the front and rear left and right displacement signals to track the light beam. control method. (According to a control method for a moving body that is equipped with a traveling drive means and performs various tasks by freely moving within a certain area, a projection system that projects a light beam to a position where the above-mentioned moving body and the surface of its moving area can be seen) and a light beam moving means that is linked to the wrinkle light projecting means and allows the light beam irradiation surface to freely move on the moving area surface in response to an external operation, and the moving body A command signal generating means for generating commands related to various mulling operations, and a modulating means for modulating and projecting the light beam according to the command signal are connected to the light projecting means, and , a light beam displacement detection means for receiving the light beam by a plurality of light receiving elements, detecting the longitudinal and lateral displacement of the beam, and outputting each displacement signal; travel control means for controlling the travel drive means to move the moving body forward, backward, or turn left or right to track the light beam; The present invention is characterized by having a receiving means for detecting a command signal, and a work control means for decoding the detected signal, extracting a work operation command, and controlling each work means driving device of a moving body corresponding to the work. (31) A mobile body control system comprising: a command signal generation means for generating commands regarding various work operations of the mobile body as pulse codes; and a modulation means for modulating the above-mentioned beam by a skeleton pulse code and projecting the beam; Receiving the irradiation of the above light beam with a light receiving element,
The above-mentioned third apparatus includes a receiving means for detecting the pulse code, and a work control means for decoding the detected pulse code, extracting a work operation command, and controlling each work means driving device of the mobile body corresponding to the work. 2. Mobile object control method according to item 2.