JPS59116566A - Tracking guide of moving object utilizing light beam and information transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve transmission of much information and a higher efficiency thereof by irradiation of light beam tracking an moving object along a required path to give the moving body an moving path while transmitting information over a long time. CONSTITUTION:A laser beam generator 1 is so arranged as to emit a laser beam LB to a proper point above a path W along which a surface moving body 3 to be moved. A reflection element 2 comprising a rectangular full reflector is so arranged in an area of passing the laser beam LB as to irradiate it LB on the path W reflecting it LB. The reflection element 2 is mounted on a rotating shaft 211 of a step motor 21 through a reduction gear 212 with a reduction ratio of, for example, 1:110. As a forward rotation pulse S and a reverse rotation pulse S' are inputted into a terminal A or a terminal B, the step motor is rotated forward or reversely. Thus, the reflection element 2 rotates forward or reversely so that the laser beam LB reflected can always reach a corner cube 4 mounted on a surface moving body 3.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a tracking type guidance and information transmission device for a moving object using a light beam, and in particular to a device capable of tracking a moving object moving along a required route and irradiating it with a light beam. This paper proposes a tracking guidance and information transmission device for moving objects that uses light beams to improve the efficiency of information transmission.

The present inventor has previously developed a technology for guiding a ground moving object such as an automatic guided vehicle along a route obtained by scanning a light beam. A patent application has been filed (Japanese Patent Application No. 55-141306).

Today, however, it is not only possible to simply guide a ground moving object based on scanning light beams, but also to transmit various control commands to the ground moving object, such as speed control commands, stop or start commands, and destination address commands. At the same time, there is a need to understand and control the status of each component of a ground vehicle, such as the battery consumption status, car license plate number, and the type and weight of loaded luggage.

In view of such requests, the present inventors have proposed that by tracking a moving ground moving object and irradiating it with a light beam, it is possible to provide the running route of the ground moving object while transmitting more information. We have proposed a tracking guidance and information transmission device for ground moving objects that uses light beams that can improve transmission efficiency, and have already applied for a patent (Japanese Patent Application No. 57-7).
4291).

The above device includes a light beam generator that emits a light beam;
a tracking mirror that reflects the emitted light beam and irradiates it onto the travel path of the ground moving object; a drive motor that rotates the tracking mirror; and a light beam detection means that is disposed in a passage area of the light beam reflected by the reflection means and outputs a detection signal corresponding to a change in the arrival position of the light beam. Based on the detection signal, the rotation of the motor is controlled so that the light beam reflected by the tracking mirror tracks and irradiates the ground moving object traveling along the route.

However, the above device has a drawback that if the light beam reflected by one reflecting means deviates from a predetermined reflection path, it becomes impossible to guide a ground moving object and to transmit information.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of tracking moving objects including ground moving objects and aerial moving objects while preventing the light beam reflected by the reflecting means from deviating from a predetermined reflection path. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tracking type guidance and information transmission device for a moving body using a light beam that can irradiate a light beam.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a moving body tracking guidance and information transmission system M (hereinafter referred to as "the present invention device") using a light beam according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the apparatus of the present invention.

The device of the present invention includes a laser beam generator 1 that emits a laser beam LB from one end in the longitudinal direction as a light beam generator, a reflection device 2, and a reflection means attached to a moving object, such as a ground moving object 3. It is comprised of a corner cube 4, and laser beam detectors 5a, 5b made of solar cells, for example, as reflected light beam detection means.

The laser beam generator 1 is disposed at a suitable location above the path W along which the ground moving body 3 should travel so as to emit a laser beam LB, for example, in a substantially horizontal direction. The reflection device 2 is made of, for example, a rectangular total reflection mirror, and is disposed in a pass range of the laser beam LB so as to reflect the laser beam LB and irradiate it onto the path W. The reflecting device 2 is attached to a rotating shaft 211 of a step motor 21 as a rotating device via a reducer 212 having a reduction ratio of, for example, 1:110, as shown in FIG. 2, and is rotated as follows. That is, the step motor 21i is connected to a motor drive circuit 223 (fifth
(see figure), forward rotation pulse S or reverse rotation pulse S' is output from terminal A.
Or, when inputted to terminal B, the laser beam LB is rotated in the forward or reverse direction, and as a result, the reflection device 2 is rotated in the forward or reverse direction, and the laser beam LB reflected by the reflection device 2 is rotated in the forward or reverse direction.
The corner cube 4 attached to the ground moving body 3 is always reached as will be described later. The corner cube 4 has a laser beam L incident thereon as shown in FIG.
B is reflected in the same direction as its incident direction, that is, toward the reflecting device 2 as a reflected laser beam LB'.

Therefore, when the laser beam LB is incident on one corner or the other corner of the corner cube 4 as shown by the solid line and the two-dot chain line in FIG. As shown by the solid line and the two-dot chain line in the figure, the reflection direction tends to deviate from the predetermined direction.

Laser beam detectors 5a and 5b are placed in the vicinity of the laser beam generation bag @1 with their detection surfaces facing the reflection device 2 (with a suitable distance apart from each other) so as to sandwich the passage path of the laser beam LB. The above reflected laser beam LB
' is incident on the detection surfaces of the laser beam detectors 5a and 5b. Then, detection signals P and P' are output from the laser beam detectors 5a and 5b.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the drive controller 22 that processes the detection signals P and P' to control the rotation of the step motor 21.

The drive controller 22 is composed of an amplifier 221, a forward/reverse control circuit 222 consisting of a flip-flop circuit, for example, a motor drive circuit 223, and a pulse oscillation circuit 224, and the detection signal P or P' amplified by the amplifier 221 is sent to the amplifier After being amplified at step 221, the signal is applied to a forward/reverse control circuit 222, processed, and then input to a motor drive circuit 223 as a forward/reverse signal E'. In the motor drive circuit 223, the pulse train inputted from the pulse oscillation circuit 224 is modulated by the forward rotation signal (or reverse rotation signal t') and outputted as a forward rotation pulse S or a reverse rotation pulse S'.

The step motor 21 operates on the rotating shaft 2 by inputting a normal rotation pulse S or S' to the terminal A or B.
11 rotates forward or reverse. Then, the reflector 2 is rotated in the forward direction or in the reverse direction, which causes the reflector cube 4 to rotate.
The incident direction of the laser beam LB' is corrected, and the reflected laser beam LB' is transmitted to the laser beam detectors 5a and 5.
It reaches between b. In this state, the laser beam LB always reaches the corner cube 4 attached to the ground moving body 3 without deviating from it.

As a result, information is transmitted by an appropriate information transmitting device that utilizes the laser beams L and B disposed on or near the laser beam generator 1 and the corner cube 4. Note that when there is no ground moving object 3 on the route W, the laser beam LB is irradiated onto the route W while being scanned at a required period.

As detailed above, the device of the present invention is capable of tracking a moving object moving along a required route and irradiating it with a light beam, thereby providing a moving path for the moving object and transmitting information over a long period of time. Therefore, the present invention has excellent effects such as not only being able to transmit more information but also being able to improve its efficiency.

Note that in the above embodiment, the pair of laser beam detectors 5a
and 5b are used, but a pair of laser beam detectors are further provided in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the laser beam detectors 5a and 5b are opposed, and the reflection device 2 is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis 211 of the step motor 21. By making it possible to rotate the laser beam and adding a drive controller for this purpose, the reflection direction of the reflected laser beam LB' can be corrected to a predetermined reflection direction without deviating in any direction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the laser beam LB is used as the light beam.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained by using an infrared beam, a visible light beam, or the like.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the laser beam detectors 5a and 5
Although a solar cell is used as b, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this, and a linear diode array, a photoelectric cell CD5, etc. may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the ground moving body 3 is used as the moving body, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the moving body may be, for example, an aerial moving body such as a crane or an airplane.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a tracking type lure and information transmission device for a moving object using an optical beacon according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the reflection device, step motor, etc., FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a corner cube as a reflection means,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the deviated reflected laser beam, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the main parts of the apparatus of the present invention. 1... Laser beam generator, 2... Reflector, 3
... Ground mobile object, 4 ... Corner cube, 5a, 5
b...Laser beam detector, 21...Step motor, 22...Drive controller, 221...Amplifier, 22
2... Forward/reverse control circuit, 223... Motor drive circuit, 224... Pulse oscillation circuit, LB... Laser beam, L B'... Reflected laser beam, P, P'...
Detection signal, [...forward rotation signal, ('...reverse rotation signal, S
...Forward pulse, S'...Reverse pulse, W...Path.

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A light beam generating device that emits a light beam, a reflecting device that reflects the emitted light beam and irradiates it onto a moving path of a moving body, a rotating device that rotates the reflecting device, and the moving body a reflecting means that is attached to the reflector and reflects the incident light beam in the same direction as the incident direction; and a light beam that is disposed near the passage area of the light beam reflected by the reflector and reflected by the reflector. deviating reflected light beam detection means for detecting that the reflection direction of the beam is about to deviate from a predetermined reflection direction and outputting a detection signal; and a drive controller for processing the detection signal and controlling the rotation device. A tracking system for a moving body using a light beam, characterized in that the rotation of the rotation device is controlled based on the detection signal so that the light beam irradiates the moving body. Guidance and information transmission equipment. (2) The tracking type guidance and information transmission device for a moving object using a light beam according to claim 1, wherein the light beam generator is a laser beam generator. (3) The tracking type guidance and information transmission device for a moving object using a light beam according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting means is a corner cube. (4) The deviated reflected light beam detection means is two laser beam detectors installed in the vicinity of the light beam generator so as to sandwich the light beam passage path with the detection surfaces facing the reflection device side. A tracking guidance and information transmission device for a moving body using a light beam according to claim 1. (5) The rotation controller includes an amplifier circuit, a forward/reverse control circuit,
A tracking type guidance and information transmission device for a moving body using a light beam according to claim 1, characterized in that the device comprises a motor drive circuit and a pulse oscillation circuit. (6) The tracking type guidance and information transmission device for a moving body using a light beam according to claim 4, wherein the laser beam detector is composed of a solar cell.