JPS61234406A - Running system for unattended truck - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position an unattended truck at the center of a guide line at the end of the swing motion by detecting an end signal in the process of the transition to the swing motion from the AND of two kinds of state signals. CONSTITUTION:Detection signals 12a, 14a are outputted from pickup devices 12, 14 provided respectively at both front sides of the unattended truck. Then a derailment detection circuit 38 outputs a signal representing the derailing restoration state based on an add signal between both the signals 12a and 14a. Moreover, a zero cross detection circuit 40 outputs a signal that a deviation signal between both the signals 12a and 14a is nearly zero, that is, a zero cross signal. When a swing motion transition end detecting circuit 42 receives two kinds of the state signals outputted respectively from the circuits 38 and 40, the circuit 42 generates a detection signal for the end of transition of swing motion to inform the end of transition of the swing motion to a microcomputer 18. Thus, the unattended truck is positioned at the center of the guide line at the end of the swing motion.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a driving system for an unmanned vehicle, and in particular, the present invention relates to a driving system for an unmanned vehicle, and in particular, the present invention relates to a driving system for an unmanned vehicle. This invention relates to a driving system for an unmanned vehicle that can stably turn automatically.

[Prior art]

A minute low-frequency current is supplied to a guide wire laid along the road surface, and the low-frequency current flowing through the guide wire is detected by a pair of left and right pickup devices attached to the body of an unmanned vehicle.The detection results of both pickup devices are A driving system for an unmanned vehicle that amplifies the deviation signal to drive the steering motor of the steering system of the unmanned vehicle and corrects the deviation from the guiding line so that the unmanned vehicle can stably travel along the guiding line is well known. It is.

In addition, in such an unmanned vehicle driving system, when transitioning from one line to another at an intersection of guide lines, conventionally, an appropriate turning command is issued near the intersection along one of the guide lines. The signal is received by Muhahon, and at this time, the steering motor is driven along a certain turning trajectory according to a turning command generated by a program turning operation means such as a function generator installed in advance in the unmanned vehicle. A method is adopted in which the vehicle is made to turn to the other line, and the turning transfer is completed when a certain signal generated from a predetermined position along the other line is received. For example, in the automatic turning system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-20477, a proximate object is provided on the road surface to indicate the turning start point and turning end point, and a pair of guiding lines are installed on the unmanned vehicle side. By providing the above-described proximity sensor separate from the pickup device, the start and end of the gromming rotation operation can be detected.

[Problems to be solved]

However, in the automatic turning method at the intersection point using the conventional unmanned vehicle driving system described above, it is difficult to detect the turning end point in the process from the start of the turn to the end of the turn. When a single sensor installed on the unmanned vehicle approaches the vehicle and detects it, stable detection is possible depending on the driving road surface conditions near each intersection and changes in the accuracy of the unmanned vehicle's driving system, steering system, and other mechanical systems. This is difficult, and there is also the problem that the unmanned vehicle cannot be accurately positioned at the center of the guide line at the end of a turn.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the instability caused by detecting the end of a turn using a single signal when transitioning from one line to another at the intersection of guide lines on the running road surface, and to smoothly It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved driving system for an unmanned vehicle so that the unmanned vehicle is positioned in the center of a K-shaped guide line.

[Solution]

In view of the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention provides a driving control system for an unmanned vehicle in which the unmanned vehicle is guided to travel by sensing guide lines laid on the driving road surface by a pair of left and right guide wires. , when the unmanned vehicle automatically turns from one crossed guide line to the other guide line, the front 7
a first detection circuit capable of detecting that the unmanned vehicle has moved to the other guide line since the output deviation of the pair of pickup devices has converged to a substantially zero value; a second detection circuit capable of detecting a derailment recovery state of the unmanned vehicle from an added value of each output absolute value;
The unmanned vehicle is equipped with a turning completion detection circuit that issues a termination signal for terminating the automatic turning transition of the unmanned vehicle from the logical product of the transition alignment detection signal obtained from the second detection circuit and the derailment return detection signal. A driving control system for an unmanned vehicle is provided with a special mission of This is achieved by

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a plot of one embodiment of the configuration of various means forming the driving system of an unmanned vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically illustrating a row locus.

First, referring to Fig. 2, there are guide wires a1 and the like laid on the road surface, and the unmanned vehicle 1 is able to transmit the frequency current flowing through these guide wires a and b to the guide wires located on both sides of the guide wires. A pair of left and right pickup devices 12.
Detected by 14. In addition, the unmanned vehicle 10 has a guide line a.
Or, it has a grate detection sensor 16 that detects the mark plate for operation instruction at the operation instruction point (M) placed at an important point along the operation instruction point (b), and each unmanned vehicle is detected by the result of reading the mark plate pattern from this plate detection sensor. The microcomputer 18 installed in the unmanned vehicle JO generates operation commands such as acceleration, deceleration, stop, and turning.
Mainly controls the drive mechanism. On the other hand, the steering mechanism of the unmanned vehicle 10 also outputs a control signal at the time of turning transition at an intersection point, which will be described later, in response to the operation instruction signal from the microcomputer 18 mentioned above.

However, during normal driving, the steering motor 41 (IiZyw41 N atx 4+'
:;++ is provided, and a configuration is provided in which lateral displacement or deviation from the guide line in the running direction of the unmanned vehicle 10 is corrected, and the unmanned vehicle 10 is guided in the correct running direction. In addition, 20 in Figure 2
m is a steering wheel of the unmanned vehicle 10, and 20b.

20b indicates a driving wheel.

With the above-described configuration, at the intersection of the guide line a and the guide line S, when the unmanned vehicle 10 traveling on the guide line a reaches the vicinity of the intersection, when it is necessary to make a turning transition to the guide line A, The above-mentioned operation instruction point) M is placed near the intersection, and from the mark plate pattern of this operation instruction point M, it is read as an operation instruction that the unmanned vehicle 0'' should turn to the guide line. 1
When the program steering activation command generated from 8 and the activation signal for the turning transition action that follows a constant turning trajectory are received, the turning transition is started.

Next, regarding the unmanned vehicle 10 having the single steering wheel 20 shown in FIG. 2, with reference to FIG.
The structure and operation of a traveling system that performs a turning transition to a guide line will be explained. Note that in FIG. 1, the same reference numbers as in FIG. 2 indicate the same components.

In FIG. 1, the detection signals of the pickup devices 12.14, that is, the induced electromotive voltage signals 12a and 14a, are amplified, detected and rectified by the corresponding amplification and detection circuits 22 and 24, respectively. After both signals 12a and 14a pass through the amplification and detection circuits 22 and 24, the difference signals between the two are sent to the steering control unit 26, the zero-cross detection circuit 40, and the unmanned vehicle 10 with respect to the guide line a or b (see FIG. 2). The voltage is applied to a circuit that detects a state in which the lateral displacement reaches approximately zero value at exactly the center position.

On the other hand, the sum signal of both signals 12a and 14m is input to the derailment detection circuit 38, and the unmanned vehicle 10 derails from the guide line a or b and is in a derailed state according to the level change of the detection signal of both male pickup devices 12 and 14. Detection is performed. The steering control section 26 includes a switching circuit 28, an amplifier circuit 30. It includes a drive circuit 32, a steering mechanism 34 including a steering motor, a turning signal generation circuit 36 that generates a constant steering signal at the time of transition to a turn, a RimaShi program steering signal or a spin turn signal, etc. The circuit 36 is configured to input the above-mentioned steering signal when the switching circuit 28 is switched by the turning transition activation signal. The turn transition end detection circuit 42 becomes activated when the program steering or spin turn start signal 18m or 18b is input from the microcomputer 18 via the OR circuit, and the derailment detection circuit 38 and zero cross detection circuit 400 detect derailment. This circuit outputs a detection signal indicating the end of turning transition to the microcomputer 18 when both a signal indicating the return state and a signal indicating that the lateral displacement has reached approximately zero value are input. As described above, the microcomputer 18 is provided to control the operation instructions of the unmanned vehicle 10, and reads the mark plate/mother turn that instructs turning transition at the operation instruction point M on the driving road surface. Then, a program steering or spin turn activation signal is generated.

In the traveling system having the above-described configuration, when traveling along one of the lines, the amplification and detection circuit 22.2
The pickup device 12゜ from 4 is switched to receive the deviation signal from 4, and the deviation signal is sent to the amplification circuit 3.
After amplification at 0, the steering motor of the steering mechanism 34 is driven via the drive circuit 32, and the steering wheel 20a of the unmanned vehicle 10 (
Fig. 2) is controlled so that the vehicle travels on its own along the correct travel path along guide line a or b.

When it reaches the vicinity of the intersection of guide line a and guide line S and reads from the mark plate pattern of the operation instruction point M (Fig. 2) that it is an operation instruction to transition to a turn, the microcomputer 8 starts the program steering. Or generate a spin turn activation signal. Note that the latter spin turn is a turning method in which the unmanned vehicle 10 turns around the longitudinal axis at an intersection point without turning along a trajectory, but the operation of the steering control unit 26 is essentially based on program steering. Both are already known.

When the microcomputer 18 issues a program steering for turning transition or a start signal 18m or 18b for a nuvin turn, the switching circuit 28 is switched to the turning signal generating circuit 36, so that the turning signal passes through the amplifier circuit 30 to the drive circuit 3.
2, and turning transition control for the steering mechanism 34 is started. That is, in the case of program steering, a certain turning action along the turning transition locus shown in FIG. 2 is applied to the unmanned vehicle 10. At this time, it goes without saying that the deviation signals of the two pickup devices 12 and 14 that have been input to the switching circuit 28 are cut off by the switching circuit 28.

On the other hand, the program steering or spin turn activation signal 18a or 18b is also inputted to the turning transition end detection circuit 42 via the OR circuit, and puts the circuit 42 into an operating state. When the turning transition action is started, the unmanned vehicle 10 gradually turns, for example, from the guide line a toward the guide line A. Therefore, the derailment detection circuit 38 once detects a drop in the signal level during this turning process, then detects the return from the derailed state again as the train approaches the guide wire, and eventually gets on the guide wire,
When the derailment recovery state reaches a signal level indicating that one guide line a has been boarded by another guide line, a detection signal is output to the turning transition end detection circuit 42. Furthermore, the zero-cross detection circuit 40 is positioned so that the unmanned vehicle 10 has undergone a turning transition locus and is aligned with the guide line, and the guide line is located in the center of the pick-up devices 12 and 14 on the left and right sides of the tab. At this time, a signal indicating that the deviation signal of the pickup device 12, 14 has reached approximately zero value, that is, a zero cross signal, is also output to the turning transition end detection circuit 42. In this way, when the turning transition end detection circuit 42 receives both of the two types of status signals, it generates a turning transition end detection signal. This detection signal is then transmitted to the microcomputer 1.
8 to notify that the turning transition has ended. As a result, the microcomputer 18 generates a driving command for carrying out the normal driving condition along the guide line, and generates a programmed steering start signal or a nupin turn start signal 'k.
Set up IJ. As a result, the switching circuit 28 of the steering control section 26 is switched again to the normal driving system.

The above explanation has been made regarding the turning transition in the case of the unmanned vehicle 10 having a single steering wheel of 20 m, but the steering wheel t
- In the case of two wheels, although the steering control unit 26 is provided for each steering wheel, the function of detecting the end of turning transition, which is the gist of the present invention, is completely the same. requires attention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention as explained above, the end signal in the turning transition process is detected from the logical product of two types of status signals, and the turning transition is completed, so that when the turning transition is made from one guide line to the other guide line. After the transition, the guide wire is reliably and smoothly positioned at the center of the pair of pickup devices, and therefore, when the vehicle starts normal travel again, it can run stably without any hunting action. The shape of Orejin Higashi 10, which was 7 cm at the start, is a distant relative of the smooth turning transition that is unbelievable to the small Naho.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the configuration of various elements and circuits forming the unmanned vehicle traveling system according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a turning transition of the unmanned vehicle from one guide line to the other guide line. A plan view showing the trajectory, configuration and details of the unmanned vehicle. ]O...Unmanned vehicle, 12.14...B, Knagg device, 20T...Steering wheel, 22.24...Amplification detection circuit,
26... Steering control unit, 18... Microcomputer, 38... Derailment detection circuit, 4o... Zero cross detection circuit, 42... Turn transition end detection circuit, a, b...
・Guiding wire.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an unmanned vehicle driving control system that guides an unmanned vehicle by sensing guide lines laid on the road surface by a pair of pickup devices on the left and right, the unmanned vehicle moves from one crossed guide line to the other guide line. a first detection circuit capable of detecting that the unmanned vehicle has shifted and aligned with the other guiding line since the output deviation of the pair of pickup devices has converged to approximately zero value when transitioning to automatic turning; a second detection circuit that can detect the derailment recovery state of the unmanned vehicle from the sum of the absolute output values of the pair of pickup devices, and a transition alignment detection signal obtained from the first and second detection circuits and the derailment recovery 1. A driving control system for an unmanned vehicle, characterized in that the unmanned vehicle is equipped with a turning completion detection circuit that issues a termination signal for terminating the automatic turning transition of the unmanned vehicle based on a logical product with a detection signal.