JPS63147206A - Unmanned vehicle device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the satisfactory steering control of an unmanned vehicle even in a sloping high-speed driving section by securing a difference of speed between the right left driving wheels and at the same time slowing down the driving speed of the vehicle in a driving section where the driving course is sloped to the single side. CONSTITUTION:The information on both the present position and the destination of an unmanned vehicle are given to a route computing element 22 from an address setting means 21. The element 22 extracts the information on the driving route as well as the driving information. An advance instruction is given to a drive control circuit 26 and the information on a route is given to a route comparator 23. The comparator 23 gives a high-speed command to a target speed computing element 24 and a selection command to a steering output computing element 25 for selection of a steering output pattern. When the vehicle travels and detects a prescribed position marker, the comparator 23 gives a command to the element 24 to increase the speed of the wheel set at the descending side since the element 22 has the map information showing the relevant sloping section. At the same, the control is slow down the speeds of both wheels as the sloping degree increases in a sloping section of the driving course.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Purpose of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an unmanned vehicle device that travels along a predetermined route to a destination point while correcting displacement of the vehicle body. .

[Conventional technology] Conventionally, unmanned vehicles used to transport parts and products between shops within a factory can be roughly divided into two types: An electromagnetic induction system detects the magnetic field using a pick-up coil on an unmanned vehicle to recognize the route the vehicle should take, and another uses reflective tape made of stainless steel or aluminum on the floor to form a guidance line, which is then used to create an unmanned vehicle. The two most popular methods are optical guidance, which uses on-vehicle floodlights and light receivers to detect and recognize the route. All unmanned vehicles constantly monitor deviations from the route based on their detection outputs, and drive to their destination while steering to correct the deviations. In the case of a configuration without steering wheels, the steering control of this unmanned vehicle is performed by driving left and right drive wheels independently, and controlling their rotational speeds. Taking an unmanned vehicle of this type as an example, the relationship between the amount of steering and the amount of deviation, and the relationship between steering gain and speed are as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The left and right wheels of this unmanned vehicle are controlled independently through the holes in the steering wheel, but the command is sent to the motor that drives each wheel (the content of this command is the target speed output plus the steering output). It steers by giving a speed difference to the left and right wheels. The steering output referred to here is the product of the steering amount shown in FIG. 9 and the steering gain shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 9, as the K deviation amount increases, the steering amount increases, and as shown in FIG. 10, as the speed increases, the steering dyne decreases.

Here, the (-) region of the deviation amount indicates a deviation to the opposite side, and the steering amount (solid line) A is for the drive motor on the next side of the deviation, and the (+) side is an increase in speed. Also, (-)
The drive motor on the opposite side has a steering amount (broken line) B with the same amount and opposite sign for the same deviation.

Furthermore, the reason for reducing the steering gain as the speed increases is because even at high speeds the steering gain is large, since the amount of deviation is detected at certain fixed time intervals and the current steering output is output until the next detection. This is because the total amount of steering output until the deviation becomes 0 becomes large, and due to the influence of the inertia of the vehicle body and motor, an overshoot occurs, that is, the steering goes too far in the opposite direction to the route.

The route on which the unmanned vehicle, which is steered in this way, travels is
Usually, it is constructed so that the entire area is flat, but it is extremely difficult to make it uniformly flat everywhere, and there may be cases where parts of a large area are uneven. Second, when introducing unmanned vehicles between the old and new buildings, there are many cases where the floor heights are different between the old and new buildings, or the level of normalization is different. This means that there will be a slight slope. Then, they form a running path that is inclined in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the unmanned vehicle.

If the vehicle is tilted perpendicularly to the direction of travel, even if the same speed command is given to both left and right wheels, the unmanned vehicle will travel in the direction of the slope, and the unmanned vehicle will When the car is running at high speed, the steering gain is reduced to suppress the excessive effect of the rudder. The vehicle will be running with a large swing toward the slope. If the vehicle body swings significantly like this, it is extremely dangerous on narrow sections of the road, as it may come into contact with surrounding equipment, walls, etc. Additionally, in sections with large slopes, the steering output was not effective, causing derailments, which had a significant impact on operating efficiency.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Trackless unmanned vehicles that automatically travel to a destination while being guided by a guide line laid along a running route do not have steering wheels, but instead have left and right drive wheels. Steer by adjusting the speed difference. In such an unmanned vehicle, if there is a slope on the driving path, even if the same speed command is given to the left and right drive motors, the unmanned vehicle will move towards the sloped side (valley side).
If the vehicle deviates from the guidance line, the vehicle is controlled to return to its original position, but if the vehicle travels at high speed, the steering becomes too effective, so the steering gain is reduced, and the stage at which the rudder becomes effective is used. Since there is a certain degree of deviation, the vehicle tends to travel in a meandering manner, and there is a high risk of colliding with nearby equipment, especially in areas where the travel path is narrow. Furthermore, if the slope is large, by the time steering output is generated in high-speed sections, it is already too late, and the train often deviates from the guidance line and derails, requiring the unmanned vehicle to pull back, which has a significant impact on operating efficiency. is giving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an unmanned vehicle device that can perform good steering even in sloped high-speed travel sections and prevent meandering and derailment.

[Configuration of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. In other words, the amount of deviation from the guidance line is detected from the output of the guidance sensor that detects the guidance line laid down on the running road, and is used as a steering output. A trackless track that automatically travels to the destination position while detecting the marker with a point detection sensor and obtaining position information, and controlling the rotational speed of the left and right drive wheels according to the steering output so as not to deviate from the guidance line. This type of unmanned vehicle device includes a route calculation means that outputs route information such as the slope section of the driving road and the slope direction based on preset route map information, and position information is obtained from the output of a point detection sensor, and the driving path is determined. route comparison means for generating a first speed pattern that increases the rotational speed of the drive wheels on the valley side in accordance with the slope in a sloped section and generating a second speed pattern that reduces the running speed; a calculation means for synthesizing the speed patterns to obtain a correction amount and correcting the planned speed in this section by the correction amount; and a drive for controlling the rotational drive of the running wheels according to the corrected planned speed and the steering output. means.

(Function) In such a configuration, a steering output is obtained by detecting the amount of deviation from the guidance line from the output of a guidance sensor on the vehicle that detects the guidance line, and a position marker installed near the guidance line is set to a point on the vehicle. While obtaining positional information through detection by a detection sensor, the vehicle automatically travels to the target position while controlling the rotational speed of the left and right drive wheels in accordance with the steering output so as not to deviate from the guidance line. The unmanned traveling device according to the present invention further has a route calculating means, which outputs route information such as a running road slope section and an inclination direction based on preset route map information, and provides the output to the route comparison means. On the other hand, the route comparison means obtains position information from the output of the point detection sensor, and in the section where the running road is sloped, the rotation speed of the drive wheel on the valley side is increased according to the slope. A second speed J? occurs and reduces the traveling speed. It functions to generate a turn. The output of this route comparison means is given to the calculation means, and the calculation means synthesizes these speeds and f-turns to obtain a correction amount, and also corrects the planned speed in this section by this correction amount. The output of this calculation means is given to the drive means, and this drive means controls the rotational drive of the running wheels according to the corrected scheduled speed given from the calculation means and the steering output.

In sections where the running road slopes to one side, a speed difference is given in advance to the left and right drive wheels, and the running speed is reduced to suppress deviations in the direction of the slope, and to prevent the vehicle body from meandering. This prevents the swing from becoming large, so
Even if the running track is sloped, vehicles are less likely to come into contact with installed equipment near the running track or derail due to meandering tracks, improving safety and reliability.In addition, there are no derailments or derailments, which improves operating efficiency. You will be able to improve your performance.

[Example 1] An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of an unmanned vehicle according to the present invention, in which 1 indicates the unmanned vehicle body and 2 people.

2B are drive wheels each driven by an independent motor. JAIJB is a guidance sensor installed in the front and rear central parts of the unmanned vehicle body l, which detects the guidance line and generates an output according to the amount of deviation, thereby detecting the amount of deviation of the vehicle body. 5A.

5B is a caster (passive wheel) provided on the unmanned vehicle body 1, 4A
, 4B is a point detection sensor installed on the ground to detect a position marker as the next object to be detected, and 6 is a guide line laid on the floor to guide the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the running route, with JJA and JJB installed on the left and right of the guide line 6.

JjA, J,? B, JJA, JJB, and J4A#24B are position markers for point detection, which are detected by point detection sensors 4A and 41 on the vehicle.

Here, the position marker J, 'A, ~J4A section is a section with a downward slope on the left side, and the leftward slope becomes larger as you move toward JJA,
The section from JA to 121 has no slope.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a guidance device provided on the unmanned vehicle main body 1. Reference numeral 21 in the figure is an address setting device, which is composed of operation keys, a transmission device, etc., and is used to set the current position (hereinafter referred to as FR
(hereinafter referred to as TO) and passes information on the destination position (hereinafter referred to as TO) to the route calculator 22. Root calculator 2
2 uses the above-mentioned FROM and To information to extract information on the route to be traveled and traveling information based on the information on the entire route stored in advance. Route information includes the count of position markers to be detected up to 10 positions, slope information for each section, etc., and driving information includes the direction of travel, speed, steering output of the left and right drive wheels according to the slope and curve, and the turn. , the distance between each position marker, etc.

Here, the traveling speed information includes several knee turns depending on the slope perpendicular to the direction of travel in each section, and as shown in Figure 4, the steering amount cover turns are also similar to the floor surface. 35 depending on the slope. ~37. Also, 1
When stopping at the 0 position, the vehicle decelerates from high speed to low speed, and the deceleration position is determined by counting the distance from the detected marker that is more than the low speed traveling distance from the 10 position. Therefore, this route calculator 22 also calculates the position of the position marker at which distance counting should be started (actually, the count value until reaching that marker) and the count value (traveling distance value) from there.

Such route map information is provided to a route comparator 23, and information regarding the traveling direction is also provided to a travel control circuit 26.

9. When the count number of the position marker reaches the point at which the next distance count is to be started, the route calculator 22 encodes the count start command and the count value (traveling distance value to the stop point) that becomes the stop point. It also has a function of outputting to the target speed calculator 24.

The route comparator 23 uses the point detection sensors 4A and 4B based on the information of the route 1 block created by the route calculator 22.
When detection signals from the markers are generated at the same time, the marker count is incremented by one to recognize the current position. Then, the target speed command in that section is output to the target speed calculator 24, and the steering amount cover turn command is output to the steering output calculator 25.

Here, the target speed command is the high speed command during normal driving, T
These include a low speed command when stopping at the o position, a speed difference between the left and right wheels corresponding to the slope in each section having a slope, and a speed command in that section.

In addition, there are two point detection sensors 4A and 4B on the right and left of the vehicle.
The reason for providing this is that by taking the point detection signal by logical product of these signals, even if only one side detects a minute foreign object, it can be ignored, thereby improving reliability.

When the target speed command from the route calculator 23 changes, the target speed calculator 24 sets /# turns for acceleration and deceleration so that the car runs smoothly, and sends it to the travel control circuit 26. A speed command as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 is given. In addition, when the target speed calculator 24 receives a count start command and a count setting value from the route comparator 23, it receives and counts the sound lus from the noise generator 291.29B, and when the set value is reached, the speed is reduced to a low speed. It also has the ability to decelerate to The steering output calculator 25 stores therein the steering amount and steering gain t! as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
A pattern that has a turn and is suitable for the steering output and arm turn command from the route comparator 23 is selected. Then, based on the selected pattern, the steering output is determined by the signal from 3B to the guidance sensor 3, and is output to the travel control circuit indicated by reference numeral 26.

The induction sensors JA and JB are composed of a plurality of pickup coils in the case of an electromagnetic induction method, and are composed of a plurality of light projector/receiver sets in the case of an optical tape guidance method.

The above-mentioned traveling control circuit 26 controls the drive motor 27B for driving the unmanned vehicle based on the speed/4 turns of the direction/target speed calculator 24 from the route calculator 22 and the steering output of the steering output calculator 25. It is something to do. Further, in the pulse generator 29, 29B is the drive motor 271.27r.
It is provided corresponding to B, and generates 9 russ corresponding to its rotation speed, /44 russ generator 291.2
The travel control circuit 26 takes in the output pulse of 9B as a speed feedback signal, and uses it to adjust the control output to the drive motor 27 and 27B so as to maintain the target speed. 30 is a departure command, and the traveling control circuit 26 starts actual control based on this departure command. The drive motors 27 and 27B are independently controlled, one is connected to the two left driving wheels of the unmanned vehicle body, and the other is connected to the right driving wheel JB.
They are directly connected to each other and each can be driven independently.

281.28B is a clutch brake provided on the drive wheel 2 corresponding to 2B. When a release command is given, the brake is released, and when the release command is released, it acts as a brake. When driving, the drive control circuit 26 A loosening command is given to enable the motor to rotate, and when stopping, the command is turned off to ensure that the motor remains stopped.

In addition, the Noculus generators 29m and 29B are attached to each motor, and the departure command 30 is sent to the host computer or the start key operation on the vehicle when the unmanned vehicle is ready to travel. Given.

Next, the operation of this device having the above configuration will be explained.

In Fig. 3, there is an inclination in the direction perpendicular to the route between position markers J2A, 72B and position markers J3 and J3B, and there is also an inclination between position markers Js A *J, 7B and positions J4A, 74B. Assume that there is an even greater slope.

When an unmanned vehicle configured as shown in Fig. 2 travels on a traveling route as shown in Fig. 3, it starts from the position markers JJA and JJB according to the FROM and To information and travels to 14A.

When driving in the direction of 24B (forward direction), point detection sensors 4A and 4B detect position markers JJA and JJB.

12, 12B, 13, 13B, 14, and 14B while confirming the location, and the guidance sensor 3A detects the guidance line 6 while steering.

Prior to this, the address setter 21 provides the route calculator 22 with current position information (FROM) and destination position information (TO) of the unmanned vehicle. Then, the route calculator 22 refers to the map information of all routes and extracts information on the route to be traveled and travel information. Then, a forward command among the travel information is given to the travel control circuit 26, and route map information (distance count to the stop position, position marker count to the deceleration point, slope section information, slope angle information, etc.)
is given to the route comparator 23 as a 6-position marker J
A *There is no slope between JIB, 12A, and J2B, so
There is no such information in the route map, so route comparator 2
2 gives a high speed command to the target speed calculator 24, and gives a selection command for the steering amount and arm turn 35 (FIG. 4) to the round steering output calculator 25. As a result, the target speed calculator 24 sets the nine turns of acceleration required to reach the high-speed driving state, and provides this to the travel control circuit 26. The steering output calculator 25 calculates the steering output according to the amount of deviation according to the previous steering ratio cut 4 turn 35,
It is output to the travel control circuit 26. At this time, the steering gain has the relationship shown in FIG.

Next, when the car moves forward and detects the position marker 121.12B, a detection signal is output from the ground detection sensors 4A and 4B on the car, and the route comparator 23 increments the marker count by one and detects the position marker. J, 2A, J! 'Know that you have reached the H position. Since this section has a slope, the route map information in the route calculator 22 contains information to that effect, and the route comparator 23 uses this information to increase the speed command for the wheels on the downhill side (valley side). Therefore, the route comparator 23 outputs the command to the target speed calculator 24. The target speed calculator 24 sets a pattern for increasing the speed command on one side according to the pattern, and outputs it to the travel control circuit 26. Furthermore, when the vehicle reaches the position markers JJA and JJB, the ground detection sensors 4A and 4B detect it, and the route comparator 23 advances the count by one and knows that it has reached the position of the position marker 13, 13B. This section has position markers 12, 12B and 13A.
.

The ninth section has a steeper slope than the JjB section, and in accordance with the route information to that effect, the command output from the route comparator 23 is a command that further increases the speed difference between the two wheels.

FIG. 6 shows how the speed command changes at that time.

Here, the outputs of the point detection sensor 4 and 4B are position sensors 11A, IIB, and 12Am12B from the left.

J s A # J s B * This is when λ4A and 34B were detected.

Here, speed control in a section where the running road has an incline will be explained. As shown in Figure 7, in the slope section, as the slope increases, both wheels are controlled to reduce their speed in the same way.By doing this, the steering gain increases, and the steering output becomes large. , it becomes possible to steer even when the amount of deviation is small. There are a plurality of these four deceleration turns depending on the degree of inclination.

Next, driving wheel speed control in an inclined section using the steering amount cover turn will be explained. The timing chart is shown in Figure 8.
Among these, 35°se and 31 of the 9th steering turn are the steering amount patterns 35 and 36 in FIG.

31 is selected. These patterns exist in the steering output calculator 25, and which pattern is selected depends on the command from the route comparator 23. In this case as well, the selected steering output/4 turns varies depending on the degree of inclination, resulting in a pattern in which the amount of steering is large even where the amount of deviation is small.

In addition, instead of changing the steering amount pattern, as shown in FIG. 5, the steering output calculator 25 changes the steering gain at high speed by a command from the route comparator 23, depending on the slope of the traveling section. is also valid.

In this way, this device gives a speed difference to the left and right drive wheels in advance in sections where the road is sloped to one side, and also reduces the running speed and increases the steering output compared to normal sections. By using the speed difference between the drive wheels to suppress deviation in the direction of incline, and by reducing the traveling speed and increasing the steering output, the rudder function effectively works against deviation.
Moreover, the vibration of the vehicle body due to steering control is prevented from increasing. Therefore, with this device, meandering or derailment will not occur even if the running path is sloped, and it will be possible to run safely even on narrow running roads, improving safety and reliability. It will be possible to improve the operating rate of the car.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, even in sections where the running road is inclined to one side, deviation in the direction of inclination can be suppressed, and the shake of the vehicle body due to meandering can be prevented from becoming large. Therefore, even if there is an incline on the running track, it is less likely that vehicles will come into contact with equipment installed near the running track or derail, resulting in improved safety and reliability.
Since there is no derailment, it is possible to provide an unmanned vehicle device that can improve the operating rate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an unmanned vehicle used in the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a running route used in the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a steering amount characteristic curve used in the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a steering gain characteristic curve used in the present invention, and FIGS. Fig. 9 is a steering amount characteristic curve diagram used in the prior art, Fig. 10 is a time chart for
The figure is a steering gain characteristic curve diagram used in the prior art. J...Unmanned vehicle body, j A e 2 B... Drive wheel, JA. 3B... Guidance sensor, 4 A l 4 B'' point detection sensor, 5A, 5B... Caster, 6... Guidance line, JJA. JIB, ~J4A, 74B... Position marker, 21...
・Address setter, 22... Route calculator, 23...
・Route comparator, 24...Target speed calculator, 25...
- Steering output calculator, 26... Traveling control circuit, 27 A
, 27B...drive motor, 28, 28B...
Clutch brake, 29, 29B...pulse generator. 2nd r! 3 Figure 4 ta5 Figure 6 Figure 1@7 Figure 8 Figure Wh10

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A position marker installed to detect the amount of deviation from the guidance line from the output of a guidance sensor that detects the guidance line laid along the running route and use it as a steering output, and to provide position information near the guidance line. A trackless system that automatically travels to the target position while controlling the rotation speed of the left and right drive wheels according to the steering output to avoid deviating from the guidance line while obtaining position information by detecting the position using a point detection sensor. In the unmanned vehicle device of Route comparison means for generating a first speed pattern that increases the rotational speed of the drive wheels on the valley side in accordance with the slope in a sloped section, and generating a second speed pattern that reduces the traveling speed;
a calculation means for synthesizing these speed patterns to obtain a correction amount and correcting the planned speed in this section by the correction amount; and a driving means for controlling the rotational drive of the running wheels according to the corrected planned speed and the steering output. An unmanned vehicle device comprising: (2) The route comparison means is further provided with a function of increasing the steering output by giving a command to increase the gain of the steering output to the calculation means when traveling on a slope section.
Unmanned vehicle device described in section.