KR20090120859A - Mobile robot conrolling system using a racing wheel and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A mobile robot remote control system and a method thereof using racing wheel providing force feedback are provided to allow an adjuster to recognize the avoidance direction and degree of the robot by transmitting the avoidance angle. CONSTITUTION: A distance information storing module(150) receives the value of a distance sensor from a mobile robot and stores interval distance information value from the sensor value. An expected collision range determining module(140) determines the collision estimated range by using the detected distance information value. An avoiding range determining module(130) determines rotation direction and rotation size of the robot. A racing wheel controller(120) supplies force feedback by driving the racing wheel according to the rotation size.

Description

Mobile robot conrolling system using a racing wheel and method

The present invention relates to a mobile robot remote control system, and more specifically, by using a racing wheel and applying a collision avoidance algorithm and force feedback to a remote mobile robot, a user can operate the robot more safely and conveniently. The present invention relates to a mobile robot remote control system and an adjustment method thereof.

As research on robots is actively conducted, interest in home robots is gradually increasing. Most home robots are mobile robots and are configured for user control. Since the user must be able to control the robot not only indoors but also outdoors, there is a need for a user interface (UI) that can be conveniently and safely controlled by accessing the robot from a remote location. Therefore, related researches have been actively conducted. These studies mainly include video communication using cameras and distance measurement methods using sensor devices to control robots remotely. However, these research methods are experiencing difficulty in measuring accurate distances, video transmission speeds that cannot be guaranteed in real time, and accurate distance measurement using sensor devices attached to the robots. It is an obstacle to driving safely and conveniently without doing so.

In the present invention, while using the limited image screen and inaccurate sensor information that is a problem when controlling the remote mobile robot, we propose a way to more conveniently control the robot from the user's point of view. According to the existing research cases related to this, the robot can autonomously drive obstacle avoidance or force feedback to the user to control the robot in the right direction. The most representative algorithm of robot autonomous driving is VFF or VFH. VFF is an algorithm that determines the moving direction of the robot by the sum of the target direction vector of the robot and the force direction vector of the obstacle. VFH is an advanced algorithm in VFF that expresses the distance from obstacles around robots as histogram so that the robot is moved in the direction that is closest to target among the directions that have histogram value less than threshold boundary for robot to recognize obstacles. Algorithm to drive. When the force feedback is applied to the robot, when the user manipulates the robot in a direction in which an obstacle is expected to collide with the robot, the direction of the obstacle is notified to the user by the direction of the force of the device to prevent the collision in advance. It is also used to guide the visually impaired. However, these methods are different types of obstacle avoidance algorithms depending on the autonomy of the robot. The former depends on the autonomy of the robot and the latter depends on the autonomy of the person.

Meanwhile, the conventional collision avoidance method reflects the force reflection with the obstacle to the joystick to allow the operator to measure the position or distance of the object. This conventional method not only informs the operator of the position or distance of the obstacle, but has no function of providing the operator with any further information. Therefore, when the collision between the robot and the obstacle is expected, the operator has had to re-determine and control the robot's driving direction. In addition, when the robot cannot be driven by the image transmitted from the robot, the robot cannot be controlled while watching the image directly. In the conventional method using only joystick force reflections, it is difficult to control the robot because the operator must detect only the force reflections transmitted to the joystick and avoid obstacles.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is not to manually avoid obstacles when a robot encounters an obstacle, but to apply an avoidance algorithm to effectively avoid obstacles without losing the driving direction of the robot, and to avoid the angle of avoidance. The force feedback is transmitted to the racing wheel to provide the operator with a mobile robot remote control system that can recognize the robot's avoidance direction and extent.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile robot remote control system and a mobile robot remote control method to enable safer and more convenient robot driving.

A feature of the present invention for achieving the above-described technical problem, relates to a mobile robot, a remote control device for remotely controlling the mobile robot, a robot remote control system having a racing wheel connected to the remote control device, the remote control The device,

A distance information storage module which receives a value of an ultrasonic wave or an infrared sensor from the mobile robot and detects and stores a distance information value between the mobile robot and an obstacle from the received sensor value; A collision prediction range determination module that determines whether the collision prediction range is within a preset collision prediction range by using the detected distance information value; An avoidance range determination module configured to determine a rotation direction and a rotation size of the robot for avoiding collision with an obstacle according to a determination result of the collision prediction range determination module; A user command control module configured to receive the determined rotation direction and rotation magnitude from the avoidance range determination module or to receive the rotation direction and rotation magnitude from the racing wheel and to drive the mobile robot according to the input rotation direction and rotation magnitude; And a racing wheel controller which receives the determined rotation direction and rotation size from the avoidance range determination module and drives the racing wheel to force feedback according to the input rotation direction and rotation size. Simultaneously transmitting the determined rotation direction and rotation size to the user command control module and the racing wheel controller to rotate the racing wheel simultaneously with the rotation of the mobile robot.

The racing wheel controller of the robot remote control system having the aforementioned features

A data conversion unit converting the rotation direction and the rotation magnitude input from the avoidance range determination module into rotation direction values and rotation magnitude values applicable to the racing wheel; A wheel drive controller for designating a vibration type, a rotation direction, and a rotation size of the racing wheel according to the converted rotation direction value and rotation magnitude value provided from the data converter; And a wheel driver for driving a racing wheel according to a value designated by the wheel driving controller.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a mobile robot remote control method includes a mobile robot, a remote control device for remotely controlling the mobile robot, and a robot remote control system including a racing wheel connected to the remote control device. As a remote control method,

(a) receiving a value of an ultrasonic wave or an infrared sensor from a mobile robot and detecting and storing a distance information value between the mobile robot and an obstacle from the received sensor value; (b) determining whether the current position of the mobile robot is within a preset collision prediction range using the detected distance information value; (c) if the current position of the mobile robot is within an expected collision range, determining a rotation direction and a rotation size of the robot to avoid collision with an obstacle; (d) driving the mobile robot according to the determined rotation direction and rotation size; (e) oscillating and rotating the racing wheel according to the determined rotation direction and rotation size.

Step (a) of the mobile robot remote control method of the above-mentioned features

(a1) receiving a value of an ultrasonic or infrared sensor from a mobile robot; (a2) extracting distance information values between the mobile robot and the obstacle from the received sensor value; (a3) checking whether the distance information value is a valid value; (a4) detecting the shortest proximity distance value among the distance information values when the distance information value is a valid value; And (a5) storing the proximity distance value as a distance information value.

The conventional collision avoidance method of the mobile robot using the joystick is mainly a method in which the controller receives the force reflection of the object and recognizes the distance to the object. When an obstacle collision is detected, the operator moves the robot to avoid the collision. Was adjusted again. However, in the present invention, when the robot encounters an obstacle using the racing wheel instead of the joystick, the robot automatically avoids the obstacle through the avoidance algorithm and transmits the avoidance direction and the avoidance angle of the robot to the controller so that the user does not need to re-control. .

In addition, the present invention enables the user to recognize the avoidance direction and the avoidance angle by vibrating and rotating the racing wheel according to the avoidance direction and the avoidance angle of the robot. That is, while the conventional joystick was subjected to force reflection from the object, the operator could recognize only the degree of obstacle in the current direction, but the present invention effectively avoids obstacles with obstacle avoidance algorithm and avoids obstacles by using the avoidance algorithm. By rotating, the operator can easily recognize the robot's avoidance direction and avoidance angle. This enables the operator to control the robot more safely and conveniently than the conventional method using the joystick, even in the harsh video communication environment, if the operator finds the correct target without fear of obstacle collision.

Mobile robot remote control system according to the present invention by applying a collision avoidance algorithm and force feedback to the remote mobile robot to adjust the robot running more safely and conveniently. Hereinafter, a configuration and operation of a mobile robot remote control system using a racing wheel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a mobile robot remote control system according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the robot remote control system 10 according to the present invention includes a mobile robot 20, a remote control device 30 for remotely controlling the mobile robot, and a racing wheel 40 connected to the remote control device. And the remote control device 30 receives the rotation size and rotation direction of the racing wheel 40 driven by the user, and operates the mobile robot 20 according to the input information. .

2 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal structure of the robot remote control device 30 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the remote control device 30 according to the present invention includes a user command control module 160 for operating a robot by receiving a rotation size and a rotation direction of a racing wheel, and a mobile robot. A distance information storage module 150, a collision prediction range determination module 140, an avoidance range determination module 130, and a racing wheel controller configured to read and store distance information values acquired from the distance measuring sensors mounted on the 120).

The distance information storage module 150 detects distance information values from a signal transmitted from the mobile robot and stores the distance information values in a memory. At this time, the distance measuring sensors of the mobile robot, including an ultrasonic sensor and an infrared sensor, if the other distance measuring sensor can be used in various ways. In addition, the distance measuring sensors of the mobile robot detects the distance information values for the obstacles present in the driving direction of the robot and transmits them to the remote controller.

The collision prediction range determination module 140 receives the distance information value stored in the distance information storage module 150 as a factor and determines the validity of the value. If the distance information value is a valid value without error, the sensor is determined from each sensor. The shortest proximity distance among the obtained distance information values is detected, and it is determined whether the detected proximity distance falls within a preset obstacle collision prediction range.

If the avoidance range determination module 130 determines that the proximity distance is included in the collision prediction range by the collision prediction range determination module, the collision range determination module receives the collision prediction direction and the distance value from the collision prediction range determination module, Using the input collision prediction direction and distance value, the robot rotation direction and rotation size for obstacle avoidance corresponding thereto are determined. Here, the collision prediction direction will be the driving direction of the mobile robot, and the distance value will be the detected proximity distance. The rotation direction and the rotation size of the robot determined by the avoidance range determination module 130 are transmitted to the user command control module 160 and also to the racing wheel controller 120.

The user command control module 160 rotates the mobile robot 20 according to the rotation direction and the rotation size of the robot input from the avoidance range determination module 130.

The racing wheel controller 120 receives the rotation direction and the rotation size from the avoidance range determination module 130, converts the input rotation direction and the rotation size into a value applicable to the racing wheel, and converts the The physical vibration information and the rotation angle information corresponding to the set value are transmitted to the racing wheel to force feedback of the racing wheel, so that the user can recognize the avoiding direction of the robot. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the racing wheel controller 120 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an internal configuration of a racing wheel controller. Referring to FIG. 3, the racing wheel controller 120 according to the present invention includes a wheel driving unit 210 for driving a racing wheel according to a value specified by the data converter 220, the wheel driving controller 230, and the wheel driving controller. The wheel driving unit 210 includes a variable setting unit 320 and a force feedback unit 330.

The data converter 220 converts information about the rotation direction and the rotation size input from the robot avoidance range determination module 130 into rotation direction values and rotation size values that can be applied to the actual racing wheel. The wheel driving controller 230 receives the converted rotation direction value and the rotation magnitude value provided from the data converter to designate the type, the number of rotations, the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the racing wheel.

The variable setting unit 320 of the wheel driving unit is set to transmit the specified vibration type, the number of rotations, the rotation direction, and the rotation angle to the racing wheel, and the force feedback unit 330 of the wheel driving unit is configured according to the set values. The racing wheel is physically operated to vibrate or rotate at an angle. As a result, the user senses that the mobile robot has avoided movement according to the vibration, rotation angle and rotation size of the racing wheel.

Hereinafter, the operation of the robot remote control system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described as a whole. 4 is a flow chart for sequentially explaining the operation of the remote control device of the robot remote control system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the remote control apparatus of the robot remote control system according to the present invention receives signals of ultrasonic and infrared sensors from a mobile robot and uses the received signals to determine whether there is an obstacle in front of the driving direction of the robot. Detect (step 405). It is checked whether the signals of the sensors are '0' or an initial value initially set (step 410). If it is '0' or an initial value, it is determined that no obstacle exists in the forward direction of the robot's driving direction, and the process returns to step 405 to receive a signal from the robot again.

If it is not '0' or the initial value, it is determined that an obstacle exists in the forward direction of the robot's driving direction, and the distance value from each sensor of the robot to the corresponding obstacle is measured (step 415). It is determined whether the measured distance value includes an error value or a valid value (step 420). If the distance value is a valid value, the shortest proximity distance among the distance values obtained from each sensor is detected (step 425). The method determines whether the detected proximity distance is within a preset collision prediction range and measures a collision prediction direction and an impulse prediction distance value at which collision between the robot and the obstacle is expected (step 430). The rotation direction and the rotation size for avoiding the collision with the object are determined using the measured collision prediction direction and the distance value (step 435).

The determined robot rotation direction and rotation size are transmitted to the user command control module and the racing wheel controller, respectively (steps 460 and 445). The user command control module avoids and moves the robot by transmitting the received robot rotation direction and rotation size to the robot (step 462). Meanwhile, the racing wheel controller converts the wheel rotation angle and size of the actual racing wheel according to the determined robot rotation direction and rotation size, and then operates the racing wheel by providing the converted wheel rotation angle and size to the racing wheel (step 450). ). This allows the operator to recognize the direction and size of obstacle avoidance of the robot by vibrating or rotating the racing wheel.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, this is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present invention, and those skilled in the art do not depart from the essential characteristics of the present invention. It will be appreciated that various modifications and applications which are not illustrated above in the scope are possible. And differences relating to such modifications and applications should be construed as being included in the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

The robot remote control system according to the present invention allows the robot to avoid obstacles by using an evasion algorithm without losing a target point when the robot detects an obstacle, thereby making the robot run more stably and conveniently in a device difficult to control the robot such as a mobile phone. It becomes possible. In addition, as the robot industry develops in the future, the penetration rate of home robots will increase, which will be combined with the high penetration rate of mobile phones in Korea. Therefore, the robot remote control system according to the present invention can be widely used in the above-described robot control technology using a mobile phone.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a mobile robot remote control system according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal structure of the robot remote control device 30 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the racing wheel controller of the robot remote control device 30 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flow chart for sequentially explaining the operation of the remote control device of the robot remote control system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: robot remote control system

20: mobile robot

30: remote control device

40: racing wheel

160: user command control module

150: distance information storage module

140: collision prediction range determination module

130: evasion range determination module

120: Racing Wheel Controller

Claims (6)

In the robot remote control system having a mobile robot, a remote control device for remotely controlling the mobile robot, a racing wheel connected to the remote control device, The remote control device A distance information storage module for receiving a value of a distance measuring sensor from the mobile robot and detecting and storing a distance information value between the mobile robot and an obstacle from the received sensor value; A collision prediction range determination module that determines whether the collision prediction range is within a preset collision prediction range by using the detected distance information value; An avoidance range determination module configured to determine a rotation direction and a rotation size of the robot for avoiding collision with an obstacle according to a determination result of the collision prediction range determination module; A user command control module configured to receive the determined rotation direction and rotation magnitude from the avoidance range determination module or to receive the rotation direction and rotation magnitude from the racing wheel and to drive the mobile robot according to the input rotation direction and rotation magnitude; And A racing wheel controller which receives the determined rotation direction and rotation size from the avoidance range determination module and drives the racing wheel to force feedback according to the input rotation direction and rotation size; And the avoidance range determination module transmits the determined rotation direction and the rotation size to the user command control module and the racing wheel controller simultaneously to rotate the racing wheel simultaneously with the rotation of the mobile robot. system. The racing wheel controller of claim 1, wherein the racing wheel controller vibrates the racing wheel when the determined rotation direction and the rotation size are input from the avoidance range determination module, and drives the racing wheel according to the input rotation direction and the rotation size. Robot remote control system, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, wherein the racing wheel controller A data conversion unit converting the rotation direction and the rotation magnitude input from the avoidance range determination module into rotation direction values and rotation magnitude values applicable to the racing wheel; A wheel drive controller for designating a vibration type, a rotation direction, and a rotation size of the racing wheel according to the converted rotation direction value and rotation magnitude value provided from the data converter; A wheel driver for driving a racing wheel according to a value designated by the wheel driving controller; Robot remote control system comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein the distance measuring sensor is composed of a plurality of distance measuring sensors, The distance information storage module detects the shortest proximity distance among distance information values obtained from the plurality of distance measurement sensors, and stores the detected proximity distance as a distance information value. In the robot remote control system having a mobile robot, a remote control device for remotely controlling the mobile robot, a racing wheel connected to the remote control device, the remote control method of the remote control device, (a) receiving a value of a distance measuring sensor from a mobile robot and detecting and storing a distance information value between the mobile robot and an obstacle from the received sensor value; (b) determining whether the current position of the mobile robot is within a preset collision prediction range using the detected distance information value; (c) if the current position of the mobile robot is within an expected collision range, determining a rotation direction and a rotation size of the robot to avoid collision with an obstacle; (d) driving the mobile robot according to the determined rotation direction and rotation size; (e) driving the racing wheel according to the determined rotation direction and rotation size; Mobile robot remote control method comprising a. The method of claim 5, wherein step (a) (a1) receiving measurement values of a plurality of distance measuring sensors from a mobile robot; (a2) extracting distance information values between the mobile robot and the obstacle from the received sensor measurements; (a3) checking whether the distance information values are valid values; (a4) detecting the shortest proximity distance among the distance information values when the distance information values are valid values; (a5) storing the detected proximity distance value as a distance information value; Mobile robot remote control method comprising the.

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