WO2022114422A1

WO2022114422A1 - Automatic parking system for movement of robot supporting delivery of heavy items

Info

Publication number: WO2022114422A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/006879
Authority: WO
Inventors: 문희창; 박재웅; 박정근
Original assignee: (주)언맨드솔루션
Priority date: 2020-11-25
Filing date: 2021-06-02
Publication date: 2022-06-02
Also published as: KR20220072239A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic parking system for the movement of a robot that supports the delivery of heavy delivery items. Due to the present invention, a robot can select a parking spot by using a lidar inside a box mounted in a delivery vehicle, generate a travel route, and thus park automatically. Thus, the labour intensity of a delivery service is reduced, the delivery speed is increased accordingly, and thus delivery time can be reduced.

Description

Automated parking system for moving robots to support the delivery of heavy goods

The present invention is a technology for mounting a robot for supporting the delivery of heavy goods in a vehicle.

In modern society, beyond the traditional mail delivery, all kinds of goods are handled by delivery services. And among them, high-weight items also account for a significant proportion.

Heavy items are difficult and difficult for delivery personnel to handle.

Delivery workers often use carriers to deliver heavy goods to recipients more easily, but loading or unloading from delivery vehicles can be difficult and difficult. And this leads to a waste of manpower and time.

Therefore, the Korea Post is attempting to introduce a postman-following robot (hereinafter abbreviated as 'robot') that supports the delivery of heavy goods.

The robot acts as a delivery assistant by loading heavy goods to be delivered by the postman (delivery worker) and accompanying the delivery man. For example, if a robot delivers a package to a postman while going back and forth between the parcel storage by autonomous movement, the postman delivers it to the recipient or the receiving point. Since the robot shares the labor intensity of the postman in this way, the quality of delivery labor can be further improved, such as improving working conditions, as the postman only has to focus on delivery.

However, in order for the robot to move from the post office to the delivery area, it has to get on the delivery vehicle and get off the delivery vehicle to follow the postman. And it makes it possible to know that there is difficulty in not only getting on and off the robot, but also parking the robot at an appropriate parking spot in the loading box of the delivery vehicle, and it takes time. Therefore, it is possible to plan to park the robot easily with the remote manual operation of the postman. However, even so, since the robot must be mounted at an appropriate parking spot within the limited loading space, problems such as inconvenience due to the difficulty of handling by the postman, damage to the robot or baggage due to inexperienced operation, and excessive time required due to careful manipulation may occur. It can be predicted that

[Prior art literature]

[Patent Literature]

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0867699

The present invention was devised from concerns about safe and rapid parking of robots.

An automatic parking system for moving a robot for supporting delivery of heavy goods according to the present invention comprises: a receiver for receiving a parking command from a remote operator; a driving motor for generating a driving force required for forward and reverse driving according to the parking command received by the receiver; a braking motor that generates a stopping force when a stop is requested in the driving process according to the operation of the driving motor; a steering motor generating a steering force for steering required for driving according to the operation of the driving motor and the braking motor; Lidar for detecting obstacles in the loading box of the delivery vehicle in advance for the operation of the driving motor, the braking motor and the steering motor; And after selecting a parking point by mapping the surrounding space in the mounting box based on the obstacle information detected by the lidar, calculate the moving distance in the surrounding space from the distance information obtained by mapping to park the robot at the parking spot a controller for generating a driving path for the purpose and controlling the driving motor, the braking motor, and the steering motor so that the robot moves according to the generated driving path; Including, the controller calculates the safe distance on the left and right sides of the mounting box from the distance information to set the parking point, and reflects the straight vector and the turning radius of the robot that can be parked at the parking spot by moving straight forward. After obtaining the intersection vector where the current position intersects, the driving path leading to the intersection vector, turning radius, and straight vector is generated.

The controller may move the robot by selecting a plurality of parking points and then generating a first driving route to any one specific first parking point.

When the controller cannot perform the parking function due to an obstacle in the process of moving the robot along the first driving path, the controller can move the robot by creating a second driving path to a second parking point different from the first parking point. have.

After confirming the parking area where the robot can park in the surrounding space confirmed by mapping, the controller selects a first parking spot and creates a first driving path, and moves the robot along the first driving path. When the parking function cannot be performed by the user, the robot may be moved to the second driving path by selecting a second parking point and creating a second driving path.

According to the present invention, since the robot performs the parking operation by autonomous driving, the labor intensity of the delivery person is reduced, and the parking time is reduced, so that the delivery time can be further reduced.

1 is a block diagram of an automatic parking system for moving a robot for supporting delivery of heavy goods according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 5 are reference views for explaining a parking method performed by the automatic parking system of FIG. 1 .

A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but for the sake of brevity of description, the description of overlapping components is omitted or compressed as much as possible.

1 is a block diagram of an automatic parking system 10 (hereinafter abbreviated as 'automatic parking system') for moving a robot for supporting delivery of heavy goods according to an embodiment of the present invention. Of course, the automatic parking system 10 is configured in a robot.

The automatic parking system 10 according to this embodiment includes a receiver 11 , a driving motor 12 , a braking motor 13 , a steering motor 14 , a lidar 15 , a controller 16 , and an alarm 17 ). includes

The receiver 11 is provided to receive a parking command from a remote operator.

The driving motor 12 generates a driving force required for forward and backward driving according to the parking command received by the receiver 11 . Of course, the driving motor 12 and the braking motor 13 or steering motor 14 to be described later are also used for movement to follow the delivery man.

The braking motor 13 generates a stopping force when a stop is required or the speed is slowed down in the driving process according to the operation of the driving motor 12 .

The steering motor 14 generates a steering force required to change the driving direction during driving according to the operation of the driving motor 12 and the braking motor 13 .

The lidar 15 is provided to detect obstacles (such as luggage or an inner wall of a loading box) in advance for the operation of the driving motor 12 , the braking motor 13 , and the steering motor 14 . This rider 15 is used to create a driving route by mapping the surrounding space before starting driving for parking.

The controller 16 controls each of the above-described components. In particular, the controller 16 selects a parking point by mapping the surrounding space in the loading box of the delivery vehicle based on the obstacle information detected from the lidar 15, and the distance information (distance between various obstacles and obstacles) obtained by mapping and information about the distance between the robot and the robot), calculates the moving distance in the surrounding space and creates a driving route for parking at the parking spot.

Generation of the travel route will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . The controller 16 calculates the safety distance on the left and right sides of the mounting box from the distance information to set a parking point, and a straight vector (

) and the turning radius of the robot to reflect the straight forward vector (

) and the intersection vector (

), and then the cross vector (

), turning radius and straight vector (

) to create a driving path (C). After that, the controller 16 controls the driving motor 12, the braking motor 13, and the steering motor 14 to move the robot along the generated driving path C to park the robot at the parking point P. make it

The alarm 17 is provided to notify when the robot cannot perform a parking function due to an obstacle after entering the mounting box. The alarm 17 may be implemented to generate an alarm that can be visually recognized, such as a light of a specific color, or an alarm that can be recognized as a sound, such as sound. it could be

In this case, the detection of the obstacle may be implemented in various ways.

For example, the controller 16 may detect an obstacle by a load applied to the driving motor 12 . That is, the controller 16 calculates an appropriate load amount of the drive motor 12 in consideration of the weight of the cargo loaded on the robot, and when the load amount of the drive motor 12 exceeds the appropriate load amount while the robot is moving, it is used as an obstacle. can be judged to be due to

For example, an obstacle detector (which may be a limit switch or a proximity sensor) that can detect an obstacle is provided at the lower end of the robot, and the controller 16 can detect the obstacle by a signal from the obstacle detector. .

Hereinafter, an automatic parking method performed in the automatic parking system 10 having the above configuration will be described.

The delivery man uses the lifter provided in the delivery vehicle to raise the robot to a height where the robot can enter the loading box, and when the robot is finished, it uses the remote controller to command the robot to automatically park. Accordingly, the robot is switched to the automatic parking mode by operating the automatic parking system (10).

1. 거리정보 획득<S31>1. Acquire distance information<S31>

The controller 16 operates the lidar 15 to map the surrounding space in the mounting box to obtain distance information.

2. 주차지점 인식<S32>2. Parking point recognition<S32>

The controller 16 recognizes the parking point P by calculating the moving distance in the surrounding space from the distance information. At this time, the parking point can be set by calculating the safe distance on the left and right in the mounting box. That is, since it can be dangerous to attach too much to the left and right walls or luggage in the loading box, the parking point P is set by calculating a safety distance that is a certain interval.

3. 주행경로 생성<S33>3. Create driving route<S33>

The controller 16 calculates the moving distance in the surrounding space from the distance information obtained by mapping and generates a driving route C for parking the robot at the parking point P. At this time, the controller 16, as described above, the straight vector (

) and the intersection vector (

), and then both straight vectors (

) and the intersection vector (

), the driving route (C) is created in consideration of the turning radius in the vicinity of the intersection point.

Since the above recognition of the parking point P and the generation of the driving route C may have several additional examples, these additional examples will be described later.

4. 로봇의 이동<S34>4. Robot movement<S34>

The controller 16 moves the robot to the parking point P along the driving path C while controlling the driving motor 12 , the braking motor 13 and the steering motor 14 .

5. 경보 발생<S35>5. Alarm <S35>

When an obstacle is detected while the robot is moving, the controller 16 generates an alarm through the alarm 17 .

<주차지점의 선정 및 주행경로의 생성에 관한 주가적인 예><Example of stock price regarding selection of parking point and creation of driving route>

1. 제1 추가예1. First additional example

In this example, after the controller 16 generates a plurality of travel routes, any one specific travel route is selected as the first travel route to move the robot. For example, two (or more) parking points P1 and P2 are selected as shown in FIG. 1 by comparing the width of the robot and the parking area in the surrounding space mapped by the lidar 15 and selects a first parking point P1 according to a preset priority among two parking points P1 and P2, and generates a first driving route C1 leading to the first parking point P1. Here, the priority may be determined by a condition such that a line formed by an obstacle such as a wall or luggage is relatively straighter in the front-rear direction.

After that, when the parking function cannot be performed due to an obstacle in the process of moving the robot along the first driving path C1, a second parking point P2 different from the first parking point P1 is used. The robot is moved by creating a travel route (C2).

Here, the second driving path C2 may be previously generated together with the first driving path C1 or may be generated when an obstacle appears.

1. 제2 추가예1. Second additional example

In this example, as referenced in Fig. 1 (a), the controller 16 selects the first parking point P1 after checking the parking area S where the robot can park in the surrounding space confirmed by mapping, and , a first driving path C1 to the first parking point P1 is generated and the robot is moved along the first driving path C1. And when the parking function cannot be performed due to an obstacle in the process of moving the robot along the first driving path C1, the controller 16 selects the second parking point P2 and selects the second driving path C2 ) and then move the robot along the second travel path C2.

In the above first and second additional examples, the second driving path C2 may be a path moving from a point blocked by an obstacle to the second parking point P2. To this end, the controller 16 must be implemented so that the coordinates of the current point can be accurately calculated and stored while the robot moves along the first travel path C1. Accordingly, when the robot is blocked by an obstacle while moving the first driving path C1, it is possible to quickly calculate the second driving path C2 by comparing the second parking point P2 with the current point.

Of course, it is also possible to check the second parking point P2 after mapping the surrounding space by the lidar 15 again at the point where the movement of the robot is blocked by the obstacle, but in this case it may take some time. The first additional example and the second additional example can be applied more preferably.

In addition, although the above additional examples add only the second parking point P2 and the second driving route C2, it is natural that three or more parking points and three or more driving routes may be generated depending on the implementation. do. Through these additional examples, the inconvenience of a delivery person or an operator directly removing an obstacle in a narrow space can be solved.

On the other hand, when the robot gets off the delivery vehicle, it can be implemented to memorize the driving path the robot has parked as it is, and then move to the opposite path.

For reference, the parking performed by the automatic parking system 10 as described above is performed even when the delivery vehicle is located in the luggage storage, but is naturally made even when the delivery vehicle moves between delivery areas. This can speed up the delivery service.

As described above, the detailed description of the present invention has been made by the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, but since the above-described embodiments have been described only by taking preferred examples of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments It should not be construed as being limited only to the above, and the scope of the present invention should be understood as the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

a receiver for receiving a parking command from a remote operator;

a driving motor for generating a driving force required for forward and reverse driving according to the parking command received by the receiver;

a braking motor that generates a stopping force when a stop is requested in the driving process according to the operation of the driving motor;

a steering motor generating a steering force for steering required for driving according to the operation of the driving motor and the braking motor;

Lidar for detecting obstacles in the loading box of the delivery vehicle in advance for the operation of the driving motor, the braking motor and the steering motor; and

After selecting a parking point by mapping the surrounding space in the mounting box based on the obstacle information detected by the lidar, calculating the moving distance in the surrounding space from the distance information obtained by mapping to park the robot at the parking point a controller that generates a driving path and controls the driving motor, the braking motor, and the steering motor so that the robot moves according to the generated driving path; includes,

The controller sets a parking point by calculating the safe distance on the left and right sides of the mounting box from the distance information, and reflects the straight vector and the turning radius of the robot that can be parked at the parking spot by moving straight forward so that the straight vector and the current position intersect After obtaining an intersection vector that

Automated parking system for moving robots for heavy-duty delivery support.
According to claim 1,

The controller can move the robot by selecting a plurality of parking points and then generating a first driving route to any one specific first parking point.

Automated parking system for moving robots for heavy-duty delivery support.
3. The method of claim 2,

When the controller cannot perform the parking function due to an obstacle in the process of moving the robot along the first driving path, the controller can move the robot by creating a second driving path to a second parking point different from the first parking point. there is

Automated parking system for moving robots for heavy-duty delivery support.
According to claim 1,

After confirming the parking area where the robot can park in the surrounding space confirmed by mapping, the controller selects a first parking spot and creates a first driving path, and moves the robot along the first driving path. If the parking function cannot be performed by the

Automated parking system for moving robots for heavy-duty delivery support.