JP3241182B2 - Independent traveling vehicle - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-contained vehicle that travels unattended when, for example, cleaning the floor of a building or transporting luggage. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-contained vehicle capable of accurately traveling on a new track when traveling on a new track.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to travel while monitoring the surroundings of a vehicle body, an independent traveling vehicle is provided with a plurality of detecting means (for example, ultrasonic sensors) for detecting peripheral objects such as walls. The vehicle travels automatically based on the surrounding situation detected by the acoustic wave sensor.

That is, ultrasonic sensors installed on the front, left and right side surfaces and the bottom surface of the vehicle body, respectively,
Measure the distance in the left-right direction and the distance to the floor, and check the position of the vehicle body while traveling unmanned.

The ultrasonic sensor installed on the front surface is used to measure at least the dead end of the traveling destination, that is, the distance to the front wall. As shown in FIG. 3, when the distance between the vehicle body 1 and the front wall 2 reaches a predetermined value (for example, 2 m), the direction of the vehicle body 1 is reversed, and the vehicle 1 is moved to the next adjacent track (at the beginning of traveling). The vehicle moves to a track located at a predetermined distance from the reference side wall) and starts straight traveling.

The reversing operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3. In order to change the direction of the vehicle body 1 after stopping by a predetermined angle, the rotation speed A of the wheels is set. in this case,
In FIG. 3, the right wheel 1a is rotated forward, the left wheel 1b is stopped, and the right wheel 1a is rotated by the set rotation number A and stopped. As a result, the direction of the vehicle body 1 changes by a predetermined angle as shown by the broken line in FIG.

Subsequently, the vehicle body 1 is moved to the reverse position. In this example, the number of rotations B is set so that the vehicle travels straight 1.5 m ahead from the stop position, and the left and right wheels 1a, 1b are set.
Is set to the normal rotation, and both are rotated by the set number of rotations B and stopped.

Next, the vehicle body 1 is turned over. In this case, in order to enable the vehicle body 1 to move to a position of a new track (parallel track to the old track), the rotation speed C at which the vehicle body 1 is inverted by a predetermined angle is used.
Is set, the right wheel 1a is rotated forward and the left wheel 1b is rotated reversely, and the left and right wheels 1a and 1b are rotated by the set rotation speed C and stopped.

Thereafter, the vehicle body 1 is caused to travel on a new track. In this case, since it is sufficient to make the vehicle travel straight 1.5 m forward from the reversal position, the rotation speed B is set again, the left and right wheels 1a and 1b are set to forward rotation, and the left and right wheels are set to the set rotation speed B.
Just spin and stop.

Subsequently, in order to set the direction of the vehicle body 1 in the same direction as the new track, the right wheel 1a is rotated forward, the left wheel 1b is stopped, and the right wheel 1a is rotated at a set rotation speed A.
Just spin and stop. As a result, the direction of the vehicle body 1 changes by a predetermined angle as shown by the broken line in FIG.

[0010] In this manner, by performing the reversing operation, the self-sustained traveling vehicle can be continuously driven, and no manpower is required.

[0011]

By the way, in the self-contained traveling vehicle, when the distance between the vehicle body 1 and the front wall 2 reaches a predetermined value (for example, 2 m), the vehicle body 1 is stopped and then turned over. Although the driving is performed, the direction (direction) and position of the vehicle body 1 may be shifted at the time of the stop, and if the reversing operation is performed as it is, the vehicle body 1 cannot be correctly moved to the next new track. There was a disadvantage.

That is, when the vehicle body 1 travels straight while measuring the distance in the left-right direction, for example, if the allowable range of the measurement error is too tight, the correction operation of the travel is always performed, which hinders the travel. This is because the allowable range is somewhat loosened when traveling straight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for reversing a vehicle body.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-contained traveling vehicle capable of accurately moving a vehicle body to a next new track.

[0014]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle body having a pair of right and left self-propelled wheels, a distance detecting means for detecting a distance from a peripherally mounted object, A control unit for controlling the drive motors of the respective wheels based on a detection signal from the distance detecting means, stopping the vehicle body at an arbitrary position in a straight traveling state, and reversing the direction of the vehicle body In a self-contained traveling vehicle capable of moving to an adjacent traveling path, the control unit, when stopping the vehicle body to reverse the direction of the vehicle body, the distance detection means, the vehicle body and the peripheral installation object Is measured, and the positional deviation and direction deviation of the vehicle body are confirmed based on the distance measurement value based on a criterion value smaller than that when the vehicle is traveling straight, and the deviation amount is outside the criterion value. The above drive motor And your is characterized by reversing the above vehicle body orientation on a modification of the positional deviation and direction deviation.

As described above, when the orientation of the vehicle body is reversed, the vehicle body can be accurately guided to the next adjacent traveling road by setting the determination reference value of the deviation amount to be smaller than that when the vehicle is traveling straight.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a self-contained traveling vehicle according to the present invention, when performing a reversing operation for moving to the next adjacent traveling road, a position deviation and a direction deviation of a vehicle body are corrected so that a correct direction,
After setting the position, the reversing operation is executed. Therefore, the self-sustaining vehicle of the present invention has the configuration shown in FIG.

That is, the self-contained traveling vehicle has an operation unit 3 for operating a traveling instruction (speed setting and the like) of the vehicle body;
A plurality of sensors (ultrasonic sensors S1 to Sn) 4 for monitoring the surroundings of the vehicle body and the like, and a distance measuring unit (microcomputer) for measuring the distance to the front, both side walls and the floor surface based on detection signals from the sensors 4 5) and left and right wheel drive motors (M1, M2) 6, 7 for driving the vehicle body.
The drive motors 6 and 7 are driven based on the operation of the operation unit 3 and the distance information and the like by the distance measurement unit 5, and the left and right wheels are driven based on pulses from encoders provided in the left and right drive motors 6 and 7. A control unit (microcomputer, driver unit, etc.) 8 for controlling the number of rotations;
Note that the plurality of ultrasonic sensors S1 to Sn are
It is installed on the front, both sides and the bottom.

Next, the operation of the self-sustaining vehicle will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the operation diagram of FIG. First, when a traveling operation is performed on the operation unit 1, the control unit 8 drives the left and right driving motors 6, 7 in accordance with the operation instructions. In this case, if the vehicle body 1 is on a track in advance, the vehicle body 1 travels straight on the track.

The distance measuring unit 5 measures the distance to the front wall, the distance to the side wall, and the distance to the floor according to the detection signal from each sensor 4, and the control unit 8 refers to the measured distance and the like. Then, the vehicle 1 is caused to travel while monitoring the situation around the vehicle 1.

Also in the present invention, when the vehicle body 1 travels straight, the allowable range (judgment reference value) of the distance measurement error is reduced in order to perform the straight traveling quickly as in the conventional case. I have.

Here, for example, in the case where the traveling destination is stopped at the side wall 2, when the distance between the vehicle body 1 and the side wall 2 becomes a predetermined value (for example, 2 m), the control unit 8 stops the vehicle body 1, The vehicle body 1 is reversed and the position and the like of the vehicle body 1 are confirmed and corrected in order to move to the next new track.

This confirmation and correction are performed according to the routine shown in FIG. First, the control unit 8 checks whether or not the distance to the front side wall 2 of the vehicle body 1 is a predetermined value (2 m) based on information (distance in front) from the distance measurement unit 5 (steps ST1 and ST2).

When the distance to the front side wall 2 of the vehicle body 1 is a predetermined value (2 m), the distance to the left and right side wall of the vehicle body 1 is confirmed by the information (the distance in the left and right direction) from the distance measuring unit 5. (Step ST3).

Then, a judgment reference value (a value smaller than that when the vehicle is traveling straight) is set for judging the presence or absence of a positional deviation or a direction deviation of the vehicle body 1 (step ST4), and the positional deviation of the vehicle body 1 is confirmed. At the same time, the position deviation amount is calculated (step ST5). It is determined whether or not the positional deviation is within a determination reference value (predetermined allowable range) (step ST6). If the positional deviation is within the determination reference value, the deviation of the direction (direction) of the vehicle body 1 is confirmed. The direction shift amount is calculated (step ST7).

If the displacement of the vehicle body 1 is outside the reference value, control is performed to correct the displacement and the displacement of the vehicle body 1 is set within the reference value. In this case, the left and right wheels rotate forward or backward to perform the position correction operation on the vehicle body 1 to correct the position of the vehicle body 1 (step ST8).

Then, it is determined whether or not the amount of direction deviation calculated in step ST7 is within a criterion value (step ST9). If it is within the criterion value, the reversing operation process described in the conventional example is executed. (Step ST10).

If the direction deviation of the vehicle body 1 is outside the reference value, control is performed to correct the direction deviation, and the direction deviation of the vehicle body 1 is set within the determination reference value. In this case, the direction of the vehicle body 1 is corrected by rotating the left and right wheels forward or backward to correct the direction of the vehicle body 1 (step ST1).
1). After this direction correction, the reversal operation process of step ST10 is executed.

It should be noted that the reversing operation process in step ST10 has been described in detail in the conventional example, so reference is made thereto.

In this way, when the front of the traveling destination is dead end due to the side wall or the like, and the reversing operation is performed, the position deviation and the direction deviation of the self-contained traveling vehicle are corrected based on the judgment reference value smaller than during traveling. As a result, during the reversing operation, the vehicle body can be accurately moved to the next new track, and thus the self-sustaining vehicle can be accurately and unmannedly run on the predetermined track. .

[0030]

As described above, according to the self-contained traveling vehicle of the present invention, when the vehicle body is turned over, the position deviation and the direction deviation of the vehicle body are determined by the judgment reference value (the strict tolerance range) smaller than when traveling straight ahead. ) Has the effect that the reversal operation is performed at the correct position and the vehicle body can be accurately moved on the next new track.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic control block diagram of a self-contained traveling vehicle showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart illustrating the operation of the self-contained traveling vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic operation diagram illustrating an operation of the self-sustaining traveling vehicle in a reversing operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body (of a self-propelled vehicle) 2 Side wall 3 Operation part 4 Sensor (ultrasonic sensors S1 to Sn) 5 Distance measuring part (microcomputer) 6,7 Driving motor 8 Control part (microcomputer, driver unit, etc.)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle body having a pair of left and right wheels for self-propelling.
In addition, a distance detecting means for detecting a distance from a peripheral installation
And each of the above vehicles based on a detection signal from the distance detecting means.
And a control unit for controlling the wheel drive motor.
To stop the vehicle at any position in the straight running state.
The vehicle body direction, and move to the adjacent running path.
In a movable self-contained traveling vehicle, the control unit controls the vehicle to reverse the direction of the vehicle body.
When the body is stopped, the distance detection means
Measure the distance between the object and the surrounding equipment, and calculate the distance
The position deviation and direction deviation of the vehicle body
Is checked based on the smaller criterion value.
If it is out of the criterion value, the drive motor is controlled.
To correct the position shift and direction shift, and then
Autonomous traveling vehicle characterized by reversing the direction .