JP7322168B2 - control systems, seats and toy systems - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to control systems, seats and toy systems.

There is a sheet printed with a pattern in which position information is encoded. A moving device placed on the sheet reads the pattern printed on the sheet, and the moving device is controlled in motion based on the position recognized by the pattern.

Patent Literature 1 discloses that a pattern printed on a mat is recognized and a self-propelled device travels on the mat based on the position indicated by the pattern.

WO2018/025467

By placing a piece on which a pattern in which position information is encoded is printed on the sheet, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in controlling the operation of the mobile device. The inventors are considering using a card as this piece. For example, unlike stickers, cards are easy to move, but they are prone to running problems such as the cards being displaced when a mobile device passes over the cards.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to solve the problem when a self-propelled device runs on a sheet on which a pattern in which position information is encoded is printed and on which pieces are arranged. to reduce the occurrence of the problem of

In order to solve the above problems, a control system according to the present invention includes a sheet on which a pattern in which position information is encoded is printed and which includes a plurality of depressions; a mobile device having a card that can be placed thereon, a moving part that travels over the card placed on the sheet and the recess, and a camera that captures a pattern printed on the sheet; control means for controlling the moving device based on the position of the moving device detected based on the detected pattern.

Also, the sheet according to the present invention includes depressions having a shape in which a card can be placed, and a pattern printed on the surface and encoded with positional information, and whether the card is disposed above the depressions. Regardless, a mobile device that captures the pattern and moves according to the location information from which the captured pattern is decoded is capable of running.

Also, the toy system according to the present invention includes a card and a sheet, the sheet including depressions and a positional information-encoded pattern printed on a surface of the sheet, the card being printed in the depressions. having a corresponding planar shape and being positionable over the recess, over the recess, regardless of whether the card is placed thereon, the pattern is photographed, and the photographed pattern is decoded. A mobile device that travels according to the provided location information is travelable.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of problems when a self-propelled device travels on a sheet on which a pattern in which position information is encoded is printed and on which pieces are arranged.

In one form of the invention, the depth of the recess may be less than the thickness of the card.

In one form of the invention, the pattern may be printed on the surface of the depression and on the outside of the depression.

It is a figure which shows an example of the control system concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a control system. It is a figure which shows an example of a truck. It is a figure which shows an example of a sheet|seat. It is a figure which shows an example of the sheet|seat in which a piece is arrange|positioned. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a comparative example of a sheet on which pieces are arranged; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of assignment of regions to coordinate space; 3 is a block diagram showing functions realized by the control system; FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing of the control system;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Those appearing components having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. In an embodiment of the invention, a self-propelled moving device runs over the sheet and the pieces on the sheet.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a control system according to an embodiment of the invention. The control system according to the present invention includes a device control device 10, carriages 20a and 20b, a controller 17, and a cartridge 18. Carriages 20a and 20b are self-propelled mobile devices with cameras 24 and both have the same functionality. These carriages 20a and 20b are hereinafter referred to as carriages 20 unless otherwise specified. The device control device 10 controls the cart 20 via radio. The device control apparatus 10 has a recess 32 , and when the carriage 20 is fitted into the recess 32 , the device control apparatus 10 charges the carriage 20 . The controller 17 is an input device that acquires user's operations, and is connected to the device control device 10 by a cable. The cartridge 18 incorporates non-volatile memory.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the control system according to the embodiment of the invention. The device control device 10 includes a processor 11 , a storage section 12 , a communication section 13 and an input/output section 14 . Carriage 20 includes processor 21 , storage unit 22 , communication unit 23 , camera 24 and two motors 25 . The device control device 10 may be a dedicated device optimized for controlling the carriage 20, or may be a general-purpose computer.

The processor 11 operates according to programs stored in the storage unit 12 and controls the communication unit 13, the input/output unit 14, and the like. The processor 21 operates according to programs stored in the storage unit 22 and controls the communication unit 23, the camera 24, the motor 25, and the like. The program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a flash memory in the cartridge 18 and provided, but may be provided via a network such as the Internet.

The storage unit 12 is composed of a DRAM and a non-volatile memory built in the device control device 10, a non-volatile memory in the cartridge 18, and the like. The storage unit 22 is composed of a DRAM, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. Storage units 12 and 22 store the above programs. The storage units 12 and 22 store information and calculation results input from the processors 11 and 21, the communication units 13 and 23, and the like.

The communication units 13 and 23 are composed of integrated circuits, antennas, and the like for communicating with other devices. The communication units 13 and 23 have a function of communicating with each other according to, for example, the Bluetooth (registered trademark) protocol. Under the control of processors 11 and 21, communication units 13 and 23 input information received from other devices to processors 11 and 21 and storage units 12 and 22, and transmit information to other devices. Note that the communication unit 13 may have a function of communicating with other devices via a network such as a LAN.

The input/output unit 14 includes a circuit that acquires information from an input device such as the controller 17, and a circuit that controls output devices such as an audio output device and an image display device. The input/output unit 14 acquires an input signal from an input device and inputs information obtained by converting the input signal to the processor 11 and the storage unit 12 . Further, the input/output unit 14 causes the speaker to output the sound and the display device to output the image based on the control of the processor 11 or the like.

The motor 25 is a so-called servomotor whose rotation direction, rotation amount and rotation speed are controlled by the processor 21 . One wheel 254 is assigned to each of the two motors 25 , and the motor 25 drives the assigned wheel 254 .

The camera 24 is arranged to photograph the area below the carriage 20, and photographs the pattern printed on the sheet 31 or piece 33 (see FIGS. 4 and 15) on which the carriage 20 is placed. In this embodiment, the sheet 31 and piece 33 are printed with a pattern that can be recognized in the infrared frequency range, and the camera 24 captures the infrared image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the truck 20. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the truck 20. As shown in FIG. Truck 20 further includes power switch 250 , switch 222 and two wheels 254 .

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the sheet 31. As shown in FIG. The sheet 31 is printed with an image that can be visually recognized by the user, and further printed with a pattern that can be read by the camera 24 . The sheet 31 includes a plurality of depressions 41 and a frame region 42 in contact with the periphery of each of the depressions 41 in plan view. The bottom of the recess 41 on the seat 31 is below the frame area 42 . In the example of FIG. 4, the plurality of depressions 41 are arranged horizontally and vertically. A plurality of sheets 31 may be arranged two-dimensionally. In this case, an engaging portion and an engaged portion may be provided on the outer periphery of the sheet 31 in order to fix another sheet 31 next to it.

A piece 33 can be placed in the recess 41 . FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the sheet 31 on which the piece 33 is arranged, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the piece 33 is a plate-like card having a thickness t, and the outer shape of the piece 33 is a shape corresponding to the inner circumference of the recess 41 in plan view. More specifically, in plan view, the outer shape of the piece 33 is similar to the inner circumference of the recess 41, the size of the piece 33 is slightly smaller than the recess 41, and when the piece 33 is placed on the recess 41 First, the size of the piece 33 is determined so that the distance between the end of the piece 33 and the inner circumference of the recess 41 is smaller than a predetermined value (for example, the radius of the wheel 254). The carriage 20 can run over the recesses 41 regardless of whether the pieces 33 are arranged.

The bottom of the depression 41 is flat, and the depth Dp of the bottom is substantially constant. When the piece 33 is placed in the recess 41 , the bottom flat portion contacts the back surface of the piece 33 . Depth Dp is smaller than thickness t of piece 33 . Here, the height difference s (size of the step) between the frame region 42 and the piece 33 is (t−Dp).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a comparative example of a sheet 31e on which pieces 33e are arranged. In the example of FIG. 7, sheet 31e has a flat shape and does not include depressions 41. In the example of FIG. In this case, since there is nothing to hinder the horizontal movement of the piece 33e, the position of the piece 33 tends to shift when the carriage 20 travels on the sheet 31e and the piece 33e. On the other hand, in this embodiment, by arranging the pieces 33 in the depressions 41, it is possible to prevent the pieces 33 from being displaced when the carriage 20 travels thereon.

In the example of FIG. 7, the thickness t of the piece 33 is the size of the step when the carriage 20 moves from the sheet 31e to the piece 33e. In the present embodiment, since the depth Dp of the recess 41 is smaller than the thickness t of the piece 33, the step size s when the carriage 20 moves from the sheet 31e to the piece 33e is (t-Dp ), and the step can be made smaller. Furthermore, if the depth Dp is the thickness t, the step when the carriage 20 moves from above the sheet 31e to above the piece 33e is minimized. The size of the step when the truck 20 enters is the thickness t (same as the depth Dp). Assuming that the thickness t of the piece 33 is constant, this step will be larger than in this embodiment.

Since the depth Dp of the recess 41 is smaller than the thickness t of the piece 33 while the recess 41 is provided, there is no step when the carriage 20 moves from above the sheet 31e to above the piece 33e, and the piece 33 is arranged. A step when the carriage 20 enters the recess 41 that is not formed can be reduced. This makes it possible to secure the thickness t of the piece 33 even in the case of the truck 20 having low performance over steps due to restrictions such as the size of the wheels 254 .

The patterns printed on the sheet 31 and pieces 33 will now be described in more detail. On the sheet 31 and the pieces 33, unit patterns of a predetermined size (for example, 0.2 mm square) are arranged in a matrix. Each unit pattern is an image in which the coordinates of the position where the pattern is arranged are encoded.

The sheets 31 and pieces 33 are assigned areas corresponding to the sizes of the sheets 31 and pieces 33 in the coordinate space that can be represented by the encoded coordinates.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of assignment of regions to coordinate space. In the example of FIG. 8, the coordinate area assigned to the sheet 31 and the coordinate area assigned to the piece 33 are different. Consistent coordinate areas are assigned to the frame area 42 and the bottom of the recess 41 so that there are no coordinate discontinuities during travel.

In the control system according to this embodiment, the camera 24 of the cart 20 captures a unit pattern printed on the sheet 31 or the like, and the cart 20 or the device control device 10 decodes the unit pattern to obtain coordinates. Thereby, the position of the carriage 20 on the seat 31 or the like is recognized. The cart 20 or the device control device 10 also calculates the orientation of the cart 20 by detecting the orientation of the unit pattern in the image captured by the camera 24 .

In this embodiment, by using the pattern printed on the sheet 31 or the like, the position of the carriage 20 on the sheet 31 or the like can be recognized with high accuracy without using another device such as a stereo camera.

Here, the coordinate area assigned to the sheet 31 and the coordinate area assigned to the piece 33 are different. It interferes with the control of The operation of the control system to reduce the occurrence of this problem is described below.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing functions realized by the control system. The control system functionally includes a current position acquisition unit 51 , a coordinate conversion unit 52 and a travel control unit 53 . These functions are realized mainly by the processor 11 included in the device control device 10 executing a program stored in the storage unit 12 and controlling the carriage 20 via the communication unit 13 . Some of the functions such as the current position acquisition unit 51 are such that the processor 21 included in the cart 20 executes a program stored in the storage unit 22 and exchanges data with the device control device 10 via the communication unit 23. , the camera 24 and the motor 25 are controlled.

The current position acquisition unit 51 recognizes a pattern in which coordinates are encoded from the image captured by the camera 24, and detects the coordinates at which the truck 20 is positioned and the orientation of the truck 20 from the coordinates indicated by the pattern.

When the detected coordinates of the carriage 20 are not within the sheet 31, the coordinate conversion unit 52 converts the coordinates to coordinates with the sheet 31 as a reference based on the conversion rule, and also converts the orientation based on the conversion rule. to convert.

The travel control unit 53 controls the motion of the truck 20 based on the coordinates and orientation of the truck 20 .

The processing performed by this control system will be described in more detail below. FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing an example of processing of the control system.

First, the current position acquisition unit 51 acquires (detects) the current coordinates and orientation of the carriage 20 based on the pattern captured by the camera 24 of the carriage 20 (step S201).

Next, the coordinate conversion unit 52 determines whether or not the coordinates detected based on the pattern are the coordinates on the sheet 31 (step S202). If the detected coordinates are coordinates on the sheet 31 (Y in step S202), the processing of the coordinate conversion unit 52 is terminated without converting the coordinates. On the other hand, if the coordinates are not on the sheet 31 (N in step S202), the coordinate conversion unit 52 identifies the piece 33 to which the area containing the acquired coordinates is assigned (step S203).

Then, the coordinate conversion unit 52 determines whether the coordinate conversion rule has already been determined (step S204). For example, the coordinate conversion unit 52 may determine that the coordinate conversion rule has not been determined when the coordinates detected last time are the coordinates on the sheet 31 and the coordinates detected this time are the coordinates on the piece 33 . .

If the coordinate conversion rule has not been determined (N in step S204), the coordinate conversion unit 52 converts the coordinates on the piece 33 to the sheet based on the latest coordinates on the sheet 31 and the current coordinates on the piece 33. A conversion rule for conversion to coordinates on 31 is determined (step S205). If the coordinate conversion rule has already been determined for this piece 33 (Y in step S204), the process of step S205 is skipped.

The determination of the conversion rule in step S205 will be further described. In the following description, it is assumed that the source coordinates are the coordinates on the last detected sheet 31 and the destination coordinates are the coordinates on the piece 33 that is first acquired. Based on the position indicated by the source coordinates, the orientation of the carriage 20, and the amount of rotation of the motor 25 from the acquisition of the source coordinates to the acquisition of the destination coordinates, the coordinate conversion unit 52 temporarily converts the position on the sheet 31. Calculate the predicted coordinates of the current position when traveling The coordinate conversion unit 52 calculates the position of the piece 33 with respect to the sheet 31 that is calculated based on the change in orientation from the orientation at the source coordinates to the orientation at the destination coordinates, where the position indicated by the predicted coordinates and the position indicated by the destination coordinates match. A coordinate conversion formula is generated so that the inclination is reflected, and the conversion formula is determined as a conversion rule.

When the conversion rule is determined, the coordinate conversion unit 52 converts the current coordinates into coordinates on the sheet 31 based on the determined conversion rule (step S206).

After the processing by the coordinate conversion unit 52 is completed, the traveling control unit 53 controls traveling of the truck 20 based on the converted coordinates and direction of the truck 20 (step S207).

10, when the cart 20 is on the piece 33, the coordinate conversion unit 52 converts the coordinates on the piece 33 acquired by the current position acquisition unit 51 into coordinates on the sheet 31, and The travel control unit 53 inputs the obtained coordinates as the coordinates used to control the movement of the carriage 20 . As a result, it is possible to appropriately control the travel by the travel control unit 53 . For example, even when traveling on the piece 33 , it is possible to control the movement of the carriage 20 in consideration of other objects on the sheet 31 .

Here, determination of the conversion rule in step S205 may be performed by other methods. For example, since the degree of freedom of the relative position and orientation of the piece 33 is restricted by the shapes of the recess 41 and the piece 33, the coordinate transformation unit 52 uses the transformation formula parameter The conversion rule may be determined by selecting For example, the coordinate transformation unit 52 determines the coordinates of the reference position in the piece 33 as a parameter of the transformation formula corresponding to the piece 33 based on which piece 33 the movement destination coordinates are assigned to, and furthermore, determines the coordinates of the reference position in the piece 33 as a parameter of the transformation formula corresponding to the piece 33, and The orientation of the edge of the piece 33 may be detected, and based on the detected edge, the coordinates and orientation transformation parameters for resolving the difference in the inset orientation of the piece 33 may be determined.

In the description of FIG. 8, a unified coordinate area is assigned to the bottom of the depression 41 and the frame area 42, but even if an area that is not continuous with the frame area 42 is assigned to the bottom of the depression 41 good. In this case, separately, when the coordinates read by the carriage 20 are the coordinates of the bottom of the dent 41, the coordinate conversion unit 52 converts or decreases a fixed value with respect to the value of the coordinates so that the coordinates on the sheet 31 are You can convert to coordinates.

Claims (4)

a sheet printed with a pattern encoded with positional information and including a plurality of depressions and a frame region abutting a perimeter of each of the plurality of depressions ;
a card that has a planar shape corresponding to the depression and can be placed on the depression;
a mobile device having a mobile unit that travels over the sheet and cards placed on the recesses, and a camera that captures a portion of a plurality of patterns printed on the sheet;
control means for controlling the moving device based on the position of the moving device detected based on the photographed pattern;
including
The plurality of patterns are printed on the bottoms of the plurality of indentations and the frame area, and each of the plurality of patterns is an image encoded with coordinates indicating the position where the pattern is located.
control system. The control system of claim 1, wherein
the depth of the recess is less than the thickness of the card;
control system. a plurality of indentations having a shape in which cards can be placed;
a frame region contacting the periphery of each of the plurality of depressions;
a plurality of patterns printed on the surface and encoded with positional information;
including
The plurality of patterns are printed on the bottom of the plurality of recesses and the frame area, each of the plurality of patterns is an image encoded with coordinates indicating the position where the pattern is arranged;
A mobile device that captures the pattern and moves according to the location information from which the captured pattern is decoded can run over the recess, regardless of whether the card is placed thereon.
sheet. card and
including a seat and
The sheet includes a plurality of depressions, a frame region in contact with the periphery of each of the plurality of depressions , and a plurality of patterns encoded with position information printed on the surface,
the card has a planar shape corresponding to the depression and can be placed on the depression;
The plurality of patterns are printed on the bottom of the plurality of recesses and the frame area, each of the plurality of patterns is an image encoded with coordinates indicating the position where the pattern is arranged;
A mobile device that captures the pattern and moves according to the location information from which the captured pattern is decoded can run over the recess, regardless of whether the card is placed thereon.
toy system.

Images