JPH0576642B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for guiding a mobile object such as a mobile robot.

(b) Prior Art Conventionally, the following methods are known as methods for guiding a moving object.

A guide wire is buried in the road surface of the moving object,
A method of guiding a moving object by passing a low-frequency current to it and detecting the magnetic field generated around it (Utility Model Act
(No. 8005), a method for guiding a moving object by placing a reflective band on a running road surface and detecting the position of the reflecting band using a light emitting device and a light receiver provided on a moving object; Patterns arranged in combination to form a code are used as guidance target points, and pattern recognition is performed using a CCD camera, etc., which is typified by a method that scans the encoded pattern and detects it through image processing. , Trackless visual guidance method for image processing (Transactions of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 492-498 ((July 1982)
As an intermediate method to the track method, it recognizes marks that correspond to traffic signs posted intermittently along the guidance route, obtains information such as the attitude angle and position of the moving object, and detects the moving object. Intermittent induction method.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention Conventional continuous or intermittent guidance methods require the construction of a trajectory, so they cannot be used in situations where setting the trajectory is difficult, and lack versatility.

In addition, in the trackless guidance method, the system form is expensive and the structure and control system are complicated.
This has the disadvantage that the moving body itself becomes larger.

The present invention was devised in view of these points, and an object thereof is to provide a trackless guidance method that does not require the formation of a track, has a simple configuration and control system, and is highly versatile.

(d) Means for solving the problem In order to solve the problem, the present invention provides a target light receiver and a target light emitter provided at a guiding target point of a moving body, and at least one side surface of the moving body. It is equipped with n light emitting elements (n≧2) arranged so that each emitted light having a directivity angle θ does not overlap, and the overall directivity angle when the n light emitting elements emit light simultaneously is nθ. a movable light emitter, a movable light receiver provided on the same side as the movable light emitter, and a controller for controlling the movement and direction of the movable body, the movable body being guided to the target point. A method for guiding a moving object, wherein the target light receiver receives radiation light from the moving light emitter when the n light emitting elements emit light at the same time, and the target light receiver receives the radiation light from the target light emitter. a first step of moving the movable body so that the movable light receiver receives the light, and stopping the movable body and causing the n light emitting elements to sequentially and individually emit light, and emitting light from any of the light emitting elements. a second step of detecting whether the target light receiver has received the light; a third step of controlling the direction of the moving object in accordance with the direction of the emitted light from the light emitting element detected in the second step; A fourth step of moving the moving body based on the direction controlled in the third step is sequentially performed.

(E) Effect According to the present invention, first, the target light receiver receives the highly directional light emitted when n light emitting elements emit light simultaneously, and the light emitted from the target light emitter is transmitted to the moving light receiver. The moving object is moved so that the light is received by the target receiver, and then the moving object is stopped and the n light emitting elements are made to emit light individually in sequence, and the target light receiver receives the emitted light from which of the light emitting elements. Then, the direction of the guidance target point is detected, and the moving body is guided to the guidance target point based on the detection result.

(f) Examples An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a model diagram showing the relationship between a moving object and a guidance target point. In this drawing, a moving body 1 is located in a moving space 2 surrounded by walls on all four sides, and a guidance target point 3 is provided on one wall. This target point is, for example, a power supply outlet.

The guidance target point 3 is provided with a light receiver 4 and a light emitter 5 that emits light when the light receiver receives light.

The moving body 1 has four sides, and a light emitter 6 is provided on each side.
A, 6B, 6C, 6D and receivers 7A, 7B, 7
C and 7D are provided.

The light emitting device 5 on the guidance target point 3 side (hereinafter referred to as target light emitting device) consists of one light emitting element, and the light emitting device 6A to 6D on the moving body 1 side (hereinafter referred to as moving light emitting device) each consists of n light emitting elements. . As each of these light emitting elements, an infrared LED including a combination of lenses or a semiconductor laser can be used, which is strong against disturbance light and emits radiation light with narrow directivity. In addition, the light receiver (hereinafter referred to as target light emitter) 4 on the guidance target point 3 side and each light receiver (hereinafter referred to as moving light receiver) 7A to 7D on the moving object 1 side may be, for example, a photodiode array that captures light at a point; A photoelectric conversion element that outputs an analog signal that changes according to the position of a receiving point of reflected light, a CCD image sensor that captures light in a line, or a combination thereof can be used.

As shown in FIG. 2, which is an enlarged model of the moving body, each of the n light emitting elements in each of the mobile light emitters 6A to 6D has a directivity angle of θ so that the emitted light does not overlap. Then, when n light emitting elements emit light at the same time, they are arranged on each side of the moving body so that the overall directivity angle becomes nθ.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart of the operation shown in FIG.

A moving object 1 is placed in a moving space 2 where a guidance target point 3 exists.
When the mobile light emitters 6A to 6D arrive, all the light emitting elements of the mobile light emitters 6A to 6D emit light simultaneously, and each of the mobile light emitters 6A to 6D
The directivity angle of each emitted light is _o 〓 ⁱ⁼¹ θi=nθ. When none of the emitted light beams having the directivity angle nθ is received by the target light receiver 4, the moving body 1 moves appropriately.
This running may be performed by teaching the route in advance, by running along walls while recognizing the external situation, or by random running without any teaching and unrelated to the external environment.

When the target light receiver 4 receives the emitted light from the mobile light emitters 6A to 6D due to this traveling, the target light emitter 5 emits light. The radiation light from this target light emitter has a directivity angle θ, and this radiation light is transmitted to the mobile light receivers 7A to 7A.
When the light is not received by the target light receiver 4, the moving object 1 moves and the emitted light from the mobile light emitters 6a to 6D is no longer received by the target light receiver 4.The above operation is repeated, and as the first step, the moving light emitters 6A~6
The emitted light from D is received by the target light emitter 4, and at the same time the emitted light from the target light receiver 5 is received by the moving light receiver 7A.
The moving body 1 moves until light is received at ~7D.

When the emitted light from the guidance target point 3 and the moving object 1 are mutually received, only the moving light emitter and the moving light receiver on one side of the moving object 1 having the light receiver that received the emitted light from the target light receiver 5 Continue operation. These are referred to as a light emitter 6A and a light receiver 7A.

When both of the emitted lights are received by each other in this way, the moving body 1 is first stopped as a second step, and in this state, the n light emitting elements of the moving body light emitter 6A receive light one by one, and the It is detected whether the emitted light from the light emitting element is received by the target light receiver 4 and whether the emitted light from the target light emitter 5 is received by the moving light receiver 7A.

Then, the direction of the moving body 1 is controlled in accordance with the direction of the emitted light from the light emitting element detected in the second step (third step). This control is also performed by a controller built in the moving body, similar to the transition control described above.

By controlling the direction of the moving body 1, the moving body 1 will generally face in the direction of the guidance target point 3, and the moving body 1 will be guided to the guidance target point 3 based on the direction ((fourth step)). In this state, while the moving body 1 moves toward the guidance target point 3, the moving light emitter 6A again emits light from the light emitting elements of less than n at the same time, and the target light emitter 5 receives light from the target light receiver 4. When the mobile light receiver 7A receives the synchrotron radiation, the mobile body 1 stops, stops the simultaneous light emission of the plurality of light emitting elements, and one by one of the light emitting elements that were emitting light at the same time starts emitting light in sequence again. When the light emitting element is emitting light, it is detected whether the moving light receiver 7A receives the emitted light from the target light receiver 5, and the attitude of the moving body 1 is adjusted in accordance with the direction of the emitted light from the light emitting element. is controlled to guide the movable body 1 to the guidance target point 3 (fifth step).Therefore, the movable body 1 faces the guidance target point 3 more accurately.

Thereafter, fewer light emitting elements of the mobile light emitter emit light simultaneously and the above operation is repeated. In this way, by gradually reducing the number of light-emitting elements that emit light simultaneously, and by gradually narrowing the directivity angle of the emitted light that emit simultaneously, two-way communication between the guidance target point 3 and the moving object 1 allows the moving object 1 to
reaches the guidance target point 3, and automatically connects, for example, the power receiving plug of the moving object 1 to the power supply outlet at the guidance target point 3.

The accuracy with which the moving body 1 is guided to the guidance target point 3 in this way is determined by the distance between the moving light emitters 6A to 6D and the moving light receivers 7A to 7D, the distance between the target light emitter 5 and the target light receiver 4, It is determined by the divided directivity angle θ of the devices 6A to 6D or the directivity angle of the target light emitter 5.

Although not specifically shown, the moving body 1 includes running wheels, a motor that drives the wheels, a controller that controls the motor and applies braking when the moving body approaches the guidance target point 3, and a moving light emitting device. A control circuit including a microcomputer that controls the light emission of the movable light emitters 6A to 6D and controls the controller based on the light reception of the mobile light emitters 7A to 7D, and a working device that operates based on instructions from this control circuit. We are prepared. Further, a response circuit is provided at the guidance target point 3 to cause the target light emitter 5 to emit light when the target light receiver 4 receives light.

Note that the guidance target point 3 is not limited to the fixed one shown in the embodiment, but may be a moving one. Also,
When the guidance target point is installed on a wall, etc., the moving object 1
It may be desirable to approach the wall perpendicularly to the wall. At this time, to explain in relation to the embodiment, when the number of simultaneous light emitting elements among the n light emitting elements constituting the mobile light emitters 6A to 6D is reduced in stages, It is sufficient if the light emitting elements having directivity emit light at the same time.

(g) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, first, the target light receiver receives the highly directional radiation when n light emitting elements emit light simultaneously, and the radiation from the target light emitter is received by the target light receiver. The moving object is moved so that the moving light receiver receives the light, then the moving object is stopped, and the n light emitting elements are made to emit light individually one after another, and the emitted light from any light emitting element is transmitted to the target light receiver. The direction of the guidance target point is detected depending on how much light is received, and the moving object is guided to the guidance target point based on the detection result, so the overall system configuration is simpler than conventional devices, and trackless guidance is possible. This method is highly versatile.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a model diagram showing the relationship between a moving body and a guidance target point, FIG. 2 is an enlarged model diagram of the moving body, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation. 1... Moving body, 2... Moving space, 3... Guidance target point, 4... Target light receiver, 5... Target light emitter, 6
A to 6D...Moving light emitter, 7A to 7D...Moving light receiver.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A target light receiver and a target light emitter provided at a guidance target point of a moving body, and each emitted light provided on at least one side of the moving body and having a directivity angle θ so as not to overlap. It has n light emitting elements (n≧2) arranged in
a movable light emitter with nθ; a movable light receiver provided on the same side as the movable light emitter; and a controller that controls the movement and direction of the movable body, the movable body being guided to the target point. A method for guiding a moving object to a moving body, wherein the target light receiver receives radiation from the moving light emitter when the n light emitting elements emit light at the same time, and the target light receiver receives the radiation from the target light emitter. a first step of moving the moving body so that the moving light receiver receives the light; stopping the moving body and causing the n light emitting elements to sequentially and individually emit light; a second step of detecting whether the target light receiver has received the light; a third step of controlling the direction of the moving object in accordance with the direction of the emitted light from the light emitting element detected in the second step; A method for guiding a moving object, comprising sequentially performing the following steps: a fourth step of moving the moving object based on the direction controlled in the third step. 2. After the completion of the fourth step, there is a fifth step in which the operations of the first to fourth steps are repeated by reducing the number of light emitting elements that emit light simultaneously in the first step to less than n. A method for guiding a moving body according to claim 1.