JPH07295643A - Travel path controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control work vehicles by as a simple method as possible so that they can travel without colliding against each other by providing a control means which performs control indicating a 1st travel path to a 1st work vehicle according to the decision result of an intersection decision means. CONSTITUTION:The travel path controller 33 stores information on the incompletion of an instruction (instruction for traveling from point (c) to a point (d)) sent to the 1st work vehicle and a last generated path, so the intersection deciding function of a storage arithmetic unit 31 confirms whether or not the path (segment cd) where the 1st work vehicle is traveling and the passage (segement ab) of an instruction to be sent to the 2nd work vehicle cross each other. The storage arithmetic unit 31 has plural travel path storage functions, the intersection deciding function for paths, an intersection point arrival time predicting function, and an indicating function which sends instructions to the work vehicles according to their decision results. Consequently, the work vehicles are so controlled as to travel without any mutual collision although the constitution is very simple.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling route control device for a work vehicle when working with a plurality of work vehicles within a given area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When performing work such as cleaning in a region provided by a work vehicle, it may be necessary to perform a plurality of different works such as pretreatment, finishing, suction and polishing. Conventionally, in such a case, one work vehicle is provided with a plurality of work units, or one work is performed on a certain area, and after the work is completed, another work is performed. It has been common to perform a plurality of operations by running a work vehicle that performs the above in the same area.

[0003]

However, in the case where a plurality of working units are provided on one working vehicle described above, for example,
When you want to perform the second work for the area where the first work has been completed, the first work unit that performs the first work in the front part of the work vehicle,
There is a problem that a second working unit that performs a second work is configured at the rear of the work vehicle, and a complicated route must be planned so that the second working unit passes after the first working unit has passed. .

Further, when a plurality of works are distributed to a plurality of work vehicles and the second work is performed after the first work is completed, if the number of works desired to be performed increases, the work time also increases according to the number. There was a problem of going.

Therefore, a method of simultaneously driving a plurality of work vehicles in a given area is conceivable. In this case,
There was a possibility that the work vehicles would collide with each other.

An object of the present invention is to provide a travel route control device for controlling a plurality of work vehicles to travel in a given area at the same time so that the work vehicles can travel without collision with each other in the simplest possible manner. To provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a traveling route control device of the present invention comprises an intersection determining means for determining intersections of traveling routes of a plurality of work vehicles, and an intersection determining means. And a control means for performing control so as to instruct the work vehicle accordingly.

Further, the vehicle further comprises an intersection arrival time calculating means for calculating the time when each work vehicle arrives at the intersection based on the traveling route of the work vehicle and the time when the route traveling instruction is given. Is characterized by.

[0009]

According to the structure of the present invention, it is determined whether or not the traveling routes of a plurality of work vehicles intersect, and the traveling routes are instructed to the work vehicle according to the determination result.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a case where the travel route control device 33 controls two work vehicles to perform work will be described.

In this embodiment, the first work is a suction work for sucking dust on the floor, the suction work vehicle 1 performs the second work, and the second work is a wiping work for wiping the floor with a cleaning liquid.
Do. In this case, if the cleaning work is not performed in a state where the dust has been removed by the suction work, the dust on the floor may spread out. The wiping work should be applied only to the area where the suction work has been completed. Therefore, it becomes necessary to simultaneously control a plurality of work vehicles by using the travel route control device.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a suction work vehicle for performing the first work (suction work). 1 is a suction work vehicle main body, 2 is an infrared communication device for communicating between the suction work vehicle and the travel route control device 33, 4 is a blower motor, 3 is a filter, 5 is dust collected in a dust collection chamber through a suction port 6, and Collect.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a drive wheel, which is connected to a drive motor 8. 9 is a caster. 10 is a battery. Reference numeral 11 is a gyro sensor for detecting the direction of the vehicle body. The drive motor 8 is connected to the control circuit 12 and operates according to a signal from the control circuit 12.

The control circuit 12 is connected to the storage operation device 13. Further, the storage / calculation device 13 is also connected to a gyro sensor 11 for detecting a vehicle body direction, a drive wheel rotational speed detector 14 provided in connection with the drive wheel 7, and an infrared communication device 2.

FIG. 3 is an example of a cleaning work traveling vehicle for performing the second work (cleaning work). 15 is the main body of the cleaning vehicle, 1
6 is an infrared communication device for performing communication between the cleaning work vehicle and the travel route control device 33, 17 is a cleaning liquid tank, 18 is a pump,
The cleaning liquid in the tank is pumped out by the pump 18, passes through the tube 19, and is dropped on the brush 21. Reference numeral 20 denotes a brush rotation motor, which is connected to the brush 21.

A drive wheel 22 is connected to a drive motor 23. 24 is a caster. 25 is a battery. Reference numeral 26 is a gyro sensor for detecting the direction of the vehicle body. The drive motor 23, the brush rotary motor 20, and the pump 18 are connected to the control circuit 27, and operate according to signals from the control circuit 27.

The control circuit 27 is connected to a storage / calculation device 28, and the storage / calculation device 28 is provided with a gyro sensor 26 for detecting a vehicle body direction and a drive wheel rotational speed provided in connection with the drive wheel 22. Detector 29 and infrared communication device 1
6 is also connected.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the travel route control device 33. An infrared communication device 30 communicates with the work vehicle. Reference numeral 31 denotes a storage operation device, which has a plurality of travel route storage functions, a route intersection determination function, an intersection arrival time prediction function, and an instruction function for issuing a command to a work vehicle from the determination results. is doing.

The infrared communication device 30 is connected to a storage / calculation device 31 and an interface device 32 for inputting a traveling route and the like from the outside.

Next, a method of communicating with a plurality of work vehicles by using infrared rays having the same frequency will be described, which is an infrared ray communication method in the present embodiment. In the infrared communication of the present embodiment, the communication is realized by transmitting a pulse-modulated signal of the RS232C digital signal and decoding the signal on the receiving side.

In the case of infrared communication, when a plurality of devices transmit at the same time, respective signals interfere with each other in space and normal communication cannot be performed. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent a plurality of devices from starting communication at the same time. As this method, in the present embodiment, the procedure is such that the work vehicle replies only when there is communication from the travel route control device 33. Since communication does not start from the work vehicle without communication from the travel route control device 33, the travel route control device 33 can completely control the communication. Therefore, there is no possibility that transmission will be started by a plurality of devices at the same time.

Further, in the case of infrared communication, since the transmitted signal can be received by any device, it is necessary to identify which device the communication is sent to. Therefore, the communication content is provided with a header indicating the transmission partner. Only the device corresponding to the header added to the communication content analyzes the communication content.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the traveling route control device 33 transmits any operation command to the work vehicle, first, a necessary command is transmitted, and the command is received in response from the work vehicle. Make sure that. After a lapse of a predetermined time, the work vehicle is queried as to whether the transmitted command has been completed.
If the work vehicle has not finished the command, it will say that it has not finished, and if it has finished the command, it will say that it has already finished and the result at the time of termination to the travel route control device 33 side. .

Here, the result at the end of transmission by the work vehicle is the distance actually traveled by the work vehicle (there may be an error compared with the commanded movement distance due to slippage at the time of stop), each These are information of the sensors (gyro sensors 11, 26, drive wheel rotation speed detectors 14, 29) and the like, and the travel route control device 33 corrects the next command based on these information.

If the work vehicle has not completed the transmitted command, the process repeats inquiring whether the transmitted command has been completed after a predetermined time has elapsed. In this way, the travel route control device 33 can grasp the current operation of all work vehicles.

Next, a control method will be described in which, when a plurality of work vehicles are simultaneously operated in the same area, the work vehicles are allowed to work without colliding with each other. In addition, in order to simplify the following description, a plurality of work vehicles are referred to as a first work vehicle and a second work vehicle, but the suction work vehicle 1 and the cleaning work vehicle 15 described above are first and second work vehicles.
It does not matter if it is the second work vehicle.

When two vehicles, a first work vehicle and a second work vehicle, travel in an area as shown in FIG. 6A, for example, the first work vehicle is traveling from point c to point d. Consider a case where the next command to be issued to the second work vehicle approaching point a is from that position (point a) to point b.

The travel route control device 33 stores that the command issued to the first work vehicle (command from point c to point d) is not completed and the route generated immediately before is stored. Whether or not the route (line segment cd) on which the work vehicle is currently traveling intersects with the route (line segment ab) of the command to be issued next to the second work vehicle is confirmed by the intersection determination function of the memory calculation device 31. To do.

The confirmation method by the intersection determination function can be performed by, for example, storing both routes as coordinates.

In the case of FIG. 6A, the two routes intersect at the point p, and therefore the transmission of the command to the second work vehicle is made to wait until the first work vehicle passes through the intersection. After confirming the passage of the first work vehicle, it is again confirmed whether or not the route (line segment ab) given to the second work vehicle intersects with the routes of other work vehicles. In the case of the present embodiment, since there are two work vehicles, before the next command is issued after the command of the first work vehicle is completed, there is no crossing of the route, so the command to the second work vehicle to advance to point b is issued. Send. For the first work vehicle, perform the same crossing confirmation and then send the next command.

As shown in FIG. 6A, line segment ab and line segment cd
If does not intersect, the command is transmitted to the second work vehicle without causing the second work vehicle to wait.

Next, the algorithm of the travel route control device 33 which performs the above-mentioned control will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step # 1, the storage arithmetic unit 31
A series of traveling commands stored in the first working vehicle are sequentially read out and a traveling route instruction command is issued to the first working vehicle. In step # 2,
It is determined whether or not the route given in step # 1 and the route on which the work vehicle (second work vehicle) other than the first work vehicle to which the instruction is given are currently traveling.

If it is determined in step # 2 that the routes do not intersect, the process goes to step # 7 to send a travel route instruction command to the first work vehicle.

On the contrary, when the route is intersected at the judgment of step # 2, the procedure goes to step # 3, and the time when the second working vehicle currently traveling passes the intersection is given to the working vehicle. Calculated from the time of transmission and its speed. Next, in step # 4, the arrival time at the intersection of the first work vehicle that receives the main traveling route instruction command is calculated in the same manner as in step # 3.

Next, in step # 5, the time when the second work vehicle obtained in step # 3 passes through the intersection, and step # 4
Take the difference in time when the first work vehicle obtained in
Determine if the difference is more than a set time.

If it is determined in step # 5 that the time difference between the intersections exceeds a certain time, it is unlikely that the two work vehicles collide with each other. Send the command to the first work vehicle.

On the contrary, if it is determined in step # 5 that the time difference between the intersections is within a certain time, it is very likely that the two work vehicles collide with each other.
Wait for a certain time after the determination of (Step #
6) Then, the process again returns to the crossing route confirmation step (step # 2).

In addition, a collision can be avoided even if a simple control method is adopted in which, when the vehicle crosses without waiting for the time when the vehicle crosses the intersection, it waits until the preceding work vehicle passes the intersection. The algorithm of the travel route control device 33 according to this method will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step # 11, the storage arithmetic unit 3
A series of travel commands stored in 1 are sequentially read out and a travel route command command is issued to the first work vehicle. In step # 12, it is determined whether or not the route given in step # 11 intersects with the route on which the work vehicle (second work vehicle) other than the first work vehicle to which the instruction is given is currently traveling.

If it is determined in step # 12 that the routes do not intersect, the process proceeds to step # 14, and a travel route instruction command is transmitted to the first work vehicle. On the contrary, if the route intersects in the determination of step # 12, go to step # 13,
Determine whether the second work vehicle has reached the intersection.

When the second work vehicle has not reached the intersection at the determination of step # 13, the determination of step # 13 is performed again, and this determination is repeated until the second work vehicle reaches the intersection.

If it is determined in step # 13 that the second work vehicle has reached the intersection, the process returns to the intersection route confirmation step (step # 12).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is the traveling route control device 33 of the first embodiment.
Is provided inside a specific work vehicle. The first
The parts common to the embodiment are omitted, and only the characteristic parts of the second embodiment will be described.

The first working vehicle (suction working vehicle) in this embodiment is provided with a storage arithmetic unit in addition to the structure of the suction working vehicle in the first embodiment. The configuration of the second work vehicle (cleaning work vehicle) is the same as that of the first embodiment.

Further, since the memory computing device may not be provided in the first working vehicle and the memory computing device may be provided in the second working vehicle, hereinafter, the working vehicle having the memory computing device will be referred to as the parent working vehicle and the other work. The car is called a child work vehicle.

The storage / calculation device provided in the parent work vehicle stores a traveling route storage means for storing the traveling routes of itself and the child work vehicle, and an intersection for determining the intersection between the traveling route of itself and the child work vehicle. It has the functions of a judging means, an intersection arrival time predicting means, and an instructing means for issuing a command to itself and a child work vehicle from the judgment results.

The communication method between the parent work vehicle and the child work vehicle is the first.
This is the same as the communication method between the traveling control device 33 and the work vehicle of the embodiment.

The control method for causing the parent work vehicle and the child work vehicle to travel without collision is the same as in the first embodiment, but in the first embodiment, the intersection control of the route and the work vehicle performed by the travel control device 33 are performed. In this embodiment, the parent work vehicle issues a command to the. The command for the master work vehicle can be directly issued without communication.

In the present embodiment, the case where the traveling route control device is provided in one specific working vehicle has been described. However, the traveling route control device is provided in two or more specific working vehicles or all the working vehicles. It is possible to appropriately switch which working vehicle is to be the parent working vehicle among the plurality of working vehicles provided with the travel route control device according to the working (traveling) situation.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, the parent work vehicles store the travel routes of all the work vehicles in the second embodiment, whereas each work vehicle stores its own travel route.
The common parts to the first and second embodiments are omitted, and the third embodiment is omitted.
Only the characteristic part of the embodiment will be described.

The first working vehicle (suction working vehicle) in this embodiment is provided with a storage arithmetic unit in addition to the structure of the suction working vehicle in the first embodiment. The structure of the second working vehicle is provided with a storage device in addition to the structure of the suction working vehicle of the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, a working vehicle provided with a memory computing device is called a parent working vehicle, and a working vehicle provided with a computing device is called a child working vehicle. Although the first working vehicle is the parent working vehicle and the second working vehicle is the sub working vehicle in the present embodiment, which working vehicle is the parent working vehicle is arbitrary.

The storage / calculation device provided in the main work vehicle has a travel route storage means for storing the travel route of its own,
Functions of an intersection determination unit that determines the intersection between the traveling routes of the self and the child work vehicle, an intersection arrival time prediction unit, and an instruction unit that issues a command to itself and the child work vehicle based on the determination results. have.

The storage device provided in the sub work vehicle has a travel route storage means for storing the travel route of the self.

The communication method between the parent work vehicle and the child work vehicle is the first.
This is the same as the communication method between the traveling control device 33 and the work vehicle of the embodiment.

The control method for causing the parent work vehicle and the child work vehicle to travel without colliding is the same as in the first embodiment, but in the first embodiment, the intersection determination of the route and the work vehicle performed by the travel control device 33. In this embodiment, the parent work vehicle issues a command to the. In this case, the traveling route of the child work vehicle which is the target of the intersection determination of the route is taught to the parent work vehicle by communication each time.
The command for the master work vehicle can be directly issued without communication.

Similar to the second embodiment, a plurality of specific working vehicles or a plurality of working vehicles are provided with a memory operation device, and a plurality of work vehicles are provided with a memory operation device according to the working (traveling) situation. It is also possible to appropriately switch which working vehicle is to be the parent working vehicle.

In each of the embodiments, the first work vehicle is the suction work vehicle, the second work vehicle is the wiping work vehicle, and the wiping work is performed after the suction work. May be set for floor polishing, wax coating, floor drying, etc.
Further, three or more work vehicles may perform three or more work.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a plurality of work vehicles are simultaneously driven in a given area,
Even with a very simple structure, it is possible to perform control so that the work vehicles can travel without collision.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a travel route control device and a plurality of work vehicles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a suction work vehicle that is a first work vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning work vehicle that is a second work vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a travel route control device in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between communication and traveling of the work vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a work route in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an instruction transmission procedure in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an instruction transmission procedure in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Suction Work Vehicle Main Body 2 Infrared Communication Device 12 Control Circuit 13 Memory Calculation Device 14 Drive Wheel Rotation Speed Detector 15 Cleaning Vehicle Main Body 16 Infrared Communication Device 27 Control Circuit 28 Storage Calculation Device 29 Drive Wheel Rotation Speed Detector 30 Infrared Communication Device 31 Memory arithmetic device 33 Travel route control device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An intersection determination means for determining intersection of travel routes of a plurality of work vehicles, and a work other than the first work vehicle immediately before transmitting an instruction of the first travel route to the first work vehicle. The intersection of the traveling route of the vehicle and the first traveling route given to the first work vehicle is determined by the intersection determination means, and the first traveling route is changed to the first work vehicle according to the determination of the intersection determination means. A travel route control device comprising: a control unit that performs control so as to instruct. 2. An intersection arrival time calculation means for calculating the time at which each work vehicle arrives at the intersection based on the travel route of the work vehicle and the time at which the route travel instruction is given, When the traveling routes do not intersect, the control unit instructs the first working vehicle to the first traveling route, and when the traveling routes intersect, the intersection arrival time calculating unit causes the respective working vehicles to operate. Controls to instruct the first work vehicle to the first travel route so that the time when each work vehicle passes through the intersection is calculated and the interval between the times when each work vehicle passes through the intersection becomes a predetermined time or more. The travel route control device according to claim 1, which is configured to: 3. The control means, when the traveling routes do not intersect, instructs the first work vehicle to the first traveling route,
When the traveling routes intersect, the control is performed so as to instruct the first traveling vehicle to the first traveling route after reaching a point where a working vehicle other than the first working vehicle intersects. 1. The travel route control device according to 1.