JPS6093522A - Controller of moving robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To run a moving robot efficiently throughout the whole area efficiently without any collision against an obstacle even if the obstacle is present by deciding an area where the robot is not run yet from an area where the robot is already run and an area where the obstacle is present. CONSTITUTION:A previously learnt movement area is fractionized into longitudinal and lateral blocks in a matrix on two-dimensional coordinates and stored on a map. A CPU9 repeats a run longitudinally or laterally, line by line, and the area where the robot run is is stored and held in a storage part 10 successively. Thus, a linear run is made and ultrasonic sensors 4 on both flanks detect whether there is an obstacle on the right and left sides of a run block and stores the result in the storage part 10. When a sensor 4 on the front surface senses an obstacle in front, the run is repeated within a range wherein the robot collides against it while the position of the obstacle is stored; when the sensor does not sense it any more, a decision on an area where the robot is not run so far is made from the area where the robot is already run and the obstacle area, and the robot is moved to the part to continue to run, line by line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a control device for a mobile robot that cleans, for example, a floor surface.

(Technical background) Regarding a mobile robot that performs cleaning work while moving on the floor by unmanned running, the present applicant has proposed, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 57
It has been proposed as No.-232269.

This robot has a cleaning area learning function, and while recognizing its current position within the cleaning area, it moves along a predetermined travel path and cleans the spherical surface within the area without any hassle. Another feature is that it does not require any position observation means or guidance means placed along the planned travel route, and can be applied to cleaning any location.

(Purpose of the invention) The present invention is to enable such a mobile robot to efficiently move to all areas without colliding with the obstacles even when there are obstacles in the travel cylinder. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a control device for a mobile robot that enables the following.

<Disclosure of the Invention> The present invention provides a sensor that detects the travel distance of a self-propelled mobile robot via drive wheels, a sensor that detects a change in direction accompanying the travel, and a sensor that detects a unit travel of the robot based on the outputs of these two sensors. a position identification means that calculates the position of two-dimensional plane coordinates for each distance; a sensor that is installed at least on the front and side surfaces of the robot and detects obstacles;
A learning means that stores the area in which the robot should move in a map divided into units of distance corresponding to the X and Y axes on two-dimensional coordinates, and a learning means that stores the area in which the robot should move in a map divided into units of distance corresponding to the X and Y axes on two-dimensional coordinates, and a means for driving in a straight line, a means for moving to the next line and reversing when the area boundary is reached after traveling in a straight line; means for inverting and moving the blocks to the next row and running; a memory section for sequentially storing the blocks that have been run based on the output from the position identifying means; and a memory for sequentially storing the blocks when an obstacle is identified. a means for reading the area where the vehicle has already traveled and the area where the obstacle exists when the obstacle is removed from the travel path, and determining the area in which the vehicle has not traveled within the moving area; When there is an untraveled area, the robot is provided with a means for returning the robot across the travel line to that area, and a means for ending all travel when there is no untraversed area.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when a cleaning sweeper or a vacuum cleaner is attached to a mobile robot and the robot is moved to clean the floor surface, the cleaning area can be specified in advance and learned, and then the traveling pattern can be automatically changed to the cleaning area. It is possible to perform the cleaning most efficiently without leaving any uncleaned areas.

(Example) The present invention will be explained in detail below.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a distance sensor that outputs a pulse signal proportional to the travel distance of the mobile robot, for example, the amount of rotation of a drive wheel; 2 is a direction sensor that detects changes in the robot's travel direction; measures the distance traveled by the robot by counting pulse signals from the distance sensor 1, determines the moving direction of the robot from the output from the direction sensor 2, and determines the current position of the robot on two-dimensional coordinates for each unit distance traveled. This is a position identification means that calculates the position from time to time by calculation.

4 are provided on the front, both sides and rear of the robot,
Obstacle sensor 5 detects the presence or absence of obstacles such as walls and pillars and the distance to the obstacles while transmitting ultrasonic waves. Similarly, 5 is a touch sensor that determines obstacles by mechanical contact, in addition to these obstacle sensors 4. The outputs of these sensors 4 and 5 are input to a control circuit 6 composed of a microprocessor via an amplifier 7 and an input port 8D. At the same time, the position signal from the identification means 3 is also input to the control circuit 6 via the input/output port 8A.

The control circuit 6 includes a central processing circuit (CPIJ) 9 and a storage section 10 consisting of a read-only memory (ROM) and a read/write memory (RAM). 11A is a clock that outputs clock pulses, and 11B is an interrupt controller.

The CPLJ9 outputs a drive signal to the drive circuit 12 via the input/output boat 8C as described later, and controls the rotation of the drive motors (servo motors or step motors) 13 and 14 provided on the left and right drive wheels for running. control reversibly,
At the same time, the rotation of the drive motor 15 of the cleaning sweeper attached to the mouth/Iζ 1 is controlled.

Reference numeral 16 is an operation unit that allows the system power to be turned on/off, switching the running mode, setting the start position, adjusting the sensitivity of the direction sensor 2, etc. as appropriate; In order to learn, the drive circuit 12 is given priority by radio control to receive travel commands, and the drive circuit 12 is operated as desired.It is a remote control transmitting and receiving unit, and each output is sent to the control circuit via the input/output port 8B. Also enter 6.

Although FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram and does not show the specific structure of the mobile robot in a plan view, the robot body 3o has a front bumper 31, left and right side bumpers 32, 33 all over its outer periphery.
and a rear bumper 34, each bumper 31-3
The above-mentioned obstacle touch sensor 5 is attached to the bumper 4 to detect when the bumper comes into contact with an obstacle.

In addition, on the front of the robot body 3o, there are ultrasonic sensors 4A at the center and both corners, and one ultrasonic sensor 4B on each side, and further on the rear. Ultrasonic sensors 4C in both corners...
is provided to detect obstacles as described above.

The ultrasonic sensors 4A and 4C normally detect obstacles before the touch sensor 5 comes into contact with the obstacle, but depending on the orientation of the robot, even if an obstacle enters the blind spot, the robot's bumper may be detected. If 31 to 34 touch lightly, this can be detected.

In this example, the robot main body 30 has a front running wheel 40,
The robot can move freely using rear left and right drive wheels 41 and 42, and at the same time, two rotary sweepers 43 and 44 provided on the lower front surface of the robot body 30 clean the running floor.

Characteristic parts of the present invention will be further explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 regarding such a robot.

When cleaning the area shown in FIG. 4, in order to memorize the movement boundaries by learning, the operation section 16 is used to set the robot to the learning travel mode, and the remote control transmitting/receiving unit 17.18 is used to start the robot as shown in the diagram. At that position, press the set button on the operation unit 16 to set the starting point (xo, y) on the two-dimensional coordinates.
o) and the reference θ0 of the traveling direction' are respectively set.

Then the remote control transmitter/receiver unit 17.1
8 to start the learning run of the robot following the planned course shown by the dotted line, the CPLJ9 of the control circuit 6 detects the robot's current position (
x, y) and the traveling direction θ are sequentially stored in the storage unit 10,
This allows the robot to learn the area boundaries to which it should move.

When the travel of the learning course is completed, the moving boundary is stored on the map as blocks divided into units of distance corresponding to the y-axis and the y-axis on the two-dimensional coordinate system.

Next, when the robot is brought to the start point or point A adjacent to the start point and switched to unmanned running mode using the operation unit 16, the control circuit 6 sends a drive signal to the drive circuit 12 to start the robot running.

The robot moves as follows by the CPU 9.

First, move in a straight line over each block in the vertical direction along the y-axis on the map.

At this time, the blocks that the robot passed through are sequentially stored and held in the storage unit 10.

- When the position identification means 3 determines that the boundary has been reached after traveling in a straight line, move to the left from that position (in the direction of the untraveled line).
The vehicle is then reversed to move to the next running line (along the y-axis), and then run in a straight line again. At the same time, the ultrasonic sensors 4B on both sides detect whether there are any obstacles on the left or right side of the running block.
When there is an obstacle, it is stored in the storage unit 10, and the carving is stored as a traversable block.

Straight travel is repeated in sequence, the number of blocks passed increases by -column, and at the same time, the memorized travelable area is erased.

On the other hand, when the front ultrasonic sensor 4Δ detects an obstacle at point F, the robot is reversed in the direction of the untraveled row, and at the same time the block where the obstacle was detected is The information is stored in the storage unit 10.

In this way, the vehicle travels back and forth between the obstacle and the boundary without colliding with the obstacle while detecting it, and then, when no obstacle is detected in front of the vehicle, the boundary is identified in the column direction. Proceed until.

At this time, when the robot passes the side of the obstacle, there will be blocks that can run simultaneously on both sides of the robot.

In this case, after reaching the boundary, the vehicle would be reversed in the opposite direction, and the vehicle would be unable to travel due to an obstacle.
Drive the untraveled area on the back. Point B, where the reversal was made at this time, is stored in the storage unit 10 for the next time when the yuan is returned to buying.

This remaining untraveled area is moved while sequentially reversing in the column direction in the same way as described above, and when it is identified that there is a block that has already been traveled in the next reversal direction at the 0 point, the untraversed area is moved. It is judged that the end is completed, and the vehicle moves straight in the row direction to the point B and returns to the block D, which is the block next to the point B.
From this point, it starts running in the column direction again.

In this way, when the 0 point is reached, it is determined that there is no untraveled area in the learned movement area, and all movement is completed.

Determination as to whether an untraveled area remains is performed by comparing the traveled area stored in the storage unit 10 with the obstacle area.

In this example, when there is an untraveled area in a train that has already traveled, the train immediately moves in that direction as soon as there are no obstacles. After finishing, you may move to the remaining untraveled area.

By keeping the sweepers 43 and 44 rotating while the robot is moving, the floor surface of the moving area can be thoroughly and efficiently cleaned.

In this embodiment, learning of the moving area was carried out by wirelessly guiding the robot using the remote control transmitting/receiving units 17 and 18. However, in cases where the boundary of the moving area is partitioned by a wall, the obstacle sensor 4 detects the wall. You may also learn by moving the robot around the wall while doing so.

In this case, the control circuit 6 sends a signal to the drive circuit 12 so that the robot always maintains a predetermined close distance from the wall, and makes the robot go around without colliding with the wall.

Further, in this embodiment, the linear movement is repeated in the column direction, but it is of course possible to make the movement back and forth in the horizontal direction.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, a movement area learned in advance is subdivided into vertical and horizontal blocks in a matrix shape as two-dimensional coordinates, and the movement is repeated one by one vertically or horizontally. While the driving range is sequentially memorized, when an obstacle is detected in front of the vehicle, the position of the obstacle is memorized while repeating the above driving within a range that does not collide with it, and when the obstacle is no longer detected, the route is defeated. It determines the untraveled area from the area and the area where the obstacle exists, moves to this area and travels again one line at a time, so even if there is an obstacle within the moving area, it will not collide with it. , and can travel throughout the movable area in the most efficient manner, so when used as a cleaning robot, cleaning can be carried out efficiently and unattended.

In addition, other tasks such as spraying chemicals over an entire area using a robot can be performed efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of the robot control system of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the robot body, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control operations, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the running state of the robot. 1...Distance sensor, 2...Direction sensor, 3...Other taKfiE means, 4 (4A, 4B, 4C)...
Obstacle sensor, 5...Touch sensor, 6...Control circuit, 8A to 8D...Input/output port, 9...Central processing circuit (CPU), 10...Storage unit (ROM, RAM)
), 12... Drive circuit, 13.14... Wheel drive motor, 16... Operating unit, 30... Robot body,
31-34...bumper, 41°42...drive wheel,
43.44...Sweepa. Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a mobile robot that runs on its own through drive wheels, a position identification means that detects changes in the traveling distance and traveling direction of the robot and calculates the robot's position on two-dimensional coordinates, and A sensor installed on the surface to detect obstacles, a learning means that stores the movement area of the robot in a map divided into unit blocks of two-dimensional coordinates, and a learning means that stores the robot's movement area in a map divided into unit blocks of two-dimensional coordinates. a means for causing the block to run; a means for moving in a straight line to the next line by reversing the block when the boundary of the area is reached or an obstacle sensor detects an obstacle in a predetermined range in front of the moving block; a storage unit for sequentially storing and holding the positions of the vehicle and the positions of obstacles; and means for reading out the traveled area and the obstacle area from the storage unit and determining the untraversed area when there are no obstacles in front of the vehicle; 1. A control device for a mobile robot, comprising: a means for returning the robot across the traveling line to the untraversed area when there is an untraversed area within the moving area based on the determination result.