JPH01106113A - Cleaning robot device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the preparatory jobs and to secure the universal applicability for a cleaning robot device by driving a teaching vehicle to previously collect the information on the cleaning subject areas and deciding the traveling path of a reproduction vehicle containing a cleaning device as the shortest linear route based on said collected information. CONSTITUTION:A teaching vehicle 101 is driven through points P1-Pn and the distance traveled is measured by a laser sensor 111. Thus the width and the length of an obstacle 132 are grasped. Then the collected information are processed for decision of the traveling route of a reproduction vehicle 102. It is required to extend a straight-traveling part as much as possible to improve the effective drive of the vehicle 102. Thus a cleaning subject area is divided into a grid form and each of these divided blocks is retrieved vertically and horizontally for comparison of the numbers of blocks. At the same time, a shortest traveling route is decided. The vehicle 102 undergoes its play-back control via a memory card storing said decided route.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a cleaning robot device, and particularly to one that can reduce the preparation work before starting the MS work.

(Prior art) In general, a clean O pot device is installed in the vehicle part of an automatic guided vehicle.
It is equipped with a W4 sweeping machine equipped with equipment for dispersing W4 cleaning fluid, brushing, and collecting sewage. Furthermore, the electric circuit has a configuration as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure indicates the entire cleaning robot device, and the cleaning robot device 1 is provided with an arithmetic storage unit 2. This calculation storage unit 2 includes an operation unit 3, a function unit 4,
A traveling drive unit 5 and a sensor unit 6 are connected to each other. A travel driver 7 and a steering driver 8 are connected to the travel drive section 5, and a gas rate gyro 9, a laser sensor 10, an ultrasonic sensor 11, and a touch sensor 12 are connected to the sensor section 6, respectively.

According to the above configuration, first, a cleaning operation is selected using the operating section 3, and a cleaning tool suitable for wet/dry cleaning and polishing operations is set using the cleaning function section 4. On the other hand, the sensor section 6 detects the direction of travel using a gas rate gyro 9 for inertial guidance, and controls each element of the travel drive section 5 via the calculation storage section 2.

In addition, if there is an obstacle in the direction of travel, the ultrasonic sensor 11 and touch sensor 12 detect the obstacle, thereby preventing accidents such as collisions with harmful objects. do. Further, the laser sensor 10 measures the distance from the wall or the like in the travel area, and the azimuth data of the gas rate gyro 9 is corrected accordingly. With that, you can install a cleaning robot! 11 is prevented from traveling outside the area.

Therefore, the cleaning work of the rectangular chamber 21 will be explained with reference to FIG. This solstice 21 is walls 21a, 21b,
21c and 21d, and robot 1
is arranged at a corner portion 21e sandwiched between walls 21a and 21C. A predetermined cleaning operation is started from this position. First, the distance between the robot 1 and the walls 21a to 21d is measured by the laser sensor 10, and the distance between the robot 1 and the
121c, the gas rate gyro 9 performs straight-line traveling control as shown by the broken line in the figure. And cleaning robot 1 and wall 21b
The distance to the wall 21t is measured by the laser sensor 1o, and when it reaches a predetermined value (a predetermined distance remains between the robot 1 and the wall 21t), the robot 1 stops running. Next wall 2
1b for a predetermined distance in the downward direction in the figure), and then travels in a straight line parallel to the wall 21c (in the opposite direction from the straight-line travel at the beginning of the fta). Thereafter, the straight line traveling is repeated one after another by the same action.

During the above-mentioned traveling operation, obstacles such as pillars 22 may exist on the traveling path. In that case, as shown in the figure, the vehicle will run while avoiding the pillar 22.

That is, the existence of the pillar 22 can be detected by the laser sensor 10, and therefore the vehicle runs while measuring the distance to the pillar 22 by the laser sensor 10.

However, the above configuration has the following problems.

That is, the laser light emitted from the laser sensor 10 is a spot light, and therefore, it is expected that it will be impossible to avoid the obstacle depending on the size of the obstacle. Therefore, in the past, the obstacle was devised to artificially change its size so that it could be detected by the laser sensor 10. Therefore, before starting the cleaning work, the user is forced to perform complicated work such as modifying the obstacles, and the work takes a long time, resulting in a reduction in the efficiency of the cleaning work.

(Means for solving the problem) ゛With this conventional configuration, there is a problem that the preparation work before starting the cleaning work is complicated and the work takes a long time. The present invention has been made based on these points, and its purpose is to reduce the preparation work before cleaning and to enable thorough cleaning regardless of the size or shape of the obstacle. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cleaning robot device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the cleaning robot device according to the present invention travels within the W4 return target area to collect information within the cleaning target flA area, and based on the collected information. A teaching device that determines a cleaning route; and a reproducing device that is equipped with a cleaning device and travels within the area to be cleaned based on the cleaning route determined by the teaching device. This is a characteristic feature.

(Function) That is, before the reproducing device equipped with the cleaning device is driven, the teaching device is first driven. This teaching device collects information such as the presence or absence of obstacles, the size of the obstacles, and the position of the obstacles while traveling within the W4 sweep area.

The teaching device processes the various collected information and determines the 'sin route. The regenerating device travels within the cleaning area and cleans it based on the cleaning route determined by the teaching.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a teaching type (teaching device) 101 of the cleaning robot device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the regeneration vehicle (regeneration device 102) of the cleaning robot device.

The cleaning robot device according to this embodiment is of the teaching type 101.
and playback 11102. When cleaning the area to be cleaned, the teaching mold 101 is first run within the area to be cleaned, and various information within the cleaning area, such as the presence or absence of obstacles, the location of the obstacles, and the Collect information such as the size of objects. Teaching I$t10
1 processes and stores the collected information, and
The travel route etc. of the recycled vehicle 102 are determined. The rest is a regeneration 11102 equipped with a cleaning device that performs predetermined cleaning while running. The above is the schematic configuration of the cleaning robot device according to this embodiment, and it will be explained in detail below.

First, the configuration of the teaching mold 101 will be explained. Code 103 in the figure
is a performance storage section, and an operation section 104, a travel drive section 105, and a sensor section 106 are connected to this calculation storage section 103. The operation unit 104 has a memory card 10.
7 is connected, and the travel driver 10 is connected to the travel drive unit 105.
A gas rate gyro 110 and a laser sensor 1 are connected to the sensor unit 106.
11, an ultrasonic sensor 112, and a touch sensor 113 are connected.

Next, the configuration of the remanufactured vehicle 102 will be explained with reference to FIG. , and the sensor section 118 are connected. A memory card 119 is connected to the operation section 115, and a travel driver 120 and a steering driver 121 are connected to the travel drive section 117. Furthermore, the sensor section 11
8 is connected to a gas rate gyro 122 and a touch sensor 123.

The operation will be explained based on the above configuration. First, teaching type 10
1 is placed at the corner portion 131a of the cleaning target area row area 131 as shown in FIG. Next, the straight direction is selected by the radar sensor 111, and the vehicle travels in a straight line using the slate gyro 110, as shown by the broken line in the figure, while keeping the distance to the left and right side surfaces and the area side constant. Thereafter, when the distance between the front and the area surface reaches a predetermined value, the vehicle travels a certain distance (indicated by a solid line in the figure), and then travels in a straight line in the opposite direction to the straight travel described above. Thereafter, similar operations are repeated to sequentially store the driving history in the memory card 119.

During the above operation, the ultrasonic sensor 11 detects the obstacle 132.
The case where 2 is detected will be explained. In this case, the teaching mold 101 is moved from point p1 to p2 to p3, the distance is measured by the laser sensor 111, and the width of the obstacle 132 is determined. Furthermore, the length of the obstacle 132 is grasped by moving to points p2 to p4. The above operation is the same even when the pillar 133 is present. That is, the teaching mold 101 is moved to points p6 to p7, and the teaching mold 101 is moved to points p7 to p8.
The width of the pillar 133 is determined by moving the pillar 133.

In this way, the teaching mold 101 is run within the cleaning target area to collect various information.

Next, the collected information is subjected to predetermined processing to determine the travel route of the recycled vehicle 102. An example of the processing method will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the area to be cleaned 131 is divided into a grid pattern, and each block is shown by (X, V) coordinates, and the information in the area to be cleaned 131 is divided into each block. Here, in order to run the recycled vehicle 102 as efficiently as possible, it is better for the straight section to be as long as possible. Therefore, based on the data shown in FIG. 4, divided meshes are searched vertically and horizontally and the numbers are compared. This determines the straight direction. In the case shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle is run in the vertical direction (x direction) in the figure. Other driving methods (driving routes) are also determined and stored in the memory card 107. Further, it is assumed that a route with a short radius is determined as the travel route.

Next, the cleaning operation by the recycling vehicle 102 is started.

That is, the playback 1t1102 is controlled based on the information stored in the memory card 107. In other words, from the (1,1> point to the X direction (11°1
) Clean while driving to the point. Next, it traverses from the (11°1) point to the (11,2) point. Then (11,2
Clean while traveling in the (-X) direction from point ) to point (1,2). Next, it crosses from point (1,2> to point (1,3)) and then moves in the X direction to point (4,3) and cleans it.Next, it detours around the obstacle 132 and points (4,2). It then travels in the X direction until it reaches the (7,2> point), and then travels back to the (7°3) point.At this time, it only travels up to the (7,2) point because the cleaning has already been completed. .Next, travel in the X direction from point (7, 3) to point (11, 3) and clean.Then, the same operation is repeated to clean the cleaning target area 131.At this time, as mentioned above, the cleaning target area 131 is cleaned. The completed portion is simply run.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

■First, collect information on the area to be cleaned by driving the teaching vehicle 101 in advance, and determine the travel route of the reproduction vehicle 102 based on that information.Then, the reproduction It! By running the vehicle 102, desired cleaning can be performed. At this time, the work of collecting information through the teaching process 101 is easier than the work of applying various tricks to obstacles as in the past. Therefore, the preparation work before the cleaning work is greatly facilitated and the time required is shortened, making it possible to provide highly efficient cleaning work.

■Next, information collection according to the teaching 11101 is possible even if the cleaning target locations are different, and can be applied over a wide range of areas.

■Furthermore, in the teaching step 101 according to the present embodiment, based on the collected information, the direction in which the straight section is as long as possible is selected as the running direction of the recycled vehicle 102, providing extremely efficient cleaning. Can be done.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
For example, the teaching device and the playback device can be driven in a variety of ways, such as those using wheels and those using rollers. Furthermore, various types of information processing by the teaching device are assumed.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the robot equipment according to the present invention, the preparation work prior to cleaning can be facilitated and the time required can be shortened, and the efficiency of cleaning work can be greatly improved. etc. The effect is great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention.
The figure shows the configuration during teaching, Figure 2 is the configuration of the regenerated car, Figure 3 shows information collection during teaching, and Figure 4 shows mapped information obtained during teaching. , FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams used to explain the conventional example. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a robot, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a cleaning operation by the robot. 101...Teaching (teaching device), 102...Recycled car (recycled v, r!l>. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 131a
131Figure 3Figure 4

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A teaching device that travels within a cleaning target area and collects information within the cleaning target area and determines a cleaning route based on the collected information, and a cleaning device that is equipped with a cleaning device that performs cleaning determined by the teaching device. A cleaning robot device comprising: a regeneration device that travels within the area to be cleaned based on a route and cleans the area. (2) The cleaning according to claim 1, wherein the teaching device performs map processing on the collected information to create a map, and determines a cleaning route based on the map. robotic equipment. (3) The teaching device selects a route with a long straight section based on the map obtained by the map processing, and sets the selected route as the running direction of the playback device. The cleaning robot device according to item 2.