JPH0516045B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an unmanned traveling device, and in particular to an unmanned traveling device that autonomously navigates a relatively wide area without marking on the floor. be.

(Conventional technology) In recent years, unmanned vehicles have been used to transport cargo.
In addition, unmanned mobile devices that perform cleaning and other tasks have appeared, and are expected to be used in a variety of fields in the future, such as saving labor, improving work efficiency, and replacing humans with tasks in dangerous areas.

Conventionally, in order to drive this type of device through a building lobby or the like, a marking or a guide line is laid on the floor to serve as a guide line, and the vehicle is driven along the guide line while detecting this from above.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, when considering the need for unmanned traveling devices to run evenly in building lobbies, etc., for example, when considering cleaning robots, both the marking method and the guide line method are It is disadvantageous.

In other words, the first requirement for a cleaning robot is
The point is to travel evenly throughout the room, and with the conventional guidance method that follows guidance lines, it is necessary to lay guidance lines so that they do not come into contact with obstacles. Due to the installation of guidance lines, it is difficult to adapt to interior remodeling.

Therefore, a distance measuring sensor such as an ultrasonic sensor or a laser sensor is placed on both the left and right sides of the cleaning robot when viewed from the front, respectively, to measure the distance to the wall. , the cleaning robot is placed parallel to the wall of the room, and when it is located near the wall, it measures the distance to the wall with the distance sensor on the opposite side of the wall, and based on this, it runs along the wall. If it is not possible to measure the distance to a wall, it will use inertial navigation to move straight ahead, and when it approaches a wall blocking its path, it will use the distance sensor facing the wall to determine the distance to the wall.
Traverse or change direction along this wall by a pitch equal to the width of the main body, move by a pitch equal to the width of the main body, then proceed again parallel to the previous movement route by inertial navigation, and then stand in the direction of travel. When it reaches a blocking wall, it traverses or changes direction along the wall by a pitch equal to the width of the body, moves by a pitch equal to the width of the body, and then moves parallel to the previous movement route again using the above-mentioned inertial navigation. A method is being considered in which the process of running the vehicle is repeated.

However, in this case, when driving near a wall, the distance to the wall is determined by a distance sensor, and the driving is controlled based on this to maintain a predetermined distance. If the vehicle bumps into a protrusion such as this, the unmanned vehicle will make unnecessary steering operations over the unevenness. Building walls often have unevenness due to structural pillars, so as a result of this kind of movement, the unmanned vehicle may move erratically or get into a recess and mistake it for the opposite wall. Because the robot traverses here and there, the running route becomes irregular, causing situations such as the running route in the room becoming so crowded that there are areas where it does not run, or running over the same area over and over again. This makes it impossible to clean efficiently and evenly. Moreover, objects are often placed near walls, and the rooms cleaned by cleaning robots are generally large, so if the running conditions become inconsistent, there will be areas that are not cleaned in large rooms. , impractical. Therefore, it is necessary to use a method using a guide line.

Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to create an unmanned system that does not require guidance lines, can run efficiently and evenly inside a room, and is not affected by unevenness on walls, etc. The purpose is to provide a traveling device.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, a steering means having a front steering wheel and a rear steering wheel for steering the front side and a rear side of the traveling device main body and independently steering the front steering wheel and the rear steering wheel, respectively, and a driving area of the traveling device main body. at least one pair of distance measuring means with a short measurable distance provided near at least both sides of the side surface of the traveling device body in order to measure the distance to the side wall of the traveling device body; and attitude control of the traveling device body using inertial navigation. A gyro device that obtains attitude angle information for the measurement, and distance measurement data output from the side distance measurement means determine whether or not the distance measurement means can measure the distance to the wall. An attitude angle calculation function unit that calculates the relative angle of Or, if it does not exceed the attitude control output based on the output data of the above-mentioned gyro device and the attitude correction amount for the relative angle obtained by the attitude angle calculation function section, the attitude control output is used for front steering wheel control. An attitude control output correction function section to be applied to the above-mentioned steering means generates a lateral displacement control output based on the above-mentioned distance measurement data such that the distance to the wall on the side of the main body of the unmanned vehicle becomes a set value. The control means includes a lateral displacement control function section that provides a steering means for steering wheel control and does not provide a lateral displacement control output during control by inertial navigation.

(Function) In such a configuration, the distance measuring means with a relatively short distance measuring area for measuring the distance to an obstacle in the traveling area, for example, a wall surface, is installed on the side of the unmanned traveling device main body, and At least one sensor is installed near each side of the vehicle, and the side distance measuring sensor detects the wall surface along the traveling direction.Based on this, the relative angle between the traveling device body and the wall is determined, and the relative angle is within a predetermined value. If so, control the steering so that the distance to the detected wall is kept constant and the relative angle to the wall becomes small, and if the distance is greater than a predetermined value or distance measurement is impossible, steer using inertial navigation. Control and drive in a straight line. Then, when it hits a wall blocking the direction of travel, it moves its position so that the straight traveling route is shifted by a pitch equal to the width of the main body, and then returns straight.
After moving as described above by a pitch equal to the width of the stage body when it hits a wall blocking the direction of movement,
Control is performed to repeat the control to make the vehicle run straight again. Therefore, without using an auxiliary guide line such as a marker or a guide line, it is possible to move horizontally at a predetermined pitch based only on the wall surface in a building lobby, etc. without overlapping the position once inside the room. In addition, it is now able to run independently and efficiently throughout the room, which is an efficient and efficient system that is required when applied to cleaning robots, etc.
It becomes possible to perform driving control by following a regulated driving route. Furthermore, even if there are irregularities on the reference wall surface, the vehicle can run without being affected by the irregularities.

(Example) Hereinafter, the first to sixth embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 shows an example of a running state in which the unmanned running device runs along an uneven wall in a building lobby or the like.
In FIG. 2, 1 is a wall, 2 is a main body of the unmanned traveling device, and 3 and 3' are distance measuring sensors for side surfaces provided near both side ends of the main body 2 of the unmanned traveling device. 3
a and 3b indicate the routes of the distance measuring beams emitted from the distance measuring sensors 3 and 3'. Although not shown, distance measuring sensors are also provided on the traveling direction surface and other sides of the unmanned traveling device main body 2, and are used to detect obstacles and measure the distance to the obstacles to control the traveling of the unmanned traveling device 2. I'm trying to use it. Reference numeral 5 indicates a running reference in the traveling direction of the unmanned traveling device main body 2. The unmanned traveling device main body 2 has a structure that allows it to move freely forward, backward, left, and right, and the distance measurement sensor is attached to the unmanned traveling device main body 2 near each corner of the four faces (direction and both end portions, respectively). At least one each is provided at symmetrical positions.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show how the unmanned traveling device main body 2 is steered. It has a structure that allows it to be steered. 3 shows how the unmanned traveling device main body 2 is steered so that the lateral displacement converges based on the driving reference 5, and FIG. 4 shows how the unmanned traveling device main body 2
This figure shows how the steering is controlled so that the yaw angular displacement Δθ converges based on the driving reference 5.

The control function section of the unmanned traveling device main body 2 has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the hardware for realizing the present invention. In the figure, 3 and 3' are the aforementioned distance measuring sensors, for example, using an ultrasonic sensor or a laser sensor. It measures the distance to obstacles. Of these, the distance measuring sensor 3 is located on the front side, and the distance measuring sensor 3' is located on the rear side.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a wheel locator, which detects the angle (attitude angle) formed by the axial direction of the vehicle with respect to the linear direction. 24 is an operation mode information input unit which is an interface for performing various operations while driving;
5 is a gyroscope 23 and a distance sensor 3;
3' and the operation mode information input section 24,
Input port to take in these data, 2
Reference numeral 6 denotes a well-known microcomputer, which performs predetermined processing according to a program based on data taken in through the input port 25 and generates control outputs. The microcomputer 26 is composed of a RAM (random access memory) 27, a CPU (processor) 28, and a ROM (read only memory) 29.
A control program is stored in the ROM 29, and the CPU 28 performs arithmetic processing for control based on the above-mentioned imported data according to this control program. The RAM 27 is used as a work area and temporary storage of data. 30 is an output port for outputting data from the microcomputer 6 to the outside. 31 is a running wheel servo amplifier that amplifies the output obtained through this output port 30 to obtain a drive output for controlling the running system of the unmanned traveling device main body 2; 32 is the output of this running wheel servo amplifier 31; This is a running wheel motor whose drive is controlled by. Reference numeral 18 denotes a rear steering wheel servo amplifier for amplifying the rear steering output obtained through the output port 30 to obtain a drive output for controlling the rear steering system of the unmanned traveling device main body 2;
Reference numeral 9 denotes a rear steered wheel motor whose drive is controlled by the output of the rear steered wheel servo amplifier 18. 21 is a steered wheel servo amplifier that amplifies the front steering output obtained through the output port 30 to obtain a drive output for controlling the front steering system of the unmanned traveling device main body 2; 22 is this front steered wheel servo This is a front steering wheel motor whose drive is controlled by the output of the amplifier 21.

A flowchart of the program written in the ROM 29 is shown in FIG.

Here, the operation of the present device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 and 6.

When detecting a wall surface and controlling travel as shown in FIG. 2, the unmanned traveling device body 2 is placed at one corner of the wall 1, a program is started, and the vehicle starts traveling. The unmanned traveling device main body 2 is located on the wall 1 side, and distance measuring sensors 3 and 3' on the wall 1 side measure the distance to the wall 1, respectively. Then, the CPU 28 reads the distance measurement data from the distance measurement sensors 3, 3' via the input port 25 according to the program. And CPU2
8 uses data from the distance sensors 3 and 3' to perform control to maintain a preset distance to the wall 1 (lateral displacement amount control) and control to make the relative angle Δθ to the traveling reference 5 zero ( (yaw angle control) to correct the steering angle and output a control output. This is well known as a travel control method.

Therefore, even if the wall condition, which is the standard for guidance of the unmanned traveling device main body 2, changes complicatedly due to unevenness caused by structures such as doors and pillars, the unmanned traveling device 2 will run straight without being influenced by the wall surface. Control your driving accordingly.

The steering angle calculation will be explained with reference to FIG. That is, in step S1, the distance measuring sensor 3,
3' is determined whether the distance measurement data is true or false. That is,
The distance measurement sensors 3 and 3' use sensors that have a short measurable distance to the object to be measured, and therefore, if distance measurement is not possible, the distance measurement data value will output a large value. The authenticity of the distance measurement data is determined by appropriately setting a threshold value and comparing it with the distance measurement data value, and determining whether or not the distance measurement data can be used. As a result, if distance measurement is possible, that is, the distance measurement data is true, the process moves to step S2, and the distance measurement sensor 3,
The relative angle θ _M between the unmanned traveling device 2 and the wall 1 is calculated based on the distance measurement data 3'. Next, in step S3, it is checked based on this relative angle θ _M whether the direction of the unmanned traveling device 2 is within a predetermined angle with respect to the wall 1. If this relative angle θ _M is larger than a certain fixed angle, it means that the wall 1 has irregularities, and step S3 is a routine to check this based on the magnitude of the relative angle θ _M. As a result of this judgment, if the angle is within a certain range, step S4 is entered to correct the drift of the gear locator output data θ _GYRG (that is, attitude angle data) that occurs over time. The yaw angle error (corresponding to the attitude control amount) is _determined as a reference value for determining the yaw angle error, and then step
Add the updated yaw angle error θ _ERROR obtained in S4 and the current gyro output data θ _GYRO to create a new drift-containing attitude angle θ _HOLD , and use this θ _HOLD as a reference to obtain the difference from θ _GYRO . Create attitude angle data without drift (step S5). Then, the attitude angle is obtained based on the output of the ranging sensors 3 and 3', and the yaw angle control amount for attitude control is obtained using this and the previous data of the attitude angle without drift, and this is calculated as the yaw angle error θ It is used as _{an error signal} and also used to control the front steering wheel 4a.

Next, in order to correct the lateral displacement, the distance measurement sensors 3, 3'
output and reference lateral displacement amount l _REF set at the start of travel.
Calculate the lateral displacement error l _ERROR based on (step
S6). Then, the control amount corresponding to this lateral displacement error l _ERROR is given to the front steered wheel servo amplifier 21 and the rear steered wheel servo amplifier 18 to obtain the front steered wheel and rear steered wheel drive outputs, and the front steered wheel motor 22 and the rear steered wheel Motor 1
9 to control the front steered wheels 4a and the rear steered wheels 4b. This corrects the lateral displacement (step
S7).

On the other hand, if the condition analysis result in step S1 is false, that is, the distance measuring sensor 3, 3'
If it becomes impossible to measure distance, the vehicle will travel using inertial navigation, and lateral displacement corrections using the wall as a reference will not be made.
Therefore, the lateral displacement error l _ERROR is not used, so
l _ERROR is set to zero (step S9), and control is performed in step S4 to perform control (yaw angle control) in which the relative angle to the straight line traveling direction becomes zero using only the attitude angle data θ _GYRO output from the gyro locator. Drift correction using the updated yaw angle error θ _ERROR using the wall as a reference is not performed,
Yaw angle error θ _ERROR found just before switching to inertial navigation
The difference between the attitude angle data θ _GYRO output from the wheel locator 23 is calculated based on θ GYRO to obtain the steering angle correction amount (step S7), and this is used as the front steering angle control amount l _ERROR.
The signal is applied to the front steering wheel servo amplifier 21 via the output port 30, and is amplified to drive and control the front steering wheel motor 22. In addition, the control amount l _ERROR of the rear steering angle was set to zero in S9, so it was controlled as zero, and the l _ERROR that became zero and the θ _ERROR obtained in S10 were
is applied to the front steered wheel servo amplifier 21, where it is amplified and drive-controlled the front steered wheel motor 22, so that the front steered wheel motor 22 is controlled to drive straight.

Further, in step S3, if the relative angle θ _M is greater than or equal to the specified angle, it means that the wall 1 has unevenness, so posture control using the wall 1 as a reference is not performed in this case as well. In other words, in this case as well, the process enters step S9 from step S3, and as described above, the lateral displacement error l _ERROR is set to zero, and the yaw angle error θ _ERROR is set to zero.
(step S10), the attitude control amount using the output data θ _GYRO of the gyroscope 23 is obtained as the front steering angle control amount l _ERROR , which is given to the front steering wheel servo amplifier 21, where it is amplified. drive control of the front steering wheel motor 22. The control amount l _ERROR of the rear steering angle was set to zero in S9, so it is controlled as zero, and the zero l _ERROR and θ _ERROR obtained in S10 are added and applied to the front steering wheel servo amplifier 21, where it is amplified. The front steering wheel motor 22 is controlled to drive the vehicle so that the vehicle travels straight.

That is, while the conditional branch is established, the vehicle will proceed only with the output of the wheel locator 23 due to inertial navigation, and will not be affected by the unevenness of the wall.

When the unmanned traveling device main body 2 moves straight and the distance measurement sensor on the plane in the direction of movement approaches a wall that blocks it and reaches the range where distance measurement is possible, the distance measurement data is output from the distance measurement sensor, so the CPU 28 reads this data. Knowing that the wall in the direction of travel is getting closer, and when this data reaches a predetermined value, it will turn toward the untraveled area and return in the opposite direction at a position shifted horizontally by a predetermined pitch parallel to the current travel line. The vehicle starts traveling after traveling a predetermined distance or changing direction to change its position. In the case of a cleaning robot, this traverse amount or shift amount is about the width that can be cleaned at one time. That is, when the front distance measuring sensor detects that the vehicle has hit a wall, the CPU 28 activates the steering wheel motors 19 and 22 in order to move by a predetermined width parallel to the current travel route.
It also generates a control output for the running wheel motor 32 to move the unmanned traveling device main body. Thereafter, the system switches to inertial navigation again and causes the unmanned traveling device main body 2 to travel in the opposite direction to the previous time, thereby executing the above-described operations. By repeating these operations, the designated travel range can be evenly traveled at a constant pitch.

As cleaning progresses, when the unmanned traveling device main body 2 comes to a position along the wall 1 on the opposing surface, the distance measuring sensor on that surface will now be within the range that can be measured. Then, the microcomputer 26 performs lateral displacement amount control (control to maintain a preset distance to the wall 1 based on the lateral displacement error l _ERROR ) based on the data output from this sensor, and yaw angle control ( The vehicle is controlled so that the vehicle travels while correcting the steering angle (control such that the relative angle with respect to the wall 1 becomes zero), and the work is completed when the vehicle collides with a wall in the direction of travel.

Microcomputer 2 of unmanned traveling device main body 2
The control functions of the controller 6 are shown in functional blocks as shown in FIG. In the figure, 6 is the gyro output data (attitude angle data θ _GYRO ) for guiding the unmanned traveling device main body 2 by inertial navigation, 3a and 3b are the output data of the range sensors 3 and 3', and 7 is the range sensor From the distance measurement data 3a, 3b of 3, 3', check whether distance measurement is possible or not. This is an attitude angle calculating function unit that calculates the relative angle θ _M of , and is responsible for the control system of Δθ shown in FIG. 8 is a command A when the result of this attitude angle calculation function section 7 is a certain angle (for example, about 2 degrees) or more.
Outputs each of the three switches shown in Figure 5.
This is an attitude angle range determination function unit that reverses the state of SWa to SWc from the current state.

9 is the drift-containing attitude angle data (θ _HOLD ) that takes into account the drift included in the gyro output data (θ _GYRO ) 6, and 10 is the gyro output data θ _GYRO
Yaw angle error data (θ _ERROR ), which is an attitude correction output obtained by combining the true value of the yaw angle corrected by the attitude angle data (θ _HOLD ) 9 with the attitude angle control output of the attitude angle calculation function unit 7; 11 is the yaw angle true value gain (K1) obtained by subtracting the above gyro output data (θ _GYRO ) 6 from the drift-containing attitude angle data (θ _HOLD ) 9, and the switch SWb does not use this yaw angle true value gain 11. In this case, the correction function using the yaw angle true value gain 11 is bypassed, and when the gain is adjusted using the yaw angle true value gain 11, the bypass is released. These form a yaw angle control system.

12 is a gain (K2) for determining how much the output of the attitude angle calculation function section 7 should contribute to updating the yaw angle error data (θ _ERROR ) 10;
2 is a front steering wheel servo amplifier that receives the sum of the above yaw angle error data (θ _ERROR ) 10 and lateral displacement error data (l _ERROR ) 16 as a control amount and amplifies the power; 22 is the output of the front steering wheel servo amplifier 21; This is a front steering wheel motor that operates to steer the front steering wheel 4a.

14 is the distance measurement data 3a, 3 to calculate the distance to an obstacle such as a wall based on the distance measurement data 3a, 3b.
A distance measurement data determination function unit that determines and outputs the distance measurement data l _M that is closer to the reference lateral displacement amount data (l _REF ) among b, 13 is the reference lateral displacement amount data (l _REF ) set in advance; This determines how far away from the wall 1 the unmanned traveling device 2 should travel. 15
is a gain (K3) for determining the amplification factor of the lateral displacement error (l _ERROR ) 16, which is the lateral displacement correction amount obtained from the value of the difference of l _M with respect to the reference lateral displacement amount data (l _REF ) 13, This is an element that determines the speed at which the amount of lateral displacement converges to the standard lateral displacement amount. These form a control system for the lateral displacement amount Δy shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a rear steering wheel servo amplifier which receives the above-mentioned lateral displacement error (l _ERROR ) 16 as a control amount 17 and amplifies the power; 19 a rear steering wheel which operates by the output of the rear steering wheel servo amplifier 18 to steer the rear steering wheel 4b. It is a wheel motor.

The switch SWa has a function of determining whether or not to update θ _ERROR , and the switch SWc changes the attitude angle calculation value θ output from the attitude angle calculation function unit 7 in response to the yaw angle error θ _ERROR . This shows the function for determining whether or not to correct _M. When this switch SWc is closed, the attitude angle calculation value θ _M output from the attitude angle calculation function unit 7 is calculated by the correction steering gain in the multiplier. (K2) Gyro output data θ _GYRO after being amplified for 12 minutes and corrected for drift.
becomes.

Next, the operation of the above functional blocks will be explained. In this device, the unmanned traveling device main body 2 travels so as not to collide with obstacles such as walls, and when traveling along a wall, the distance measuring sensor 3, 3' is used as a reference in the main body. It is attached to the side. Also,
The distance measurement ranges of the distance measurement sensors 3 and 3' are designed to be narrow so that the distance measurement data is used for attitude control only when the distance measurement sensor approaches an obstacle such as a wall. When the obstacle is separated from the unmanned mobile device by a certain distance or more, or when the relative angle θ _M with the wall is greater than a specified angle, the system is configured to directly guide the unmanned vehicle using inertial navigation. That is, in this device, while the unmanned traveling device main body 2 is traveling, the distance measuring sensors 3, 3'
When the distance to a wall etc. cannot be measured due to the distance measurement, or when the relative angle θ _M is greater than or equal to the specified angle, the attitude angle calculation function unit 7 operates and the attitude angle range determination function unit 8 operates to issue a command. Output A. This command A is a command to reverse the states of switches SWa, -SWc. Therefore, switches SWa and SWc open and SWb closes, so the output of the attitude angle calculation function unit 7 and the update function of the attitude control angle data θ _HOLD 9 including drift are lost, and the gyro output is performed for linear guidance by inertial navigation. Data (θ _GYRO )
6 is used to obtain a drive output from the front steered wheel servo amplifier 21, and thereby the front steered wheel motor 22 is controlled to control the yaw angle and move straight. As a result, when distance measurement is not possible, or when there are large irregularities on the wall, the vehicle will travel based on the current travel axis direction using inertial navigation, and will not be affected by the irregularities on the wall. Note that the drift correction of θ _GYRO θ is performed using the last updated _HOLD . Further, at this time, since distance measurement is not possible or the wall is in a state where the unevenness is large, the lateral displacement is not corrected using the distance measurement data. Therefore _, since the lateral displacement error l _ERROR is not used, in order to cut it off, l _ERROR is set to zero (step
S9), the rear steering angle is not controlled.

On the other hand, when the unmanned traveling device main body 2 is at a position where the distance measuring sensors 3, 3' on the side surface thereof can measure the distance to a wall or the like, the following control is performed according to the measured distance.

When the distance measurement data from the side distance measurement sensors 3, 3' is obtained, the distance measurement data is controlled so that it does not come closer than the control distance or further away than necessary.

To explain this case in conjunction with the steering angle calculation program shown in FIG. 6, in step S1, it is determined from the state of the distance measurement data whether or not it is within the range that can be measured with respect to the wall of the distance measurement sensors 3, 3. , if distance measurement is possible, the attitude angle calculation function unit 7 calculates the relative angle θ _M with the wall 1 from the distance measurement data 3a, 3b of the distance measurement sensors 3, 3' (corresponding to step S2). The attitude angle range determination function unit 8 checks whether this relative angle θ _M is larger than a certain fixed angle (step S3).
equivalent). If the relative angle θ _M is within a certain fixed angle, it means that there are no large irregularities on the wall, so the attitude angle range determination function unit 8 does not issue the command A. Therefore, the switches SWa and SWc remain in their original states, so switch SWa is closed, switch SWb is open, and switch SWc is closed. As a result, the composite value of the gyro output data (θ _GYRO ) 6 output by the gyro locator and the yaw angle error (θ _ERROR ) 10, which is a feedback signal for correcting the drift of the gyro output data 6, is used as a correction value for the drift-containing attitude. The control angle data (θ HOLD) is given to the control angle data (θ _HOLD ) 9 and updated. Then, the difference in the gyro output data (θ _GYRO ) 6 is determined based on the updated (θ _HOLD ), which becomes the attitude angle data, and this is further added to the yaw angle true value gain (K1) 11
After a gain correction of 12 minutes is added to the attitude angle calculated by the attitude angle calculation function section 7, a gain (K2) with a gain correction of 12 minutes is added to the attitude angle, and the result is sent to the front steering wheel servo amplifier 21 as a control output. given (step)
(equivalent to S4), attitude control is achieved by forward steering control. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the attitude angle Δθ is corrected to be zero with respect to the running reference 5. here,
Current yaw angle error θ _ERROR is K1 + relative angle θ _M
The correction is made while maintaining the relationship of K2 = 1. At this time, if K2 > K1, it will be possible to sufficiently cope with large undulations on wall 1.

In addition, the difference is obtained based on the data l _M obtained by the distance measurement data judgment function unit 14 from the outputs of the distance measurement sensors 3 and 3' and the reference lateral displacement amount (l _REF ) 13 set at the start of travel, and A lateral displacement error (l _ERROR ) 16 is obtained by multiplying the gain (K3) by 15 (step S6).
Then, the control amount corresponding to this lateral displacement error l _ERROR is given to the rear steering amount servo amplifier 18 of the front steering wheel servo amplifier 21 to obtain front steering wheel and rear steering wheel drive outputs, and the front steering wheel motor 22 and rear steering wheel motor 19
to control the front steered wheels 4a and the rear steered wheels 4b. As a result, the lateral displacement Δv is corrected to the position of the traveling reference 5 as shown in FIG. 3 (step S7).

This makes it possible to travel along the wall while keeping a predetermined distance from the wall. Note that the yaw angle error (θ _ERROR ) 10 is used to correct the drift of the gyro locator output data (θ _GYRO ) 6 that occurs over time.

As described above, the present invention provides distance measuring sensors having a relatively short distance measuring range on at least one side of the main body of an unmanned vehicle, and at least one distance measuring sensor in the vicinity of both sides of the main body of the unmanned mobile device.
The wall surface along the traveling direction is detected by the side distance measuring sensor, and based on this detection output, the relative angle θ _M between the unmanned vehicle main body and the wall and the distance from the wall surface are determined, and the relative angle is determined as a predetermined value. If it is within the value, the detected relative angle with the wall surface (Δθ in Fig. 4) is set to zero based on the detection output of the side distance measuring sensor, and the distance to the wall surface is kept constant (Fig. 3). (∆y of the distance sensor is brought closer to the driving reference 5), and when the relative angle is greater than a predetermined value, when distance measurement is impossible, or when the distance measurement data of the distance measurement sensor has a large change, only the gyro output data is used. and travel in a straight line using inertial navigation. Then, when it comes to a wall blocking the direction of movement, it moves by a pitch equal to the width of the main body, then moves along the running standard line in the opposite direction from the previous time, and then blocks the direction of movement. When it hits the wall, move it by a pitch equal to the width of the main body, and then
This control is repeated so that the vehicle travels along the reference line again in the opposite direction to the previous time. Therefore, without using auxiliary guide lines such as markers or guide lines, it is possible to run evenly throughout the room, such as in the lobby of a building, while shifting laterally at a predetermined pitch based only on the wall surface, without overlapping the room. This makes it possible to perform travel control that follows an efficient and regulated travel route, which is required when applied to cleaning robots and the like. Further, even if the wall surface has irregularities, the above-mentioned traveling control can be performed without being affected by the irregularities.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope without changing the gist thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently and evenly travel around building lobbies, etc. without the need for guidance lines, and even if there are undulations or unevenness on the reference wall surface, It is possible to provide an unmanned traveling device that is capable of traveling.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention;
2 to 4 are diagrams for explaining the operation, FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of attitude control of the present device, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of attitude control. 1...Wall, 2...Unmanned vehicle, 3,3'...
Distance sensor, 3a, 3b... Distance measurement data, 4a,
4b...Front and rear steering wheels, 5...Driving standards, 6...
... Gyro output data, 7 ... Attitude angle calculation function section, 8 ... Attitude angle judgment function section, 9 ... Attitude angle data including drift, 10 ... Yaw angle error data,
SWa to SWc...Switch, 13...Reference lateral displacement amount, 14...Distance data judgment function section, 18...Rear steering wheel servo amplifier, 19...Rear steering wheel motor,
21...Front steering wheel servo amplifier, 22...Front steering wheel motor, 23...Gear locator, 24...Operation mode information, 25...Input port, 2
6...Microcomputer, 27...RAM
(Random access memory), 28...CPU
(processor), 29...ROM (read only memory), 30...output port,
31... Running wheel servo amplifier, 32... Running wheel motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering means having a front steering wheel and a rear steering wheel for steering the front side and rear side of the traveling device main body, and steering the front steering wheel and the rear steering wheel independently, and a steering means in the traveling area of the traveling device main body. At least one pair of distance measuring means with a short measurable distance are provided near at least both sides of the side surface of the traveling device main body to measure the distance to the side wall, and the attitude control of the traveling device main body by inertial navigation is provided. From the distance measurement data output by the side distance measurement means, the gyro device obtains attitude angle information to determine whether the distance measurement means can measure the distance to the wall or not. An attitude angle calculation function unit that calculates the relative angle, determines whether or not the calculated relative angle exceeds a predetermined angle, and when the calculated relative angle exceeds the predetermined angle or when the above measurement is impossible, inertial navigation is performed using the output data of the gyro device. If the attitude control output is not exceeded, the attitude control output based on the output data of the above-mentioned gyro device and the attitude correction amount for the relative angle obtained by the attitude angle calculation function unit is used for front steering wheel control. The attitude control output correction function unit provides the steering means, and generates a lateral displacement control output such that the distance to the wall on the side of the unmanned vehicle body becomes a set value based on the upper distance measurement data, and performs forward and rearward steering. 1. An unmanned traveling device comprising: a control means comprising a lateral displacement control function section which supplies a lateral displacement control output to a steering means for wheel control and also prevents a lateral displacement control output from being given during control by inertial navigation.