JPH11210020A - Automatically operated construction equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatically operated construction equipment capable of discharging soil by computing the proper place of soil discharge also to working bodies such as different kinds of dump trucks. SOLUTION: This automatically operated construction equipment has an image pickup means 13 for picking up at least a working body, from which soil is discharged, and soil-discharge place arithmetic means 17, 20 arithmetically operating the place of soil discharge to the working body on the basis of picked-up image pickup data, and operation in a round from instructed evacuation to soil discharge is conducted repeatedly by reproduction operation. The working body has display sections A, B, C, D picked up by the image pickup means at the time in the equipment. The soil-discharge place arithmetic section discriminates the kinds of the working bodies from the display information of the display sections picked up by the image pickup means, and arithmetically operates the place of soil discharge on the basis of the shape data of the working body of the discriminated kind and image pickup data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic driving construction machine, and more particularly to an automatic driving construction machine for automatically loading a work body such as a dump truck or a crusher.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a crushed stone site or the like, loading work on a dump truck or a crusher by a construction machine such as a hydraulic shovel excavates earth and stone from a predetermined place.
It is a monotonous and repetitive task of dumping the soil at a fixed location such as a dump truck vessel or crusher hopper. Such a monotonous repetitive operation is painful for the operator, and there is a growing demand for the operation to be performed automatically without human intervention.

Conventionally, as one of the methods of automating such a loading operation, an excavation position and a dumping position are taught,
Between these positions, the turning work is mainly performed repeatedly without running the hydraulic excavator.

[0004] Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-7121 discloses one method of automation using a hydraulic shovel. This conventional technique stores an operation state quantity such as an angle and a position obtained by a teaching operation. The hydraulic shovel performs a regenerating operation using the stored value during the regenerating operation.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method is a self-contained system of a type in which the positional relationship between a hydraulic excavator that performs automatic operation and a working machine such as a dump truck during regeneration operation is not taken into consideration. It is.

[0006] Therefore, when loading excavated soil and the like into a dump truck or the like by the hydraulic excavator, the excavated soil is dumped at the same position taught each time. Also, dump trucks are not always located at the same position,
In addition, even if the dump truck is placed in the proper position, if the excavator itself shifts position while repeating the regenerating operation, it can not be dumped to the proper place to dump the dump truck. There was a problem.

[0007] Dump trucks and the like have various shapes, and in order to load the dump truck at any appropriate position on any of these multiple types of dump trucks, the type of the dump truck must be specified. There must be.
To cope with this, a method of transmitting the shape data of the dump truck from the dump truck to a working machine such as a hydraulic excavator by radio or the like is conceivable, but it requires extra equipment and is not economical.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide
An autonomous construction machine, such as an autonomous shovel or the like, provided with an imaging means so that the type of a work body such as a dump truck of a different type can be determined from the imaging data and the earth can be ejected at an appropriate earth unloading position. Is to provide.

[0009]

The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0010] Excavation taught includes at least image pickup means for picking up an image of a work body to be unloaded, and unloading position calculating means for calculating a position for unloading the work body based on the picked-up image data. In a self-driving construction machine that repeats a single cycle of operation from reproduction to reproduction by a regenerating operation, the work body includes a display unit that is imaged by the imaging unit. The model of the work body is determined from the display information of the display unit thus determined, and the earth discharging position is calculated based on the shape data of the work body of the determined model and the imaging data.

Further, in the automatic driving construction machine according to the present invention, the display unit is constituted by light sources having different blinking periods for each type of the work body.

Further, in the automatic driving construction machine according to claim 1, the display unit has a different color for each model of the work body.

Further, in the automatic driving construction machine according to the first aspect, the display section is constituted by a light source having a different emission color for each model of the work body and a different blinking cycle.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a working mode of a hydraulic shovel (hereinafter, referred to as an automatic driving construction machine) which performs automatic driving according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an automatic construction machine for excavating stored debris 3 to be described later and dumping it on a dump truck 2 to be described later, and 2 denotes a vessel 14 on which debris is loaded.
And a dump truck that loads and transports debris released from the automatic driving construction machine 1, 3 is debris stored in a debris storage, and 15 is a remote driving construction machine disposed at a position remote from the automatic driving construction machine 1. 1 is a remote control device for remotely controlling the wireless communication device 1 by using communication means such as wireless communication.

The automatic driving construction machine 1 includes a traveling body 4, a revolving body 5 rotatably provided on the traveling body 4, a boom 6 provided on the revolving body 5 so as to be able to elevate, and a tip of the boom 6. An arm 7 rotatably provided, a bucket 8 rotatably provided at the tip of the arm 7, a revolving unit 5, and a boom 6
An angle sensor 9 for detecting a turning angle between the boom 6 and the arm 7; an angle sensor 11 for detecting a turning angle between the arm 7 and the bucket 8; It comprises a cab 12 provided, and a video camera 13 provided on the roof such as the cab 12 and provided for capturing the loading place of the dump truck 2.

Further, the vessel 14 is provided with light sources A, B, C, and D for determining the type of the dump truck 2 and grasping characteristic points on the image of the vessel 14 described later.

It is desirable that the video camera 13 be installed at a position where the vessel 14 which is a target for unloading can always be seen when unloading.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism at the time of a regenerating operation of the automatic driving construction machine according to the present embodiment.
In this figure, the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts as those shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 17 denotes a device mounted on the automatic driving construction machine 1, 171 denotes an automatic driving controller mainly constituted by a computer, and 172 is driven by a driving signal output from a servo control unit 1712 to be described later. The electromagnetic control valve 173 controls the amount of oil or hydraulic pressure flowing into the actuator provided on the revolving superstructure 5, the boom 6, the arm 7, and the bucket 8, and 173 is a detector for detecting the operation amount of the actuator.

The automatic operation controller 171 includes the detector 1
A current position calculating unit 1711 that calculates the operating position of the automatic driving construction machine based on the detection signal from 73, and a drive signal that compares the feedback value and the input value from the current position calculating unit 1711 to correct the deviation. A servo control unit 1712 that outputs to the electromagnetic control valve 172; a teaching position storage unit 1713 that is taught at the time of teaching or at the time of uncovering of the regenerating operation to store teaching position data; and a teaching position stored at the teaching position storage unit 1713 Teaching position output processing unit 1714 that outputs data
Command storage unit 17 for storing the teaching command
15 and a servo pre-processing unit 1716 for interpolating between the teaching position data output from the teaching position output processing unit 1714
And the teaching command from the teaching command storage unit 1715 are sequentially read, and the teaching position output processing unit 171 is read.
4, a command interpreter unit 1717 for outputting a command for outputting the teaching position data and a moving speed value between the teaching points, and an automatic driving construction which is considered appropriate for the video camera 13 to image the vessel 14. An image capture position storage unit 1718 in which the reproduction operation position of the machine 1 is stored, an image data storage unit (frame buffer) 1719 for temporarily storing a plurality of image data captured at the image capture position, Based on the shape data of the vessel 14 searched and determined based on the model of the dump truck 2 based on the image data stored in the data storage unit 1719, and the characteristic points of the vessel 14 calculated from the image data, the soil is released. And a discharge position calculating unit 1720 for calculating the position.

As described above, of the teaching position data stored in the teaching position storage unit 1713, such as the unloading position, the excavation position, and the turning direction of the revolving unit 5, the unloading position data is the other teaching position. While the data is stored in advance during the teaching operation, the unloading position calculation unit 172 is used during the reproduction operation.
Each time it is calculated by 0, it is stored as unburden position data.

The remote operation device 15 includes a teaching operation unit 151 for storing teaching position data in a teaching position storage unit 1713 at the time of teaching, and a command interpreter unit 17 for playback operation.
And a reproduction operation unit 152 for starting and performing a reproduction operation.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a blinking controller mounted on the dump truck 2 and outputting blinking signals having different blinking periods to the light sources A, B, C and D for each model of the dump truck 2.

FIG. 3 shows the vessel 14 of the dump truck 2.
2 shows a state where the light sources A, B, C, and D are attached. This figure is a view from the back of the vessel 14, and here,
Although four light sources are used, more light sources may be used in order to accurately know the position and orientation of the object. In general, at least three feature points are required to extract the feature points of the vessel 14 with one camera and calculate the position and orientation of the target from the feature points.

Next, the operation of the automatic driving construction machine according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the debris 3 stored by the bucket 8 of the automatic driving construction machine 1 is stored.
After excavation, the bucket 8 is moved to the position of the vessel 14 of the dump truck 2, the soil is unloaded at a predetermined position of the vessel 14, and the bucket 8 is returned to the storage location of the debris 3 again. Will be described.

When the reproduction operation section 152 is operated to start reproduction, a reproduction start signal is transmitted from the remote control device 15 to the automatic driving construction machine 1 by the communication means, and is input to the command interpreter section 1717. When the command interpreter 1717 receives the reproduction start signal, it sequentially reads the commands stored in the teaching command storage 1715 and causes the teaching position output processor 1714 to output the teaching position data from the teaching position storage 1713. The teaching position data is transferred to the servo preprocessing unit 1716, and interpolation calculation is performed so that the front joints and the revolving superstructure of the automatic driving construction machine 1 operate at the target speed given from the command interpreter unit 1717, and the servo control is performed. The target angle value is output to the unit 1712. The servo control unit 1712 performs feedback control based on the current position calculated by the current position calculation unit 1711, and outputs a drive signal to the electromagnetic control valve 1712. Thereby, the operation taught in advance is reproduced.

Next, the unloading position calculating section 1720 shown in FIG.
Will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step 1, the current position calculating section 17
By comparing the current position data input from 11 with the image capture position data stored in the image capture position storage unit 1718, it is determined whether or not the automatic driving construction machine 1 has reached the image capture position. Then, when reaching the image capturing position, in step 2, an image is captured from the video camera 13. Since the blinking cycle of the light sources A, B, C, and D differs for each model of the dump truck 2, image data for several frames is stored in the image data storage unit (frame buffer) 1 to identify the blinking cycle.
719. Next, in step 3, the model of the dump truck 2 is determined from a plurality of frames stored in the image data storage (frame buffer) 1717.
When the model is determined in step 4, the shape data of the vessel 14 stored for each model, in this case, the distance between the light sources A, B, C, and D is searched. Next, in Step 5, each light source A,
The positions of feature points a, b, c, and d on the image corresponding to B, C, and D are calculated. Next, in step 6, the searched shape data (distances between the light sources A, B, C, and D)
Based on the position data of the feature points a, b, c, and d, an appropriate unloading position on the vessel 14 is calculated. The calculated unloading position data is sent to the teaching position storage unit 1713.

The calculation of the unloading position is generally performed by using at least three characteristic points A,
If the distance between B, C, and D is known, the video camera 13
By knowing the positions of these feature points a, b, c, and d in the screen imaged in the above, the positions of the respective points in space can be obtained by a known calculation method. Known calculation methods are disclosed in JP-B-62-54108, IEICE Transactions D-I Vol.
J72-D-INo. 9pp-1441-1447 are known.

As described above, the shape of the vessel 14 of the dump truck 2 differs for each model, and accordingly, the distance between the characteristic points A, B, C, and D of the vessel 14 also differs. Therefore, the unloading position calculating unit 1720 cannot calculate the unloading position unless the actual distance between the characteristic points A, B, C, and D for each model is known.

A method of obtaining distance data between the characteristic points A, B, C, and D of the vessel 14 for each type of the dump truck 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the blinking cycle of the light sources A, B, C, and D for each model of the dump truck 2.

Here, model 1 to model 3 are blinking periods for each model of the dump truck 2, frames 1 to 12 are captured image frames, On is the lighting state of the light sources A, B, C, and D, and Off is Indicates a light-off state. Here, the blink cycle of the model 1 is stored in the image data storage unit (frame buffer).
The length is set to be twice as long as the 1719 capture cycle. That is, the blinking in the shortest cycle means that the image in the light-on state and the image in the light-off state are alternately stored in the image data storage unit (frame buffer) 1719. The blinking cycle of the model 2 is a cycle in which the lighting state is photographed in two frames and the light-off state is photographed in two frames. The blinking cycle of the model 3 is such that the lighting state is photographed in three frames and the light-off state is photographed in three frames. It is a cycle.

FIG. 6 shows characteristic points a, b, c, d from the image data in the image data storage (frame buffer) 1719.
It is a figure for explaining detection of.

Here, FIG. 6A shows the light sources A, B, C, D
FIG. 6 (b) is an image when is lit, and FIG.
FIG. 6 (c) is an image obtained by taking a difference between the two images, and an image in which the brightness of the two images is changed can be extracted. it can. By counting the number of frames stored in the image data storage unit (frame buffer) 1719 until this change is detected, it is possible to know the cycle for each model.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation in step 3 shown in FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure for judging the model of the dump truck 2 from the difference of the blinking cycle of the light source A, B, C, D.

First, the case of the blink pattern of model 1 will be described.

Here, count1 and count2 are counters, f_n
um is a variable indicating the number of the frame buffer.

At step 21, the frame buffer is set to the initial position, and at step 22, the counter is cleared. Next, in step 23, a difference in brightness between the frames f_num and f_num + 1, here, the frames 1 and 2, is calculated. As shown in FIG. 5, since the frame 1 is turned on and the frame 2 is turned off, a difference in brightness is detected, and the determination in step 24 results in Yes. Next, in step 26, the frame f_num is updated. Then step 2
7, the updated frame f_num and frame f_num + 1,
Here, the difference in brightness between frame 2 and frame 3 is calculated. Since frame 2 is off and frame 3 is on, a difference in brightness is detected, and the determination in step 28 is Yes. Next, in step 30, count1
And count2 are compared and both are 1, so step 31
Since the cycle is count1 = 1, it is determined to be 1, and then,
In step 32, since the cycle = 1, the model 1
Is determined. Note that the blinking pattern of the model 1 has a difference in brightness for each frame, so that the same determination is made regardless of which frame the calculation is started.

Next, the case of the blink pattern of the model 2 will be described.

In step 21, the frame buffer is set to the initial position, and in step 22, the counter is cleared. Next, in step 23, a difference in brightness between the frames f_num and f_num + 1, here, the frames 1 and 2, is calculated. As shown in FIG. 7, since both the frame 1 and the frame 2 are lit, no difference in brightness is detected, and the determination in step 24 is No. In step 25, 1 is added to count1 to be 2, and f_num is also updated to be 2. Returning again to step 23, frame f_num and frame f_num + 1, here frame 2 and frame 3,
Calculate the difference in brightness. Since frame 2 is turned on and frame 3 is turned off, a difference in brightness is detected, and the determination in step 24 is Yes. Next, the frame f_num is updated to 3 in step 26. Next, in step 27, the frames f_num and f_num + 1,
Here, the difference between the brightness of frame 3 and the brightness of frame 4 is calculated. Since both frame 3 and frame 4 are off, no difference in brightness is detected, so the determination in step 28 is No. In step 29, 1 is added to count1 to be 2, and f_num is also updated to be 4. Returning again to step 27, the frames f_num and f_num +
1. Here, the difference between the brightness of frame 4 and the brightness of frame 5 is calculated. Since the frame 4 is turned off and the frame 5 is turned on, a difference in brightness is detected, and the determination in step 28 is Yes. Next, in step 30, count1
And count2 are compared and both are 2, so step 3
At 1, the cycle is determined to be 2 because count1 = 2, and then at step 32, it is determined to be model 2 because the cycle is 2 at step 32. In the case of the model 2, even if the calculation of the frame 2 and the frame 3 is started, for example, not from the calculation of the frame 1 and the frame 2, the calculation of the step 1 I will start over from 2, but at this time
Since the calculation always starts from the state where the lighting state changes to the light-off state or the state where the light-emitting state changes to the lighting state, a correct result can be obtained in the second calculation.

In the case of the model 3, the details are omitted, but it is possible to determine the model 3 from the blinking pattern of each frame by the same processing procedure as in the case of the model 1 and the model 2.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the type of dump truck to be unloaded from the automatic driving construction machine is different, the type can be quickly determined by the video camera, and from the determination result, The shape data of the registered model can be searched and used for calculating the unburden position.

In the present embodiment, when a video camera capable of capturing a color image is used, the model can be determined by using light sources having different colors for each model instead of light sources having different blinking periods. In this case, the RGB color components are stored in separate image data storage units (frame buffers) 1719 from the video camera, and different colors are registered for each model in the earth-discharge position calculation unit 1720, and the image is captured. The model can be specified in comparison with the color of the light source.

Further, by using a light source having a different color for each model and a blinking cycle different for each model, more models can be identified.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the type of the dump truck is determined from the light sources having different blinking cycles for each model provided in the vessel by the imaging means or different colors for each model, and different models are provided. For the dump truck, the appropriate position of the vessel can be quickly calculated and discharged from the automatic driving construction machine.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a self-driving construction machine, a display unit which is imaged by an image pickup means is provided on a work body, and an image is quickly picked up by the image pickup means by a dumping position calculating unit. The model of the work body is determined from the display information of the display unit, and the unearthing position is calculated based on the shape data and the imaging data of the work body of the determined model. Even different work bodies can be dumped at an appropriate position on the work body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism during a regeneration operation of an automatic driving construction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a working mode of the automatic driving construction machine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where the light sources A, B, C, and D according to the present embodiment are mounted, as viewed from the rear of the vessel 14.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in an earth discharging position calculating unit 1720 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a blinking cycle of the light sources A, B, C, and D for each model of the dump truck 2 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows characteristic points a, b, and f based on image data in an image data storage (frame buffer) 1719 according to the present embodiment.
It is a figure for explaining detection of c and d.

7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for determining the type of the dump truck 2 in step 3 shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic driving construction machine 2 Dump truck 3 Debris 13 Video camera 14 Vessel 15 Remote control device 152 Playback operation unit 17 In-vehicle device 171 Automatic operation controller 1711 Current position calculation unit 1712 Servo control unit 1713 Teaching position storage unit 1715 Teaching command storage unit 1717 Command interpreter section 1718 Image capture position storage section 1719 Image data storage section 1720 Discharge position calculation section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A teaching method comprising: at least imaging means for imaging a work body to be unburdened; and unearthing position calculating means for calculating a soil unloading position on the work body based on the captured image data. In an automatic driving construction machine that repeatedly performs a single operation from excavation to earth removal by a regenerating operation, the work body includes a display unit imaged by the imaging unit, and the earthing position calculation unit includes the imaging unit Determine the model of the work body from the display information of the display unit imaged by,
An automatic driving construction machine, wherein the unloading position is calculated based on the shape data of the determined type of work body and the imaging data. 2. The automatic driving construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the display unit includes light sources having different blinking periods for each model of the work body. 3. The automatic driving construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the display unit has a different color for each model of the work body. 4. The automatic driving construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is configured by a light source having a different emission color for each model of the work body and a different blinking cycle.