Autonomous moving body and method of controlling travel of autonomous moving body
The autonomous mobile robot uses a virtual wall and evacuation behavior control to autonomously exit prohibited areas, ensuring continuous operation without human intervention.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2023108719
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-06-30
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-17
AI Technical Summary
Conventional autonomous mobile robots cannot escape prohibited areas when their autonomous driving functions fail, leading to a halt in operation and requiring human intervention for avoidance.
The autonomous mobile robot sets a virtual wall as a no-entry area and includes an evacuation behavior control system that searches for and moves to a position from which it can exit the prohibited area without human intervention.
Enables the robot to autonomously evacuate from prohibited areas, reducing the need for human intervention and maintaining operation without stopping.
Smart Images

Figure 2025007367000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomous moving body and a method for controlling traveling of an autonomous moving body. [Background technology]
[0002] A technology is known that allows a mobile robot, which is an autonomous moving body, to safely move autonomously by setting a specific area including a virtual wall that is provided to prevent the mobile robot from colliding with a wall while moving autonomously as a no-entry area for the mobile robot.
[0003] Furthermore, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a mobile robot takes evasive action when it detects an obstacle while autonomously traveling. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-206237 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0005] However, with conventional technology, if the autonomous driving function does not function properly for some reason and the mobile robot enters a restricted area, it cannot escape automatically and autonomous driving stops.
[0006] According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a mobile robot traveling autonomously in a place with an obstacle or in a crowd cannot take evasive action, the robot transmits a remote control request signal to an operator, so that the robot can take evasive action manually. Users of mobile robots use mobile robots to replace tasks that are normally performed by humans in order to reduce labor costs. Therefore, the objective cannot be achieved by manually taking evasive action.
[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to enable an autonomous moving body to search for a position to which it can move from the forbidden area and escape from the forbidden area without human intervention, even if the autonomous moving body enters and stops in a forbidden area where it cannot travel because a function related to autonomous traveling does not function normally. [Means for solving the problem]
[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides an autonomous moving body that sets a predetermined range as a no-entry area, including a virtual wall provided to prevent the autonomous moving body from colliding with a wall while autonomously traveling toward a target point, and includes an evacuation behavior control unit that, when the autonomous moving body enters the no-entry area, searches for a position to which the autonomous moving body can move from the no-entry area and controls the evacuation behavior to escape to that position. Effect of the Invention
[0009] According to the present invention, even if an autonomous moving body enters and stops in a forbidden area where it cannot move because a function related to autonomous traveling does not work properly, the autonomous moving body can itself search for a position to which it can move from the forbidden area and can escape from the forbidden area without human intervention. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mobile robot which is an autonomous mobile body according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the appearance of the mobile robot. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing various functions of the evacuation behavior control unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing exemplary positional relationships between a travel route, obstacles, virtual walls, entry-restricted areas, and a mobile robot. [Diagram 5]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the mobile robot. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the evacuation behavior control process. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the evacuation behavior from the entry-prohibited area according to steps S5 to S13 in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of an autonomous moving body and a method for controlling travel of an autonomous moving body will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mobile robot 100 which is an autonomous mobile body according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the external appearance of the mobile robot 100.
[0013] The basic operation of the autonomous mobile body is that waypoints (corresponding to the first target point of the present invention) are set as passing points on the travel route from its current position to the final destination, and while successively acquiring its current position, it travels toward the next waypoint as a target point while avoiding collisions with obstacles, and finally travels toward the final destination as a target point. The mobile robot 100 operates in a similar manner.
[0014] Furthermore, the external shape of the autonomous moving body is arbitrary, but the autonomous moving body according to this embodiment, i.e., mobile robot 100, shown in FIG. 2, has a horizontal cross-sectional outline of its widest part at the bottom that is roughly circular.
[0015] In this embodiment, when the mobile robot 100 is positioned on the floor and viewed from directly above it, the smallest circle that can fit inside it is drawn on the floor and this circle is called the "main body area circle of the mobile robot 100," and the radius of this main body area circle is called the "radius of the mobile robot 100." The center of this main body area circle is the current position of the mobile robot 100 itself.
[0016] Furthermore, in order to avoid collisions with obstacles while the mobile robot 100 is moving, a doughnut-shaped marginal area of a certain width is set outside the main body area circle of the mobile robot 100, which is expressed as the "padding area of the mobile robot 100" in this embodiment. This width is also expressed as the "width of the padding area of the mobile robot 100" (corresponding to the "marginal width when the autonomous mobile body is moving" of the present invention).
[0017] The mobile robot 100 mainly comprises a laser range sensor 101 (hereinafter referred to as "LRS 101"), a detection information receiving unit 102, a surveillance camera 103, an image information receiving unit 104, an operation panel unit 105, an operation panel control unit 106, a speaker 107, an audio output control unit 108, a current position acquisition unit 109, a position cost calculation unit 115, an avoidance action control unit 116, an evacuation action control unit 110, a driving control unit 112, a communication unit 113, and a drive unit 114.
[0018] The LRS 101 is a distance sensor that detects an object in a detection area and measures the distance and direction to the object. Here, the object includes obstacles that the mobile robot 100 may collide with while traveling (for example, a person standing near the traveling path, luggage placed on the floor, a moving pedestrian, a mobile robot operating separately from the mobile robot 100, etc.), and fixed objects (for example, a wall surface, furniture, etc.) that exist around the traveling path of the mobile robot 100. The LRS 101 performs a detection operation at regular intervals, and sequentially detects the position of the object, more specifically, the measurement point that is the position of the surface of the object that is detected by the LRS 101 after reflecting a laser irradiated from the LRS 101. The LRS 101 is installed at the foot of the mobile robot 100 as shown in FIG. 2. The detection information receiving unit 102 receives detection information when the LRS 101 detects an object, and determines the direction of the mobile robot 100 based on the position information of the detected object contained in the detection information, the current position of the mobile robot 100, and map information stored in ROM 22 (see Figure 5) described later, and if it determines that the detected object is an object not included in the map information, stores the position of the object in RAM 23 (see Figure 5).
[0019] In this embodiment, a case will be described in which all distance sensors installed at the bottom as shown in Figure 2 are laser range sensors, but this is not limited to this. For example, a laser range sensor can be installed at the bottom front of mobile robot 100, and distance sensors with a different object detection principle than the laser range sensor (e.g. ultrasonic distance sensors) can be installed at the bottom left and right sides so that their detection areas partially overlap, so that even if the laser range sensor cannot detect an object (for example, the surface of the object is mirror-like and the measurement point cannot be detected), the object can be detected by the other distance sensors.
[0020] The surveillance camera 103 captures an image of a surveillance area. The surveillance camera 103 is installed on the top of the mobile robot 100 as shown in Fig. 2. The image information receiving unit 104 receives image information captured by the surveillance camera 103.
[0021] The operation panel unit 105 is a device that combines a display unit and an input unit that accepts a user's touch operation on the display unit, and is, for example, a liquid crystal display with a touch panel. It displays a menu of operations for the mobile robot 100 and various information, and accepts selection instructions by the user's touch operation on the operation menu. The operation panel control unit 106 controls input and output to the operation panel unit 105.
[0022] The speaker 107 outputs voice messages. The speaker 107 is disposed on the side of the mobile robot 100 as shown in Fig. 2. The voice output control unit 108 controls the output of various voice messages from the speaker 107, such as voice messages related to information displayed on the operation panel unit 105.
[0023] The current position acquisition unit 109 acquires the current position of the mobile robot 100. Any method may be used to acquire the current position, but any known technique may be used, such as acquiring position information from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), acquiring the current position by installing an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor in the mobile robot 100 and using information on the direction and distance of movement from a starting point estimated based on the detection results, receiving beacon signals transmitted from access points of a plurality of wireless LANs (Local Area Networks) whose transmission positions are known, estimating the distance from the access points based on the radio wave strength, or receiving radio waves from a plurality of tags that emit UWB (Ultra Wide Band) radio waves whose transmission positions are known, and acquiring the current position based on the arrival time and angle of the radio waves.
[0024] The location cost calculation unit 115 calculates a location cost, which is a value indicating the proximity of an arbitrary location to an entry prohibited area.
[0025] The no-entry area is set with a predetermined width around the virtual wall or around the object detected by LRS101, but in this embodiment, the width of the no-entry area facing the virtual wall or the object detected by LRS101 on the side of the moving path of the mobile robot 100 is set to the radius of the mobile robot 100 plus the width of the padding area.
[0026] The closer the distance from a position to the entry-prohibited area, the larger the position cost becomes, and the maximum value is reached at a position within the entry-prohibited area. The calculation method of the position cost is arbitrary, but for example, if the minimum distance from a position to the surrounding virtual wall or an object detected by the LRS 101 is d, the radius of the mobile robot 100 is r, the width of the padding area is p, and the position cost is c, then if d>r+p, that is, at any position on the travel route that is not within the entry-prohibited area, c=1 / (1+drp), and if d≦r+p, that is, at any position within the entry-prohibited area, c=1 (the maximum value of c) can be calculated. Based on the position cost calculated by such a calculation method, it can be determined whether the position is within the entry-prohibited area or not, or how close the position is to the entry-prohibited area.
[0027] When the mobile robot 100 travels in a place with obstacles or in a crowd, the avoidance behavior control unit 116 corrects the travel route based on the detection information received by the detection information receiving unit 102 from the LRS 101 so as to avoid collision with obstacles on the travel route, to avoid intrusion into a no-entry area (see FIG. 4) on the travel route, and to follow the original travel route. The travel control unit 112 controls the driving unit 114 so that the mobile robot 100 travels along the corrected travel route.
[0028] When the mobile robot 100 is traveling in a place with obstacles or in a crowd, and the functions related to the autonomous traveling of the mobile robot 100 do not operate normally due to various factors (for example, when the current position acquisition unit 109 is unable to acquire the current position, when a passerby approaching from outside the detection area of the LRS 101 collides with the mobile robot 100, or when the wheels (not shown) of the mobile robot 100 slip and the posture of the mobile robot 100 becomes unstable because the floor on which the mobile robot 100 is traveling is wet, etc.), and the mobile robot 100 enters a no-entry area (see Figure 4) on its traveling path, the escape behavior control unit 110 checks whether there are any obstacles around the mobile robot 100 from the detection information received from the LRS 101 by the detection information receiving unit 102, calculates the position costs of positions around the current position of the mobile robot 100 that are within the no-entry area, and sets the position with the smallest position cost as a new target point to which the mobile robot 100 can move from its current position, thereby controlling the escape behavior of the mobile robot 100 to escape from the no-entry area. The evacuation behavior control unit 110 will be described in detail later.
[0029] The driving unit 114 drives the wheels (not shown) of the mobile robot 100. The travel control unit 112 controls the driving unit 114 so that the mobile robot 100 travels (moves and rotates (including rotation in place that changes only the orientation of the mobile robot 100 without changing the current position)) according to a travel route stored in the ROM 22 (see FIG. 5). Specifically, the driving unit 114 is a driving unit (wheel motor, etc.) that drives the wheels of the mobile robot 100, and corresponds to, for example, a motor, a motor driver, a control module, etc.
[0030] The communication unit 113 transmits and receives various information to and from a monitoring device (not shown) connected via a network. Specifically, the communication unit 113 receives instructions from the monitoring device, such as to start or stop patrolling the driving route. The communication unit 113 also transmits to the monitoring device image information received by the image information receiving unit 104 from the monitoring camera 103 and detection information received by the detection information receiving unit 102 from the LRS 101.
[0031] ROM 22 (see FIG. 5) is a memory unit that stores map information (positions of obstacles such as real walls and virtual walls) relating to the environment in which the mobile robot 100 travels autonomously, the travel path of the mobile robot 100, waypoints, the final destination, the radius of the mobile robot 100 used to calculate the position cost in the position cost calculation unit 115, default values for the width of the padding area, and the like.
[0032] Next, the details of the evacuation behavior control unit 110 will be described. In summary, when the mobile robot 100 travels in a place with an obstacle or in a crowd and enters an entry-prohibited area (see FIG. 4) on the travel route, the evacuation behavior control unit 110 temporarily changes two parameters, the target point of the mobile robot 100 at that time and the width of a padding area used to set the entry-prohibited area described later, moves the mobile robot 100 to an evacuation target point (corresponding to a second target point of the present invention) that it has searched for, and returns the width of the padding area and the target point to those before the changes after the mobile robot 100 temporarily evacuates from the entry-prohibited area, thereby enabling the mobile robot 100 to return to the original travel route.
[0033] 3 is a functional block diagram showing various functions of the evacuation behavior control unit 110. As shown in FIG. 3, the evacuation behavior control unit 110 includes an intrusion determination unit 1101, a memory control unit 1102, a parameter change unit 1103, and a search unit 1104.
[0034] The intrusion determination unit 1101 determines whether the mobile robot 100 has intruded into a no-entry area on its travel route from the position cost calculated by the position cost calculation unit 115 based on the current position of the mobile robot 100 acquired by the current position acquisition unit 109.
[0035] Here, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the positional relationship between the travel route, obstacles, virtual walls, entry-restricted areas, and the mobile robot 100. For the mobile robot 100, a main body area circle and its current position at its center, as well as a padding area set around the main body area circle are shown. The mobile robot 100 in Fig. 4(a) shows a state in which the current position is on the travel route and has not entered the entry-restricted area. On the other hand, the mobile robot 100 in Fig. 4(b) shows a state in which the current position is within the entry-restricted area and has entered and stopped in the entry-restricted area.
[0036] The travel route is formed within an area (e.g., a passage) between virtual walls in which the mobile robot 100 can travel, in the map information stored in the ROM 22 (see FIG. 5). The no-entry area is an area for preventing the mobile robot 100 from colliding with the virtual wall, and is set in a predetermined range of area including the virtual wall.
[0037] More specifically, the entry-prohibited area is set from the virtual wall in the map information stored in the ROM 22 (see FIG. 5) toward the travel path of the mobile robot 100, with a width of "radius of the mobile robot 100 + width of the padding area." For example, if the radius of the mobile robot 100 is 35 cm and the width of the padding area is 5 cm by default, the width of the entry-prohibited area is 40 cm (35 cm + 5 cm) by default. Needless to say, the area between an actual wall (obstacle) and the virtual wall is also included in the entry-prohibited area.
[0038] Furthermore, if the detection information receiving unit 102 determines that the object detected by the LRS 101 is an object not included in the map information stored in the ROM 22 (see Figure 5) and stores the object's position in the RAM 23 (see Figure 5), a no-entry area is set on the side of the object's travel path with a width equal to "the radius of the mobile robot 100 + the width of the padding area."
[0039] When the mobile robot 100 enters a forbidden area and performs the evacuation behavior control process described below, the memory control unit 1102 temporarily stores the waypoint that was the target location before the intrusion in the memory unit RAM 23 (see Figure 5).
[0040] When the mobile robot 100 enters an entry-prohibited area, the search unit 1104 detects obstacles around the current position of the mobile robot 100 using the LRS 101, calculates the position cost for any position on an arc of a predetermined radius centered on the current position of the mobile robot 100 using the position cost calculation unit 115, and searches (circularly searches) for the position with the smallest position cost, i.e., the position with the furthest distance to the entry-prohibited area. The position with the smallest position cost obtained as a result of the search is set as the evacuation target point.
[0041] When the mobile robot 100 enters a forbidden area, the parameter change unit 1103 temporarily stores the waypoint that was the target point before entering the forbidden area in the RAM 23 by the memory control unit 1102, changes it to an evacuation target point for the mobile robot 100 to take an evacuation action, and also reduces the width of the padding area of the mobile robot 100. Specifically, the width of the padding area is reduced so that the sum of the radius of the main body area circle and the width of the padding area is smaller than the distance from the current position to the surrounding virtual walls or the object detected by the LRS 101.
[0042] When the mobile robot 100 reaches the evacuation target point, the parameter change unit 1103 returns the target point of the mobile robot 100 to the waypoint temporarily stored in the RAM 23 by the memory control unit 1102, and also returns the width of the padding area to the default value of the width of the padding area stored in the ROM 22.
[0043] 5 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the mobile robot 100 according to the present embodiment. The mobile robot 100 includes, as its hardware configuration, a ROM 22 in which a control program for executing control processing in the mobile robot 100 and a travel route are stored, a CPU 21 for controlling each part of the mobile robot 100 according to the program in the ROM 22, a RAM 23 which is a storage unit for storing various data required for controlling the mobile robot 100, a communication I / F 24 for connecting to a network and performing communication, a drive unit 114, and a bus 25 for connecting each part. The detection information receiving unit 102, the image information receiving unit 104, the operation panel control unit 106, the audio output control unit 108, the current position acquisition unit 109, the position cost calculation unit 115, the avoidance action control unit 116, the escape action control unit 110, the travel control unit 112, and the communication unit 113 are realized by the cooperation of these hardware units.
[0044] The control program for the mobile robot 100 may be provided in the form of an installable or executable file recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), or a digital versatile disk (DVD).
[0045] In this case, the control program is loaded onto the main memory device by being read from the recording medium and executed by the mobile robot 100, and each part described in the software configuration above is generated on the main memory device.
[0046] The control program of the present embodiment may be configured to be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network.
[0047] Next, the evacuation behavior control process will be described.
[0048] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the evacuation behavior control process. As a premise, the mobile robot 100 starts autonomous traveling by controlled driving of the driving unit 114 according to a stored traveling route. If there is an obstacle or a crowd on the traveling route, the mobile robot 100 will take evasive action to avoid the obstacle when it detects the obstacle. When taking evasive action in this way, there is a possibility that the mobile robot 100 will enter a forbidden area. If the mobile robot 100 enters a forbidden area, it will stop autonomous traveling.
[0049] As shown in FIG. 6, the driving control unit 112 monitors whether the autonomous driving of the mobile robot 100 has stopped (No in step S1), and when the mobile robot 100 stops autonomous driving (Yes in step S1), the intrusion judgment unit 1101 of the escape behavior control unit 110 acquires the current position of the mobile robot 100 from the current position acquisition unit 109 (step S2), and the position cost calculation unit 115 calculates the position cost based on that position (step S3).
[0050] Next, the intrusion determination unit 1101 determines whether the cost of the current position of the mobile robot 100 is the maximum value (step S4).
[0051] If it is determined that the cost of the current position of the mobile robot 100 is not the maximum value (No in step S4), the traveling control unit 112 causes the mobile robot 100 to travel to the waypoint (step S14).
[0052] On the other hand, if it is determined that the cost of the current position of the mobile robot 100 is the maximum value (Yes in step S4), the memory control unit 1102 temporarily stores in the RAM 23 the waypoint that was the target location before the mobile robot 100 entered the prohibited area (step S5).
[0053] Next, the parameter change unit 1103 resets the waypoint set as the current target point (step S6). This is to change it to the evacuation target point calculated in step S8, which will be described later. Also, in step S9, the width of the padding area is changed to be smaller. This is to ultimately reduce the width of the entry-prohibited area so that the current position of the mobile robot 100 is not in the entry-prohibited area, and then the mobile robot 100 autonomously travels toward the evacuation target point.
[0054] Next, the search unit 1104 detects obstacles around the mobile robot 100 itself from the current position of the mobile robot 100 using the LRS 101, and searches in a circular manner for a position with the smallest position cost (step S7).
[0055] Here, Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an evacuation action from an entry-prohibited area according to steps S5 to S13 in Fig. 6. Fig. 7(a) is a diagram showing a state in which the mobile robot 100, having entered the entry-prohibited area, temporarily stores the waypoint currently set as the target point (step S5), resets the current target point (step S6), and then circularly searches for a position with the smallest position cost around the robot 100 (step S7). Fig. 7(b) is a diagram showing a state in which a position with the smallest position cost around the robot 100 is circularly searched for (step S7), an evacuation target point is set (step S8), and the parameter change unit 1103 changes the width of the padding area to be smaller (step S9).
[0056] As shown in FIG. 7(b), the search unit 1104 searches for a position with the smallest position cost in a circular fashion around the mobile robot 100 itself (for example, a radius of 0.7 m) from the current position of the mobile robot 100.
[0057] Next, the parameter change unit 1103 sets the position with the smallest position cost as the evacuation target point (step S8).
[0058] As shown in FIG. 7(b), the parameter change unit 1103 sets the position with the smallest position cost as the evacuation target point.
[0059] After that, the parameter change unit 1103 changes the width of the padding area to be smaller (step S9).
[0060] Next, the traveling control unit 112 causes the mobile robot 100 to travel toward the evacuation target point set in step S8 until the mobile robot 100 reaches the evacuation target point (step S10, No in step S11).
[0061] When the evacuation target point is reached (Yes in step S11), the parameter change unit 1103 returns the width of the padding area to the default value, and resets the waypoint stored in step S5 to the target point (steps S12 and S13).
[0062] Then, the traveling control unit 112 causes the mobile robot 100 to travel toward the waypoint, which is the reset target point (step S14).
[0063] According to this embodiment, the parameters of the destination point (waypoint) of the mobile robot 100 that has entered the entry-prohibited area and the width of the padding area are temporarily changed, and the mobile robot 100 searches for an evacuation destination point by itself and moves to the evacuation destination point, so that the mobile robot 100 returns to the original travel route after evacuating from the entry-prohibited area. As a result, if the mobile robot 100 enters the entry-prohibited area because a function related to the autonomous driving does not operate normally for some reason during autonomous driving, the mobile robot 100 can search for a position where it can evacuate from the entry-prohibited area by itself, evacuate from the entry-prohibited area without human intervention, and return to the original travel route. Such improvement in the autonomous driving accuracy of the mobile robot 100 can contribute to reducing personnel costs at the site where the robot is introduced.
[0064] In this embodiment, the search unit 1104 detects obstacles around the mobile robot 100 from the current position of the mobile robot 100 using the LRS 101 and performs a circular search for a position with the smallest position cost on a circumference of a predetermined radius centered on the current position, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the search unit 1104 may search around the mobile robot 100 from the current position of the mobile robot 100 while expanding the range concentrically or spirally. In addition, in order to detect the presence or absence of obstacles in a wider range around the mobile robot 100, the traveling control unit 112 may control the driving unit 114 to rotate the mobile robot 100 on the spot while detecting obstacles around the current position of the mobile robot 100 using the LRS 101.
[0065] Although the embodiments and modifications of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments and modifications are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments and modifications can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]
[0066] 100 Mobile Robot 101 Laser Range Sensor (LRS) 110 Evacuation behavior control unit 1101 Intrusion Judgment Department 1102 Memory control unit 1103 Parameter change section 1104 Search Department
Claims
1. In an autonomous moving body, a predetermined range including a virtual wall provided to prevent the autonomous moving body from colliding with a wall while autonomously moving toward a target point is set as a no-entry area, and an evacuation behavior control unit that, when the autonomous moving body enters the entry-prohibited area, searches for a position to which the autonomous moving body can move from the entry-prohibited area and controls an evacuation behavior to the position. An autonomous moving body characterized by:
2. The evacuation behavior control unit, an intrusion determination unit that determines whether the autonomous moving body has intruded into the intrusion prohibited area based on a value indicating the proximity of the autonomous moving body to the intrusion prohibited area based on a current position of the autonomous moving body; a search unit that searches for a second target point, which is a position around a current position of the autonomous moving body and has a smallest value indicating the proximity of the autonomous moving body to the entry-prohibited area based on the current position, as a position to which the autonomous moving body can move from the entry-prohibited area when the autonomous moving body enters the entry-prohibited area; and a parameter changing unit that changes, when the autonomous moving body enters the entry-prohibited area, a default value that has been set as a parameter of a first target point that has been set as a target point before the autonomous moving body enters the entry-prohibited area, to a value that is smaller than the default value; The autonomous moving body according to claim 1 , further comprising:
3. when the autonomous moving body reaches the second target point, the parameter change unit returns a value of a parameter of a margin width during traveling of the autonomous moving body to the default value, and returns the target point of the autonomous moving body to the first target point.
3. The autonomous moving body according to claim 2 .
4. the search unit performs a circular search for a position with the smallest position cost among positions to which the autonomous moving body can move on a circumference of a predetermined radius centered on the current position of the autonomous moving body; 3. The autonomous moving body according to claim 2 .
5. The search unit searches around the autonomous moving body while expanding a range concentrically or spirally from a current position of the autonomous moving body.
3. The autonomous moving body according to claim 2 .
6. Further comprising a distance sensor for measuring a distance to an object in the detection area; When the distance sensor detects an object, a predetermined range including the object is also set as a no-entry area.
6. The autonomous moving body according to claim 1,
7. Further comprising a distance sensor for measuring a distance to an object in the detection area; The search unit rotates the autonomous moving body on the spot at a current position and searches while checking whether an object is detected by the distance sensor.
3. The autonomous moving body according to claim 2 .
8. A method for controlling travel of an autonomous moving body, the method comprising: setting a predetermined range including a virtual wall provided to prevent the autonomous moving body from colliding with a wall during autonomous travel toward a target point as an entry-prohibited area, and an evacuation action control step of, when the autonomous moving body enters the entry-prohibited area, searching for a position to which the autonomous moving body can move from the entry-prohibited area and controlling an evacuation action of the autonomous moving body to evacuate to the position. A method for controlling travel of an autonomous moving body, comprising:
9. The evacuation behavior control step includes: an intrusion determination step of determining whether the autonomous moving body has intruded into the intrusion-prohibited area based on a value indicating the proximity of the autonomous moving body to the intrusion-prohibited area based on a current position of the autonomous moving body; a searching step of searching for a second target point, which is a position around a current position of the autonomous moving body and has a smallest value indicating the proximity of the autonomous moving body to the intrusion prohibited area based on the current position, as a position to which the autonomous moving body can move from the intrusion prohibited area when the autonomous moving body intrudes into the intrusion prohibited area; a parameter changing step of changing, when the autonomous moving body has entered the entry-prohibited area, a first target point that was set as a target point before the autonomous moving body entered the entry-prohibited area to the second target point, and changing a default value that was set as a parameter of a margin width during traveling of the autonomous moving body to a value smaller than the default value; The method for controlling travel of an autonomous moving body according to claim 8, further comprising:
Citation Information
Patent Citations
Autonomous travel robot and travel control method of autonomous travel robot
JP2013206237A