Work machine

Abstract

To provide a work machine that performs efficient automatic driving by effectively utilizing a field of view of a mounted periphery recognition sensor.SOLUTION: A work machine has: a lower running body; an upper rotating body rotatably supported on an upper part of the lower running body; a periphery recognition device installed on the upper rotating body; and a control device for controlling the lower running body and the upper rotating body based on periphery recognition information acquired by the periphery recognition device. The control device determines, based on a vehicle width in a running direction corresponding to a rotation angle of the upper rotating body relative to the lower running body and an acquisition range of the periphery recognition information by the periphery recognition device, a rotation angle in which peripheral recognition information of a planned traveling area which is an area through which the work machine is planned to pass when traveling can be obtained, for at least a first threshold time before the work machine passes through the planned traveling area, as a rotation angle during running.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a work machine, and more particularly to a work machine capable of traveling autonomously. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technology for automatically traveling an excavator with the aim of assisting the excavator in moving to a parking position (for example, Patent Document 1). This document discloses an excavator in which a space recognition device and a direction detection device that detects the relative relationship between the direction of the upper rotating body and the direction of a lower traveling body are provided on an upper rotating body, and the operation of a traveling actuator is controlled based on the outputs of the space recognition device and the direction detection device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2019 / 182066 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, when a work machine such as an excavator that performs automatic travel is equipped with a peripheral recognition device for recognizing information on surrounding obstacles and terrain, multiple peripheral recognition devices are installed to ensure the recognition range. The recognition range of these peripheral recognition devices is affected by the mounting position of the peripheral recognition device on the upper rotating body and the posture of the front working machine, which is the work arm. In particular, the front working machine is located on the front side of the upper rotating body, and interferes with the recognition range of the peripheral recognition device, creating a blind spot. When an excavator is automatically traveling, it is possible to take a posture in which the front working machine is raised so as not to interfere with the recognition range of the peripheral recognition device. However, there are cases in which such a posture is not suitable, such as when there is a possibility of contact with an obstacle such as an overhead wire, when there is a possibility of the behavior of the vehicle body becoming unstable due to the center of gravity position rising, or when the front working machine blocks radio waves from satellites, which deteriorates the reception conditions of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for estimating the position of the machine itself.

[0005] Since the upper rotating body of the excavator is rotatably mounted on the lower running body including the traveling mechanism, the direction of travel during traveling is the front or rear side of the lower running body regardless of the direction of the upper rotating body. When traveling with the front working machine in the lowered position for the above-mentioned reason, if the front side of the upper rotating body faces the forward direction of the traveling direction, a blind spot of the surrounding recognition device will be created in the traveling direction. If it is not possible to obtain sufficient information about obstacles and terrain in the planned traveling range like this, restrictions such as reduction of traveling speed and necessity of human monitoring will arise, and it is considered that the labor-saving effect of the introduction of automatic traveling cannot be fully obtained. It is desirable for an automatic traveling excavator to obtain information about obstacles and terrain in the traveling direction without blind spots.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a work machine that can acquire information about obstacles and terrain in its travel direction without any blind spots, thereby enabling it to travel autonomously without any constraints. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the work machine of the present invention is a work machine having a lower running body, an upper rotating body rotatably supported on the upper part of the lower running body, a peripheral recognition device installed on the upper rotating body, and a control device that controls the lower running body and the upper rotating body based on peripheral recognition information acquired by the peripheral recognition device, and the control device determines, as the turning angle during traveling, a turning angle at which peripheral recognition information of a planned traveling area, which is an area through which the work machine is planned to pass when traveling, can be obtained for at least a first threshold time before the work machine passes through the planned traveling area, based on the vehicle width in the traveling direction corresponding to the turning angle of the upper rotating body relative to the lower running body and the acquisition range of the peripheral recognition information by the peripheral recognition device. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a work machine that can acquire information regarding obstacles and terrain in the traveling direction without any blind spots and can travel automatically without any constraints. Further features related to the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, the problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of a hydraulic excavator which is an example of a work machine to which the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a hydraulic circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a construction site environment in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of an operation controller according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5A] 4 is a flowchart showing a process executed by a traveling / turning control unit in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5B] 4 is a flowchart showing a process executed by a traveling / turning control unit in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5C]4 is a flowchart showing a process executed by a traveling / turning control unit in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an acquisition range of peripheral information of a shovel in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of searching for a turning angle of a shovel in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a second threshold time in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, a hydraulic excavator 1 equipped with a bucket 10 as a working tool (attachment) at the tip of the working machine will be illustrated, but the present invention may be applied to a working machine equipped with an attachment other than a bucket. Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a working machine other than a hydraulic excavator as long as the traveling method is a crawler type.

[0011] In addition, the embodiment shows a form in which the target route and the target speed are input from an external system, but only the target point of movement is given from the external system, and the target route and the target speed may be calculated by the motion controller 60 or other vehicle-mounted controller. The target route is given as a straight line connecting the nodes, and a method of traveling so as to smoothly connect the straight lines before and after the node is called the first traveling method, and a method of traveling straight to the node and making a sharp turn on the node is called the second traveling method. Furthermore, in the following, when there are multiple identical components, an alphabet may be added to the end of the symbol (number), but the alphabet may be omitted to collectively represent the multiple components. For example, when there are two pumps 300a and 300b, these may be collectively represented as pump 300.

[0012] <Example 1> <Basic configuration> FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a basic configuration of a hydraulic excavator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] 1, the hydraulic excavator 1 is made up of an articulated front working machine 1A and a vehicle body 1B. The vehicle body 1B is made up of a lower traveling body 11 and an upper rotating body 12 that is mounted on the lower traveling body 11 and rotated by a swing hydraulic motor 4.

[0014] The lower traveling body 11 has crawler-type traveling mechanisms 13a, 13b (13b not shown) on the left and right, and the traveling mechanisms 13a, 13b are driven by traveling devices 3a, 3b (3b not shown), respectively.

[0015] The front working machine 1A is configured by connecting a plurality of driven members (boom 8, arm 9, and bucket 10) that each rotate vertically. The base end of the boom 8 is rotatably supported via a boom pin at the front of the upper rotating body 12. An arm 9 is rotatably connected to the tip of the boom 8 via an arm pin, and a bucket 10 is rotatably connected to the tip of the arm 9 via a bucket pin. The boom 8 is driven by a boom cylinder 5, the arm 9 is driven by an arm cylinder 6, and the bucket 10 is driven by a bucket cylinder 7.

[0016] A monitor 21 capable of presenting information to the operator, a select switch 22 allowing the operator to select and input options, and a numeric keypad 23 allowing the operator to input numerical values ​​are fixed to a cab 20, which is the operator's seat mounted on the upper rotating body 12.

[0017] Similarly, an engine 18 , which is a prime mover mounted on the upper rotating body 12 , drives a hydraulic pump 2 .

[0018] In order to detect the attitude of the front working implement 1A, a boom angle sensor 30, an arm angle sensor 31, and a bucket angle sensor 32 are respectively attached to the boom 8, the arm 9, and the bucket link 13. In addition, attached to the upper rotating body 12 are a vehicle body inclination angle sensor 33 that detects the inclination angle of the upper rotating body 12 (vehicle body 1B) with respect to a reference plane (for example, a horizontal plane), left and right GNSS antennas 36a, 36b and a GNSS receiver (not shown) that detect the position and orientation, and a rotation angle sensor 34 that detects the relative angle (rotation angle) between the lower traveling body 11 and the upper rotating body 12.

[0019] As peripheral recognition devices for recognizing information regarding obstacles and terrain around the hydraulic excavator 1, LiDAR 37a, LiDAR 37b, and LiDAR 37c that acquire point cloud information around the upper rotating body 12 are attached to the front, rear, and side (left side in this embodiment) of the upper rotating body 12, respectively.

[0020] The hydraulic excavator 1 also has a posture acquisition means 43 for acquiring its own posture information (see FIG. 4). The posture acquisition means 43 is composed of a boom angle sensor 30, an arm angle sensor 31, a bucket angle sensor 32, and a vehicle body inclination angle sensor 33, and acquires the postures of the upper rotating body 12, the lower traveling body 11, and the front work implement 1A from its own dimensional information and the acquired angle sensor values.

[0021] The upper rotating body 12 also has a surrounding information acquisition means 41 for acquiring its surrounding information (see FIG. 4). The surrounding information acquisition means 41 is composed of the LiDAR 37, the attitude acquisition means 43, and a surrounding information processing controller, and calculates the arrangement of objects around the vehicle body from the point cloud information acquired by the LiDAR 37 and the vehicle body attitude acquired by the attitude acquisition means 43. Since information about the hydraulic excavator 1 itself is not necessary, the output of the attitude acquisition means 43 is used, and the point cloud information by the hydraulic excavator 1 is excluded from the acquired point cloud information. Furthermore, from the obtained point cloud information only around the hydraulic excavator 1, the presence of obstacles and terrain unsuitable for traveling, the position of the terrain relative to the vehicle body, and information on the range for which point cloud information has not been acquired are recognized. Hereinafter, the presence of obstacles and terrain unsuitable for traveling, the position of the terrain relative to the vehicle body, and information on the range for which point cloud information has not been acquired are collectively referred to as surrounding information. Note that, here, a form in which the LiDAR 37 is used as an example of information acquisition means possessed by the surrounding information acquisition means 41 is shown, but any means capable of acquiring surrounding information may be used, and a form using a radar or a camera, or a combination of these may be used.

[0022] Furthermore, the upper rotating body 12 has a self-position acquiring means 42 for acquiring the position of the hydraulic excavator 1 on which it is mounted (see FIG. 4). The self-position acquiring means 42 is composed of a GNSS antenna 36, ​​a GNSS receiver, a vehicle body inclination angle sensor 33, a turning angle sensor 34, and a self-position and attitude calculation controller, and the self-position and attitude calculation controller acquires the current position of the center point of the lower traveling body 11 and the heading of the traveling direction (hereinafter, self-position and heading) by converting the coordinates of the GNSS antenna 36 acquired by the GNSS receiver using the outputs of the vehicle body inclination angle sensor 33 and the turning angle sensor 34. Note that, although a form for acquiring the position of the lower traveling body 11 using the GNSS antenna 36 attached to the upper rotating body 12 side is used as an example here, any other form may be used as long as it is a means capable of acquiring the self-position, and for example, a method for calculating and acquiring the self-position by comparing the output of the surrounding information acquiring means 41 with separately recorded map information may be used.

[0023] <Hydraulic circuit configuration> FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a hydraulic circuit mounted on the hydraulic excavator 1 in this embodiment. The pressure oil discharged from the hydraulic pump 2 d is reduced in pressure by the electromagnetic proportional valves 54 to 59 controlled by a control command from the operation controller 60 , and drives the flow rate control valve 15 .

[0024] The pressure oil discharged from the hydraulic pumps 2a, 2b, and 2c is supplied to the left traveling device 3a, the right traveling device 3b, the swing hydraulic motor 4, the boom cylinder 5, the arm cylinder 6, and the bucket cylinder 7 via the flow control valve 15. The left traveling device 3a and the right traveling device 3b rotate due to the supplied pressure oil, causing the lower traveling body 11 to travel. In addition, the boom cylinder 5, the arm cylinder 6, and the bucket cylinder 7 extend and retract due to the supplied pressure oil, causing the boom 8, the arm 9, and the bucket 10 to rotate, respectively, and the position and attitude of the bucket 10 change. Then, the swing hydraulic motor 4 rotates due to the supplied pressure oil, causing the upper swing body 12 to swing relative to the lower traveling body 11.

[0025] <Construction site environment> Fig. 3 shows an example of a construction site environment in which the hydraulic excavator 1 travels autonomously.

[0026] The construction site is surrounded by a fence 204, and information on people entering and exiting the fence 204 is detected by a security gate 203 and transmitted to a construction management system 201 (see FIG. 4). Site sensors 202a and 202b are placed at the construction site to acquire peripheral information to supplement the peripheral information of the hydraulic excavator 1 acquired by the peripheral information acquisition means 41. The site sensor 202 is equipped with a LiDAR and a GNSS, and transmits the peripheral information acquired by the LiDAR and the self-position information acquired by the GNSS to the construction management system 201. The range of peripheral information that can be acquired by the LiDAR is represented by the reference symbol 207, and obstacles 208 located within that area are also detected.

[0027] The construction management system 201 is composed of an information processing device such as a server or a PC, input / output devices such as a keyboard and a monitor, and communication devices such as a wireless LAN, and receives commands from the operator for the hydraulic excavator 1 to perform work and transmits them to the hydraulic excavator 1. This command is an automatic travel command in the case of automatic travel, information such as the excavation range in the case of automatic excavation, and a command for the amount of operation for each actuator in the case of remote operation in which the operator manually operates. In addition, it acquires peripheral information from a site sensor 202 and entrance / exit information from a security gate 203 and transmits them to the hydraulic excavator 1. Furthermore, it presents to the operator inquiry information transmitted when the hydraulic excavator 1 performs automatic travel and a notice when travel cannot be started. When it presents the inquiry information to the operator, it also accepts a reply and transmits the reply to the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0028] Although this embodiment shows a case where the construction management system 201 is located outside the hydraulic excavator 1, the construction management system 201 may be located elsewhere, for example, it may operate on the controller of the hydraulic excavator 1. Furthermore, it is also conceivable that one construction management system may simultaneously manage a plurality of work machines and construction sites.

[0029] Furthermore, at the construction site, there is an embankment 206 to be excavated, and its surroundings are recorded as an excavation range 205 on the construction management system 201. An automatic construction operator in a control room away from the construction site transmits automatic travel commands consisting of a target route, a traveling direction, a target speed, and a turning angle during travel, and the presence or absence of such a command, to the hydraulic excavator 1 via the construction management system 201, and the hydraulic excavator 1 travels according to the automatic travel commands.

[0030] <Operation Controller 60> 4 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of an operation controller 60 mounted on the hydraulic excavator 1. The operation controller is configured as a computer equipped with, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory. The operation controller 60 includes a peripheral information processing unit 61, a traveling / swing control unit 62, an emergency stop determination unit 63, a swing / work machine control unit 67, a traveling control unit 68, and an electromagnetic proportional valve control unit 69.

[0031] The surrounding information processing unit 61 receives surrounding information from the site sensor from the construction management system 201, surrounding information of the hydraulic excavator 1 from the surrounding information acquisition means 41, and self-position information from the self-position acquisition means 42, and outputs the integrated surrounding information around the hydraulic excavator 1 to the traveling and rotation control unit 62 and the emergency stop judgment unit 63.

[0032] The traveling and turning control unit 62 receives an automatic traveling command from the construction management system 201, an inquiry result to the construction management system 201, and peripheral auxiliary information. In this embodiment, the peripheral auxiliary information includes information for assisting the range that cannot be acquired by the peripheral information acquisition means 41, and refers to, for example, peripheral information of the site sensor acquired by the site sensor 202, information on entering and exiting the construction site, information on the designated excavation range, and a response to an inquiry for permission to start traveling. In the following, the peripheral auxiliary information other than the response to the inquiry for permission to start traveling is distinguished as peripheral auxiliary information (1), and the response to the inquiry for permission to start traveling is distinguished as peripheral auxiliary information (2). The traveling and turning control unit 62 further receives peripheral information from the peripheral information processing unit 61 and attitude information from the attitude acquisition means 43. In addition, the traveling and turning control unit 62 outputs an inquiry to the construction management system 201, a turning angle command to the turning and working machine control unit 67, and a traveling start command to the traveling control unit 68.

[0033] The emergency stop judgment unit 63 receives surrounding information from the surrounding information processing unit 61, and when the hydraulic excavator 1 approaches within a predetermined distance an obstacle or terrain unsuitable for traveling, the emergency stop judgment unit 63 outputs an emergency stop signal to the traveling control unit 68.

[0034] The swing / work machine control unit 67 receives attitude information from the attitude acquisition means 43 and the swing target angle from the travel / swing control unit 62, and based on this information calculates speed commands for the swing hydraulic motor 4, boom cylinder 5, arm cylinder 6, and bucket cylinder 7, and outputs them to an electromagnetic proportional valve control unit 69.

[0035] The travel control unit 68 receives a travel start command from the travel and turning control unit 62, an automatic travel command from the construction management system 201, an emergency stop signal from the emergency stop determination unit 63, and self-position information from the self-position acquisition means 42. The travel control unit 68 then calculates a travel device rotation speed command so that the vehicle can travel following the target route of the input automatic travel command, and outputs the command to the solenoid proportional valve control unit 69.

[0036] The electromagnetic proportional valve control section 69 calculates a target pilot pressure for the flow control valve 15 based on each speed command output from the swing / work machine control section 67 and the travel control section 68. Furthermore, the electromagnetic proportional valve control section 69 calculates and outputs commands to each of the electromagnetic proportional valves 54 to 59 based on the calculated target pilot pressure.

[0037] <Drive method calculation flow> 5A to 5C show a flowchart of a turning angle determination process executed by the traveling and turning control unit 62 when a traveling command is input by the construction management system 201. In FIG.

[0038] First, in S110, the traveling and turning control unit 62 acquires an automatic traveling command input from the construction management system 201. This automatic traveling command includes travel direction information and a target speed command.

[0039] In S120, the traveling and turning control unit 62 acquires surrounding information of the vehicle itself input from the surrounding information acquisition means 41. As described above, surrounding information refers to the presence of obstacles and terrain unsuitable for traveling, their positions relative to the vehicle body, and information on areas for which point cloud information has not been acquired.

[0040] In S130, the traveling / turning control unit 62 determines whether a turning angle during traveling is specified in the traveling command information acquired in S110, and if so, proceeds to S140, and if not, proceeds to S250 (see FIG. 5C).

[0041] In S140, the traveling / rotating control unit 62 calculates the vehicle width in the designated traveling direction by using the traveling direction information of the automatic traveling command acquired in S110. The vehicle width here refers to the vehicle width in the traveling direction of the entire hydraulic excavator 1 including the upper rotating body when the upper rotating body is rotated by the rotation angle designated in the traveling command information. That is, in this embodiment, the vehicle width refers to the vehicle width in the traveling direction according to the rotation angle of the upper rotating body.

[0042] In S150, the driving / turning control unit 62 calculates whether or not it is possible to obtain peripheral information about the area through which the vehicle is scheduled to pass for a certain period of time, specifically, for more than a first threshold time, based on the target speed command of the automatic driving command obtained in S110, the peripheral information about the vehicle itself obtained in S120, and the vehicle width at the specified turning angle calculated in S140.

[0043] In S160, the traveling / turning control unit 62 determines whether the calculation result in S150 can be obtained for a certain number of seconds or more, and if so, proceeds to S220, and if not, proceeds to S170.

[0044] In S170, the traveling / turning control unit 62 acquires peripheral auxiliary information (1) from the construction management system 201. As described above, the peripheral auxiliary information (1) refers to peripheral information of the site sensor acquired by the site sensor at the construction site, information on entering and exiting the construction site, and information on the designated excavation range.

[0045] In S180, the traveling / turning control unit 62 determines whether the peripheral auxiliary information acquired in S170 satisfies the traveling condition, and if the traveling condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to S220, and if not, the process proceeds to S190. The traveling condition referred to here will be described later.

[0046] In S190, the traveling / turning control unit 62 notifies the construction management system 201 that the determination result in S160 was not obtainable, and inquires whether to permit the start of traveling.

[0047] In S200, the travel / turn control unit 62 acquires peripheral auxiliary information (2) which is a response to the inquiry to the construction management system 201 in S190.

[0048] In S210, the traveling / turning control unit 62 determines whether the result obtained in S200 was permission to start traveling, and if it was permission to start traveling, proceeds to S220, and if it was prohibited, proceeds to S240 (see FIG. 5B).

[0049] In S220, the traveling / turning control unit 62 commands the turning / work machine control unit 67 to turn to the designated turning angle acquired in S110. Then, the process proceeds to S230 (FIG. 5B).

[0050] In S230, the traveling / turning control unit 62 commands the traveling control unit 68 to start traveling, and the process ends.

[0051] In S240, the traveling / turning control unit 62 notifies the construction management system 201 that traveling cannot start (issues an error report), and ends the process.

[0052] In S130, if it is determined that the traveling command information acquired in S110 does not specify a rotation angle during traveling, the process proceeds to S250 (FIG. 5C). In S250, the traveling / rotating control unit 62 acquires posture information of the hydraulic excavator 1 from the posture acquisition means 43.

[0053] In S260, the traveling / turning control unit 62 calculates the vehicle width in the traveling direction in the current attitude, using the attitude information acquired in S250 and the traveling direction information of the automatic traveling command acquired in S110.

[0054] In S270, a calculation is made as to whether or not peripheral information about the area through which the vehicle is expected to pass can be obtained for a certain period of time, specifically, for a first threshold time or more, based on the target speed information of the automatic driving command obtained in S110, the peripheral information about the vehicle itself obtained in S120, and the vehicle width at the current attitude calculated in S260.

[0055] In S280, the traveling / turning control unit 62 determines whether the calculation result in S270 can be acquired for a certain threshold time or more, and if so, proceeds to S230 (FIG. 5B), and if not, proceeds to S290.

[0056] In S290, the travel / turn control unit 62 acquires the peripheral auxiliary information (1) from the construction management system 201.

[0057] In S300, the driving / turning control unit 62 determines whether the acquired peripheral auxiliary information (1) satisfies the driving conditions, and if it does, proceeds to S230 (Figure 5B), and if it does not, proceeds to S310.

[0058] In S310, the traveling / turning control unit 62 searches for a turning angle at which the ratio of the area where peripheral information can be obtained in the area where the vehicle body is expected to pass through to the blind spot is maximized, in other words, the turning angle at which the blind spot is minimized, and calculates whether or not peripheral information of the area where the vehicle body is expected to pass through can be obtained for a first threshold time or more at that turning angle. This will be described in detail later.

[0059] In S320, the traveling / turning control unit 62 determines whether the calculation result of S310 can be acquired for a certain threshold time or more, and if so, proceeds to S330, and if not, proceeds to S240 (FIG. 5B).

[0060] In S330, a command is issued to the swing / work machine control unit 67 to swing to the swing angle calculated in S310.

[0061] <Actions and Effects> In the hydraulic excavator configured as above, the operation of the slewing angle control in the traveling / slewing control unit 62 when an automatic traveling command is input to the hydraulic excavator 1 and the effect thereof will be described.

[0062] First, the traveling and turning control unit 62 acquires an automatic traveling command consisting of a target route, a traveling direction, a target speed, a turning angle during traveling and whether or not it is specified, and peripheral information from the peripheral information acquisition means 41 mounted on the vehicle itself. Note that, although a form in which the target route, the traveling direction, the target speed, and a turning angle during traveling are input from the construction management system 201 will be described here, a form in which only the final movement target position is specified from the construction management system 201 and the operation controller 60 generates the automatic traveling command may also be used.

[0063] The operation branches depending on whether or not the acquired automatic travel command specifies a turning angle during travel. If a turning angle during travel is specified, the process moves to judging whether sufficient peripheral information can be acquired when traveling at the specified turning angle. In this judgment, first, the maximum vehicle width in the traveling direction of the hydraulic excavator 1 when the front working implement 1A is turned to the specified turning angle with the current posture of the front working implement 1A is calculated. Next, based on the calculated vehicle width, the acquired target speed, and the acquired peripheral information, it is judged whether peripheral information of the planned travel area, which is the area through which the hydraulic excavator 1 is scheduled to pass, can be acquired for at least a first threshold time before the hydraulic excavator 1 passes through.

[0064] FIG. 6 shows an example of the range of peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition means 41. FIG. 6(a) is a view from the sky, and FIG. 6(b) is a view from the side. FIG. 6(a) shows an area on a virtual ground surface 306 where peripheral information can be acquired by the peripheral information acquisition means 41 with halftone dots 305a, 305b, and 305c. The planned travel area 302 is a rectangle on the virtual ground surface whose width in the travel direction is the vehicle width 303 calculated in S140 in FIG. 5A and whose length in the travel direction is (target speed)×(first threshold time), and the blind spot of the front work machine 1A of the hydraulic excavator 1 is represented by 301. The blind spot 301 is defined by a process of excluding information by the hydraulic excavator 1 from the point cloud information acquired by the LiDAR 37 using the output of the attitude acquisition means 43 as described above, and is treated in the same manner as the area where information outside the field of view cannot be acquired.

[0065] 6, the determination is made based on whether the range (305a, 305b) in which the peripheral information can be acquired on the virtual ground surface 306 can be acquired for at least a first threshold time before the hydraulic excavator 1 passes through the planned travel area 302, and can encompass the planned travel area 302. In the situation shown in FIG. 6(a), if the commanded turning angle is 0 degrees (facing forward) and the traveling direction is backward, it is determined that it is possible to acquire peripheral information that encompasses the entire planned travel area 302, but if the traveling direction is forward, part of the planned travel area 302 overlaps with the blind spot 301, and therefore it is determined that it is impossible to acquire peripheral information.

[0066] The above-mentioned judgment method shows a method of comparing each range two-dimensionally, but the surrounding information may be treated as a space where the surrounding information can be acquired by the surrounding information acquisition means 41, and the planned passing area may be treated as a volume through which the hydraulic excavator 1 is expected to pass, rather than as a maximum width, and the two may be compared three-dimensionally. In addition, even when the planned travel area is expressed two-dimensionally, the shape of the area is not limited to a rectangle, and may be set based on a range that can be passed when a travel operation other than a straight line is performed within a certain time. For example, when the target route information includes a curve, the curvature of the curve may be used to determine the range that will be passed up to the first threshold time ahead. Furthermore, information on a second threshold time different from the first threshold time may be set to calculate the planned travel area, and the range that will be passed within the second threshold time may be set. In addition, when there are multiple surrounding recognition devices with different detection methods, the surrounding information when using a surrounding recognition device suitable for the situation at the construction site may be adopted. In addition, before starting travel, the attitude of the front work machine 1A may be changed in addition to the turning angle.

[0067] The second threshold time will be described with reference to FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, a situation is assumed in which the planned travel area 319 is relatively far from the current hydraulic excavator 1. In this case, a predetermined second threshold time is set, and it is determined whether or not the planned travel area 319 is included within an area of ​​a distance 316 represented by (target speed)×(second threshold time). If the planned travel area 319 is outside the above-mentioned area, it will take more than a predetermined time for the hydraulic excavator 1 to actually travel through the planned travel area 319, and it is considered that the situation will change from the time when acquisition of point cloud information was started. Therefore, if the time until the hydraulic excavator 1 passes through the planned travel area 319 exceeds the second threshold time, it becomes possible to stop traveling and change the travel plan.

[0068] In this way, it is determined whether the surrounding information can be acquired for the first threshold time or more, and if it can be acquired, the turning / working machine control unit 67 is instructed to turn to the specified turning angle, and travel starts after the turning is completed. If it cannot be acquired, the process moves to determining whether sufficient surrounding auxiliary information (1) for traveling has been acquired. The surrounding auxiliary information (1) is the surrounding information of the site sensor by the site sensor 202, the entry / exit information to the construction site, and the designated information of the excavation range. In this determination, for example, if the range occupied by the vehicle width over the entire range of the traveling route is within the range where the surrounding information can be acquired by the site sensor, if it can be determined from the entry / exit information that there is no worker in the site, or if the range where the surrounding information cannot be acquired is within the excavation range, it is determined that the surrounding auxiliary information (1) is sufficient, and the vehicle is turned to the specified turning angle and then allowed to start traveling. It is also possible to use information other than the above as the surrounding auxiliary information, and for example, past surrounding information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition means 41 may be stored and used, or information provided separately by the construction management system 201 may be used. If it is determined that the peripheral auxiliary information (1) is insufficient, an inquiry is made to the automated construction operator through the construction management system 201 as to whether or not it is possible to start driving, and peripheral auxiliary information (2) is obtained as a response. When this inquiry is made, the automated construction operator allows the vehicle to start driving if it can confirm that there are no problems with driving based on images from cameras installed at the construction site and on visual confirmation. If the vehicle is not allowed to start driving, it notifies the construction management system 201 that driving is not possible (an error is issued), and the operation ends.

[0069] If the automatic driving command does not specify a turning angle during driving, first it is determined whether sufficient peripheral information can be acquired with the current turning angle. This determination method is the same as the determination of whether sufficient peripheral information can be acquired when the turning angle is specified. If it is determined from this determination result that peripheral information can be acquired for at least the first threshold time with the current turning angle, driving is started, and if it is determined that peripheral information cannot be acquired, the process moves to determining peripheral auxiliary information (1) in the same way as when a turning angle is specified. If driving cannot be started even with peripheral auxiliary information (1), the driving / turning control unit 62 searches for a turning angle that maximizes the acquisition range.

[0070] The search for the turning angle will be specifically described. This embodiment is a result of considering the blind spot 301 shown in FIG. 6(a) and the mounting position of the LiDAR 37, which is a surrounding recognition device, during automatic driving. That is, in the case of traveling by manned driving, the operator in the driver's seat turns the front of the upper rotating body where the driver's seat is located in the traveling direction, and if there is a blind spot due to the front working machine, moves his head to look into it and check whether there is an obstacle in the blind spot. However, in the case of traveling by automatic driving, depending on the mounting position of the LiDAR 37, it may be possible to obtain surrounding information that includes the entire traveling planned area 302 even if traveling is started with the turning angle at the time when the work performed before traveling was completed, that is, the orientation of the upper rotating body relative to the traveling direction, and turning the front of the upper rotating body in the traveling direction will rather generate a blind spot due to the front working machine.

[0071] That is, in the case of autonomous driving, if the front of the upper rotating body is always turned in the direction of travel, there is a problem that the amount of surrounding information that can be obtained is reduced, and in order to avoid this problem, it is necessary to determine a turning angle that allows the vehicle to pass through the planned driving area while maintaining the vehicle width when the turning angle is changed. On the other hand, since construction sites are usually large enough, if sensors such as LiDAR are used appropriately, it is possible to move to the destination by detouring while avoiding obstacles (while appropriately acquiring surrounding information). For this reason, in this embodiment, the turning angle is determined based on the surrounding information.

[0072] A conceptual diagram of the search for the turning angle is shown in FIG. 7. In this search, a rectangle is included in the range where peripheral information in the traveling direction can be acquired when the upper rotating body has a certain turning angle with respect to the traveling direction, and the length of the other side of the rectangle that can be created with the vehicle width at that turning angle as one side is calculated, and the turning angle at which the length is maximum is determined as the turning angle candidate during traveling. For example, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the traveling direction at the start of the turning angle search is the left direction in the figure, and the current attitude of the upper rotating body is in a state of turning 90 degrees with respect to the traveling direction. In this case, the vehicle width with respect to the traveling direction is the width represented by the reference symbol 308, and the length of the other side of a rectangle 309 that is included in the range 305c where peripheral information can be acquired by the LiDAR 37c with this turning angle as it is, and is obtained with the vehicle width 308 as one side, is a side parallel to the traveling direction that intersects with one side of the vehicle width 308, and its length is the length represented by the reference symbol 307.

[0073] Next, the traveling / turning control unit 62 searches for a posture in which the upper rotating body is turned in the same direction as the traveling direction, for example, as shown in Fig. 7(b). In the posture of Fig. 7(b), the vehicle width in the traveling direction considering the upper rotating body is a width represented by reference numeral 311, which is narrower than the vehicle width 308 in Fig. 7(a). Then, the length of the other side of a rectangle 312 obtained with the vehicle width 311 as one side is calculated. Here, since a blind spot 301 due to the upper rotating body exists in Fig. 7(b), the other side of the rectangle 312 obtained with the vehicle width 311 as one side is a side parallel to the traveling direction that intersects with one side of the vehicle width 311, and its length is the length represented by reference numeral 310.

[0074] Next, the traveling / turning control unit 62 searches for a posture in which the upper rotating body is turned 180 degrees from the traveling direction as shown in Fig. 7(c). Then, the vehicle width in the traveling direction becomes width 314, which is the same width as in Fig. 7(b), and since there is nothing blocking the acquisition range of the sensor in the traveling direction, the other side of a rectangle 315 obtained with the vehicle width 314 as one side is a side parallel to the traveling direction that intersects with the vehicle width 314, and its length is the length represented by the reference symbol 313.

[0075] From the above, a turning angle of 90° with respect to the traveling direction as shown in FIG. 7(a) and a turning angle of 180° with respect to the traveling direction as shown in FIG. 7(c) are selected as representative turning angles with the "least blind spots" to be searched for in step S310 in FIG. 5(c).

[0076] In this state, the process proceeds to step S320, and it is determined whether or not peripheral information can be acquired for a first threshold time or more at each search angle. Rectangle 309 in FIG. 7(a) is compared with rectangle 315 in FIG. 7(c), and the rectangular area in FIG. 7(c) is selected as an area in which peripheral information can be acquired for a first threshold time or more while the hydraulic excavator 1 is traveling and which includes the planned traveling area. In other words, in this embodiment, the lengths of the other side of the rectangle obtained with the vehicle width in the traveling direction as one side are compared, and the state in FIG. 7(c), which is the swing angle that generates rectangle 315 with the maximum length of the other side, is selected.

[0077] However, in this search, as in the case of determining whether or not the surrounding information can be acquired when the turning angle is specified, the shape of the planned travel area is not limited to a rectangle, and may be set based on the range that can be passed when a driving operation other than straight driving is performed within a certain time. Also, the turning angle may be determined without performing a search by having in advance information on the turning angle that is the range in which the widest surrounding information can be acquired during driving. That is, in step S310 of FIG. 5(c), instead of actually performing a search as in FIG. 7, the turning angle may be determined by simulation based on the information acquired in advance. At this searched angle, as in the case of determining whether or not the surrounding information can be sufficiently acquired when the turning angle is specified, it is determined whether or not the surrounding information can be acquired for a time equal to or longer than the first threshold value, and if it is determined that the surrounding information can be acquired, a command is issued to start traveling after turning at the searched angle.

[0078] As described above, by determining the turning angle during driving based on the direction of travel of the work machine and the surrounding information that can be obtained, it is possible to provide a work machine that can drive automatically without any constraints by obtaining information about obstacles and terrain in the direction of travel without any blind spots.

[0079] The above-described embodiment of the present invention provides the following advantageous effects.

[0080] (1) The work machine of the present invention is a work machine having a lower running body, an upper rotating body rotatably supported on the upper part of the lower running body, a peripheral recognition device installed on the upper rotating body, and a control device that controls the lower running body and the upper rotating body based on peripheral recognition information acquired by the peripheral recognition device, and the control device determines, based on the vehicle width in the traveling direction corresponding to the rotation angle of the upper rotating body relative to the lower running body and the acquisition range of the peripheral recognition information by the peripheral recognition device, a rotation angle during traveling that can obtain peripheral recognition information of a planned traveling area, which is an area through which the work machine is expected to pass when traveling, for at least a first threshold time before the work machine passes the planned traveling area.

[0081] With the above configuration, it is possible to provide a work machine that can acquire information about obstacles and terrain in the traveling direction without any blind spots, and can perform autonomous traveling without any constraints.

[0082] (2) The control device further includes a work machine that is rotatably supported on the upper rotating body, and excludes the blind spot of the surrounding recognition device based on the attitude of the work machine from the acquisition range of the surrounding recognition information. This makes it possible to acquire surrounding information while avoiding blind spots caused by the work machine.

[0083] (3) The control device determines the turning angle during driving as the turning angle at which the blind spot of the surroundings recognition device is minimized in the intended driving area. In this way, it is preferable to acquire surrounding area information so that the intended driving area and the blind spot do not overlap as much as possible.

[0084] (4) The control device calculates the length of one side of a rectangle obtained by counting the vehicle width within the recognition range of the periphery recognition device based on the periphery recognition information acquired by the periphery recognition device, the vehicle width, and the target travel speed of the lower traveling body, and determines the turning angle during travel that maximizes the length of the other side as the turning angle during travel. This makes it possible to provide a work machine that can acquire information on obstacles and terrain in the travel direction without blind spots, and can travel autonomously without any constraints, just like (1).

[0085] (5) The control device acquires from the construction management system the turning angle command during travel and peripheral auxiliary information that assists in the range that the peripheral recognition device cannot recognize, and if it is determined from the peripheral recognition information and peripheral auxiliary information acquired from the peripheral recognition device that travel is possible at the turning angle of the turning angle command, it determines the turning angle of the turning angle command as the turning angle during travel. This makes it possible to determine the optimal turning angle by combining not only peripheral information but also auxiliary information.

[0086] (6) When the driving command acquired from the construction management system includes the rotation angle of the upper rotating body during driving, the control device determines whether or not driving is possible based on the surrounding recognition information acquired by the surrounding recognition device and the vehicle width in the driving direction according to the rotation angle of the upper rotating body. In this way, when the driving command includes a rotation angle, it is preferable to first determine whether or not driving is possible based on the surrounding recognition information and the vehicle width.

[0087] (7) The control device stops the traveling of the work machine when the time until the work machine passes through the planned travel area exceeds a second threshold time. When the time until the work machine passes through the planned travel area exceeds the second threshold time, the situation in the planned travel area may have changed from when acquisition of the point cloud information began, so it is preferable to stop traveling in this way and redo the acquisition of the point cloud information.

[0088] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to an embodiment having all of the configurations described. It is also possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to delete a part of the configuration of each embodiment, or to add or replace another configuration. [Explanation of symbols]

[0089] 11: Lower traveling body, 12: Upper rotating body, 13a, 13b: Traveling mechanism, 41: Peripheral information acquisition means, 42: Self-position acquisition means

Claims

1. A lower running body; An upper rotating body rotatably supported on an upper portion of the lower traveling body; A surrounding recognition device installed on the upper rotating body; A control device that controls the lower traveling body and the upper rotating body based on peripheral recognition information acquired by the peripheral recognition device, The control device includes: Based on the vehicle width in the traveling direction according to the rotation angle of the upper rotating body relative to the lower traveling body and the acquisition range of the surrounding recognition information by the surrounding recognition device, determining, as a turning angle during traveling, the turning angle at which peripheral recognition information of a planned travel area, which is an area through which the work machine is scheduled to pass when traveling, can be acquired for at least a first threshold time before the work machine passes through the planned travel area; A working machine characterized by:

2. 2. The work machine of claim 1, The upper rotating body further includes a work machine rotatably supported on the upper rotating body, The control device excludes a blind spot of the periphery recognition device based on the attitude of the work machine from an acquisition range of the periphery recognition information. A working machine characterized by:

3. A work machine according to claim 2, The control device determines a turning angle at which a blind spot of the periphery recognition device is smallest in the intended driving area as a turning angle during the driving. A working machine characterized by:

4. 2. A work machine according to claim 1, The control device calculates the length of one side of a rectangle obtained by using the vehicle width as one side within the recognition range of the periphery recognition device based on the periphery recognition information acquired by the periphery recognition device, the vehicle width, and the target traveling speed of the lower traveling body, and determines the turning angle at which the length of the other side is maximum as the turning angle during the traveling. A working machine characterized by:

5. 2. A work machine according to claim 1, The control device acquires a turning angle command during traveling and peripheral auxiliary information that assists in a range that cannot be recognized by the peripheral recognition device from the construction management system, and when it is determined that traveling is possible at the turning angle of the turning angle command from the peripheral recognition information acquired by the peripheral recognition device and the peripheral auxiliary information, the turning angle of the turning angle command is determined as the turning angle during the traveling. A working machine characterized by:

6. 2. A work machine according to claim 1, When the travel command acquired from the construction management system includes a rotation angle of the upper rotating body during travel, the control device determines whether or not travel is possible based on the surrounding recognition information acquired by the surrounding recognition device and the vehicle width in the travel direction according to the rotation angle of the upper rotating body. A working machine characterized by:

7. 2. A work machine according to claim 1, the control device stops traveling of the work machine when a time until the work machine passes through the planned travel area exceeds a second threshold time. A working machine characterized by:

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