Movement control system

Abstract

To provide a movement control system capable of promptly guiding an autonomous moving object that has an abnormality in an external sensor to a destination.SOLUTION: In a movement control system according to this embodiment, a managing device includes: a detecting unit that detects, as a first autonomous moving object, an autonomous moving object that has an abnormality in an external sensor; and an instructing unit that instructs a second autonomous moving object so as to guide the first autonomous moving object. The first autonomous moving object includes: a first own position estimating unit which estimates the own position using an internal sensor, and which calculates the dispersion value of the estimated own position; and a first movement control unit that causes the first autonomous moving object to move toward a destination set by the second autonomous moving object while estimating the own position. The second autonomous moving object includes: a measuring unit that measures the position of the first autonomous moving object when the dispersion value of the own position estimated by the first autonomous moving object is greater than or equal to a threshold; and a second communicating unit that transmits, to the first autonomous moving object, the destination and measured positional information on the first moving object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to mobility control systems. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, there has been a demand for quickly guiding an autonomous mobile body, among a plurality of autonomous mobile bodies, to a destination when it has become difficult to accurately estimate its own position due to a failure of an external sensor or the like. Related technology is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1.

[0003] In the rescue robot system disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a management server receives a rescue notification from an autonomous mobile robot, it instructs subordinate robots to provide rescue, and the rescue robot that receives the rescue instruction searches for the robot to be rescued, calculates the position of the robot to be rescued, and notifies the robot to be rescued of the calculated position information, thereby recovering the self-position estimation of the robot to be rescued. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-3240 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that the rescued robot can continue to move autonomously using external sensors after obtaining information about its own position from the rescuing robot. However, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the problem that it cannot move an autonomous moving body that has difficulty moving autonomously accurately due to a failure of the external sensors, etc., to its destination.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above background, and aims to provide a mobility control system that can quickly guide an autonomous mobile body having an abnormality in an external sensor to a destination. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A mobility control system according to the present disclosure is a mobility control system including a management device and a plurality of autonomous mobile bodies, wherein the management device includes a detection unit that detects, as a first autonomous mobile body, an autonomous mobile body among the plurality of autonomous mobile bodies that has an abnormality in an external sensor used for estimating its own position, and an instruction unit that instructs a second autonomous mobile body, among the plurality of autonomous mobile bodies, that is an autonomous mobile body different from the first autonomous mobile body, to guide the first autonomous mobile body, wherein the first autonomous mobile body includes a first self-position estimation unit that estimates its own position using an internal sensor and calculates a variance value of the estimated self-position, and a second autonomous mobile body that transmits the variance value of the estimated self-position to the second autonomous mobile body. and a first communication unit and a first movement control unit that moves the first autonomous mobile body toward a destination set by the second autonomous mobile body while estimating its self-position by the first self-position estimation unit, wherein the second autonomous mobile body has a second self-position estimation unit that estimates its self-position using an external sensor, a second movement control unit that moves the second autonomous mobile body while estimating its self-position by the second self-position estimation unit, a measurement unit that measures the position of the first autonomous mobile body when a variance value of the self-position estimated by the first autonomous mobile body is equal to or greater than a threshold, and a second communication unit that transmits the destination and the measured position information of the first autonomous mobile body to the first autonomous mobile body. This movement control system can quickly guide an autonomous mobile body having an abnormality in an external sensor to the destination by another autonomous mobile body. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The present disclosure makes it possible to provide a mobility control system that can quickly guide an autonomous mobile body having an abnormality in an external sensor to a destination. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a mobility control system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2]2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an autonomous moving body to be guided and an autonomous moving body that performs guidance, among a plurality of autonomous moving bodies provided in the movement control system according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 3] 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobility control system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the mobility control system according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. Furthermore, not all of the configurations described in the embodiments are necessarily essential means for solving the problems. For clarity of explanation, the following description and drawings have been omitted and simplified as appropriate. In each drawing, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted as necessary.

[0011] <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a mobility control system 1 according to a first embodiment. The mobility control system 1 according to this embodiment is a system that manages a plurality of autonomous mobile bodies arranged in a predetermined work area. Here, the mobility control system 1 according to this embodiment detects, among the plurality of autonomous mobile bodies, an autonomous mobile body that has difficulty in accurate autonomous movement due to an abnormality in an external sensor, and can cause the detected autonomous mobile body to be quickly guided to a destination by another autonomous mobile body. This will be explained in detail below.

[0012] 1, the mobility control system 1 includes a management device 10, autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2), a map database (map DB) 30 storing map information of a predetermined work area, and a network 50. The management device 10, the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n, and the map database 30 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via the wired or wireless network 50. Hereinafter, any of the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n will also be simply referred to as the autonomous mobile body 20.

[0013] The autonomous moving bodies 20_1 to 20_n are mobile robots that move autonomously while estimating their own positions in a predetermined work area. However, the autonomous moving bodies 20_1 to 20_n are not limited to autonomously movable mobile robots, and may be autonomously movable vehicles, etc. Autonomously movable vehicles include commercial vehicles, passenger cars, construction machines, etc.

[0014] The management device 10 is also called a management server, and manages the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n arranged in a predetermined work area. For example, the management device 10 instructs each of the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n on work content. As a result, the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n operate in accordance with the work content instructed by the management device 10. For example, the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n move from their current locations to their destinations in accordance with the work content instructed by the management device 10.

[0015] Furthermore, the management device 10 detects, among the autonomous moving bodies 20_1 to 20_n, an autonomous moving body that has an abnormality in an external sensor and is therefore unable to move autonomously accurately, as a guided moving body A (first autonomous moving body), and selects, among the autonomous moving bodies 20_1 to 20_n, an autonomous moving body other than the guided moving body A, as a guiding moving body B (second autonomous moving body) that will guide the guided moving body A to a destination such as an emergency evacuation area.

[0016] Specifically, the management device 10 includes a detection unit 11 and an instruction unit 12. The detection unit 11 detects, as a guided mobile body A, an autonomous mobile body, among the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n, in which an abnormality has occurred in an external sensor and accurate autonomous movement is difficult. Note that, when the detection unit 11 receives a notification from an autonomous mobile body 20 in which an abnormality has occurred in an external sensor, the detection unit 11 may detect the autonomous mobile body 20 that has made the notification as the guided mobile body A. The instruction unit 12 selects a guiding mobile body B that will guide the guided mobile body A from among the autonomous mobile bodies 20_1 to 20_n, which are different from the guided mobile body A, and instructs the selected guiding mobile body B to guide the guided mobile body A to a destination such as an emergency evacuation area. Note that the instruction unit 12 may give priority to guiding an autonomous mobile body 20 located near the guided mobile body A, or may give priority to guiding an autonomous mobile body 20 for which no work content has been instructed. The method of guiding the guided mobile object A by the guiding mobile object B will be described in detail later.

[0017] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of each of the guided moving body A and the guiding moving body B. In the example of Fig. 2, the autonomous moving body 20_1 is detected as the guided moving body A, and the autonomous moving body 20_2 is selected as the guiding moving body B, but an autonomous moving body 20 other than the autonomous moving body 20_1 may be detected as the guided moving body A, and an autonomous moving body 20 other than the autonomous moving body 20_2 may be selected as the guiding moving body B. The configuration of each of the autonomous moving bodies 20_3 to 20_n is similar to that of the autonomous moving bodies 20_1 and 20_2, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0018] 2, the guided moving body A (autonomous moving body 20_1 in the example of FIG. 2) includes a communication unit 211, an external sensor 212, an internal sensor 213, a self-position estimation unit 214, a control unit 215, a wheel driving unit 216, and a measurement unit 217. The guiding moving body B (autonomous moving body 20_2 in the example of FIG. 2) includes a communication unit 221, an external sensor 222, an internal sensor 223, a self-position estimation unit 224, a control unit 225, a wheel driving unit 226, and a measurement unit 227. The communication unit 221, the external sensor 222, the internal sensor 223, the self-position estimation unit 224, the control unit 225, the wheel drive unit 226, and the measurement unit 227 correspond to the communication unit 211, the external sensor 212, the internal sensor 213, the self-position estimation unit 214, the control unit 215, the wheel drive unit 216, and the measurement unit 217, respectively.

[0019] (Configuration of guided moving body A) In the guided moving body A, the communication unit 211 communicates with other autonomous moving bodies 20, the management device 10, and the map database 30 via the network 50. The external sensor 212 is, for example, a camera, a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), a distance measurement sensor, etc., and detects the surrounding environment (surrounding objects, etc.) of the guided moving body A. The external sensor 212 also detects AR markers, etc., attached to other autonomous moving bodies 20. However, if the guided moving body A has a camera separate from the external sensor 212, the camera may be used to capture an image of the AR marker, and the AR marker may be identified from an analysis result of the captured image. For example, OpenCV, etc. is used for the image analysis. The internal sensor 213 is, for example, a wheel odometry, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), etc., and detects the rotation speed and rotation angle of the wheel from the driving status of the wheel by the wheel driving unit 216.

[0020] The self-position estimation unit 214 estimates its own position by comparing the detection result by the external sensor 212 with map information stored in the map database 30, or by calculating the moving direction and moving distance from a reference position from the detection result by the internal sensor 213. The self-position estimation unit 214 can estimate its own position more accurately by using the external sensor 212 than by using the internal sensor 213. However, since there is an abnormality in the external sensor 212 of the guided moving body A, the self-position estimation unit 214 estimates its own position using the internal sensor 213.

[0021] Furthermore, the self-position estimation unit 214 calculates a variance value of the estimated self-position. Specifically, the self-position estimation unit 214 calculates the size of the area that is estimated to be the self-position with a probability equal to or higher than a predetermined rate as the variance value. The larger the variance value, the lower the reliability of the estimation result of the self-position of the guided mobile object A, and the smaller the variance value, the higher the reliability of the estimation result of the self-position of the guided mobile object A. The communication unit 211 periodically transmits the calculated variance value to the guiding mobile object B.

[0022] For example, the self-location estimation unit 214 sequentially estimates the self-location probabilistically by using a probabilistic estimation method called UKF (Unscented Kalman Filter). In self-location estimation using UKF, the position coordinates and orientation of the guided moving object A are expressed by a multivariate Gaussian distribution. This Gaussian distribution is updated by control information of the guided moving object A and observation information from the sensors, and the variance (covariance matrix) of this Gaussian distribution is used as the variance value of the self-location estimated by the self-location estimation unit 214. Specifically, the sum of the long side and the short side of the error ellipse obtained from the variance of this Gaussian distribution is used as the variance value.

[0023] The control unit 215 controls the operation of the guided mobile object A in accordance with instructions from the management device 10. For example, the control unit 215 moves the guided mobile object A by driving the wheels with the wheel driving unit 216 while estimating the self-position with the self-position estimation unit 214 in accordance with instructions from the management device 10.

[0024] When the autonomous moving body 20_1 is used as the guiding moving body B, the measuring unit 217 measures the position of another autonomous moving body detected as the guided moving body A. However, in this example, since there is an abnormality in the external sensor 212, the measuring unit 217 does not perform measurement. When the autonomous moving body 20_1 is used as the guiding moving body B, the method of measurement by the measuring unit 217 is the same as the method of measurement by the measuring unit 227, which will be described later.

[0025] (Configuration of guided mobile body B) In the guided moving body B, the communication unit 221 communicates with other autonomous moving bodies 20, the management device 10, and the map database 30 via the network 50. The external sensor 222 is, for example, a camera, LiDAR, a distance measurement sensor, etc., and detects the surrounding environment (surrounding objects, etc.) of the guided moving body B. The external sensor 222 also detects AR markers, etc., attached to other autonomous moving bodies 20. However, if the guided moving body B has a camera separate from the external sensor 222, the camera may be used to capture an image of the AR marker, and the AR marker may be identified from the analysis results of the captured image. For example, OpenCV, etc., is used for image analysis. The internal sensor 223 is, for example, a wheel odometry, an IMU, etc., and detects the rotation speed and rotation angle of the wheel from the driving status of the wheel by the wheel driving unit 226.

[0026] The self-location estimation unit 224 estimates its own location by comparing the detection result by the external sensor 222 with map information stored in the map database 30, or by calculating the movement direction and movement distance from a reference position from the detection result by the internal sensor 223. The self-location estimation unit 224 can estimate its own location more accurately by using the external sensor 222 than by using the internal sensor 223. Here, in the guided moving body B, the external sensor 222 is operating normally, so the self-location estimation unit 224 estimates its own location more accurately using the external sensor 222. Naturally, the self-location estimation unit 224 may estimate its own location using both the external sensor 222 and the internal sensor 223.

[0027] Furthermore, the self-position estimation unit 224 calculates a variance value of the estimated self-position. Specifically, the self-position estimation unit 224 calculates the size of the area that is estimated to be the self-position with a probability equal to or higher than a predetermined rate as the variance value. The larger the variance value, the lower the reliability of the estimation result of the self-position of the guiding mobile body B, and the smaller the variance value, the higher the reliability of the estimation result of the self-position of the guiding mobile body B. However, since the external sensor 222 of the guiding mobile body B is operating normally and the possibility of the variance value becoming large is low, the calculation of the variance value may not be performed.

[0028] For example, the self-location estimation unit 224 sequentially estimates the self-location probabilistically by using a parameter called UKF. In self-location estimation using UKF, the position coordinates and orientation of the guided mobile object B are expressed by a multivariate Gaussian distribution. This Gaussian distribution is updated by the control information of the guided mobile object B and the observation information from the sensors, and the variance (covariance matrix) of this Gaussian distribution is used as the variance value of the self-location estimated by the self-location estimation unit 224. Specifically, the sum of the long side and the short side of the error ellipse obtained from the variance of this Gaussian distribution is used as the variance value.

[0029] The control unit 225 controls the operation of the guided moving body B in accordance with instructions from the management device 10. For example, the control unit 225 moves the guided moving body B by driving the wheels with the wheel driving unit 226 while estimating the self-position with the self-position estimation unit 224 in accordance with instructions from the management device 10.

[0030] The measuring unit 227 measures the position of the guided mobile object A when the variance value of the self-position estimated by the guided mobile object A is equal to or greater than a threshold. Specifically, the measuring unit 227 first measures the relative position and relative angle of the guiding mobile object B with respect to the guided mobile object A by detecting an AR marker or the like attached to the guiding mobile object B using the external sensor 222 (or a separately provided camera). Thereafter, the measuring unit 227 calculates position information (including orientation information) of the guiding mobile object B from the self-position estimated by the self-position estimation unit 224 and the measured relative position and relative angle of the guiding mobile object B. Then, the communication unit 221 transmits the destination (including stopovers on the way to the final destination) and the position information of the guiding mobile object B measured by the measuring unit 227 to the guiding mobile object B.

[0031] In this way, the mobility control system 1 according to the present disclosure detects an autonomous moving body that has an abnormality in an external sensor and is therefore unable to move autonomously accurately as a guided moving body A, and can have the guided moving body A quickly guided to its destination by another autonomous moving body, a guiding moving body B.

[0032] (Operation of the mobility control system 1) Next, the operation of the mobility control system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobility control system 1. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the mobility control system 1. In Fig. 3, dotted arrows represent the exchange of information between a guided mobile body A, a guiding mobile body B, and the management device 10. The displayed content of each step in Fig. 4 corresponds to the processing content of the corresponding step in Fig. 3. Below, an example will be described in which the autonomous mobile body 20_1 is detected as the guided mobile body A and the autonomous mobile body 20_2 is selected as the guiding mobile body B.

[0033] First, an abnormality occurs in the external sensor 212 of the autonomous moving body 20_1 (step S101). This makes it difficult for the autonomous moving body 20_1 to accurately estimate its own position using the external sensor 212, making it difficult for the autonomous moving body 20_1 to move autonomously accurately.

[0034] When the management device 10 detects the autonomous mobile body 20_1 having an abnormality in the external sensor 212 as the guided mobile body A (step S301), it selects a guiding mobile body B from among the autonomous mobile bodies 20_2 to 20_n to guide the guided mobile body A (step S302), and instructs the selected guiding mobile body B to guide the guided mobile body A to a destination such as an emergency evacuation area (step S303).

[0035] When the guiding mobile body B receives a guidance instruction (step S201), it searches for the guided mobile body A while moving autonomously (step S202), and measures the position of the discovered guided mobile body A using its own external sensors, etc. (step S203). Then, the guiding mobile body B transmits the measured position information of the guided mobile body A and the destination (including the stopover points on the way to the final destination) to the guided mobile body A (steps S204, S205).

[0036] When the guided mobile object A receives the information on its own position and the destination (including the relay point) transmitted from the guiding mobile object B (steps S102 and S103), it moves toward the destination while estimating its own position using the internal sensor 213 (step S104). In addition, the guiding mobile object B guides the guided mobile object A while moving autonomously (step S206).

[0037] While moving toward the destination set by the guiding mobile body B, the guided mobile body A calculates the variance of its estimated position and periodically transmits it to the guiding mobile body B (step S105). The guiding mobile body B receives the variance periodically transmitted from the guided mobile body A (step S207).

[0038] Then, the guiding mobile object B continues to guide the guided mobile object A until the guided mobile object A reaches the destination (including the relay point) (NO in step S211→step S206). Also, the guided mobile object A continues to move while estimating its own position using the internal sensor 213 until it reaches the destination set by the guiding mobile object B (NO in step S211→step S104).

[0039] Here, if the variance value becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value (NO in step S208), that is, if the guiding mobile body B determines that there is a high possibility that the difference between its own position estimated by the guided mobile body A and the actual position of the guided mobile body A has become unacceptably large, it suspends its movement and searches for the guided mobile body A, then measures the position of the guided mobile body A using the external sensor 222 or the like (step S209) and transmits the measured position to the guided mobile body A (step S210). The guided mobile body A also suspends its movement, receives information about its own position transmitted from the guiding mobile body B (step S106), and updates its own position. Thereafter, the guided mobile body A and the guiding mobile body B start moving again.

[0040] Then, when the guided mobile body A reaches the destination (YES in step S211), if the destination is a relay point RP to the final destination (NO in step S212), the guiding mobile body B sets a new destination and repeats the guiding process for the guided mobile body A (step S205), and if the destination is the final destination FP (YES in step S212), it ends the process.

[0041] In this way, the mobility control system 1 according to the present disclosure detects an autonomous moving body that has an abnormality in an external sensor and is therefore unable to move autonomously accurately as a guided moving body A, and can have the guided moving body A quickly guided to its destination by another autonomous moving body, a guiding moving body B.

[0042] Furthermore, in the mobility control system 1 according to the present disclosure, the guiding mobile body B measures the position of the guided mobile body A instead of the guided mobile body A only when the variance value of the self-position estimated by the guided mobile body A becomes equal to or greater than a threshold value, which reduces the processing burden compared to when the guiding mobile body B always measures the position of the guided mobile body A instead of the guided mobile body A. In particular, if an external sensor for detecting the guided mobile body A is provided only in front of the guiding mobile body B, the frequency with which the guiding mobile body B looks back to detect the guided mobile body A is reduced, which enables the guiding mobile body B to quickly guide the guided mobile body A.

[0043] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the invention.

[0044] The present disclosure can be realized by causing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a computer program to perform part or all of the processing of the management device 10 and each of the autonomous moving bodies 20_1 to 20_n.

[0045] The above-described program includes a set of instructions (or software code) that, when loaded into a computer, causes the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media or tangible storage media include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state drives (SSD) or other memory technologies, CD-ROMs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), Blu-ray discs or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices. The program may also be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, transitory computer-readable media or communication media include electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1. Movement control system 10 Management device 11 Detection unit 12 Instruction section 20_1~20_n Autonomous Mobile Vehicles 30 Map Database 50 Network 211 Communications Department 212 External Sensor 213 Internal Sensor 214 Self-position estimation part 215 Control Unit 216 Wheel drive unit 217 Measurement Department 221 Communications Department 222 External Sensor 223 Internal Sensor 224 Self-position estimation part 225 Control Unit 226 Wheel drive unit 227 Measurement Department A Guided moving object B Guided moving body

Claims

1. A management device; A plurality of autonomous moving bodies; A movement control system comprising: The management device a detection unit that detects, as a first autonomous moving body, an autonomous moving body having an abnormality in an external sensor used for estimating a self-position among the plurality of autonomous moving bodies; an instruction unit that instructs a second autonomous moving body, which is an autonomous moving body different from the first autonomous moving body, among the plurality of autonomous moving bodies to guide the first autonomous moving body; and The first autonomous moving body is a first self-position estimation unit that estimates a self-position using an internal sensor and calculates a variance value of the estimated self-position; a first communication unit that transmits a variance value of the estimated self-position to the second autonomous moving body; a first movement control unit that moves the first autonomous moving body toward a destination set by the second autonomous moving body while estimating a self-position by the first self-position estimation unit; and The second autonomous moving body a second self-position estimation unit that estimates a self-position using an external sensor; a second movement control unit that moves the second autonomous moving body while estimating a self-position by the second self-position estimation unit; a measurement unit that measures the position of the first autonomous moving body when a variance value of the self-position estimated by the first autonomous moving body is equal to or greater than a threshold; a second communication unit that transmits the destination and the measured position information of the first autonomous moving body to the first autonomous moving body; having Movement control system.

2. In the first autonomous moving body, the first self-position estimation unit calculates, as a variance value, a size of an area estimated to be the self-position with a probability equal to or higher than a predetermined rate. The movement control system of claim 1 .

3. the first autonomous moving body further includes an AR marker; The second autonomous moving body the measurement unit measures the position of the first autonomous moving body from the AR marker identified by analyzing an image captured by a camera; The movement control system of claim 1 .

4. the first autonomous moving body is configured to notify the management device that there is an abnormality in the external sensor; In the management device, the detection unit detects the first autonomous moving body that has notified that there is an abnormality in the external sensor. The movement control system of claim 1 .

5. The plurality of autonomous moving bodies are all autonomous moving robots. The movement control system of claim 1 .

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