Outdoor automatic operation system

Abstract

To provide an outdoor automatic operation system for automatically determining whether an automatic operation can be performed depending on a weather.SOLUTION: An outdoor automatic operation system 1 for automatically operating a vehicle 40 outdoors. The system includes: a weather data acquisition section 31 for acquiring weather forecasting data and weather data of a site where the vehicle 40 is to be automatically operated; a determination section 34 for determining propriety of the automatic operation of the vehicle 40 outdoors based on the weather forecasting data and weather data of the site acquired by the weather data acquisition section 31; and a control section 42 for controlling traveling of the vehicle 40 in response to a propriety result of the automatic operation of the vehicle 40 determined by the determination section 34.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an outdoor automatic driving system. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a warehouse management system. This warehouse management system includes a management device, an autonomously mobile conveyance device, an RFID tag attached to an item conveyed by the conveyance device and associated with information about the item, and an RFID reader. The management device includes a warehousing model that receives inputs of information about the item to be received by the conveyance device and the current inventory status in the warehouse, outputs a location within the management area suitable for placing the item, and acquires an input / output relationship through machine learning. The management device acquires the item information from the RFID tag attached to the item via the RFID reader, and uses the warehousing model to determine a location within the management area where the item should be placed based on the acquired information, and instructs the conveyance device on the location where the item should be placed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-129906 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When a vehicle is driven autonomously, it is often equipped with a sensor that detects obstacles in the surrounding area. The sensor may be affected by rain and wind. For example, if raindrops adhere to the sensor, the sensor may mistakenly detect the raindrops as obstacles, causing the vehicle to slow down or stop. Therefore, when a vehicle is driven autonomously outdoors, it is necessary to determine whether autonomous driving is possible depending on the weather. However, in the past, this determination was made by an operator, resulting in unnecessary work processes.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an outdoor automatic driving system that automatically determines whether automatic driving can be performed depending on the weather. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) One aspect of the present invention is an outdoor automatic driving system that automatically drives a vehicle outdoors, and includes a weather data acquisition unit that acquires at least one of weather forecast data and local weather data for automatically driving the vehicle, a judgment unit that determines whether the vehicle can be automatically driven outdoors based on at least one of the weather forecast data and local weather data acquired by the weather data acquisition unit, and a control unit that controls the driving of the vehicle depending on the result of the judgment by the judgment unit as to whether the vehicle can be automatically driven.

[0007] In such an outdoor autonomous driving system, the weather data acquisition unit acquires at least one of weather forecast data and weather data for the local area where the vehicle will be driven automatically (referred to as local weather data). The determination unit then determines whether or not the vehicle can be driven automatically outdoors based on the acquired weather forecast data and / or local weather data. This allows the outdoor autonomous driving system to automatically determine whether or not autonomous driving is possible depending on the weather. Furthermore, because the determination unit determines whether or not autonomous driving is possible, an operator does not need to determine whether or not autonomous driving is possible. This eliminates wasteful work processes.

[0008] (2) In the above (1), the determination unit may determine whether autonomous driving of the vehicle is possible based on at least one of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall in at least one of the weather forecast data and the local weather data. In this configuration, the determination unit determines whether autonomous driving is possible based on the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall in at least one of the weather forecast data and the local weather data. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine whether autonomous driving is possible with high accuracy.

[0009] (3) In (1) or (2) above, if the determination unit determines that autonomous driving of the vehicle is not possible, the determination unit may, after a certain period of time has elapsed, re-determine whether autonomous driving of the vehicle outdoors is possible based on at least one of weather forecast data and local weather data. In this configuration, if the determination unit determines that autonomous driving is not possible, it does not immediately terminate the process, but instead re-determines whether autonomous driving is possible after a certain period of time has elapsed. This makes it possible to automatically determine whether autonomous driving of the vehicle can be performed even if autonomous driving of the vehicle has been stopped due to worsening weather.

[0010] (4) In the above (1) to (3), if the weather forecast data and the local weather data differ from each other, the determination unit may determine whether the vehicle can be autonomously driven based on the local weather data. In this configuration, it is possible to determine whether autonomous driving can be performed based on accurate local weather information. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine whether autonomous driving can be performed with high accuracy.

[0011] (5) In the above (1) to (4), the outdoor automatic driving system may further include a notification unit that notifies the result of the determination by the determination unit as to whether the vehicle is automatically driven. In this configuration, workers around the vehicle can be notified as to whether the vehicle is automatically driven. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not autonomous driving can be performed depending on the weather. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an outdoor automatic operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the outdoor automatic driving system shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by a host system of the outdoor automatic driving system and a control unit of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4]FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an outdoor automatic operation system according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0015] (Embodiment) Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an outdoor automatic driving system according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the outdoor automatic driving system shown in Fig. 1.

[0016] The outdoor automatic driving system 1 of this embodiment includes a weather forecast service 10, a local weather data detection unit 20, a host system 30, and a vehicle 40. The outdoor automatic driving system 1 is a system that automatically drives the vehicle 40 outdoors.

[0017] The vehicle 40 is an autonomous vehicle that travels outdoors. The vehicle 40 may be, for example, an industrial vehicle such as a forklift, an AGF, or an AGV, but is not limited to these. The vehicle 40 transports materials and parts from one work site to another within a factory, for example.

[0018] The weather forecast service 10 is a service that predicts weather and provides weather forecast data. The weather forecast data is data that predicts future weather conditions such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy. The weather forecast data may also include other information such as temperature, humidity, probability of precipitation, and wind speed.

[0019] The weather forecast service 10 may use external services provided by, for example, the Japan Meteorological Agency or private weather companies. For example, the weather forecast service 10 may be a high-performance weather IoT sensor "Soratena Pro" (Trademark Application No. 2023-87731) provided by Weathernews Inc. Therefore, the weather forecast data may be information obtained using "Soratena Pro."

[0020] The local weather data detection unit 20 detects local weather data (hereinafter referred to as local weather data). The local area is the area in which the vehicle 40 travels. Here, the local area is the area in which the vehicle 40 is driven automatically. The local weather data is the weather observed at a specific time in the area in which the vehicle 40 travels.

[0021] The local weather data detection unit 20 has a rain gauge 21, an anemometer 22, and a camera 23. Therefore, the local weather data is the amount of rainfall measured by the rain gauge 21, the wind speed measured by the anemometer 22, and the snowfall or snow accumulation conditions observed by the camera 23. The camera 23 is not limited to observing snowfall conditions, etc. For example, the camera 23 may monitor the conditions of the road on which the vehicle 40 is traveling.

[0022] The host system 30 includes a weather data acquisition unit 31, a determination unit 34, an instruction unit 35, and a notification unit 36. The host system 30 is separate from the vehicle 40.

[0023] The weather data acquisition unit 31 acquires weather forecast data and local weather data for the location of the vehicle 40. The weather data acquisition unit 31 acquires the weather forecast data and local weather data, for example, every hour or every two hours, but is not limited to this. For example, the weather data acquisition unit 31 may acquire the weather forecast data and local weather data every 30 minutes, every 10 minutes, or every 5 minutes depending on the weather fluctuations.

[0024] The weather data acquisition unit 31 includes, as functional elements, a communication unit 32 and a memory unit 33. The communication unit 32 acquires weather forecast data provided by the weather forecast service 10 and local weather data detected by the local weather data detection unit 20 via wired or wireless communication.

[0025] The storage unit 33 stores and accumulates the weather forecast data and local weather data acquired by the communication unit 32. The storage unit 33 has a storage medium. The storage medium may be, but is not limited to, a magnetic medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a semiconductor memory such as a solid state drive (SSD), or an optical medium such as a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc. The storage medium may also be, for example, cloud storage. The weather forecast data and local weather data are saved in the storage medium of the storage unit 33.

[0026] The determination unit 34 determines whether or not the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously outdoors based on the weather forecast data and local weather data acquired by the communication unit 32 (weather data acquisition unit 31). Since the determination unit 34 determines whether or not the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously in this way, the worker does not need to determine whether or not the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously. This eliminates unnecessary work processes.

[0027] Furthermore, the determination unit 34 determines whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible based on at least one of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall in the weather forecast data and the local weather data. That is, the determination unit 34 uses at least one of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall as a criterion for determining whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible. In other words, the determination unit 34 may use each of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall individually as a criterion for determining whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible, or the determination unit 34 may use a combination of the amount of rainfall and wind speed, or the amount of snowfall and wind speed as a criterion for determining whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible.

[0028] Therefore, the "judgment criteria" refers to the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and snowfall that the judgment unit 34 evaluates to determine whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible. For example, the judgment unit 34 judges that autonomous driving is possible when the amount of rainfall per hour is 10 mm or less, and judges that autonomous driving is not possible when the amount of rainfall per hour is more than 10 mm. In this case, the "judgment criteria" is a rainfall of 10 mm. Note that the aforementioned amount of rainfall per hour is just an example, and the judgment criteria of the judgment unit 34 are not limited to the above. Furthermore, the judgment criteria of the judgment unit 34 may be a combination of rainfall and wind speed, or a combination of snowfall and wind speed.

[0029] In addition, if the judgment unit 34 determines that autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is not possible, after a certain period of time has passed, it again judges whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible outdoors based on weather forecast data and local weather data.

[0030] The "certain period of time" varies depending on the fluctuations in local weather. If the local weather is prone to change, the determination unit 34 re-determines whether or not the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously, for example, every five minutes. If the local weather is less prone to change, the determination unit 34 may re-determine, for example, every 30 minutes, or every hour. The fluctuations in local weather may be evaluated by region or by season.

[0031] For example, if the local weather is rainy and the determination unit 34 determines that autonomous driving is not possible, the determination unit 34 determines again whether autonomous driving is possible after a certain period of time has passed. As a result, even if autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 has been stopped due to worsening weather, it can automatically determine whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 can be carried out when the weather improves thereafter.

[0032] Therefore, if the judgment unit 34 judges that automatic driving is not possible due to worsening weather, and then the weather improves and it is judged that automatic driving of the vehicle 40 outdoors is possible, automatic driving of the vehicle 40 will resume.

[0033] Furthermore, when the weather forecast data and the local weather data differ from each other, the determination unit 34 determines whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible based on the local weather data. That is, the determination unit 34 prioritizes the local weather data over the weather forecast data. This allows the determination of whether autonomous driving is possible based on accurate local weather information.

[0034] The instruction unit 35 instructs the vehicle 40 to perform autonomous driving, depending on the determination result of the determination unit 34 as to whether autonomous driving is possible. For example, if the determination unit 34 determines that autonomous driving is possible, the instruction unit 35 instructs the vehicle 40 to start or resume autonomous driving. If the determination unit 34 determines that autonomous driving is not possible, the instruction unit 35 instructs the vehicle 40 to stop autonomous driving. The instruction unit 35 gives instructions to the vehicle 40 via wireless communication.

[0035] The notification unit 36 ​​notifies the operator of the result of the determination made by the determination unit 34 as to whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving. The notification unit 36 ​​is, for example, a monitor, touch panel, signal tower, patrol lamp, buzzer, alarm, melody horn, or audio speaker installed in the host system 30. The notification unit 36 ​​notifies the operator of whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving.

[0036] Therefore, the notification unit 36 ​​may visually notify the worker that the vehicle 40 is operating or stopped by using a display including light, or may audibly notify the worker that the vehicle 40 is operating or stopped by using sound, or may notify the worker that the vehicle 40 is operating or stopped by using both light and sound.

[0037] The vehicle 40 includes an acquisition unit 41 , a control unit 42 , a notification unit 43 , and a detection unit 44 .

[0038] The acquisition unit 41 acquires the instruction transmitted from the instruction unit 35. The acquisition unit 41 acquires the instruction from the instruction unit 35 via wireless communication.

[0039] The control unit 42 controls the driving of the vehicle 40 depending on the result of the determination by the determination unit 34 as to whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving. When the acquisition unit 41 receives an instruction from the instruction unit 35 to start or resume autonomous driving of the vehicle 40, the control unit 42 starts or resumes driving of the vehicle 40. When the acquisition unit 41 receives an instruction from the instruction unit 35 to stop autonomous driving of the vehicle 40, the control unit 42 stops driving of the vehicle 40.

[0040] The notification unit 43 notifies the operator of the result of the determination made by the determination unit 34 as to whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving. The notification unit 43 is, for example, a monitor, touch panel, signal tower, patrol lamp, buzzer, alarm, melody horn, or audio speaker installed in the vehicle 40. In other words, the same means as the notification unit 36 ​​is used as the notification unit 43. The notification unit 43 notifies the operator of whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving.

[0041] The detector 44 detects the situation around the vehicle 40. For example, three detectors 44 are provided in the vehicle 40. For example, two detectors 44 are provided in the front of the vehicle 40 and one detector 44 is provided in the rear of the vehicle 40. The detectors 44 are provided, for example, at a height of 200 mm from the ground.

[0042] The detection unit 44 is, for example, a sensor that detects an obstacle. The sensor may be, for example, an ultrasonic sensor, a camera, or a laser.

[0043] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the host system 30 of the outdoor automatic driving system 1 and the control unit 42 of the vehicle 40 shown in FIG.

[0044] In FIG. 3, first, the communication unit 32 of the weather data acquisition unit 31 acquires local weather data from the local weather data detection unit 20 (step S101) and also acquires weather forecast data from the weather forecast service 10 (step S102).

[0045] Then, the determination unit 34 evaluates whether or not the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously outdoors based on both the weather forecast data and the local weather data (step S103).

[0046] Then, the determination unit 34 determines whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving based on criteria including at least one of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall in both the weather forecast data and the local weather data (step S104). At this time, the determination unit 34 determines whether the autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible by determining whether the evaluation result of whether the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving outdoors is equal to or less than the determination criteria.

[0047] If the determination unit 34 determines that the vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving, the instruction unit 35 instructs the vehicle 40 to start or resume autonomous driving (step S105). "The vehicle 40 is capable of autonomous driving" means that the determination unit 34 has determined that the evaluation result is equal to or lower than the determination criterion.

[0048] Thereafter, the acquisition unit 41 of the vehicle 40 acquires an instruction to start or resume autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 from the instruction unit 35. Next, the control unit 42 of the vehicle 40 starts or resumes driving of the vehicle 40 (step S106), and ends this process.

[0049] If the determination unit 34 determines that the vehicle 40 is not capable of autonomous driving, the instruction unit 35 instructs the vehicle 40 to stop autonomous driving (step S107). "The vehicle 40 is not capable of autonomous driving" means that the determination unit 34 has determined that the evaluation result is higher than the determination standard.

[0050] Thereafter, the acquisition unit 41 of the vehicle 40 acquires an instruction to stop the autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 from the instruction unit 35. Next, the control unit 42 of the vehicle 40 stops the traveling of the vehicle 40 (step S108).

[0051] Then, the control unit 42 notifies surrounding workers that the vehicle 40 has stopped traveling by means of the notification unit 43 (step S109).

[0052] After step S109 is executed, the weather data acquisition unit 31 and the determination unit 34 determine whether a certain period of time has elapsed (step S110). If the weather data acquisition unit 31 and the determination unit 34 determine that the certain period of time has elapsed, they execute the above steps S101 to S104 again. That is, the determination unit 34 determines again whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 outdoors is possible based on both the weather forecast data and the local weather data, and repeats the above steps S107 to S109 until it determines that autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 outdoors is possible.

[0053] In this way, even if it is determined that autonomous driving of vehicle 40 outdoors is not possible, if it is later determined that autonomous driving of vehicle 40 outdoors is possible, autonomous driving of vehicle 40 will resume.

[0054] As described above, in this embodiment, the weather data acquisition unit 31 acquires weather forecast data provided by the weather forecast service 10 and local weather data detected by the local weather data detection unit 20. Then, the determination unit 34 determines whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 outdoors is possible based on the acquired weather forecast data and local weather data. This allows the outdoor autonomous driving system 1 to automatically determine whether autonomous driving is possible depending on the weather.

[0055] Furthermore, since the determining unit 34 determines whether automatic operation is possible, the worker does not have to determine whether automatic operation is possible, which eliminates unnecessary work processes.

[0056] In this embodiment, the determination unit 34 determines whether autonomous driving is possible based on the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and snowfall in the weather forecast data and local weather data. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine whether autonomous driving is possible with high accuracy.

[0057] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the determination unit 34 determines that autonomous driving is not possible, it does not immediately end the process, but determines again whether autonomous driving is possible after a certain period of time has passed. This makes it possible to automatically determine whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 can be performed, even if autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 has been stopped due to worsening weather.

[0058] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the weather forecast data and the local weather data differ from each other, the determination unit 34 determines whether autonomous driving of the vehicle 40 is possible based on the local weather data. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether autonomous driving is possible based on accurate local weather information. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine whether autonomous driving is possible with greater accuracy.

[0059] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the outdoor automatic driving system 1 includes notification units 36, 43 that notify the result of whether the vehicle 40 can be automatically driven, as determined by the determination unit 34. Therefore, it is possible to notify workers around the vehicle 40 whether the vehicle 40 can be automatically driven.

[0060] (Variation) FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an outdoor automatic driving system 2 according to a modified example. As shown in FIG. 4, the outdoor automatic driving system 2 further includes a server 50. In the above respects, the outdoor automatic driving system 2 has a different configuration from the outdoor automatic driving system 1. The other configurations of the outdoor automatic driving system 2 are the same as those of the outdoor automatic driving system 1.

[0061] The server 50 has a main memory unit, an auxiliary memory unit, and a communication control unit. The main memory unit is configured by a processor (e.g., a CPU) that executes, for example, an operating system and application programs, and a ROM or RAM.

[0062] The auxiliary storage unit is configured by a storage medium such as a magnetic medium or a semiconductor memory, etc. The communication control unit is configured by a network card or a wireless communication module, for example.

[0063] The communication control unit acquires weather forecast data and local weather data. The communication control unit transmits the acquired weather forecast data and local weather data to the host system 30. Specifically, the weather forecast data and local weather data are transmitted from the communication control unit to the communication unit 32 of the weather data acquisition unit 31. In this case, the weather data acquisition unit 31 does not need to have a memory unit 33.

[0064] The main memory and auxiliary memory store the weather forecast data and local weather data acquired by the communication control unit. The weather forecast data and local weather data may be stored in either the main memory or the auxiliary memory, or in both.

[0065] Even with this configuration, the same effects as those of the outdoor automatic driving system 1 can be obtained.

[0066] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the communication unit 32 (weather data acquisition unit 31) acquires both weather forecast data and local weather data, but the present invention is not particularly limited to such an embodiment. For example, the communication unit 32 may acquire only one of the weather forecast data and local weather data.

[0067] In the above embodiment, the determination unit 34 determines whether or not the vehicle 40 can be autonomously driven outdoors based on both the weather forecast data and the local weather data, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the determination unit 34 may determine whether or not the vehicle 40 can be autonomously driven outdoors based on either the weather forecast data or the local weather data.

[0068] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the determination unit 34 determines whether the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously based on at least one of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall in the weather forecast data and the local weather data, but is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the determination unit 34 may determine whether the vehicle 40 can be driven autonomously based on lightning in addition to at least one of the amount of rainfall, wind speed, and amount of snowfall.

[0069] In the above embodiment, the vehicle 40 is an autonomous vehicle that travels outdoors, but is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the vehicle 40 may be a vehicle that can be driven both autonomously and manually.

[0070] In the above embodiment, the notification unit is provided in both the host system 30 and the vehicle 40, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the notification unit may be provided in only one of the host system 30 and the vehicle 40.

[0071] In addition, in the above embodiment, the host system 30 and the vehicle 40 are separate entities, but this is not a particular limitation. For example, the functions of the host system 30 may be provided in the vehicle 40. [Explanation of symbols]

[0072] 1...outdoor autonomous driving system, 10...weather forecast service, 20...local weather data detection unit, 30...host system, 31...weather data acquisition unit, 34...judgment unit, 36...notification unit, 40...vehicle, 42...control unit, 43...notification unit.

Claims

1. An outdoor automatic driving system that automatically drives a vehicle outdoors, a weather data acquisition unit that acquires at least one of weather forecast data and local weather data of the location where the vehicle is to be automatically driven; a determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle can be autonomously driven outdoors based on at least one of the weather forecast data and the local weather data acquired by the weather data acquisition unit; and and a control unit that controls the driving of the vehicle depending on the result of the judgment by the judgment unit as to whether the vehicle is capable of autonomous driving.

2. 2. The outdoor autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the vehicle can be autonomously driven based on at least one of the amount of rainfall, the amount of wind speed, and the amount of snowfall in at least one of the weather forecast data and the local weather data.

3. 2. The outdoor automatic driving system according to claim 1, wherein, when the determination unit determines that automatic driving of the vehicle is not possible, after a certain period of time has elapsed, the determination unit again determines whether automatic driving of the vehicle outdoors is possible based on at least one of the weather forecast data and the local weather data.

4. 2. The outdoor automatic driving system according to claim 1, wherein, when the weather forecast data and the local weather data differ from each other, the determination unit determines whether the vehicle can be automatically driven based on the local weather data.

5. The outdoor automatic driving system according to claim 1 , further comprising a notification unit that notifies the result of the determination made by the determination unit as to whether the vehicle is capable of automatic driving.

Images