Mobile devices and programs

Abstract

To provide a moving body capable of realizing movement with a higher degree of freedom. [Solution] A moving body 1 that moves in either a following mode in which it follows a target to be followed, or a non-following mode in which it does not follow the target to be followed, is equipped with an acquisition unit 11 that acquires information about the surroundings of the moving body 1, an identification unit 12 that identifies the position of the target to be followed using the results acquired by the acquisition unit 11, a moving mechanism 15 that moves the moving body 1, and a movement control unit 17 that, in the following mode, controls the moving mechanism 15 to follow the target to be followed whose position has been identified by the identification unit 12, and, in the non-following mode, controls the moving mechanism 15 in a predetermined manner, and the movement control unit 17 switches between the following mode and the non-following mode while the moving body 1 is moving.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a moving body or the like that moves in either a following mode in which it follows a target to be followed, or a non-following mode in which it does not follow a target to be followed. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a moving object that moves by following a target to be followed is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-178789 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2024-031992 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when the moving body constantly moves while following the target, for example, when the person who is the target performs picking work in a warehouse, the moving body must be temporarily stopped, and after the picking work is performed and the goods or the like are placed on the moving body or a cart pulled by the moving body, the moving body must start moving again to follow the moving body. In this way, when performing picking work, the moving body must be temporarily stopped, and as a result, there is a problem that the overall time required for the picking work is increased. In addition, when the moving body moves while following the target that is moving toward a wall, when the target stops near the wall, the moving body stops at a position farther away from the wall than the target. Therefore, there is also a problem that the moving body cannot be stopped near the wall.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve at least one of the above problems, and has an object to provide a moving body or the like that can realize movement with a higher degree of freedom. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a moving body according to one aspect of the present invention is a moving body that moves in either a following mode in which the moving body moves to follow a target to be followed or a non-following mode in which the moving body does not move to the target to be followed, and is equipped with an acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of the moving body, an identification unit that identifies the position of the target to be followed using the results acquired by the acquisition unit, a moving mechanism that moves the moving body, and a moving control unit that, in the following mode, controls the moving mechanism to follow the target to be followed whose position has been identified by the identification unit, and, in the non-following mode, controls the moving mechanism in a predetermined manner, and the moving control unit switches between the following mode and the non-following mode while the moving body is moving.

[0007] With this configuration, the moving object can be switched from one of the following mode and the non-following mode to the other while moving. Therefore, for example, when a person to be followed stops for picking work, it is possible to continue moving the moving object in the non-following mode. In this way, it is possible to realize a higher degree of freedom of movement of the moving object.

[0008] In addition, a moving body according to one aspect of the present invention may further include a receiving unit that receives a first instruction to switch from a following mode to a non-following mode, and the moving control unit may control the moving mechanism in the non-following mode when the first instruction is received by the receiving unit while controlling the moving mechanism in the following mode.

[0009] With this configuration, it is possible to switch from the following mode to the non-following mode while the moving object is moving.

[0010] In the moving object according to an aspect of the present invention, the receiving unit may receive the first instruction that is a voice uttered by the target to be followed, which is a person, or the first instruction that is a voice signal indicating the voice.

[0011] With this configuration, the moving object can be switched from a following mode to a non-following mode by voice.

[0012] In addition, in the mobile body according to one aspect of the present invention, the voice corresponding to the first instruction may be a voice unique to the mobile body.

[0013] With this configuration, even when a plurality of moving bodies are located in close proximity to each other, it becomes possible to appropriately switch the movement mode of each moving body.

[0014] In addition, in the moving body according to one aspect of the present invention, the movement control unit may control the movement mechanism so that the moving body moves in a straight line after switching from the following mode to the non-following mode.

[0015] With this configuration, the moving body can be made to move straight in the non-following mode.

[0016] In addition, in a moving body according to one aspect of the present invention, a moving body may further include an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle present in front of the moving body in the direction of travel when the moving body is moving in non-following mode, and the movement control unit may control the movement mechanism so that the moving body stops when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection unit.

[0017] With this configuration, the moving body can be stopped in response to the detection of an obstacle. Therefore, for example, if the following mode is switched to the non-following mode while the moving body is moving toward a wall, the moving body will move forward and stop in front of the wall. In this way, the moving body can be stopped near the wall.

[0018] In addition, in a moving body according to one embodiment of the present invention, the moving body may further include a receiving unit that receives a second instruction to switch from the non-following mode to the following mode, and the moving control unit may control the moving mechanism in the following mode when the second instruction is received by the receiving unit while controlling the moving mechanism in the non-following mode.

[0019] With this configuration, it is possible to switch from the non-following mode to the following mode while the moving object is moving.

[0020] In addition, in a moving body according to one aspect of the present invention, the movement control unit may control the moving mechanism in a following mode when the relative positional relationship between the position of the moving body and the position of the target to be followed identified by the identification unit becomes constant while controlling the moving mechanism in a non-following mode.

[0021] With this configuration, for example, it is possible to switch from the non-follow mode to the follow mode by the target moving in front of the moving body at the same speed as the moving body.

[0022] In addition, in a moving body according to one aspect of the present invention, the movement control unit may control the moving mechanism in a following mode when the position of the target to be followed is identified by the identification unit while controlling the moving mechanism in a non-following mode.

[0023] With this configuration, for example, when a moving object identifies the position of a stationary target to be tracked, it is possible to switch from the non-tracking mode to the tracking mode. Effect of the Invention

[0024] According to the moving body etc. according to one aspect of the present invention, the moving body can be moved while switching between a following mode and a non-following mode, thereby realizing movement with a higher degree of freedom. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0025] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a moving body and a transport vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the moving body according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a moving body according to the embodiment; [Figure 4] A flowchart showing the operation of a moving body according to the embodiment. [Figure 5A] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a distance measuring sensor in the embodiment; [Figure 5B]FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an image sensor in the embodiment; [Figure 6] FIG. 13 shows an example of a captured image in the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement result of a distance measuring sensor in the embodiment; [Figure 8A] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of movement of a moving object in the embodiment; [Figure 8B] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of movement of a moving object in the embodiment; [Figure 8C] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of movement of a moving object in the embodiment; [Figure 8D] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of movement of a moving object in the embodiment; [Figure 8E] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of movement of a moving object in the embodiment; [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing another example of the configuration of a moving body according to the embodiment; [Figure 10] FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a computer system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] The moving body according to the present invention will be described below using an embodiment. In the following embodiments, components and steps with the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repeated description may be omitted. The moving body according to the embodiment of the present invention can move while switching between a following mode in which the moving body follows a target to be followed and a non-following mode in which the moving body does not follow a target to be followed.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a moving body 1 and a transporting platform vehicle 2 according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the moving body 1, and FIG.

[0028] The moving body 1 according to the present embodiment may be, for example, a moving body that transports a transport target 3. The moving body 1 moves in either a following mode in which the moving body 1 follows a target, or a non-following mode in which the moving body 1 does not follow a target, and may include a main body 10 and a moving mechanism 15 attached to the main body 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the present embodiment, the case where the target to be tracked in the following mode is a person 5, as shown in Fig. 1, will be mainly described. The moving body 1 usually does not carry a person, but may also carry a person. In the present embodiment, the moving body 1 that does not carry a person will be mainly described.

[0029] The moving body 1 transporting the object 3 to be transported may be, for example, the moving body 1 transporting the object 3 loaded on itself, or the moving body 1 towing the transport cart 2 on which the object 3 to be transported is loaded. In this embodiment, the latter case will be mainly described. In this embodiment, the moving body 1 transports the object 3 to be transported, but the moving body 1 may be used for other purposes. The moving body 1 may be, for example, a moving body for guidance, guarding, surveillance, entertainment, etc. That is, the moving body 1 may be a transport robot, a guide robot, a guard robot, a surveillance robot, an entertainment robot, etc. In this embodiment, the moving body 1 is mainly described as a traveling body that travels on a road or a floor, and other cases will be described later.

[0030] The main body 10 of the moving body 1 may be, for example, a loading platform, or may be a member to which the moving mechanism 15 and the like are attached. In this embodiment, a case where the main body 10 is a rectangular parallelepiped member to which the moving mechanism 15 is attached will be mainly described. The moving mechanism 15 will be described later.

[0031] 3, the moving object 1 according to this embodiment includes an acquisition unit 11, a specification unit 12, a storage unit 13, a reception unit 14, a moving mechanism 15, an obstacle detection unit 16, and a movement control unit 17.

[0032] The acquisition unit 11 acquires information about the surroundings of the moving object 1. In this embodiment, the case where the acquisition unit 11 has a distance measurement sensor 11a and an image sensor 11b will be mainly described, but this is not essential. The acquisition unit 11 may have at least one of the two sensors, or may have another sensor for acquiring information about the surroundings of the moving object 1.

[0033] The distance measuring sensor 11a measures the distance to the surrounding object in a plurality of directions. The distance measuring sensor 11a may be, for example, a laser sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a distance sensor using microwaves, or the like. The laser sensor may be, for example, a laser range sensor (laser range scanner) or a LIDAR. Note that these distance measuring sensors are already known, and their description will be omitted. In this embodiment, the case where the distance measuring sensor 11a is a laser range sensor will be mainly described. The distance measuring sensor 11a may have one laser range sensor, or may have two or more laser range sensors. In the latter case, all directions may be covered by two or more laser range sensors. In addition, when the distance measuring sensor 11a is an ultrasonic sensor or a distance sensor using microwaves, the distance measuring direction of the distance sensor may be rotated to measure the distance in a plurality of directions, or the distance in a plurality of directions may be measured using a plurality of distance sensors arranged in each of the plurality of directions. Measuring distances in multiple directions may mean, for example, measuring distances in multiple directions at predetermined angular intervals over a predetermined angular range or the entire periphery (i.e., 360 degrees). The angular intervals may be constant, such as 1 degree intervals, 2 degrees intervals, or 5 degrees intervals. Information obtained from the distance measuring sensor 11a may be, for example, distances to surrounding objects at each of multiple azimuth angles based on a certain orientation of the moving body 1. By using the distances, it becomes possible to know what objects exist around the moving body 1 in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1. The distance measuring sensor 11a may measure distances in a two-dimensional planar direction, or may measure distances in multiple directions in three dimensions. In this embodiment, a case in which the distance measuring sensor 11a measures distances in a two-dimensional horizontal direction will be mainly described.

[0034] The image sensor 11b acquires a captured image of the surroundings of the moving object 1. The image sensor 11b may be, for example, a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor. The image sensor 11b may include, for example, an optical system such as a lens for forming an image on the image sensor. The image sensor 11b may be monocular or binocular (stereo camera). In this embodiment, the case where the image sensor 11b is monocular will be mainly described. The image sensor 11b may be one that captures moving images, that is, one that captures continuous image frames, or one that captures still images. The captured image may be, for example, color or grayscale, but from the viewpoint of identifying the tracking target, it is preferable that the image is color.

[0035] It is preferable that the distance measuring sensor 11a and the image sensor 11b each obtain at least information on the traveling direction (i.e., forward) of the moving object 1. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are top views of the moving object 1, and respectively show distance measurement by the distance measuring sensor 11a and image capture by the image sensor 11b. In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the distance measuring sensor 11a and the image sensor 11b are shown in separate drawings for convenience of explanation, but in reality, the distance measuring sensor 11a and the image sensor 11b are mounted on one moving object 1. The distance measuring direction of the distance measuring sensor 11a and the image capture direction of the image sensor 11b may be the same, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. In addition, the sensing ranges of both sensors are assumed to have at least an overlapping range. The sensing ranges of both sensors may be the same, for example, or one may be wider than the other. In addition, it is preferable that the measurement result obtained by the distance measuring sensor 11a and the captured image obtained by the image sensor 11b are able to show the correspondence relationship between the angle of the distance measurement direction and the position in the captured image. For example, it is preferable that it is possible to know which horizontal position in the captured image each angle of the distance measurement direction corresponds to.

[0036] Furthermore, the frequency at which the distance measuring sensor 11a obtains the measurement results and the frequency at which the image sensor 11b obtains the captured images (i.e., the number of images obtained per unit time) may be approximately the same, for example, or the frequency at which the distance measuring sensor 11a obtains the measurement results may be higher than the frequency at which the image sensor 11b obtains the captured images. There are no particular limitations on the frequency at which the two obtain information, but, for example, the distance measuring sensor 11a may perform measurements about 1 to 100 times per second, and the image sensor 11b may perform imaging about once every 1 to 10 seconds.

[0037] The identification unit 12 identifies the position of the target to be tracked using the result of acquisition by the acquisition unit 11. The result of acquisition by the acquisition unit 11 may be, for example, a distance to an object around the moving body 1 acquired by the distance measurement sensor 11a, or may be a captured image of the surroundings of the moving body 1 acquired by the image sensor 11b. The identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 using, for example, the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 11a and the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b. The identification unit 12 may identify the target to be tracked in the captured image using, for example, the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b. For example, the identification of the target to be tracked may be performed when the moving body 1 starts moving in the tracking mode or when the movement mode is switched from the non-tracking mode to the tracking mode. When the target to be tracked is a person, the identification may be performed, for example, by recognizing the area of ​​the person in the captured image. The recognition of the area of ​​the person in the captured image may be performed, for example, by pattern matching of the person, by performing segmentation and identifying the area of ​​the person in the segmentation result, or by using a person detection model (for example, Yolov5, etc.). When the captured image includes a plurality of candidates for the tracking target, the identification unit 12 may, for example, identify the candidate for the tracking target that exists in a position closest to the moving object 1 as the tracking target. The candidate for the tracking target that exists in a position closest to the moving object 1 may be, for example, the candidate for the tracking target that occupies the largest area in the captured image or the candidate for the tracking target that exists in the foreground in the captured image.

[0038] Thereafter, the identification unit 12 may obtain the distance and direction to the target by using, for example, the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a corresponding to the region of the target identified in the captured image. More specifically, the identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 by using the azimuth of the target identified in the captured image or the distance measured by the distance measuring sensor 11a in the range of the azimuth. Note that the position of the target identified by the identification unit 12 may be, for example, a coordinate value in a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system which is the local coordinate system of the moving body 1, or may be a distance and direction from the origin in a two-dimensional polar coordinate system which is the local coordinate system of the moving body 1. In this embodiment, the former case will be mainly described. The identification unit 12 may, for example, store the latest position of the identified target in the storage unit 13.

[0039] The measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a is a set of distances for each angle, that is, a set of distances to each measurement point. Therefore, the identification unit 12 may perform clustering on the measurement results, for example. This clustering can classify the results into clusters of distances to walls, clusters of distances to people, and clusters of distances to obstacles other than people. For an example of this clustering, see, for example, Patent Document 1. The identification unit 12 may then identify a cluster corresponding to the area of ​​the target to be tracked identified in the captured image, and may set the representative position of the measurement points included in the cluster as the position of the target to be tracked. The cluster corresponding to the area of ​​the target to be tracked identified in the captured image may be, for example, a cluster that exists in the azimuth direction of the target to be tracked identified in the captured image. The representative position of the multiple measurement points may be, for example, the position of the center of gravity of the multiple measurement points, or the position of the measurement point closest to the moving body 1 among the multiple measurement points.

[0040] For example, the identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system by using the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 11a while the moving body 1 is moving. For example, the identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 without using the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b while the moving body 1 is moving. While the moving body 1 is moving, the identification unit 12 may identify the latest position of the target to be tracked by tracking the position of the target to be tracked in the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 11a, for example. More specifically, the identification unit 12 may perform clustering on the distance to each measurement point included in the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor 11a at each time point. In addition, the identification unit 12 may identify the correspondence relationship between the clusters by using the shape of the measurement point included in each cluster according to the measurement result at a certain time and the shape of the measurement point included in each cluster according to the measurement result at the next time. In identifying the correspondence relationship, clusters at adjacent times where the shapes of multiple measurement points are similar and are located close to each other may be identified as corresponding clusters. The shape of the plurality of measurement points may be similar, for example, when the similarity of the shape of the plurality of measurement points exceeds a threshold. Also, the close position may be, for example, when the position is closer than the threshold. In this manner, the identification unit 12 may track the position of the cluster to be tracked.

[0041] The identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target to be tracked using only the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a, or may identify the position of the target to be tracked using only the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b. When identifying the position of the target to be tracked using the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a, the identification unit 12 may identify, for example, the position of a cluster corresponding to the target to be tracked as the position of the target to be tracked. When identifying the position of the target to be tracked using the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b, the identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target to be tracked by, for example, identifying the azimuth angle of the target to be tracked identified in the captured image and the distance to the target to be tracked according to the size of the target to be tracked in the captured image. The distance to the target to be tracked may be smaller, for example, as the size of the target to be tracked in the captured image increases. The distance may be identified using information such as a function or table that associates the size of the target to be tracked in the captured image with the distance. Furthermore, if the acquisition unit 11 has a sensor other than the distance measurement sensor 11a or the image sensor 11b, the identification unit 12 may identify the position of the target to be tracked using information about the surroundings of the moving object 1 acquired by that sensor.

[0042] In the tracking mode, the moving body 1 moves by tracking the target to be tracked. Therefore, in a situation where appropriate movement control is being performed, the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system will be almost the same. Therefore, the identification unit 12 may use the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a to determine the position of an object whose position change in the local coordinate system during the movement of the moving body 1 is smaller than that of other objects as the position of the target to be tracked. In this way, the identification unit 12 can prevent, for example, a person crossing in front of the moving body 1 from being erroneously recognized as the target to be tracked. More specifically, the identification unit 12 may perform clustering on the distance to each measurement point included in the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a at each time point. The identification unit 12 may also identify the change in the position of each cluster in the local coordinate system by identifying the correspondence relationship of each cluster in the time series. Then, the identification unit 12 may determine the cluster whose position change is the smallest as the cluster to be tracked.

[0043] In the storage unit 13, for example, at least the latest position of the target to be followed identified by the identification unit 12 may be stored. In addition, in the storage unit 13, for example, the latest position of the target to be followed in a predetermined range including the latest position may be stored. The predetermined range may be, for example, a predetermined time range (for example, a range of the latest 5 seconds or 10 seconds) or a predetermined distance range (for example, a range of the latest 5 meters or 10 meters). In the former case, for example, a position acquired within a predetermined time from the latest position is stored in the storage unit 13, and in the latter case, for example, an acquired position included within a predetermined distance from the latest position is stored in the storage unit 13. In this embodiment, a case where only the latest position of the target to be followed identified by the identification unit 12 is stored in the storage unit 13 will be mainly described.

[0044] Furthermore, the storage unit 13 may also store information other than the position of the target to be followed. For example, information such as a route used in a non-following mode may be stored in the storage unit 13. The storage unit 13 is preferably realized by a non-volatile recording medium, but may also be realized by a volatile recording medium. The recording medium may be, for example, a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk.

[0045] Since the latest position of the follow-up target stored in the storage unit 13 is a position in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1, if the moving body 1 moves after the position is stored, the relationship between the moving body 1 after the movement and the stored position becomes unclear. Therefore, for example, information indicating the difference in movement of the moving body 1 from when the latest position is stored to when the next latest position is stored may be stored in the storage unit 13. The information indicating the difference in movement may be, for example, information indicating the position and direction of the moving body 1 at the time when the next position is stored, based on the position and direction of the moving body 1 at the time when a certain position is stored. In other words, it may be information indicating the position and direction of the moving body 1 at the time when the next position is stored in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 at the time when a certain position is stored. The information indicating the difference in movement may be obtained, for example, using the number of rotations of the wheels 31a and 31b, which are driving wheels described later. Note that a method of acquiring the current position and current direction using the number of rotations of the driving wheels is already known, and the description thereof will be omitted. The storage of information indicating the difference in the movement of the moving body 1 in the storage unit 13 may be performed by, for example, the movement control unit 17. Also, instead of storing information indicating the difference in the movement in the storage unit 13, the movement control unit 17 may constantly update the position stored in the storage unit 13 so that it becomes a position in the current local coordinate system. In this case, the movement control unit 17 may update each position stored in the storage unit 13 so that it becomes a position in the local coordinate system after the small amount of movement, for example, every time the moving body 1 moves by a small amount. This update may also be performed using the number of rotations of the wheels 31a and 31b, which are the driving wheels. Note that, in cases such as when the position of the follow-up target is identified with high frequency, the storage of information indicating the difference in the movement and the update of the position of the follow-up target may not be performed. In this case, the movement control unit 17 may control the movement mechanism 15 so that the moving body 1 moves to the latest position of the follow-up target.

[0046] The reception unit 14 receives a first instruction to switch from the following mode to the non-following mode. The reception unit 14 may receive, for example, a first instruction that is a voice uttered by the person to be followed, or a first instruction that is a voice signal indicating a voice. The reception unit 14 may also receive, for example, a second instruction to switch from the non-following mode to the following mode. The second instruction may also be, for example, a voice uttered by the person to be followed, or a voice signal indicating a voice. For example, when the reception unit 14 receives a voice, the voice may be received by a microphone and converted into a voice signal. For example, when the reception unit 14 receives a voice signal, the voice signal may be received by a wired or wireless connection. In this case, for example, a voice signal indicating a voice received by a microphone of a neck-type device or headphones worn by the person to be followed may be received by the reception unit 14.

[0047] When the first instruction or the second instruction is received by receiving a voice or a voice signal, a voice signal corresponding to the received voice or a voice recognition is performed on the received voice signal, and when the text data resulting from the voice recognition is text data corresponding to a predetermined first instruction (e.g., "non-follow mode"), it may be determined that the first instruction has been received, and when the text data resulting from the voice recognition is text data corresponding to a predetermined second instruction (e.g., "follow mode"), it may be determined that the second instruction has been received. Such voice recognition processing and determination processing may be performed by, for example, the receiving unit 14.

[0048] The first instruction and the second instruction may be received by the reception unit 14 by, for example, other methods. The reception unit 14 may receive the first instruction and the second instruction input from, for example, an input device (for example, a keyboard or a touch panel). The reception unit 14 may receive instructions or information other than the first instruction and the second instruction. For example, an instruction to start moving may be received by the reception unit 14. The instruction to start moving may also be received by, for example, voice or a voice signal. The reception unit 14 may or may not include a device for receiving (for example, a microphone or a communication device). The reception unit 14 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a predetermined device.

[0049] The moving mechanism 15 moves the moving body 1, and may have wheels 31a to 31d and motors 32a and 32b provided on the back side of the main body 10 as shown in FIG. 2. When the wheels 31a to 31d are not particularly distinguished from one another, they may be called wheels 31. When the motors 32a and 32b are not distinguished from one another, they may be called motors 32. The number of wheels 31 is not limited as long as it is three or more. The wheels 31 may be omnidirectional wheels. As shown in FIG. 2, the wheels 31a and 31b are driving wheels driven by the motors 32a and 32b, respectively, and the wheels 31c and 31d are driven wheels that can turn. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the traveling direction of the moving body 1 is determined by the difference in the rotation speed of the driving wheels 31a and 31b, but the moving mechanism 15 may have a steering mechanism that can change the direction of the wheels 31c and 31d, for example. All of the wheels 31 may be driving wheels. In this case, some of the wheels 31, for example, the wheels 31c and 31d on the front side, may be steering wheels, or all of the wheels 31 may be steering wheels, and the moving mechanism 15 may have a steering mechanism capable of changing the direction of the steering wheels. The motor 32 or the wheels 31a and 31b may be provided with an encoder for acquiring the number of rotations of the wheels 31a and 31b.

[0050] The obstacle detection unit 16 may detect an obstacle present ahead of the moving body 1 in the traveling direction when the moving body 1 is moving in the non-following mode. For example, the obstacle detection unit 16 may detect an obstacle using the acquisition result by the acquisition unit 11, or may have a separate sensor such as a distance measurement sensor for detecting an obstacle. As an example, the obstacle detection unit 16 may detect an obstacle when the measurement result by the distance measurement sensor 11a indicates the presence of an obstacle ahead of the moving body 1 in the traveling direction at a distance less than a threshold value. A method for detecting an obstacle is already known, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0051] The movement control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 according to the movement mode. The control of the moving mechanism 15 may be, for example, control of the start of movement, control of the stop of movement, control of the direction of movement, etc. For example, in the following mode, the movement control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 so as to follow the target to be followed, the position of which is specified by the specification unit 12. Also, for example, in the non-following mode, the movement control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 as determined in advance. The non-following mode is a moving mode that does not follow the target to be followed, and may be, for example, a moving mode other than the following mode. Also, the movement control unit 17 can switch between the following mode and the non-following mode while the moving body 1 is moving. This switching of the moving mode may be, for example, switching from the following mode to the non-following mode, or switching from the non-following mode to the following mode. This switching may be performed, for example, at the timing when an instruction is received by the reception unit 14, or at other timings.

[0052] For example, when the moving mechanism 15 is controlled in the following mode, the moving control unit 17 may control the moving mechanism 15 in the non-following mode when the receiving unit 14 receives a first instruction. That is, when the receiving unit 14 receives a first instruction while the moving body 1 is moving in the following mode, the moving mode of the moving body 1 may be switched from the following mode to the non-following mode. Also, when the moving control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 in the non-following mode, the moving control unit 17 may control the moving mechanism 15 in the following mode when the receiving unit 14 receives a second instruction. That is, when the moving body 1 is moving in the non-following mode, the moving mode of the moving body 1 may be switched from the non-following mode to the following mode. Note that this switching of the moving mode is usually performed while the moving body 1 is moving. As an example, the current moving mode is stored in the storage unit 13 or the like, and the moving control unit 17 may perform the moving control according to the current moving mode. Furthermore, for example, when the first instruction or the second instruction is accepted by the acceptance unit 14, the movement control unit 17 may change the current movement mode stored in the storage unit 13 or the like.

[0053] When performing movement control in the follow mode, the movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 15 so as to follow the target whose position is specified by the specification unit 12. For example, when the position of the target to be followed is specified by the specification unit 12, the movement control unit 17 may control the movement mechanism 15 so as to move toward the latest position of the target to be followed specified by the specification unit 12. When the target to be followed stops, the movement control unit 17 may control the movement mechanism 15 so as to stop at a position where the distance between the target to be followed and the moving body 1 is a predetermined distance. That is, the movement control unit 17 may perform movement control to follow the target to be followed so that the distance between the target to be followed and the moving body 1 is a predetermined distance. Note that, when performing movement control to follow the target to be followed in the follow mode, the movement control unit 17 does not necessarily need to know the position of the moving body 1 in the global coordinate system.

[0054] When performing the movement control in the non-follow mode, the movement control unit 17 may control the movement mechanism 15 in a predetermined manner. The predetermined control may be, for example, a movement control for moving the moving body 1 straight, a movement control for moving the moving body 1 along a predetermined route, a movement control for moving the moving body 1 to a predetermined destination, a movement control for moving the moving body 1 according to an instruction from a user, or other movement control. Note that the movement control in the non-follow mode may be, for example, a movement control for moving the moving body 1 autonomously, such as a movement along a predetermined route, or a movement control for moving the moving body 1 according to an instruction from a user. The route and the destination may be predetermined, or may be instructed when the movement mode is switched from the following mode to the non-follow mode. In the latter case, for example, the first instruction may include the route and the destination, or the route and the destination may be accepted together with the first instruction. In this embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which the movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 15 so that the moving body 1 moves straight after the movement mode is switched from the following mode to the non-following mode. When it is necessary to use the current position of the moving body 1 in movement along a route or movement to a destination, the moving body 1 may further have, for example, a current position acquisition unit that acquires the current position. The current position acquisition unit may acquire the current position of the moving body 1 by, for example, a global positioning system (GPS), a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), or other methods. The current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit may be, for example, the position of the moving body 1 in a global coordinate system.

[0055] The movement control unit 17 may move the moving body 1 along a predetermined route in the non-follow mode, for example, by using the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit and information indicating the route in the global coordinate system. If the moving body 1 is located away from the route at the time when the moving mode of the moving body 1 is switched from the following mode to the non-follow mode, for example, the movement control unit 17 may first move the moving body 1 to the nearest route, and then move the moving body 1 along the route. The movement control unit 17 may also search for a route from the current position to the destination, for example, by using the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit, the coordinates of the destination, and information on a map of the moving area of ​​the moving body 1, and move the moving body 1 to the destination according to the searched route. Note that the movement control along the route and the movement control to the destination are already known, and detailed explanations thereof will be omitted.

[0056] In addition, the movement control unit 17 may control the movement mechanism 15 so that the moving body 1 stops when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection unit 16 while controlling the movement mechanism 15 in the non-follow mode. The control of the movement mechanism 15 in the non-follow mode may be, for example, control of the movement mechanism 15 to make the moving body 1 go straight. For example, when the moving mode is switched from the following mode to the non-follow mode while the moving body 1 is moving toward a wall while following a target to be followed, the moving body 1 may continue to go straight toward the wall in the non-follow mode and stop when the wall, which is an obstacle, is detected. In this case, the moving body 1 automatically stops in front of the wall. In addition, the movement control unit 17 may control the movement mechanism 15 so that the moving body 1 avoids collision with the detected obstacle when the obstacle detection unit 16 detects an obstacle while performing movement control along a route or movement control toward a destination in the non-follow mode. Avoidance of collision with the obstacle may be performed, for example, by decelerating or stopping, or by changing the movement path to avoid the obstacle. Incidentally, the movement control for avoiding collision with an obstacle is already known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0057] When the moving mode of the moving body 1 is the non-following mode, the moving body 1 may move, for example, at a predetermined speed. In addition, since the target to be followed may not be present in the vicinity of the moving body 1, the moving body 1 moving in the non-following mode may output voice, music, or the like to alert the surroundings. As an example, the moving body 1 moving in the non-following mode may repeatedly output voice such as "A moving body is moving."

[0058] The transporting platform 2 has a main body 20, a plurality of wheels 21 fixed to the rear side of the main body 20, and a frame portion 22 provided on the front side and the rear side of the main body 20 in the traveling direction. The main body 20 is a loading platform, and the transport object 3 is placed on the loading platform. The number of wheels 21 is not limited as long as it is two or more. All the wheels 21 may be rotatable driven wheels, or some of the wheels may be rotatable driven wheels and the rest may be fixed wheels that cannot be rotated. The transporting platform 2 may be towed by the moving body 1 by connecting the connecting portion 10a of the moving body 1 and the connecting portion 20a of the transporting platform 2. The connecting portion 10a of the moving body 1 and the connecting portion 20a of the transporting platform 2 may be connected by a connecting shaft extending in the vertical direction. In this case, at least one of the connecting portions 10a and 20a may be provided to be rotatable around the connecting shaft. The transport vehicle 2 may have any configuration as long as it can carry the object 3 to be transported and can be towed by the moving body 1. For example, the transport vehicle 2 may not be provided with the frame portion 22, and the frame portion 22 may be provided around the entire periphery of the main body 20.

[0059] The transport object 3 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a cardboard box, a folding container, or the like, may be placed on a pallet, or may be any other transport object.

[0060] Next, the operation of the moving object 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. (Step S101) The movement control unit 17 judges whether or not to start moving. If the movement is to be started, the process proceeds to step S102, and if not, the process of step S101 is repeated until it is judged to start moving. Note that the movement control unit 17 may judge to start moving, for example, when an instruction to start moving is accepted by the acceptance unit 14.

[0061] (Step S102) The acquisition unit 11 acquires information about the surroundings of the moving object 1. The acquired information may be, for example, a distance measurement result, a captured image, or both.

[0062] (Step S103) The identification unit 12 identifies the position of the target to be tracked by using the result obtained by the acquisition unit 11. The identified position may be accumulated in the storage unit 13.

[0063] (Step S104) The movement control unit 17 controls the movement of the moving object 1 in the follow-up mode. The movement control unit 17 may control the moving mechanism 15 to move to the specified latest position, for example.

[0064] (Step S105) The accepting unit 14 judges whether or not a first instruction has been accepted. If the first instruction has been accepted, the process proceeds to step S106, and if not, the process returns to step S102.

[0065] By repeating the processes of steps S102 to S104, the moving object 1 moves in the tracking mode. Also, for example, when the moving object 1 starts moving in the tracking mode, the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system of the moving object 1 is specified using the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a corresponding to the area of ​​the target to be tracked specified in the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b, and while the moving object 1 is moving, if the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system is specified using the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a, the captured image may be acquired only at the start of the movement in the tracking mode.

[0066] (Step S106) The movement control unit 17 controls the movement of the moving body 1 in the non-following mode. That is, the movement control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 in a predetermined manner. In this embodiment, as described above, it is assumed that the moving mechanism 15 is controlled so that the moving body 1 moves straight.

[0067] (Step S107) The accepting unit 14 judges whether or not a second instruction has been accepted. If a second instruction has been accepted, the process returns to step S102, and if not, the process proceeds to step S108.

[0068] (Step S108) The movement control unit 17 judges whether or not to end the movement control. If the movement control is to be ended, the process returns to step S101, and if not, the process proceeds to step S109. Note that the movement control unit 17 may judge to end the movement control when, for example, an instruction to end the movement is received by the reception unit 14.

[0069] (Step S109) The acquisition unit 11 acquires information about the surroundings of the moving object 1. The acquired information may be, for example, a distance measurement result or a captured image.

[0070] (Step S110) The obstacle detection unit 16 determines whether or not an obstacle has been detected, using the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11. If an obstacle has been detected, the process proceeds to step S111, and if not, the process returns to step S106.

[0071] (Step S111) The movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 15 so as to stop the moving body 1. Then, the series of controls for moving the moving body 1 is completed.

[0072] In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the moving mode at the start of the moving of the moving body 1 is the following mode, but this is not necessarily the case. The moving mode at the start of the moving of the moving body 1 may be, for example, the non-following mode. In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 4, even when the moving control in the following mode is being performed, it may be determined whether to end the moving control. More specifically, when the reception unit 14 determines that the first instruction has not been received in step S105, it may be determined whether to end the moving control. Then, when it is determined that the moving control is to be ended, the process may return to step S101, and when it is not, it may return to step S102. As an example, for example, when an instruction to end the moving is received, it may be determined that the moving control is to be ended. In addition, the order of the processes in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is an example, and the order of each step may be changed as long as the same result can be obtained.

[0073] Next, the operation of the moving body 1 according to this embodiment will be described using a specific example. In this specific example, it is assumed that the moving body 1 moves in the follow mode and the person to be followed moves in front of the moving body 1 and utters "Start following". The voice is received by a microphone in the receiving unit 14 of the moving body 1, converted into a voice signal, and text data "Start following" is obtained as a result of the voice recognition. As a result, the receiving unit 14 determines that an instruction to start moving has been received, and the result of the determination is passed to the movement control unit 17. When the movement control unit 17 receives the result of the determination, it determines that moving should be started, and instructs the identifying unit 12 to identify the position of the moving body (step S101).

[0074] Upon receiving this instruction, the identification unit 12 instructs the distance measurement sensor 11a and the image sensor 11b to perform measurement, etc. In response to this instruction, the distance measurement sensor 11a measures the distance to an object around the moving object 1 and passes it to the identification unit 12, and the image sensor 11b acquires a photographed image of the surroundings of the moving object 1 as shown in FIG. 6 and passes it to the identification unit 12 (step S102). It is assumed that the distance measurement result is as shown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, measurement points are indicated by black circles in the xy coordinate system, which is the local coordinate system of the moving object 1.

[0075] The identification unit 12 identifies the area of ​​the person 5 in the captured image shown in Fig. 6 using a person detection model, and identifies the azimuth range of the identified area. The identification unit 12 also identifies measurement points corresponding to the azimuth range of the area of ​​the person 5 identified in the captured image in the distance measurement results shown in Fig. 7. In this specific example, it is assumed that a set of measurement points located on both sides of the y-axis is identified as the measurement points corresponding to the azimuth range of the area of ​​the person 5. Then, the identification unit 12 passes the position of the measurement point 6 closest to the moving object 1 from the set of measurement points to the movement control unit 17 as the latest position of the tracking target, and accumulates it in the storage unit 13 (step S103).

[0076] Assume that the position of the measurement point 6 in the local coordinate system is (X11, Y11). Then, the movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 15 to move to the position (X11, Y11) of the target to be tracked received from the identification unit 12 (step S104). In this way, the moving object 1 moves while tracking the person 5, which is the target to be tracked, as shown in Fig. 8A. Note that in Fig. 8A, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the movement directions of the moving object 1 and person 5 are indicated by arrows, and the transport vehicle 2 is omitted.

[0077] By repeating such processing, the moving object 1 moves while following the person 5 to be followed up (steps S102 to S105). Note that since the captured image is used to obtain the position of the person 5 to be followed up only at the start of movement in the tracking mode, during movement in the tracking mode, the position of the person 5 to be followed up is obtained using the distance measurement result by the distance measuring sensor 11a.

[0078] Thereafter, the distance is measured and the position of the person 5 to be followed is identified in the same manner, and the moving mechanism 15 is controlled according to the identification result. However, suppose that the person 5 to be followed reaches the vicinity of the shelf 8 on which products and the like are stored and then utters "non-following mode". The voice is received by the microphone of the receiving unit 14 of the moving body 1, converted into a voice signal, and text data "non-following mode" which is the result of the voice recognition is obtained, and it is determined that the first instruction has been accepted (step S105). Then, a notice that the first instruction has been accepted is passed to the moving control unit 17. Upon receiving the notice that the first instruction has been accepted, the moving control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 in the non-following mode (step S106). Specifically, the moving control unit 17 controls the moving mechanism 15 so that the moving body 1 moves straight ahead.

[0079] When the moving object 1 is controlled to move in a straight line, the person 5, as shown in FIG. 8B, takes out a desired product from the shelf 8 and places the taken-out product on the transport cart 2 towed by the moving object 1. After that, the person 5 returns to the front side of the moving object 1 as shown in FIG. 8C and utters "follow mode". The voice is received by the microphone of the reception unit 14 of the moving object 1, converted into a voice signal, and the text data "follow mode" which is the result of the voice recognition is acquired, and it is determined that the second instruction has been accepted (step S107). Then, the fact that the second instruction has been accepted is passed to the moving control unit 17. Upon receiving the fact that the second instruction has been accepted, the moving control unit 17 instructs the identification unit 12 to identify the position of the target to be followed. Then, the identification unit 12 instructs the distance measurement sensor 11a to measure the distance and instructs the image sensor 11b to acquire a captured image (step S102). Then, the identification unit 12 identifies the area of ​​the person 5 in the acquired photographed image, and identifies the azimuth angle range of the identified area. Furthermore, the identification unit 12 identifies measurement points in the distance measurement results that correspond to the azimuth angle range of the area of ​​the person 5 identified in the photographed image. In this manner, the position of the person 5 to be tracked is identified, and the movement control unit 17 performs movement control so as to track the person 5 (steps S103, S104).

[0080] As shown in FIG. 8D, suppose that the person 5 to be tracked utters "non-follow mode" while moving toward the wall 7. The voice is received by the microphone of the reception unit 14 of the moving object 1, converted into a voice signal, and text data "non-follow mode" is obtained as a result of the voice recognition, and it is determined that the first instruction has been received (step S105). Then, a notice that the first instruction has been received is passed to the movement control unit 17. Upon receiving the notice that the first instruction has been received, the movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 15 in the non-follow mode (step S106). Specifically, the movement control unit 17 controls the movement mechanism 15 so that the moving object 1 moves straight ahead.

[0081] In this way, when the moving body 1 is controlled to move straight in the non-following mode, the distance measurement sensor 11a measures the distance, and the measurement result is used to detect an obstacle (steps S109, S110). Then, as shown in FIG. 8E, when the moving body 1 reaches the vicinity of the wall 7, the wall 7 is detected as an obstacle, and the movement control unit 17 stops the moving body 1 (steps S110, S111). As a result, the moving body 1 stops near the wall 7. In this way, by making it possible to change the movement mode during movement, the moving body 1 can also be stopped near the wall 7.

[0082] In this specific example, the case where the product is taken out from the shelf 8 while the moving body 1 is moving in the non-follow mode has been mainly described, but other operations may be performed. For example, when the moving body 1 is towing the carrier 2 loaded with sales items such as ice cream, the person who is the target of the following may switch the moving mode of the moving body 1 to the non-follow mode after receiving an order from a customer walking in the same direction as the moving body 1. Then, when the moving body 1 is moving straight in the non-follow mode, the person may take out the sales item from the carrier 2 and sell it to the customer, and then return to the front of the moving body 1 and switch the moving mode of the moving body 1 to the following mode again. In this way, it is also possible to sell products stored in the carrier 2 to walking customers.

[0083] As described above, according to the moving body 1 of this embodiment, the moving mode can be switched during movement. Therefore, for example, by switching from the following mode to the non-following mode, the object to be transported can be loaded onto the conveying cart 2 or removed from the conveying cart 2 without stopping the moving body 1. In addition, for example, the moving body 1 can be stopped near a wall. In addition, for example, the moving mode can be switched from the non-following mode to the following mode while the moving body 1 is moving. Therefore, for example, after the loading and unloading of the object to be transported onto the conveying cart 2 is completed, the person who is the object to be followed can move the moving body 1 to a desired position by moving the moving body 1 in the following mode that follows the object to be followed.

[0084] Furthermore, by receiving the first instruction and the second instruction by voice or audio signal, the person to be followed can switch the movement mode of the moving object 1 without operating a touch panel, physical buttons, etc. Therefore, the movement mode can be switched more easily, improving the convenience of the person switching the movement mode.

[0085] In the present embodiment, the case where the target to be tracked is a person has been mainly described, but for example, a specific person may be the target to be tracked. In this case, the identification unit 12 may perform face authentication using the captured image and may identify only a specific person as the target to be tracked. The target to be tracked may not be a person, but may be another moving body. In this case, for example, a figure or a marker that can identify the moving body may be attached to the other moving body, and the identification unit 12 may recognize the figure or the marker in the captured image to identify the position of the moving body to be tracked. In addition, for example, a figure or a marker may not be attached to the moving body to be tracked, and the identification unit 12 may identify the moving body to be tracked using a feature such as the shape of the moving body to be tracked. In this case, the identification of the other moving body in the captured image may be performed using, for example, pattern matching, segmentation, a detection model, etc., in the same manner as the identification of a person.

[0086] In addition, in the present embodiment, the case where the image sensor 11b is a monocular has been mainly described, but the image sensor 11b may be, for example, a stereo camera. In this case, it is also possible to specify the position of the target to be tracked using the captured image. Therefore, the specification unit 12 may specify the position of the target to be tracked using, for example, a captured stereo image, or may specify the final position of the target to be tracked using the position of the target to be tracked acquired using the distance measurement result and the position of the target to be tracked acquired using the captured stereo image. The specification of the final position may be, for example, specification of a representative position of both positions. The representative position may be an intermediate position between both positions, or may be a position resulting from combining both positions using their respective reliability.

[0087] In addition, in the present embodiment, the case where the moving mode of the moving body 1 is switched from the non-following mode to the following mode when the second instruction is accepted has been mainly described, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, when the moving mechanism 15 is controlled in the non-following mode, the moving control unit 17 may control the moving mechanism 15 in the following mode when the position of the target to be followed is specified by the specifying unit 12. In this case, when the position of the target to be followed is specified by the specifying unit 12, the target to be followed may be stopped or may be moving. In the latter case, for example, when the moving mechanism 15 is controlled in the non-following mode, the moving control unit 17 may control the moving mechanism 15 in the following mode when the relative positional relationship between the position of the target to be followed specified by the specifying unit 12 and the moving body 1 becomes constant. In this way, when the moving mode of the moving body 1 is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode without receiving the second instruction, the acquisition unit 11 may continue to acquire information about the surroundings of the moving body 1 and the identification unit 12 may continue to identify the position of the target to be followed using the acquisition result even when the moving body 1 is moving in the non-follow mode. Then, for example, when the position of the target to be followed is identified, the moving mode of the moving body 1 may be changed from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. Also, for example, when the identified position of the target to be followed does not change in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 for more than a predetermined time, it may be determined that the relative positional relationship between the position of the target to be followed identified by the identification unit 12 and the moving body 1 has become constant, and the moving mode of the moving body 1 may be changed from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. The fact that the position of the target to be followed does not change may mean, for example, that the position of the target to be followed does not change within a predetermined error range.

[0088] In addition, in the acquisition of information about the surroundings of the moving body 1 by the acquisition unit 11 and the identification of the position of the target to be tracked by the identification unit 12 using the acquisition result, which are performed in the non-follow mode, for example, the identification of the area of ​​the target to be tracked in the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b and the identification of the position of the target to be tracked in the local coordinate system of the moving body 1 using the measurement result of the distance measuring sensor 11a corresponding to the identified area may be repeated. In this way, when the position of the target to be tracked is identified during movement in the non-follow mode, or when the relative positional relationship between the position of the target to be tracked identified during movement in the non-follow mode and the moving body 1 becomes constant, the movement mode can be changed from the non-follow mode to the follow mode by switching the movement mode to the follow mode, without the person who is the target to be tracked inputting a second instruction to the moving body 1. In this way, when the movement mode of the moving body 1 is changed from the non-follow mode to the follow mode, the movement control unit 17 may output, by an output unit not shown, that the movement mode has been changed from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. By performing this output, for example, the person to be followed can know that the movement mode has been switched to the follow mode. This output may be, for example, a voice output, a transmission to a communication device held by the person to be followed, a lighting of a light indicating that the mode is the follow mode, or other output. As an example, when the movement mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode, the output unit of the moving body 1 may output a voice such as "The mode has been switched to the follow mode."

[0089] Here, a specific example of the case where the movement mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode without receiving the second instruction will be briefly described. For example, when the position of the target to be followed is specified, if the movement mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode, the target to be followed, which is a person, may stand still and wait for the moving body 1 moving in the non-follow mode in front of the moving body 1 moving in the non-follow mode. Then, after the moving mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode in response to the position of the target to be followed being specified by the specifying unit 12 of the moving body 1, the target to be followed, which is a person, may start walking, so that the moving body 1 moves while following the target to be followed. Also, for example, when the relative positional relationship between the specified position of the target to be followed and the moving body 1 becomes constant, if the movement mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode, the target to be followed, which is a person, may walk at the same speed as the moving body 1 in front of the moving body 1 moving in the non-follow mode in the moving direction. Then, when the relative positional relationship between the position of the tracking target identified by the identification unit 12 of the moving body 1 and the moving body 1 becomes constant, the movement mode of the moving body 1 is switched from the non-tracking mode to the tracking mode, and the moving body 1 may move by tracking the tracking target.

[0090] In addition, when the position of the target to be followed is specified, or when the relative positional relationship between the specified target to be followed and the moving body 1 becomes constant, the moving mode of the moving body 1 is switched from the non-following mode to the following mode, the moving body 1 may further include an output unit that outputs information for confirming whether or not to switch to the following mode when, for example, the position of the target to be followed is specified by the specification unit 12 in a situation where the moving mode is the non-following mode, or when the relative positional relationship between the target to be followed and the moving body 1 specified by the specification unit 12 becomes constant. The output by this output unit may be, for example, audio output by a speaker, transmission via a communication device, display on a display device, or the like. This output unit may or may not include, for example, a device that performs output (for example, a speaker, a communication device, a display device, etc.). In addition, this output unit may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives those devices. The same may be true for other output units.

[0091] The output unit may be, for example, a speaker that outputs a sound for confirming whether or not to switch to the tracking mode, or a transmission unit that transmits an audio signal of the sound to earphones, headphones, a neck-type device, or the like worn by the person to be followed. Note that the sound corresponding to the transmitted audio signal may be output from, for example, earphones worn by the person to be followed. The output unit may also perform, for example, a display for confirming whether or not to switch to the tracking mode.

[0092] When information for confirming whether to switch to the follow mode is output, the reception unit 14 may receive an instruction to switch to the follow mode or an instruction not to switch to the follow mode. Then, when the instruction to switch to the follow mode is received by the reception unit 14, the movement control unit 17 may switch the movement mode from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. Note that the reception of the instruction to switch to the follow mode may be considered to be, for example, the reception of a second instruction to switch from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. On the other hand, when the instruction not to switch to the follow mode is received by the reception unit 14 or when the instruction to switch to the follow mode is not received by the reception unit 14, the movement control unit 17 may not switch the movement mode from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. In this case, the movement control in the non-follow mode will be continued. The acceptance by the acceptance unit 14 of the intention to switch to the following mode or the intention not to switch to the following mode may be, for example, acceptance by the acceptance unit 14 of a voice uttered by the target to be followed, which is a person, or a voice signal indicating the voice, or acceptance of the intention to switch to the following mode or the intention not to switch to the following mode inputted from an input device (for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, etc.). When a voice or a voice signal is accepted, voice recognition is performed on the voice signal corresponding to the accepted voice or the accepted voice signal, and the result of the voice recognition may be used to determine that the intention to switch to the following mode or the intention not to switch to the following mode has been accepted. The voice indicating the intention to switch to the following mode may be, for example, "follow", "follow me", "OK", etc., and the voice indicating the intention not to switch to the following mode may be, for example, "not follow", "don't follow me", "no", "cancel", etc.

[0093] Also, the instruction to switch to the tracking mode or not to switch to the tracking mode may be accepted by, for example, a gesture of the person to be followed. In this case, the accepting unit 14 may determine that the instruction to switch to the tracking mode or not to switch to the tracking mode has been accepted by using, for example, a captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b. In this case, for example, the captured image may be a moving image. As an example, when the person to be followed makes a gesture of waving with his / her hand raised, it may be determined that the instruction to switch to the tracking mode has been accepted, and when the person to be followed makes a gesture of waving with his / her hand not raised, it may be determined that the instruction not to switch to the tracking mode has been accepted. Such gesture recognition may be performed by using, for example, a learned learning model such as 3D-CNN or (2+1)D-CNN.

[0094] In addition, when the movement mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode in response to the second instruction being received, the position of the follow target being specified, or the relative positional relationship between the specified position of the follow target and the moving body 1 being fixed, for example, if a plurality of candidates of the follow target are included in the captured image, it may be impossible to specify which candidate of the follow target is the follow target. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the moving body 1 may further include an output unit 18 that outputs an operation instruction regarding a visually recognizable operation to the follow target when the movement mode of the moving body 1 is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode. In addition, the specification unit 12 may specify, for example, in the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b, the follow target that has performed an operation according to the operation instruction.

[0095] The operation instruction may instruct the target to perform a specific operation so that the target can be uniquely identified in the captured image. For example, the operation instruction may be output when the second instruction is received by the receiving unit 14, or may be output when the moving mode is switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode in response to the position of the target to be followed being identified by the identifying unit 12 or the relative positional relationship between the position of the target to be followed identified by the identifying unit 12 and the moving body 1 becoming constant. In addition, the operation instruction may be output when the target to be followed cannot be uniquely identified using the captured image, or may be output regardless of whether the target to be followed can be uniquely identified. In the former case, for example, a candidate for the target to be followed (e.g., a person, etc.) existing near the center of the captured image is specified as the target to be followed, and when multiple candidates for the target to be followed exist near the center of the captured image, the operation instruction is output, and when only one target to be followed exists near the center of the captured image, the operation instruction may not be output.

[0096] When the target to be followed is a person, the action instruction may be an instruction to perform a physical action. The physical action may be, for example, a gesture, such as jumping or twisting the body. The gesture is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, raising a hand, repeatedly opening and closing the palm, or making a specific shape such as a fist. It is preferable that the person to be followed performs an action such that the action according to the action instruction is photographed by the moving body 1. For example, when making a hand into a specific shape and the moving body 1 is present behind the person to be followed, the person to be followed may make the hand into a shape according to the action instruction, for example, behind himself.

[0097] When the target to be tracked is a moving object other than a person, the operation instruction may be, for example, an instruction to perform an operation related to light of the target to be tracked, an operation such as turning, etc. The operation related to light may be, for example, an operation related to turning on, turning off, blinking, etc. In the operation of turning on, turning off, or blinking the light, for example, the color of the light, the blinking interval, the lighting interval, the turning off interval, etc. may be determined by the operation instruction.

[0098] When the target to be followed is a person, the output of the operation instruction may be, for example, a sound output of a voice corresponding to the operation instruction, or may be a transmission of the voice. In the former case, a voice such as "Raise your right hand" or "Make a fist" may be output from a speaker of the moving body 1. In the latter case, the voice may be transmitted to earphones, headphones, a neck-type device, or the like worn by the person to be followed, and the voice may be output from the earphones, etc. When the target to be followed is a moving body other than a person, the output of the operation instruction may be, for example, a transmission of the operation instruction to the target to be followed. The same may be true for the output of instructions other than the operation instruction.

[0099] When the output unit 18 outputs an action instruction, the identification unit 12 may identify the target to be followed that has performed an action in response to the action instruction in the captured image acquired by the image sensor 11b. Identification of the target to be followed that has performed an action in response to the action instruction may be, for example, identification of the position of the target to be followed. In this case, for example, the captured image may be a moving image. The identification unit 12 may then identify the target to be followed that has performed the action by identifying the action in response to the action instruction in the captured image, which is a moving image. Note that the recognition of the action in response to the action instruction may be performed using a trained learning model, such as 3D-CNN or (2+1)D-CNN. The identification unit 12 may also identify the target to be followed that has performed an action in the captured image, which is a still image. As an example, the identification unit 12 may identify a person who is the target to be followed who has raised one hand in response to the action instruction in the captured image, which is a still image.

[0100] Note that, although the case where the target to be followed performs a predetermined action in response to the output of an action instruction has been mainly described here, this is not necessarily the case. The target to be followed may perform a predetermined action independently even if an action instruction is not output. Then, the identification unit 12 of the moving body 1 may identify the position of the target to be followed that has performed the predetermined action. In this way, when the target to be followed performs a predetermined action even if an action instruction is not output, the moving body 1 may not be provided with the output unit 18.

[0101] Furthermore, when the first instruction and the second instruction are received by voice or a voice signal, the voice corresponding to the first instruction and the voice corresponding to the second instruction may be a voice specific to the moving body 1. The voice corresponding to the first instruction may be a voice received by the receiving unit 14, or may be a voice corresponding to a voice signal received by the receiving unit 14. The same applies to the voice corresponding to the second instruction. In this way, even in a situation where a plurality of moving bodies 1 are moving in a certain moving area, the first instruction and the second instruction uttered by a certain person are received as the first instruction and the second instruction only in the specific moving body 1 that the person wants to operate, and it is possible to prevent the other moving bodies 1 from malfunctioning.

[0102] As an example, the sound corresponding to the first instruction regarding the first moving body 1 may be "non-follow mode," the sound corresponding to the second instruction may be "follow mode," the sound corresponding to the first instruction regarding the second moving body 1 may be "cancel following," and the sound corresponding to the second instruction may be "start following."

[0103] In addition, in the present embodiment, the case where the receiving unit 14 receives the first instruction and the second instruction has been mainly described, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, in the non-follow mode, when the relative positional relationship between the position of the follow target identified by the identifying unit 12 and the moving body 1 becomes constant, the moving body 1 may be switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode, so that the moving body 1 may not have the receiving unit 14. In this case, the moving body 1 may only be switched from the non-follow mode to the follow mode.

[0104] In addition, in the present embodiment, the case where the moving body 1 switches the moving mode from the following mode to the non-following mode and the moving mode from the non-following mode to the following mode has been mainly described, but this is not necessarily the case. Only one of the two moving modes may be switched in the moving body 1. In this case, for example, the second instruction may not be accepted by the accepting unit 14, and the first instruction may not be accepted.

[0105] In the present embodiment, the moving object 1 is mainly provided with the obstacle detection unit 16, but this is not necessarily the case. When obstacle detection is not performed, the moving object 1 does not have to include the obstacle detection unit 16, for example.

[0106] In addition, in the present embodiment, the moving body 1 is mainly described as a traveling body that travels on land, but this is not essential. The moving body 1 may be, for example, an aircraft flying in the air, or may be an aquatic moving body (for example, a ship, etc.) that travels on water. The aircraft may be, for example, a rotorcraft, an airplane, an airship, or other aircraft. From the viewpoint of being movable to any position, it is preferable that the aircraft is a rotorcraft. The rotorcraft may be, for example, a helicopter, or a multicopter having three or more rotors (rotors). The multicopter may be, for example, a quad rotor having four rotors, or may have any other number of rotors. When the moving body 1 is an aircraft, the movement mechanism 15 may have, for example, a propeller, and a driving means such as a motor or an engine that drives the propeller. Furthermore, when the moving body 1 is a water moving body, the moving mechanism 15 may have, for example, a screw, a driving means such as a motor or engine for driving the screw, a rudder, and a steering mechanism capable of changing the direction of the rudder.

[0107] In addition, in the above embodiments, each process or function may be realized by centralized processing in a single device or a single system, or may be realized by distributed processing in multiple devices or multiple systems.

[0108] In addition, in the above embodiments, the transfer of information between each component may be performed, for example, by one component outputting information and the other component receiving information if the two components transferring the information are physically different, or, if the two components transferring the information are physically the same, by shifting from a processing phase corresponding to one component to a processing phase corresponding to the other component.

[0109] In the above embodiment, information related to the processing performed by each component, such as information accepted, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component, and information such as thresholds, formulas, and addresses used by each component in processing, may be temporarily or long-term stored in a recording medium (not shown) even if not specified in the above description. Furthermore, each component or a storage unit (not shown) may store information in the recording medium (not shown). Furthermore, each component or a reading unit (not shown) may read information from the recording medium (not shown).

[0110] In the above embodiment, if the information used by each component, such as the thresholds, addresses, and various setting values ​​used by each component in processing, may be changed by the user, the user may be able to change the information as appropriate, even if not specified in the above description. If the information is changeable by the user, the change may be realized, for example, by a reception unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user, and a change unit (not shown) that changes the information in response to the change instruction. The reception unit (not shown) may receive the change instruction from an input device, may receive information transmitted via a communication line, or may receive information read from a predetermined recording medium.

[0111] Also, in the above embodiment, when two or more components included in the mobile body 1 have a communication device, an input device, etc., the two or more components may have a physically single device, or may have separate devices.

[0112] In the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. During execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing the storage unit or the recording medium. The software for realizing the moving body 1 in the above embodiment is a program as follows. That is, this program may cause a computer to function as a specification unit that specifies the position of a target to be followed using the acquisition result by an acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of a moving body that moves in either a following mode in which the moving body follows a target to be followed or a non-following mode in which the moving body does not follow a target to be followed, and as a movement control unit that controls a moving mechanism that moves the moving body so that the moving body follows the target to be followed whose position is specified by the specification unit in the following mode, and as a movement control unit that controls the moving mechanism as predetermined in the non-following mode, and the movement control unit may switch between the following mode and the non-following mode while the moving body is moving.

[0113] In addition, the functions realized by the above program do not include functions that can only be realized by hardware, such as a modem or an interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information or a reception unit that accepts information.

[0114] This program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, or may be executed by reading out a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.). This program may be used as a program constituting a program product.

[0115] Furthermore, the program may be executed by a single computer or a plurality of computers. That is, the program may be executed by centralized processing or distributed processing.

[0116] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a computer system 901 that executes the above program to realize the moving object 1 according to the above embodiment. The above embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

[0117] 10, computer system 901 includes MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, ROM 912 such as flash memory, RAM 913 connected to MPU 911 for temporarily storing instructions of application programs and providing a temporary storage space, hard disk 914, and bus 915 for interconnecting MPU 911, ROM 912, etc. Programs such as a boot-up program, application programs, system programs, and data may be stored in ROM 912 or hard disk 914. Programs are loaded into RAM 913 at the time of execution. Programs may be loaded directly from a network. Computer system 901 may also include a wireless communication module and an input device such as a touch panel.

[0118] The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third party program that causes the computer system 901 to execute the functions of the mobile object 1 according to the above embodiment. The program may include only an instruction portion that calls appropriate functions or modules in a controlled manner to achieve a desired result. How the computer system 901 operates is well known, and a detailed description will be omitted.

[0119] The above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples for specifically implementing the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention. The technical scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims, not by the description of the embodiments, and is intended to include modifications within the literal scope of the claims and the scope of equivalent meanings. [Explanation of symbols]

[0120] 1. Mobile 11 Acquisition Department 12 Specific part 13 Storage section 14 Reception Department 15 Moving mechanism 16 Obstacle detection section 17 Movement control section

Claims

1. A moving object that moves in either a following mode in which the moving object is followed or a non-following mode in which the moving object is not followed, An acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of the moving object; an identification unit that identifies a position of a target to be tracked using an acquisition result by the acquisition unit; A moving mechanism that moves the moving body; a movement control unit that, in a following mode, controls the moving mechanism so as to follow the target whose position has been specified by the specifying unit, and, in a non-following mode, controls the moving mechanism in a predetermined manner; A moving body, wherein the movement control unit controls the moving mechanism in a tracking mode when the relative positional relationship between the position of the tracking target identified by the identification unit and the moving body becomes constant while controlling the moving mechanism in a non-tracking mode while the moving body is moving.

2. a reception unit that receives a first instruction to switch from the tracking mode to the non-tracking mode, The moving body according to claim 1 , wherein the movement control unit controls the moving mechanism in a non-following mode when the acceptance unit accepts a first instruction while the movement control unit is controlling the moving mechanism in a following mode.

3. A moving object that moves in either a following mode in which the moving object is followed or a non-following mode in which the moving object is not followed, An acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of the moving object; an identification unit that identifies a position of a target to be tracked using an acquisition result by the acquisition unit; A moving mechanism that moves the moving body; a movement control unit that controls the moving mechanism so as to follow the target object whose position has been specified by the specifying unit in a following mode, and controls the moving mechanism in a predetermined manner in a non-following mode; an output unit that outputs information for confirming whether or not to switch to a tracking mode when a position of a tracking target is identified by the identification unit while the moving mechanism is being controlled in a non-tracking mode during the movement of the moving body; a reception unit that receives a command to switch to the tracking mode when information for confirming whether or not to switch to the tracking mode is output by the output unit, The movement control unit controls the movement mechanism in a following mode when a command to switch to the following mode is accepted by the accepting unit.

4. The reception unit further receives a first instruction to switch from a following mode to a non-following mode; The moving body according to claim 3 , wherein the movement control unit controls the moving mechanism in a non-following mode when the acceptance unit accepts a first instruction while the movement control unit is controlling the moving mechanism in a following mode.

5. Computer, an identification unit that identifies a position of a target to be tracked using an acquisition result by an acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of a moving object that moves in either a tracking mode in which the moving object is tracked or a non-tracking mode in which the moving object is not tracked; In a following mode, the moving mechanism is controlled to move the moving body so as to follow the target to be followed whose position is specified by the specifying unit, and in a non-following mode, the moving mechanism is caused to function as a moving control unit that controls the moving mechanism in a predetermined manner; The program, wherein the movement control unit controls the movement mechanism in a tracking mode when the relative positional relationship between the position of the target to be tracked identified by the identification unit and the moving body becomes constant while controlling the movement mechanism in a non-tracking mode while the moving body is moving.

6. Computer, an identification unit that identifies a position of a target to be tracked using an acquisition result by an acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of a moving object that moves in either a tracking mode in which the moving object is tracked or a non-tracking mode in which the moving object is not tracked; a movement control unit that controls a movement mechanism that moves the moving body so as to follow the target whose position has been specified by the specification unit in a following mode, and controls the movement mechanism in a predetermined manner in a non-following mode; an output unit that outputs information for confirming whether or not to switch to a tracking mode when a position of a tracking target is identified by the identification unit while the moving mechanism is being controlled in a non-tracking mode during the movement of the moving body; functioning as a reception unit that receives an instruction to switch to the tracking mode when information for confirming whether or not to switch to the tracking mode is output by the output unit; The movement control unit controls the movement mechanism in a following mode when a command to switch to the following mode is accepted by the accepting unit.

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