Mobile body, control device, and program thereof

Abstract

To provide a moving body that makes it possible to estimate a width of a space intended for future pass through of a predetermined passageway and automatically adjust moving speed in accordance with a result thereof.SOLUTION: A moving body 10 comprises: a detector 14 that detects position information and speed information of an object existing in a surrounding; and a controller 15 that controls the movement in a passageway formed in a space, based on a detection result of the detector 14. The controller 15 comprises: a pre-determining section 27 that previously determines a future easiness to pass through of a passageway from a situation of an object; and a speed adjusting section 28 that automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body 10 in accordance with a determination result at the pre-determining section 27. In the pre-determining section 27, a pass width which is a width of a space intended for the moving body 10 to pass through, is measured as to a predetermined position in the passageway and, based on the pass width, an easiness-to-pass indicator PI is determined to serve as an indicator of easiness for the moving body 10 to pass through of the passageway at the predetermined position. In the speed adjusting section 28, the moving speed of the moving body 10 is automatically adjusted in accordance with the easiness-to-pass indicator PI.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a moving body, a control device, and a program thereof that can automatically perform speed control according to the surrounding environment.

Background Art

[0002] Recently, as a new means of transportation available in the pedestrian space, a single-seater compact vehicle called personal mobility (PM) has attracted attention. On the other hand, accidents such as falls and collisions have increased with its spread.

[0003] So far, in the pedestrian space, only moving bodies such as pedestrians, bicycles, and baby strollers, which move relatively slowly, have a small weight, and can make flexible route adjustments, have been passing through. However, an operation-type machine such as a PM moves relatively fast, has a large weight, and it is difficult to finely adjust the route as intended by the driver. For example, a pedestrian can move by turning sideways when passing another person or striding over an obstacle on the route, but it is difficult for a PM to make such flexible responses. In addition, existing pedestrian spaces are not designed for PMs to move. Places where pedestrians such as steps, stairs, slopes, and opening doors pass as a matter of course may be difficult to pass depending on the crossing performance of the PM. Even a small step or slope can not only impair the comfort of the PM driver but also lead to accidents. Therefore, when such PMs fully enter the pedestrian space, if they cannot get along well with the surrounding pedestrians and environment, accidents such as collisions with pedestrians and objects, falls and drops on steps and slopes will occur.

[0004] In fact, there have been reports of cases where drivers are unable to judge places where it is difficult for PMs to pass, and they end up making forced passes or driving beyond their capabilities. Especially in an environment where pedestrians are present, when predicting the passing situation of PMs at the passing points and times with pedestrians, more complex judgments and driving operations are required of the driver, such as adjusting the speed of PMs. To mitigate such previous problems, it is considered effective for the PM itself to judge the surrounding situation and provide driving assistance when a situation where it is difficult for the PM to pass may occur only based on the driver's operations and judgments.

[0005] By the way, Patent Document 1 discloses a driving control method for an electric wheelchair that detects an obstacle ahead and stops moving when there is a possibility of colliding with the obstacle. Also, Patent Document 2 discloses an autonomous driving device that detects an obstacle ahead, plans a route that can avoid the obstacle based on preset road information, and performs movement control along the route.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] However, in the control method of Patent Document 1, when moving the electric wheelchair while avoiding dynamic obstacles such as pedestrians, it still depends on the driver's sense of operation for speed adjustment. Also, in the autonomous driving device of Patent Document 2, it is necessary to store map information in advance, and in an unknown space where map information does not exist, appropriate speed adjustment cannot be made when passing pedestrians.

[0008] The present invention has been devised by paying attention to such problems, and an object thereof is to estimate the width of a space where future passage is intended in a passage existing in the vicinity, and according to the result, provide a moving body, a control device, and a program thereof that enable automatic adjustment of the moving speed.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] To achieve the above object, the present invention mainly includes a detection device that detects position information and speed information of objects existing in the vicinity, and a control device that controls movement within a passage formed in a space based on the detection result of the detection device, in a moving body. The control device includes a pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future passability of the passage from the situation of the object, and a speed adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit. In the pre-judgment unit, for a predetermined position in the passage, a passing width, which is the width of the space where passage of the moving body is intended, is measured, and based on the passing width, a passability index, which is an index of the ease of passage of the passage by the moving body at the predetermined position, is obtained. The speed adjustment unit automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body according to the passability index.

Effects of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, the detection device detects the position information and speed information of surrounding objects, predicts the passing width where future passage is intended in the passage, makes a judgment on the passage ease of the moving body at a future predetermined position based on the prediction, and as a result, enables driving support for automatically adjusting the moving speed of the moving body. As a result, for example, when a driver is operating the moving body at a desired speed and in the future, when passing through a narrow passage with a width that is just within the vehicle body width of the moving body, automatic speed adjustment can be performed on the moving system of the moving body without relying on the driver's own sense. Therefore, in such a case, the driver does not need complex judgments and detailed speed commands, and can concentrate on the driving operation in the moving direction. Thus, it is expected to reduce driving operation mistakes of the driver and improve the safety and peace of mind of both the driver and pedestrians around him / her.

[0011] Further, in the pre-judgment unit, by judging the ease of passage from the situation including the presence or absence of a step on the driving road surface in the passage, even when it is difficult for the driver to visually recognize the step of the driving road, the speed of the moving body can be automatically adjusted according to the step. From this point, an improvement in the safety during the driving of the moving body can be expected.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram schematically showing only the configuration related to the movement control of the moving body according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, as the moving body 10, a personal mobility, which is a personal moving support tool for personal use by one person or a small number of about two people, is applied. This personal mobility is configured to be movable in a passage formed in space in a desired direction and speed in response to a predetermined driving operation by the driver. Examples of the personal mobility include an inverted pendulum type that controls driving by changing the center of gravity position, an electric wheelchair that controls driving by operating a lever or a handle, and a one- or two-seater ultra-compact electric vehicle.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, the moving body 10 includes a driving device 12 that drives the main body on which the driver rides to enable movement, an operating device 13 that commands the moving direction and moving speed of the moving body 10 by the operation of the driver, a detecting device 14 that detects environmental information around the moving body 10, and a control device 15 that controls the driving of the driving device 12 based on the operation command of the operating device 13 and the detection result of the detecting device 14.

[0016] The driving device 12 includes mechanisms for moving the moving body 10 and an actuator such as a motor that serves as a power source thereof. The operating device 13 is not particularly limited, but includes input devices such as a lever, buttons, and a steering wheel that enable the driver to command the control device 15 of the moving direction and moving speed while riding on the main body portion. These driving device 12 and operating device 13 are all composed of known members, mechanisms, devices, etc., and detailed illustration and description of each configuration are omitted.

[0017] The detecting device 14 is composed of hardware and software, and includes predetermined devices such as a light emitter and a camera, an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk, and a program module that functions each of these devices.

[0018] This detecting device 14 includes a position detecting unit 18 that detects the position information of an object existing around the moving body 10, and a speed detecting unit 19 that detects the speed information of the object based on the detection result of the position detecting unit 18, and is capable of acquiring the position information and the speed information every predetermined time. Here, as the object, there are a wall surface and installations that form a boundary portion of a passage through which the moving body 10 moves, fixed obstacles that are always stationary in the environment, and various dynamic obstacles that move in the environment such as humans (pedestrians), animals, and robots. In the following, a wall surface is assumed as a fixed obstacle and a pedestrian is assumed as a dynamic obstacle for explanation, but in the present invention, the object to be detected is not limited to these.

[0019] In the position detection unit 18, a two-dimensional laser distance measurement sensor (laser range finder, hereinafter referred to as "LRF") 21 that measures the distance to each surface portion of the object based on the reflection state of the object by irradiating laser light from the moving body 10 to its surroundings, and an RGB-D sensor 22 that acquires RGB images and depth images of the peripheral space of the moving body 10 with a camera and detects the presence and position of a person based on these image data are used.

[0020] In the LRF 21, distance information to the surface portion of each object in the horizontal plane at a predetermined height position is measured, and the constituent point cloud data of each object can be acquired. Note that the LRF 21 is set to be able to acquire at least the constituent point cloud data at the height position corresponding to the legs of the pedestrian for the subsequent processing.

[0021] In the RGB-D sensor 22, the position coordinates of the pedestrians existing around the moving body 10 are obtained by the following method. First, using OpenPose, which is an image processing method for estimating the human skeleton from RGB image data by deep learning, the skeleton points of the pedestrians existing around the moving body 10 are detected. That is, here, the coordinates of the pixels corresponding to each skeleton point of the pedestrian are specified among the RGB image data of each frame. In this embodiment, the points of the chest and waist, which are considered to be the most stable during walking, are referred to, and the position coordinates of the pedestrian are derived by referring to the depth image data of the point with a higher detection likelihood among the two. Note that the camera of the RGB-D sensor 22 is fixed at a predetermined position of the main body portion together with the LRF 21 so that the origin of the coordinate system is the same as that of the LRF 21.

[0022] In the position detection unit 18 configured as described above, the position coordinates of the objects existing around the moving body 10 are acquired by the LRF 21, while for the pedestrians, who are dynamic obstacles, the detection result of the RGB-D sensor 22 is complemented by the detection result of the LRF 21, and the position coordinates are specified in the following procedure.

[0023] That is, in the OpenPose, for example, false detections such as detecting a fire extinguisher or a puddle on the road surface as pedestrians may occur, and errors in depth image data may occur. Therefore, in order to compensate for them, for the provisional position coordinates acquired by the RGB-D sensor 22, the distance data of the constituent point cloud (LRF point cloud) of the object surface acquired by the LRF 21 is used in combination to specify the position coordinates of the pedestrian.

[0024] First, since the horizontal plane area where there may be a pedestrian can be specified by the OpenPose, among the distance data of the LRF 21 that shares the origin in the horizontal direction with the OpenPose, the distance data of the horizontal plane area specified by the OpenPose and its vicinity are used. From this series of distance data, based on the following features, data of the constituent point cloud (hereinafter referred to as "LRF point cloud") corresponding to the legs of the pedestrian are extracted.

[0025] That is, for the data of the LRF point cloud in the horizontal plane area specified by the OpenPose, by dividing at locations where the interval between adjacent points exceeds, for example, 0.3 m, after being separated into a plurality of clusters, a cluster that satisfies the following (1) to (3) is extracted as the point cloud corresponding to the leg of the pedestrian. (1) A cluster within a range of 80 cm in width centered on the orientation of the chest (waist) skeleton (2) A cluster within the depth range of (depth value) ± (depth value error) (3) A cluster in front of the adjacent clusters on both sides Also, when the lateral width is within 30 cm, there is a possibility of one leg, so look for the other leg. As described above, the LRF point cloud of the cluster that can be regarded as a leg is specified, and the center-of-gravity coordinates of the LRF point cloud included in the leg cluster are determined as the position coordinates of the pedestrian.

[0026] In the speed detection unit 19, based on the position information of the pedestrian in each frame measured at each predetermined timing, the speed information of the pedestrian is obtained as follows.

[0027] Since multiple pedestrians can be detected in each frame by the above-described method, in order to measure the speed of each pedestrian, it is necessary to identify the pedestrians by comparing the position coordinates of the pedestrians between frames. Here, first, the position coordinates of the pedestrians in a certain frame are compared with the coordinate information of the previous frame. If the position coordinates within the current frame exist within a certain distance range from the position coordinates of a certain pedestrian in the previous frame, the two position coordinates between the frames are regarded as those of the same pedestrian. By this process, time-series position coordinate data of a certain pedestrian can be obtained, and by applying a known method such as a Kalman filter using this data, the speed information of each pedestrian can be obtained.

[0028] As described above, the position information and speed information of the object are detected at each predetermined processing timing and transmitted to the control device 15.

[0029] Note that the detection device 14 is not limited to the above-described processing using the measurement results of the above-described devices, and can be replaced with other algorithms using various sensors and devices as long as it can detect the position information and speed information of the object that enables the subsequent control processing.

[0030] The control device 15 is provided integrally or separately with the main body portion, and is composed of a computer including an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU and a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk. A program for executing the following respective functions is installed in the computer.

[0031] This control device 15 has a command control function 24 for controlling the drive of the drive device 12 in response to commands of the moving speed and moving direction of the moving body 10 from the operation device 13 by the driver, and considering the safety during the movement of the moving body 10, it automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body 10 commanded by the operation device 13, and is provided with a safe driving support function 25 for supporting the driving of the driver.

[0032] The safe driving support function 25 is composed of a pre-judgment unit 27 that pre-judges the future passability of the path that the moving body 10 will pass through in the future based on the detection result from the detection device 14 and the situation of the object, and a speed adjustment unit 28 that issues a drive command to the drive device 12 to enable the moving body 10 to travel at a predetermined moving speed including automatic speed adjustment according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit 27.

[0033] The pre-judgment unit 27 includes a road width measurement unit 30 that measures the road width which is the width of the entire path at a predetermined position, a passing width measurement unit 31 that measures the passing width which is the width of the space where the moving body 10 is intended to pass at a predetermined position within the path considering the presence and movement status of pedestrians from the road width, and a passing ease judgment unit 32 that obtains a passing ease index which is an index for judging the ease of passing the path by the moving body 10 at the predetermined position based on the passing width.

[0034] In the road width measurement unit 30, using the LRF point cloud data acquired by the LRF 21, as follows, it searches whether an arbitrary point in the path corresponds to a path point that is the center of the path, and obtains the road width from the path point.

[0035] First, as shown in Fig. 2(A), for the LRF point cloud data in the horizontal plane coordinate system (xy coordinate system) of two orthogonal axes along the ground, the measurement target area which is a predetermined range around the front of the moving body 10 is divided into virtual grids G of a predetermined size (for example, 20 cm square). Note that the size of the grid G is a predetermined value based on the experimental results performed in advance, but is not limited thereto, and can also be set to be variable according to the moving speed of the moving body 10.

[0036] Next, among the LRF points P L which are the LRF data of the wall surface within the measurement target area, for each grid G, the LRF point P LThe nearest wall vector NV, which is a vector up to [a certain point], is obtained by approximate nearest neighbor search respectively. Then, from the combinations of the nearest wall vector NV in each grid G and the nearest wall vectors NV in eight adjacent grids G, as shown in Fig. 2(B), a combination is extracted that satisfies the conditions that the lengths are approximately equal to each other and the directions of the vectors are opposite (for example, the angle formed by the two vectors is 135 degrees or more). And the midpoint of the grids G A , G B in the combination is determined as the passage point P C . And the distance between the LRF points P C which are the endpoints of each nearest wall vector NV extracted when determining the passage point P L is defined as the road width W

[0037] That is, in the road width measurement unit 30, from the group of LRF points P L of the wall surface acquired by the detection device 14, the passage point P C corresponding to the center for each position of the passage is specified, and the distance between the LRF points P C which are relatively equidistant from the passage point P L is determined as the road width W

[0038] As described above, the passage point P C is set to be scattered along the moving direction of the moving body 10 in the passage, and the position coordinates of each passage point P C and the road width W C specified for each passage point P are recorded correspondingly and used for subsequent processing

[0039] In the passing width measurement unit 31, the passing point between the moving body 10 and the pedestrian is estimated, and at the passing time at the passing point, the passing width, which is the width of the space in the passage where the moving body 10 passes avoiding the pedestrian, is obtained. That is, as shown in Fig. 3, at the time of passing in the passage between the future pedestrian H and the moving body 10 indicated by the broken line in the figure, the passing width D p of the passable space excluding the existence area of the pedestrian H with respect to the road width W p at that time is obtained

[0040] Here, the passing width D p is used as the far passing width used in the determination during the far walking when the pedestrian H walks at a far position away from the moving body 10, and the proximity passing width used in the determination during the proximity walking when the pedestrian H walks at a proximity position approaching the moving body 10. The proximity passing width is obtained based on the detection result of the detection device 14 when the pedestrian H approaches within a predetermined distance (for example, 2 m) with respect to the moving body 10. Otherwise, the far passing width is obtained.

[0041] In the following description using FIG. 3, the traveling direction of the moving body 10 in the passage is defined as the x-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction, that is, the direction along the road width W, is defined as the y-axis direction, and the two-axis coordinates are used. Also, the origin of the x-axis (x = 0) is set as the leading position of the moving body 10 at the current time, and the origin of the y-axis (y = 0) is set as the passage point P C 's position. For the y-axis, the upper region in FIG. 3 is a positive value and the lower region is a negative value with respect to the origin.

[0042] The far passing width is estimated by estimating the passing point (x = x p ) of the pedestrian H and the moving body 10 in the passage, and then based on the positions of the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H in the y-axis direction at the passing point, that is, their shortest distances from the passage point P C , and the road width W at the passing point obtained by the road width measurement unit 30 p . The calculation procedure will be described in detail below.

[0043] The road width W used here assumes a passage formed between wall surfaces, and the LRF point group recognized as the pedestrian H by the detection device 14 is removed. Specifically, the LRF point group located within a certain range (for example, a radius of 0.35 m) from the identified position coordinates of the pedestrian H is likely to be the point group of the legs of the pedestrian H, so these point groups are deleted, and then the above-mentioned processing in the road width measurement unit 30 is performed, and the road width W at the position of each passage point P C is derived.

[0044] Then, as shown in Fig. 3(A), when the moving body 10 will pass by a single pedestrian H in the passage in the future, the position information (x = 0) of the moving body 10 in the x-axis direction, the same position information (x = x h ) of the pedestrian H, the moving speed information V of the moving body 10 in the x-axis direction m and the same speed information V of the pedestrian, from these, by calculation, the passing start point (x = x h ) at the time of their passing is obtained. p ) is obtained.

[0045] Next, calculate the distance by which the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H are separated from the passage point P at the center of the passage at the time of passing. That is, first, from the positions of the moving body 10 (x = 0) and the pedestrian H (x = x C ) at the current time, the passage point P with the shortest distance is selected by nearest neighbor search h ). Thereby, the distances between the passage point P C and the moving body 10 (x = 0) and the pedestrian H (x = x C ) at the current time are calculated, and the positions (y = y h ), y m in the y-axis direction of the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H at the current time are specified. Also, the road widths W h ) corresponding to the passage point P C selected here at the current positions of the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H are specified. 0 , W h ) are specified.

[0046] Furthermore, by the road width measurement unit 30, the road width W p corresponding to the passage point P C at the passing start point (x = x p ) is specified, and the positions (y = y C ) of the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H at the passage point P pm in the y-axis direction at that point are obtained by the following formula. Here, it is assumed that the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H move while keeping a constant ratio of the distance from the road width W and the passage point P ph ). C ).

Equation

[0047] And, at the passing start point (x = x p ), the road width W p and the positions y pm , y ph in the y-axis direction of the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H at that point are considered, and the width D h of the personal area PA of a human is considered, and the far passing width D p of the moving body 10 is obtained by the following formula. Note that this personal area PA is a circular area virtually set centered on the position of a human, and its width D h corresponds to a diameter that is a constant multiple of the shoulder width of a human (for example, 0.7 m). [Number]

[0048] Also, as shown in Fig. 3(B), when the moving body 10 passes by a plurality of pedestrians H in the passage, the far passing width D p of the moving body 10 is obtained as follows.

[0049] First, in the same manner as described above, the passing start point (x = x p ) between the moving body 10 and the pedestrian H is obtained by calculation. At this time, when any pedestrian H and the moving body 10 pass by each other, other pedestrians H whose position in the x-axis direction exists within a predetermined range (for example, 2 m) with respect to the pedestrian H are considered to pass by simultaneously, and the far passing width D p of the moving body 10 is obtained.

[0050] And, in the same manner as described above, for each pedestrian H, the position coordinates y ph1 , y ph2 in the y-axis direction are calculated, and the far passing width D p of the moving body 10 is obtained by the following formula. [Number]

[0051] On the other hand, the close passing width is obtained as follows.

[0052] In the pedestrian proximity situation where the pedestrian H is walking in the vicinity of the moving body 10, the passing width D p To calculate more accurately, unlike when obtaining the far passing width, as the above-mentioned process in the road width measurement unit 30, as shown in FIG. 4, without deleting the LRF point group recognized as the pedestrian H by the detection device 14, the passage point P C is obtained, and the road width W corresponding to each passage point P C is calculated.

[0053] Then, a rectangular target range A that covers the space from the moving body 10 to the pedestrian H ahead is set, and the minimum value W min of the road width W within the target range A is specified. The minimum value W min is the distance between the leg of the pedestrian H and the wall surface, and the proximity passing width D p at this time is the value obtained by subtracting a correction value (for example, 0.45) preset according to the shoulder width of the pedestrian H from the minimum value W min of the road width.

[0054] When the presence of the pedestrian H is not recognized by the detection device 14, the road width W at the target position obtained by the road width measurement unit 30 is used as the passing width D p at that position and is used for subsequent processing.

[0055] In the passing ease determination unit 32, each passing width D p obtained by the passing width measurement unit 31 is compared with a predetermined lower limit value D1 and an upper limit value D2 based on the vehicle body width of the moving body 10. According to the result, the passing ease index PI is determined according to the relationship with the preset passing width D p shown in FIG. 5.

[0056] Here, the lower limit value D1 is a value slightly wider than the vehicle body width of the moving body 10 (for example, 1.1 times the vehicle body width), and the upper limit value D2 is a value much wider than the vehicle body width (for example, 5 times the vehicle body width). Therefore, each passing width D pWhen in a narrow road state where the width is less than or equal to the lower limit D1, it is determined that the moving body 10 cannot pass through the passage, and it is in a non-passable state with a traffic ease index PI = 0. On the other hand, for each traffic width D p When in a wide road state where the width is greater than or equal to the upper limit D2, it is determined that the moving body 10 can pass through the passage without speed limit, and it is in an easy-to-pass state with a traffic ease index PI = 1.

[0057] Furthermore, for each traffic width D p When it exceeds the lower limit D1 and is less than the upper limit D2, it is determined that speed limit of the moving body 10 is necessary due to difficult passage state, and the traffic ease index PI is calculated by the following function determined according to the traffic width D p

Equation

[0058] According to this function, when in the difficult passage state, as the traffic width D p becomes wider, it will take a value that increases between 0 and 1.

[0059] Here, the traffic ease index PI is calculated using the above function when in the difficult passage state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the range of the traffic width D p can be divided, and it may be set so that the numerical value changes step by step for each range.

[0060] In the speed adjustment unit 28, from the set speed V max which is the maximum moving speed of the moving body 10 and the traffic ease index PI, an adjustment speed V p suitable for passing by the pedestrian H according to the road width W is obtained by the following formula. And during the passing by, regardless of the speed command by the driver's driving operation, the moving speed of the moving body 10 is determined so as to pass by at the adjustment speed V p as the maximum allowable speed, and a drive command is given to the drive device 12.

Equation

[0061] That is, here, first, when a pedestrian H who will cross paths with the moving body 10 in the future is walking at a distant position farther from the moving body 10, the maximum allowable speed of the moving body 10 is gradually decreased from that predetermined position, and finally, the adjustment speed V p is automatically adjusted based on the passing ease index PI obtained from the passing width D p . That is, at this time, when the command speed of the moving body 10 by the operating device 13 is greater than the adjustment speed V p , the moving speed of the moving body 10 is automatically adjusted to the adjustment speed V p . On the other hand, when the command speed of the moving body 10 by the operating device 13 is equal to or less than the adjustment speed V p , the moving speed of the moving body 10 is set to the command speed of the moving body 10 by the operating device 13 without speed adjustment.

[0062] After that, when it comes to the proximity walking when the pedestrian H walks at a proximity position approaching the moving body 10, the adjustment speed V p is obtained from the passing ease index PI based on the proximity passing width D p by the above formula. And, similar to the case of the distant passing width D p , the moving speed is determined according to the relationship with the command speed of the moving body 10 based on the adjustment speed V p . And after the moving body 10 passes by the pedestrian H and is separated by a predetermined distance, the automatic adjustment of the moving speed is canceled, and the command speed by the driver's driving operation is determined as the moving speed.

[0063] Note that in the pre-judgment unit 27 of the above embodiment, the passing width D pWhile judging the ease of passage in consideration of this, in addition, the presence or absence and height of steps formed on the driving surface in the passage are judged, and based on this, the ease of passage can also be judged. In making this judgment, as the detection device 14, it is set so that data of the LRF point cloud in the horizontal plane coordinates at each height position can be acquired, such as arranging a plurality of LRFs 21 at different height positions. By extracting the difference in the two-dimensional point cloud data of the LRF at each such height position, estimating the size of the step according to the result, and according to the size and the step running performance of the moving body 10, it is also possible to judge the impassable state where the passage ease index PI = 0 or the easy passage state where the passage ease index PI = 1. In this case, when any of the passage ease indices PI obtained according to the passage width or the step is 0, the moving body 10 is stopped before passing by the pedestrian H or before the step. Also, according to the size of the step, speed adjustment is possible to change the moving speed of the moving body 10 when crossing the step. By such processing of the two-dimensional point cloud data, the calculation cost can be significantly suppressed compared to three-dimensional point cloud data processing, and more real-time processing becomes possible.

[0064] Further, the present invention is not limited to the personal mobility described in each of the above embodiments. In addition to other vehicles, it can also be applied to autonomous driving type moving bodies that can move within a predetermined space, such as robots and automobiles, or manipulators such as robot arms that operate within a predetermined range of space.

[0065] In addition, the configuration of each part of the device in the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configuration example, and various changes are possible as long as they exhibit substantially the same action.

Explanation of Signs

[0066] 10 Moving body 14 Detection device 15 Control device 27 Pre-judgment unit 28 Speed adjustment unit 30 Road width measurement unit 31 Passage width measurement unit 32 Passage ease judgment unit P C Path point P L LRF point H Pedestrian

Claims

1. In a moving body including a detection device that detects position information and velocity information of an object existing in the vicinity, and a control device that controls movement within a passage formed in a space based on the detection result of the detection device, in the detection device, position information and velocity information of a dynamic obstacle moving in the environment around the moving body are measured, the control device includes a pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future passage ease of the passage from the situation of the object, and a velocity adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit, the pre-judgment unit includes a road width measurement unit that measures the road width that is the width of the entire passage at a predetermined position in the passage, a passage width measurement unit that measures the passage width, which is the width of the space where the moving body is intended to pass, considering the presence and movement status of the dynamic obstacle from the road width, and a passage ease judgment unit that obtains a passage ease index, which is an index of the ease of passage of the passage by the moving body at the predetermined position, based on the passage width, in the passage ease judgment unit, when the passage width is less than or equal to a predetermined lower limit value, it is set as a non-passable state and the value of the passage ease index is set to 0; when the passage width is greater than or equal to a predetermined upper limit value, it is set as a passage-easy state and the value of the passage ease index is set to 1; when the passage width exceeds the lower limit value and is less than the upper limit value, it is set as a difficult-to-pass state and is set to a value from 0 to 1 according to the magnitude of the passage width based on a preset relationship, in the velocity adjustment unit, the moving speed is determined by multiplying the set speed of the moving body by the passage ease index, and the moving speed is automatically adjusted according to the passage ease index. A moving body characterized by this.

2. In a moving body including a detection device that detects position information and velocity information of an object existing in the vicinity, and a control device that controls movement within a passage formed in a space based on the detection result of the detection device, in the detection device, position information and velocity information of a dynamic obstacle moving in the environment around the moving body are measured, and position information of a fixed obstacle forming a boundary portion of the passage is also detected, the control device includes a pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future passage ease of the passage from the situation of the object, and a velocity adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit, The pre-judgment unit includes a road width measurement unit that measures the road width, which is the width of the entire passage at a predetermined position in the passage; a passing width measurement unit that measures the passing width, which is the width of the space where the moving object is intended to pass, considering the presence and movement status of the dynamic obstacle from the road width; and a passing ease determination unit that obtains a passing ease index, which is an index of the ease of passage of the passage by the moving object at the predetermined position, based on the passing width. In the road width measurement unit, from the set of constituent points of the fixed obstacle acquired by the detection device, a passage point corresponding to the center of the passage is specified for each position of the passage, and the distance between the constituent points of the combination that are relatively equidistant from the passage point is defined as the road width. The passing width measurement unit estimates a passing point of the moving object and the dynamic obstacle, obtains the shortest distance from each of the moving object and the dynamic obstacle to the passage point at the passing point, and estimates the passing width at the passing point of the moving object and the dynamic obstacle from each of the shortest distances and the road width at the passing point.

3. In the passing width measurement unit, a far passing width used for determination during far walking when the dynamic obstacle walks at a far position farther from the moving object and a near passing width used for determination during near walking when the dynamic obstacle walks at a near position within a predetermined distance from the moving object are obtained based on the detection result of the detection device. When obtaining the far passing width, the passage point is specified by removing the set of constituent points of the dynamic obstacle acquired by the detection device, while when obtaining the near passing width, the passage point is specified including the set of constituent points of the dynamic obstacle. The moving object according to claim 2, characterized in that.

4. The detection device is provided so as to be able to detect the presence of the object in the passage at at least two different height positions and acquire the set of constituent points of the object at each of these height positions. In the pre-judgment unit, the situation including the presence or absence of a step in the traveling path in the passage is determined based on the difference between the sets of constituent points of the object at different height positions, and the passing ease is also determined from the step situation. The moving object according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.

5. In a control device that controls the moving speed of a moving object in a passage formed in a space based on the position information and speed information of an object existing around the moving object. A pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future ease of passage of the passage based on the situation of the object, and a speed adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit. The pre-judgment unit includes a road width measurement unit that measures the road width, which is the width of the entire passage at a predetermined position in the passage; a passage width measurement unit that measures the passage width, which is the width of the space where the moving body is intended to pass, considering the presence and movement status of dynamic obstacles moving in the environment around the moving body among the objects, from the road width; and a passage ease judgment unit that obtains a passage ease index, which is an index of the ease of passage of the passage by the moving body at the predetermined position, based on the passage width. In the passage ease judgment unit, when the passage width is less than or equal to a predetermined lower limit value, it is set as a non-passable state, and the value of the passage ease index is set to 0; when the passage width is greater than or equal to a predetermined upper limit value, it is set as an easy passage state, and the value of the passage ease index is set to 1; when the passage width exceeds the lower limit value and is less than the upper limit value, it is set as a difficult passage state, and it is set to a value from 0 to 1 according to the size of the passage width based on a preset relationship. The speed adjustment unit is characterized in that it determines the moving speed by multiplying the set speed of the moving body by the passage ease index and automatically adjusts the moving speed according to the passage ease index.

6. In a control device that controls the moving speed of a moving body in a passage formed in a space based on the position information and speed information of an object existing around the moving body. A pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future ease of passage of the passage based on the situation of the object, and a speed adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit. The pre-judgment unit includes a road width measurement unit that measures the road width, which is the width of the entire passage at a predetermined position in the passage; a passage width measurement unit that measures the passage width, which is the width of the space where the moving body is intended to pass, considering the presence and movement status of dynamic obstacles moving in the environment around the moving body among the objects, from the road width; and a passage ease judgment unit that obtains a passage ease index, which is an index of the ease of passage of the passage by the moving body at the predetermined position, based on the passage width. In the road width measurement unit, from the constituent point group of the fixed obstacle that forms the boundary portion of the passage among the objects, a passage point corresponding to the center is specified for each position of the passage, and the distance between the constituent points of the combination that are opposite at substantially equal distances from the passage point is defined as the road width. In the passing width measurement unit, a passing width measurement unit that estimates a passing point between the moving body and the dynamic obstacle, obtains the shortest distance from each of the moving body and the dynamic obstacle to the passage point at the passing point, and estimates the passing width when the moving body and the dynamic obstacle pass by each other from each of the shortest distances and the road width at the passing point.

7. In a program that causes a computer of a control device that controls the moving speed of a moving body in a passage formed in a space based on the position information and speed information of an object existing around the moving body, a pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future passability of the passage from the situation of the object, and functions as a speed adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit. The pre-judgment unit includes a road width measurement unit that measures the road width that is the width of the entire passage at a predetermined position in the passage, a passing width measurement unit that measures the passing width that is the width of the space where the moving body is intended to pass, considering the presence and movement status of dynamic obstacles that move in the environment around the moving body among the objects, from the road width, and a passing ease judgment unit that obtains a passing ease index that is an index of the ease of passing the passage by the moving body at the predetermined position based on the passing width. In the passing ease judgment unit, when the passing width is less than or equal to a predetermined lower limit value, it is set as a non-passable state, and the value of the passing ease index is set to 0. When the passing width is greater than or equal to a predetermined upper limit value, it is set as a passable state, and the value of the passing ease index is set to 1. When the passing width exceeds the lower limit value and is less than the upper limit value, it is set as a difficult-to-pass state, and based on a preset relationship, it is set to a value from 0 to 1 according to the magnitude of the passing width. In the speed adjustment unit, the moving speed is determined by multiplying the set speed of the moving body by the passing ease index, and the moving speed is automatically adjusted according to the passing ease index.

8. In a program that causes a computer of a control device that controls the moving speed of a moving body in a passage formed in a space based on the position information and speed information of an object existing around the moving body, A pre-judgment unit that pre-judges the future ease of passage of the passage based on the situation of the object, and functions as a speed adjustment unit that automatically adjusts the moving speed of the moving body according to the judgment result of the pre-judgment unit. The pre-judgment unit includes: a road width measurement unit that measures the road width that is the width of the entire passage at a predetermined position in the passage; a passage width measurement unit that measures, from the road width, the width of the space intended for the moving body to pass through, taking into account the presence and movement status of dynamic obstacles that move in the environment around the moving body among the objects; and a passage ease judgment unit that obtains a passage ease index that is an index of the ease of passage of the passage by the moving body at the predetermined position based on the passage width. In the road width measurement unit, from the constituent point group of the fixed obstacle that forms the boundary portion of the passage among the objects, a passage point corresponding to the center of the passage is specified for each position of the passage, and the distance between the constituent points of the combination that are almost equidistant from the passage point and face each other is defined as the road width. In the passage width measurement unit, the passing point of the moving body and the dynamic obstacle is estimated, the shortest distance from each of the moving body and the dynamic obstacle to the passage point at the passing point is obtained, and the passage width at the time of passing of the moving body and the dynamic obstacle is estimated from each shortest distance and the road width at the passing point. A program for a control device characterized by this.

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