Mobile body, unconfirmed area exploration system, control system and program

Abstract

To provide a mobile body or the like capable of accurately avoiding interference with an obstacle in an unconfirmed area by using a simple sensing function and low calculation capacity. [Solution] The mobile body 10 of this embodiment is configured to execute the following processing steps as a direction of travel determination process: a first processing step for generating, from a confidence map, a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle centered on the current position of the mobile body at a given time, as an obstacle existence direction probability distribution; a second processing step for performing data conversion on the generated obstacle existence direction probability distribution, weighting it based on the direction of the target position or target direction included in the target information, and generating a probability distribution based on the direction indicating the possibility of being selected as the direction of travel of the mobile body from the current position, as a direction of travel selection possibility probability distribution; and a third processing step for determining the direction of travel of the mobile body based on the generated direction of travel selection possibility probability distribution.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mobile object, an unconfirmed area exploration system, a control system, a program, and the like. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, with the emergence of self-driving cars, the development of drones, and the advancement of autonomously mobile robot technology, there has been active research and development of autonomously mobile objects.

[0003] In particular, recently, systems have become known that recognize surrounding obstacles (including moving obstacles) and search for a path for a moving body such as a self-propelled robot or vehicle (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6020326 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6640777 [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 7181092 [Patent Document 4] Patent No. 7525854 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the systems described in the above patent documents, a technology is used to avoid interference with obstacles within a given area such as an unconfirmed area, or a technology is used to generate a movement path for a moving body while avoiding obstacles, but further technological development is desired to realize these technologies using simple sensing functions or low computing power.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a mobile body or the like that is capable of accurately avoiding interference with obstacles in an unconfirmed area using a simple sensing function and low computing power, or that is capable of determining an appropriate movement path or direction of travel while accurately avoiding the obstacles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] (1) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides: A moving body that autonomously controls its movement while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a driving means for moving within the unconfirmed area; a position detection means for detecting a current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, which is set in the unconfirmed area and is made up of a plurality of cells, and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft itself or a target direction indicating the direction of the target; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process for determining a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the aircraft without the obstacle being present, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the obstacle being present around the current position of the aircraft at a given time determined from the certainty map and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; Controlling the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the vehicle; The configuration includes:

[0008] With this configuration, if a confidence map for obstacles in an unconfirmed area is prepared, the present invention can refer to the target direction and control the vehicle's progress in the optimal direction from its current position without encountering any obstacles. This eliminates the need for highly accurate sensing capabilities for the environment around the vehicle, and even with low computing power, it is possible to determine a direction of progress that will reliably avoid obstacles in the unconfirmed area.

[0009] In other words, the present invention can accurately avoid interference with obstacles within an unconfirmed area using a simple sensing function and low computing power, or can determine an appropriate movement path or direction of travel while accurately avoiding interference with the obstacles within the unconfirmed area.

[0010] "Unconfirmed areas" refers to areas where humans cannot exist, or where it is not easy for them to exist (for example, areas where it is not possible to stay for long periods of time), such as planets outside the Earth, disaster sites such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear power plant accident sites, construction sites, or the ocean floor.

[0011] Furthermore, an "obstacle" refers to, for example, an object that obstructs the progress of a moving object or an object that impedes the progress of the moving object.

[0012] The term "certainty map (data)" refers to a spatial three-dimensional map or a planar two-dimensional map assigned to at least a portion of the unconfirmed area, in which the relevant area is divided into a grid (cells) and the probability of an obstacle existing in each cell (occupancy probability (certainty)) is indicated as a grid map (occupancy grid map).

[0013] Furthermore, the "current position detection means" may be, for example, a GPS or UWB (Ultra Wideband). This includes various means for detecting the position of the aircraft within an unconfirmed area based on a three-point positioning method using wireless communication such as a wideband (Wide Band) or a three-point surveying method (triangulation method) using the relationship between the aircraft and a device installed at a reference position.

[0014] In particular, the "current position" may be detected as the world coordinates of the obstacle on the obstacle existence probability distribution map, or as the local coordinates based on the own aircraft.

[0015] And at a given time, (A1) The timing when the player's aircraft collides with an obstacle, or when the player's aircraft collides with an obstacle and becomes unable to move for a certain period of time, or when the player's aircraft collides with an obstacle and becomes unable to move while maintaining the same direction of travel, (A2) The timing before a collision with an obstacle, when it is predicted that the vehicle may collide with the obstacle and will be unable to maintain its current direction of travel, or (A3) Pre-set timing such as a predetermined time, These include:

[0016] In the "process for determining the direction of travel," it is preferable to use a direction that indicates the possibility of the existence of the obstacle, centered on the current position of the aircraft at the time, which is determined probabilistically from a certainty map.

[0017] For example, "direction determination processing" refers to processing that identifies a direction in which there are no obstacles probabilistically, such as a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle centered on the current position of the aircraft at a given time, corrects that direction based on the target direction from the current position of the moving body, and optimizes the direction of travel that should be taken from the current position of the aircraft.

[0018] (2) The present invention also provides The traveling direction determination means performs the traveling direction determination process as follows: a first process of generating, from the certainty factor map, a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility that the obstacle exists, with the current position of the own aircraft at the given time as the center, as an obstacle existence direction probability distribution; a second process of generating a probability distribution of possibility of selecting a direction of travel based on a direction indicating a possibility of being selected as a direction of travel of the aircraft from the current position at the given time, based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, while performing data conversion on the generated probability distribution of obstacle existence direction; a third process of determining a direction of travel from the current position of the own aircraft based on the generated direction of travel selectability probability distribution; To execute It has the following structure.

[0019] With this configuration, the present invention can process data such as a polar coordinate system centered on the aircraft's current position or data distribution based on it, so that the direction of travel to be taken from the aircraft's current position can be easily determined without performing complex processing.

[0020] The "obstacle presence direction probability distribution" refers to the probability distribution itself, which is a function of the values ​​that a random variable can take (i.e., the angle based on the current position of the aircraft or the angle based on the direction (azimuth angle)) and the probability of each value occurring (i.e., the probability that an obstacle exists). However, from the perspective of data processing, the "obstacle presence direction probability distribution" is preferably a histogram showing the data distribution (i.e., the distribution of confidence for each direction) obtained by dividing and grouping continuous data values ​​(such as the above-mentioned angles) into a plurality of specific intervals (e.g., divided data widths (bins) such as 8 or 16 divisions).

[0021] Furthermore, "data conversion" refers to, for example, converting the generated obstacle existence direction probability distribution or its histogram into a traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution or its histogram while normalizing it.

[0022] For example, the "probability distribution of possible travel direction selection" is obtained by subtracting the normalized "probability distribution of obstacle presence direction" from "1."

[0023] Furthermore, "generating... based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information" refers to, for example, when the direction of travel is determined, a process of increasing the importance of the azimuth or direction in which the aircraft should travel from its current position toward the direction of the target position or the target direction, relative to the data-converted probability distribution of the direction of obstacle existence (i.e., relative to the probability distribution of the possibility of selecting the direction of travel).

[0024] For example, this is achieved by converting the direction (bearing) of the target position from the aircraft's current position or the target direction (target bearing) into data based on the same standard as the direction selection probability distribution, and then combining (by multiplication or linear combination, etc.) the normalized data (i.e., the direction selection probability distribution) with the target direction setting probability distribution.

[0025] In particular, the data of the same standard is selected as the "azimuth angle" centered on the current position of the aircraft. The data is represented by a probability distribution indicating the probability that the target position will be set in the target direction, and may represent, for example, a probability distribution for the azimuth angles that may be set in the target position direction (hereinafter referred to as "target direction setting probability distribution") or a histogram thereof.

[0026] Furthermore, the "probability distribution of possible directions of travel" is not a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility of the existence of obstacles, but rather a probability distribution or histogram thereof indicating directions in which there is a possibility of no obstacles, which is in contrast to the probability distribution, and which indicates the probability of a direction being selected as an "azimuth" centered on the current position of the aircraft, which is a direction in which it is easy to travel without any obstacles from the current position of the aircraft.

[0027] (3) The present invention also provides The traveling direction determination means, as the second processing, The data-converted obstacle existence direction probability distribution is corrected based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, and the traveling direction selectability probability distribution is generated.

[0028] With this configuration, the present invention can normalize each of the obstacle presence direction probability distribution and the target direction setting probability distribution into a probability distribution in each direction or some directions based on the current position of the aircraft, making it possible to easily combine the two probability distributions.

[0029] Therefore, the present invention does not require the ability to sense the environment around the aircraft with high precision, and can determine a direction of travel that will reliably avoid obstacles even with low computing power.

[0030] It should be noted that "correcting the data-converted probability distribution of the direction of obstacle existence based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information" includes, for example, weighting the direction of the target position or the target direction in order to increase the importance of the azimuth or direction in which the aircraft should proceed from its current position toward the direction of the target position or the target direction in relation to the probability distribution of the possibility of selecting a direction of travel.

[0031] For example, this is achieved by converting the direction (bearing) of the target position from the aircraft's current position or the target direction (target bearing) into data based on the same standard as the direction selection probability distribution, and then combining (by multiplication or linear combination, etc.) the normalized data (i.e., the direction selection probability distribution) with the target direction setting probability distribution.

[0032] (4) The present invention also provides The traveling direction determination means The obstacle presence direction probability distribution and the traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution are each generated as a data distribution in which the azimuth angle, which is a continuous value of the probability distribution, is divided into a plurality of specific intervals and grouped.

[0033] With this configuration, the present invention can handle the confidence level as a histogram, for example, so that it is possible to efficiently recognize the direction in which an obstacle exists or the direction in which the aircraft should proceed if no obstacle exists, and it is also possible to simplify calculations when performing weighting.

[0034] (5) The present invention also provides an obstacle detection means for detecting the obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the aircraft; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle; Further provided with The management means: When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an update process is executed to update the certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

[0035] With this configuration, the present invention can update the obstacle presence probability distribution map without performing detailed sensing of the surrounding environment within the unconfirmed area, by simply detecting obstacles formed in the direction of travel, such as collision information indicating that a moving body has collided with another moving body.

[0036] Therefore, the present invention can generate an obstacle existence probability distribution map through simple sensing, thereby realizing a mobile body at low cost.

[0037] It is preferable that the "direction of travel" in the obstacle detection means includes not only the direction in which the aircraft is traveling, but also an azimuth angle within a predetermined range (for example, 10 to 15 degrees, although this varies depending on the type of sensor and the allowable error, etc.) relative to the direction of travel.

[0038] Furthermore, "reflecting the detected obstacle on the obstacle presence probability distribution map" may simply mean setting a value at the corresponding coordinate on the obstacle presence probability map that maximizes the probability of the obstacle's presence (a value indicating the presence of an obstacle), or may mean setting a degree of certainty at which the coordinate is maximized.

[0039] In particular, when the obstacle presence probability distribution map is a grid map (occupancy grid map), "reflecting the detected obstacle on the obstacle presence probability distribution map" means adding, to each cell centered on the cell where the obstacle was detected (specifically, each square formed by the grid), the confidence level that maximizes the probability that an obstacle exists at the detected position.

[0040] For example, in this case, "reflecting the detected obstacle on the obstacle existence probability distribution map" preferably means that the existence probability of the detected obstacle's position (specifically, coordinates) is maximized, and the confidence level (e.g., the value of a two-dimensional Gaussian distribution) for the existence probability centered on that position is added to the corresponding cell.

[0041] Furthermore, the "update process" includes not only a case where the obstacle presence probability distribution map data that has already been updated based on an obstacle that has already been detected, but also a case where the first detected obstacle is reflected in the obstacle presence probability distribution map data that has been newly set in the unconfirmed area.

[0042] "Detecting an obstacle ahead of the aircraft's direction of travel" may mean detecting an obstacle when the aircraft collides with it using a collision sensor, or detecting the obstacle when it is within a predetermined (forward) distance from the aircraft using an ultrasonic wave, radar, imaging camera, etc.

[0043] (6) The present invention also provides the certainty map data is a grid map data that is assigned to at least a part of an unconfirmed area and is divided into a grid, and indicates the probability of an obstacle existing in each cell on the map; The management means: The certainty map data is updated by adding a weighting factor for the certainty centered on the position of the detected obstacle on the certainty map to the corresponding cell.

[0044] With this configuration, the present invention can detect an obstacle by overlapping the detected position with a wider area. By assigning only this value, it is possible to set the probability that an obstacle exists around the position detected as an obstacle, so even if an error occurs in the position of the aircraft, the error can be absorbed.

[0045] Furthermore, the present invention can widen the area on the certainty map for obstacle candidates by assigning weights that give a spread around the position detected as an obstacle, thereby improving the efficiency of obstacle avoidance even if the obstacle presence probability distribution map data is updated infrequently.

[0046] The "corresponding cell" includes, for example, the cell where the obstacle is detected and the cells adjacent to that cell.

[0047] Furthermore, "weighting the certainty centered on the obstacle's position on the certainty map to the corresponding cell" means setting a maximum value to the cell (hereinafter referred to as the "reference cell") of the obstacle's position on the certainty map (the aircraft's current position at the time of collision), and assigning a certainty (probability density) based on a normal distribution with a given variance to each cell (hereinafter referred to as the "cell to be added") centered on the reference cell.

[0048] (7) The present invention also provides In the above cases (1) to (3), Further comprising a communication control means for communicating with other devices, The management means: obtaining the belief map data generated by the other device; The acquired confidence map data is managed.

[0049] With this configuration, the present invention can utilize, for example, confidence map data generated by other mobile units, thereby enabling efficient exploration of unconfirmed areas.

[0050] It should be noted that "other devices" include not only other mobile objects but also server devices that manage multiple mobile objects.

[0051] (8) The present invention also provides In the case of (5) above, Further comprising a communication control means for communicating with other devices, The management means: obtaining the belief map data generated by the other device; The acquired confidence map data is managed in an updatable manner.

[0052] With this configuration, the present invention can utilize, for example, confidence map data generated by other moving bodies, as in the case of (7), thereby enabling efficient exploration of unconfirmed areas.

[0053] (9) The present invention also provides In the case of (8) above, the other device is a mobile body having a function of executing the update process of the confidence map data, The communication control means The apparatus is configured to provide the other apparatus with the belief map data updated by the update process.

[0054] With this configuration, the present invention can share confidence map data among a plurality of mobile units, similar to the case of (7), and therefore can efficiently explore unconfirmed areas.

[0055] (10) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides: A program for controlling a moving object that moves while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, current location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information indicating the current location of the moving object within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft or a target direction indicating the direction of the target; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process that determines a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the aircraft without the obstacle being present, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the obstacle being present around the current position of the aircraft at a given time, which is determined from the certainty map, and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; and a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; The computer has a configuration that causes the computer to function as a

[0056] With this configuration, if a confidence map for obstacles in an unconfirmed area is prepared, the present invention can refer to the target direction and control the vehicle's progress in the optimal direction from its current position without encountering any obstacles. This eliminates the need for highly accurate sensing capabilities for the environment around the vehicle, and even with low computing power, it is possible to determine a direction of progress that will reliably avoid obstacles in the unconfirmed area.

[0057] In other words, the present invention can accurately avoid interference with obstacles within an unconfirmed area using a simple sensing function and low computing power, or can determine an appropriate movement path or direction of travel while accurately avoiding interference with the obstacles within the unconfirmed area.

[0058] (11) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides: An unconfirmed area exploration system using a plurality of mobile objects that move autonomously while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, Each moving body, a position detection means for detecting a current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, which is set in the unconfirmed area and is made up of a plurality of cells, and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft itself or a target direction indicating the direction of the target; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process for determining a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the aircraft without the obstacle being present, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the obstacle being present around the current position of the aircraft at a given time determined from the certainty map and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; The configuration includes:

[0059] With this configuration, if a confidence map for obstacles in an unconfirmed area is prepared, the present invention can calculate the optimal traveling direction from the current position without obstacles by referring to the target direction. Since it is possible to control the progress of the aircraft, highly accurate sensing capabilities for the environment around the aircraft are not required, and even with low computing power, it is possible to determine a direction of progress that will reliably avoid obstacles within the unconfirmed area.

[0060] In other words, the present invention can accurately avoid interference with obstacles within an unconfirmed area using a simple sensing function and low computing power, or can determine an appropriate movement path or direction of travel while accurately avoiding interference with the obstacles within the unconfirmed area.

[0061] (12) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides: A moving body that autonomously controls its movement while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, the certainty map being a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the probability of the presence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty; a position detection means for detecting a current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; an obstacle detection means for detecting the obstacle formed in the direction of travel of the aircraft; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle; Equipped with The management means: When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an update process is executed to update the certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

[0062] With this configuration, the present invention can update the obstacle presence probability distribution map without performing detailed sensing of the surrounding environment within the unconfirmed area, by simply detecting obstacles formed in the direction of travel, such as collision information indicating that a moving body has collided with another moving body.

[0063] Therefore, the present invention can generate an obstacle existence probability distribution map through simple sensing, thereby realizing a mobile body at low cost.

[0064] (13) The present invention also provides the certainty map data is a grid map data that is assigned to at least a part of an unconfirmed area and is divided into a grid, and indicates the probability of an obstacle existing in each cell on the map; The management means: The certainty map data is updated by adding a weighting factor for the certainty centered on the position of the detected obstacle on the certainty map to the corresponding cell.

[0065] With this configuration, the present invention can set the probability that an obstacle exists around a position detected as an obstacle by assigning a weight that also has a spread around the position detected as an obstacle, so that even if an error occurs in the position of the aircraft, the error can be absorbed.

[0066] Furthermore, the present invention can widen the area on the certainty map for obstacle candidates by assigning weights that give a spread around the position detected as an obstacle, thereby improving the efficiency of obstacle avoidance even if the obstacle presence probability distribution map data is updated infrequently.

[0067] (14) The present invention also provides Further comprising a communication control means for communicating with other devices, The management means: obtaining the belief map data generated by the other device; The acquired confidence map data is managed in an updatable manner.

[0068] With this configuration, the present invention can utilize, for example, confidence map data generated by other mobile units, thereby enabling efficient exploration of unconfirmed areas.

[0069] (15) The present invention also provides the other device is a mobile body having a function of executing the update process of the confidence map data, The communication control means The apparatus is configured to provide the other apparatus with the belief map data updated by the update process.

[0070] With this configuration, the present invention allows confidence map data to be shared among a plurality of mobile units, thereby enabling efficient exploration of unconfirmed areas.

[0071] It should be noted that "other devices" include not only other mobile objects but also server devices that manage multiple mobile objects.

[0072] (16) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides: A program that autonomously controls movement while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a management means for managing, as confidence map data, data of a confidence map, the confidence map being a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the likelihood of the presence of the obstacle in each cell is set as confidence; current position information acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; detection information acquisition means for acquiring, from the obstacle detection means, detection information indicating that the obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the aircraft has been detected; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle; and Make the computer function as The management means: When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an update process is executed to update the certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

[0073] With this configuration, the present invention can update the obstacle presence probability distribution map without performing detailed sensing of the surrounding environment within the unconfirmed area, by simply detecting obstacles formed in the direction of travel, such as collision information indicating that a moving body has collided with another moving body.

[0074] Therefore, the present invention can generate an obstacle existence probability distribution map through simple sensing, thereby realizing a mobile body at low cost.

[0075] (17) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides: A control system for controlling a plurality of moving objects that move while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a current location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information indicating the current location of each moving object within the unconfirmed area; a position detection means for detecting the current position of each moving object within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, which is a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by each moving body or a target direction indicating the direction to be reached; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process for determining, at a given timing and for each of the moving bodies, a direction indicating the possibility of the existence of the obstacle centered on the current position of the moving body at that timing, as determined from the certainty factor map, and based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; and a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the relevant moving object based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; The configuration includes:

[0076] With this configuration, if a confidence map for obstacles in an unconfirmed area is prepared, the present invention can refer to the target direction and control the progress of each moving body in the optimal direction in which to proceed from its current position without encountering any obstacles. This eliminates the need for highly accurate sensing capabilities for the environment around each moving body, and even with low computing power, it is possible to determine a direction of progress that will reliably avoid obstacles in the unconfirmed area.

[0077] In other words, the present invention can accurately avoid interference with obstacles within an unconfirmed area using a simple sensing function and low computing power, or can determine an appropriate movement path or direction of travel for each moving body while accurately avoiding interference with the obstacles within the unconfirmed area.

[0078] (18) The present invention also provides The current location information acquisition means, the management means, and the travel direction determination means are mounted on one moving body, and a first moving body indicating the moving body on which each of these means is mounted controls the travel direction of a second moving body different from the first moving body.

[0079] With this configuration, the present invention allows centralized management by one mobile unit, making it easy to manage each mobile unit, including the data.

[0080] (19) In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides A control system for controlling a plurality of moving objects that move while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, the certainty map being a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the probability of the presence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty; a current location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information indicating the current location of the moving object within the unconfirmed area; detection information acquiring means for acquiring, from the obstacle detecting means, detection information indicating that the obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the specific moving body has been detected; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current location of the specific moving object; providing means for providing information on the position of the identified obstacle on the confidence map to a corresponding mobile unit; Equipped with The management means: When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an update process is executed to update the certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

[0081] With this configuration, the present invention can update the obstacle presence probability distribution map without performing detailed sensing of the surrounding environment within the unconfirmed area, by simply detecting obstacles formed in the direction of travel, such as collision information indicating that a moving body has collided with another moving body.

[0082] Therefore, the present invention can generate an obstacle existence probability distribution map through simple sensing, thereby realizing a mobile body at low cost.

[0083] (20) The present invention also provides The current location information acquisition means, the management means, the detection information acquisition means, the identification means, and the provision means are mounted on one mobile object.

[0084] With this configuration, the present invention allows centralized management by one mobile unit, making it easy to manage each mobile unit, including the data. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0085] [Figure 1] 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of a swarm robot distributed exploration system in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is an example of an external configuration diagram of a moving body according to an embodiment; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a moving body according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining a traveling direction determination process in each moving body according to an embodiment; [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a map update process in each moving body according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a confidence map and target information according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a generation process (first process) for generating an obstacle-free direction probability distribution, which is part of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit of one embodiment. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a generation process (first process) for generating an obstacle-free direction probability distribution, which is part of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit of one embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a data conversion process (second process) of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit of one embodiment, in which data conversion is performed on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution and a given weighting process is executed. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a data conversion process (second process) of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit of one embodiment, in which data conversion is performed on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution and a given weighting process is executed. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a data conversion process (second process) of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit of one embodiment, in which data conversion is performed on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution and a given weighting process is executed. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a confidence map update process executed by a moving body according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a traveling direction determination process executed by a moving body according to an embodiment, for determining the traveling direction of the moving body at a given timing. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of a modified example of the swarm robot distributed exploration system of one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0086] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0087] [1] Distributed exploration system for swarm robots First, the general configuration of a first embodiment of a multi-robot distributed exploration system S according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0088] FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of a multi-robot distributed exploration system S according to the present invention.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 1, the swarm robot distributed exploration system S of this embodiment is composed of multiple mobile bodies 10 as swarm robots, and each mobile body 10 moves autonomously while performing distributed exploration in unconfirmed areas such as planets outside the Earth, disaster sites such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and accident sites in nuclear power plants, construction sites, or areas where humans cannot exist, such as the ocean floor, or areas where it is difficult for humans to exist (for example, areas where it is not possible to stay for long periods of time).

[0090] Specifically, the swarm robot distributed exploration system S of this embodiment has a configuration that allows each autonomous mobile body 10, which has a simple sensing function and low computing power within an unconfirmed area, to accurately avoid interference with obstacles within the unconfirmed area, or to determine an appropriate movement path or direction of travel while accurately avoiding the obstacles.

[0091] The swarm robot distributed exploration system S is configured to control the movement of each mobile body 10 using a grid map (i.e., an occupancy grid map; hereinafter referred to as a "certainty map"), which is a planar map assigned to at least a portion of an unconfirmed area, in which the area is divided into a grid (cells), and the probability of an obstacle existing (occupancy probability) in each cell is indicated as a certainty.

[0092] In particular, the swarm robot distributed exploration system S of this embodiment has a configuration in which each mobile body 10 shares a confidence factor map, and the confidence factor map is updated sequentially according to the movement status of each mobile body 10 within the unconfirmed area.

[0093] The swarm robot distributed exploration system S of this embodiment is configured to determine the direction of travel of each moving body 10 based on the updated confidence map at a given time, such as when the moving body collides with an obstacle or when the obstacle is detected while moving in an unconfirmed area.

[0094] Each moving body 10 is a probe having the same configuration and the same shape, and is an unmanned probe that can be controlled in a distributed manner and can move autonomously within an unidentified area using a given drive method, such as a vehicle including a rover, a robot, or an unmanned aerial vehicle such as a drone.

[0095] In particular, it is preferable that each moving body 10 of this embodiment has wheels or the like and is configured to be able to move on the ground surface of an unconfirmed area (a planar unconfirmed area) where the presence or absence of obstacles, including the terrain, and their locations are unknown.

[0096] In addition, each moving body 10 of this embodiment has an environment recognition capability consisting only of a function (obstacle detection function) for detecting obstacles such as objects that hinder the progress of the moving body 10 or objects that hinder the progress of the moving body 10, a self-position recognition capability for recognizing the position of the moving body 10, and a function (obstacle detection function) for monitoring and operating the moving body 10. It is preferable that the mobile unit 10 has a communication function that is subject to certain restrictions when sharing the confidence map with an upper layer (not shown) such as a monitoring system that performs the above-mentioned operations and other mobile units 10.

[0097] [2] Mobile Next, the moving body 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0098] 2 is an example of an external configuration diagram of the moving body of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an example of a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the moving body 10 of this embodiment.

[0099] (Summary configuration) As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the moving body 10 of this embodiment has a control unit 100, a plurality of wheels 120, an imaging camera 130, a memory unit 140, a drive mechanism system 150, a current position detection unit 160, an obstacle detection sensor unit 170, a battery unit 180, and a communication unit 190.

[0100] The control unit 100 is provided inside the housing B of the moving body 10, and performs various processes on the memory unit 140, the drive mechanism system 150, the current position detection unit 160, the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, the battery unit 180, and the communication unit 190 based on the programs stored in the memory unit 140.

[0101] That is, the control unit 100 of this embodiment reads out the programs and data stored in the storage unit 140, and executes each process based on the read out programs and data.

[0102] For example, the control unit 100 performs various processes using the main memory 142 in the memory 140 as a work area. The functions of the control unit 100 can be realized by hardware such as various processors (CPU, DSP, etc.) or programs.

[0103] That is, the control unit 100 (processor) performs various processes using the main memory in the memory unit 140 as a work area. The functions of the control unit 100 can be realized by hardware such as various processors (CPU, DSP, etc.) or programs.

[0104] The wheels 120 are provided, for example, on the left and right side surfaces of the housing B, and are composed of two left and right drive wheels (specifically, a left drive wheel 120L and a right drive wheel 120R) each having a given radius.

[0105] In addition, each wheel 120 has a shape that increases grip and improves off-road performance; for example, an independent block-shaped protrusion (knob) 121 is formed on the surface of each wheel 120 that comes into contact with the road surface (ground surface).

[0106] The driving torque generated by the drive mechanism system 150 is transmitted to each of the driving wheels 120L and 120R.

[0107] The imaging camera 130 is formed on the upper front surface of the housing B, and is a camera for acquiring information about the surrounding environment of the vehicle itself.

[0108] In particular, the imaging camera 130 includes an imaging element such as a CCD (Charged-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor), and is provided to detect the traveling direction of the moving body 10.

[0109] For example, the imaging camera 130 captures the light of a light-emitting marker device (not shown) that emits a given light and is installed in advance in the unconfirmed area, and outputs the captured image to the control unit 100 as image data.

[0110] The storage unit 140 is provided inside the housing B and serves as a work area for the control unit 100 and the like, and its function can be realized by hardware such as RAM (VRAM).

[0111] In addition to the main memory unit 142, the memory unit 140 also has a log data memory unit 144 that stores information necessary when moving through an unconfirmed area, such as a log of the current position of the aircraft or various log data including communication logs, including past history, and a map data memory unit 146 that stores confidence map data and target information for the aircraft.

[0112] The drive mechanism system 150 is provided inside the housing B and is composed of, for example, a drive device having a drive power source such as an electric motor, a steering angle control device that controls the direction of travel of the vehicle, and a brake device that generates braking force.

[0113] The drive mechanism system 150 may include a transmission device that changes the speed of the output from a drive power source such as an electric motor and transmits it to the drive wheels of the vehicle.

[0114] The current position detection unit 160 is provided inside the housing B, and repeatedly detects its own position at predetermined intervals.

[0115] In particular, the current position detection unit 160 has a configuration for detecting the current position of the aircraft within an unconfirmed area based on a GPS method using satellite signals from satellites (not shown) such as GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, a triangulation method based on a light-emitting device (i.e., a marker, not shown) previously set at a reference position within the unconfirmed area, or a wireless communication method such as a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) method, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) method, or a UWB (Ultra Wide Band) method.

[0116] Note that Figure 1 shows an example of a swarm robot distributed exploration system S for detecting the current location of each moving body 10 based on the UWB system, in which a UWB transmitter T is installed in an unconfirmed area.

[0117] The obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is composed of a sensor that detects the presence or absence of an obstacle in the direction of travel of the aircraft, a sensor that detects a collision with an obstacle in front of the aircraft before the aircraft collides with an obstacle in front of the aircraft, or a sensor that detects a collision with the obstacle when the aircraft collides with the obstacle, and a sensor that detects the distance to an obstacle that has been collided with or may be collided with.

[0118] Specifically, the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is composed of detection elements such as ultrasonic, radar, and infrared to recognize obstacles, imaging elements such as an imaging camera, and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) having an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor to detect changes in acceleration and angular velocity due to impact when colliding with an obstacle.

[0119] The obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is configured with one or more detection elements, image pickup elements, sensors, or a combination thereof in order to accurately recognize the position of an obstacle.

[0120] For example, in order to reduce costs, the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 of this embodiment is composed of two distance sensors provided on the left and right front sides of the housing B of the moving body 10, and an IMU (for detecting acceleration and angular velocity) provided inside the housing of the moving body 10.

[0121] The battery unit 180 is provided inside the housing B and is a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery, and is connected to a driving power source (electric motor) not shown and each unit.

[0122] In particular, the battery unit 180 stores electricity generated by a solar panel (not shown) that generates electricity based on sunlight, or electricity supplied by being connected to a charger (not shown), and supplies the stored electricity to the driving force source.

[0123] The communication unit 190 is provided inside the housing B and performs various controls for communication with the outside (e.g., other mobile bodies 10), and its functions are configured by hardware such as various processors or communication ASICs, programs, etc.

[0124] (control unit) The control unit 100 includes a communication control unit 101, a data management unit 102, a drive control unit 103, a current position identification processing unit 104, an obstacle position identification processing unit 105, a traveling direction detection unit 106, a traveling direction determination processing unit 107, and a timer 110. Note that some of these units may be omitted.

[0125] The communication control unit 101 executes processing to establish a communication line with other devices, including other mobile bodies 10, via short-range wireless communication such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark), and to exchange various types of data.

[0126] For example, the communication control unit 101 receives various data including confidence map data transmitted from other mobile bodies 10, stores the received data in the memory unit 140, analyzes the received data, and performs other control processes related to the transmission and reception of data.

[0127] Furthermore, for example, the communication control unit 101 transmits various data including the reliability map data possessed by the own device to other moving bodies 10 individually or to a plurality of moving bodies 10 simultaneously.

[0128] The data management unit 102 performs various management operations including registering, reading, and updating the confidence map data and target information in the storage unit 140 .

[0129] In particular, the data management unit 102 first assigns a new confidence factor map to the corresponding unconfirmed area, and updates the confidence factor map by reflecting the confidence factor indicating the existence of an obstacle in the assigned confidence factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified when the vehicle collides with the obstacle.

[0130] The drive control unit 103 controls the drive mechanism system 150 and executes various controls related to the movement of the player's aircraft within the unconfirmed area.

[0131] In particular, the drive control unit 103 performs drive control (including speed control) based on the drive force source, steering angle control to control the direction of travel of the vehicle, and brake control to control the braking force of the vehicle.

[0132] The drive control unit 103 may have a transmission control that changes the speed of the output from the drive power source and transmits it to the wheels 120 of the vehicle.

[0133] The current position determination processing unit 104 determines the current position when the own vehicle collides with an obstacle or ... When this is specified, the current position determination process is executed to determine the current position (i.e., coordinates) of the own aircraft on the certainty map by referring to the certainty map stored in the map data storage unit 146 and using the position information of the own aircraft acquired by the current position detection unit 160.

[0134] Furthermore, the current position identification processing unit 104 registers the identified current position of the own device in the log data storage unit 144 as log data.

[0135] When the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 detects an obstacle in front of the vehicle, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 executes an obstacle position identification process to identify the position (i.e., coordinates) of the obstacle (hereinafter referred to as the "target obstacle") on the certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle identified by the current position identification processing unit 104.

[0136] When the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is configured with a collision sensor, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 may identify the current position of the vehicle as the position of the target obstacle, or when an obstacle is detected within a predetermined distance from the vehicle by a camera or the like, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 may estimate or measure that distance and identify the position of the target obstacle.

[0137] Furthermore, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 may detect the current position of the target obstacle as the world coordinates on the obstacle certainty map, or may detect the current position as the local coordinates based on the own aircraft.

[0138] The direction of travel detection unit 106 measures the relative position between the moving body 10 and an illuminating marker device (not shown) based on image data output from the imaging camera 130, and detects the direction of travel of the moving body 10 based on the measured relative position between the moving body 10 and the illuminating marker device (e.g., the direction and distance relative to the illuminating marker device).

[0139] For example, the direction of travel detection unit 106 measures the relative position (distance and direction) between the moving body 10 and the light-emitting marker device by detecting the light emitted by the light-emitting marker device in the image from the image data for each frame output from the imaging camera 130 (i.e., by detecting the image features of the light-emitting part in the image), and detects the direction of travel of the moving body 10 from the relative position (distance and direction) between the moving body 10 and the light-emitting marker device for each frame.

[0140] The direction of travel determination processing unit 107 executes a process (hereinafter referred to as "direction of travel determination process") to determine the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the current position of the aircraft, the confidence factor map, and target information at a given timing, such as when the confidence factor map is updated.

[0141] The timer 110 has a function of measuring the current date and time and from a predetermined timing, and outputs the current time and the measurement result when the predetermined timing arrives.

[0142] [3] Method of this embodiment [3.1] Overview Next, with reference to Figures 4 and 5, we will explain the traveling direction determination process that determines the traveling direction of the vehicle itself, and the confidence factor map update process that updates the confidence factor map used in the traveling direction determination process, which are executed in each moving body 10 of this embodiment.

[0143] 4 is a diagram for explaining the traveling direction determination process in each moving body 10 of this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the map update process in each moving body 10 of this embodiment.

[0144] The mobile body 10 of this embodiment is a mobile body that autonomously controls its movement to avoid obstacles that exist in an unconfirmed area, and is configured to eliminate the need for the ability to sense the environment around the vehicle with high precision, and to determine a direction of travel that will reliably avoid obstacles even with low computing power, and to accurately move to or toward a target position within the unconfirmed area while avoiding obstacles.

[0145] In particular, the moving body 10 of this embodiment has a configuration that determines the direction of travel of the moving body 10 at a given time, such as when a collision with an obstacle is detected, based on the current position of the moving body 10, the confidence map, and information contained in the target information.

[0146] Specifically, as described above, the mobile body 10 of this embodiment is equipped with a drive mechanism system 150 for moving within an unconfirmed area, a current position detection unit 160 that executes a detection process to detect the current position of the mobile body within the unconfirmed area, and an obstacle detection sensor unit 170 that detects obstacles formed in the direction of travel of the mobile body.

[0147] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the moving body 10 of this embodiment has the following features: (A1) Manage, as confidence map data, data of a confidence map in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as a confidence level, the confidence map being a grid-like map configured from a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, and also manage target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft or a target direction to be reached, (A2) at a given timing, a direction of travel that indicates the possibility of an obstacle being present around the current position of the own aircraft at that timing, as determined from the confidence map, and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, is executed to determine a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the own aircraft without the obstacle being present; (A3) Controlling the direction of travel of the player's aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; It has the following structure.

[0148] More specifically, the moving body 10 of this embodiment performs the following processing to determine the traveling direction, as shown in FIG. (A2-1) A first process generates, from the confidence map, a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle centered on the current position of the own aircraft at a given timing, as an obstacle existence direction probability distribution; (A2-2) a second process of generating a probability distribution of a direction of travel that is likely to be selected as the direction of travel of the aircraft from the current position at a given time, based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, while performing data conversion on the generated probability distribution of the obstacle existence direction; (A2-3) a third process of determining a direction of travel from the current position of the player's aircraft based on the generated probability distribution of the direction of travel selection possibility; The system has a configuration for executing the above.

[0149] In addition, Figure 4 shows (B1) Generation of a probability distribution (histogram) of the direction of obstacle existence based on the current position at a given time and the position on the obstacle confidence map; (B2) Data conversion of the obstacle existence direction probability distribution (histogram) into a traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution, (B3) Generating a target direction setting probability distribution (histogram) based on the normalization of the target direction; and (B4) Executing weighting (optimization) for the probability distribution of the direction of travel selection based on the probability distribution of the target direction setting; An example is shown in which each of the above processes is executed, and the direction in which the player's aircraft should travel is determined based on the weighted direction selection possibility probability distribution, and the drive mechanism system 150 is controlled.

[0150] On the other hand, the mobile body 10 of this embodiment is configured to update the confidence factor map, which is the basis for determining the direction of travel, using information detected by the mobile body itself in order to improve the accuracy of the confidence factor map and achieve efficient movement within unconfirmed areas.

[0151] Specifically, the moving body 10 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. (C1) When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, an obstacle position identification process is executed to identify the position of the detected obstacle based on the current position of the own vehicle; (C2) When a detected obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, an update process is executed to update the certainty factor map (data) by reflecting the detected obstacle on the certainty factor map based on the position of the detected obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process. It has the following structure.

[0152] Figure 5 shows an example in which, when the player's own aircraft collides with an obstacle, the position coordinates of the obstacle on the certainty map are identified based on the player's own aircraft's current position (position coordinates) on the certainty map, and the certainty map data is updated by reflecting the obstacle that has collided on the certainty map based on these position coordinates.

[0153] With this configuration, the moving body 10 of this embodiment can accurately avoid interference with obstacles in an unconfirmed area using a simple sensing function and low computing power, or can determine an appropriate movement path or direction of travel while accurately avoiding the obstacles.

[0154] In addition to the above, the moving body 10 of this embodiment can reduce the number of parts due to its simple sensing function and low computing power, making it possible to achieve miniaturization and low cost.

[0155] [3.2] Various data Next, the confidence factor map and target information related to the target to be reached by the player's aircraft used in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the confidence factor map and target information of this embodiment.

[0156] (Confidence map data) The certainty map data is, for example, map data assigned to at least a portion of an unconfirmed area, as shown in Figure 6, in which the relevant area is divided into a grid (cells), and the probability of existence (occupancy probability) of an obstacle in each cell is indicated as a certainty, which is a grid map (i.e., certainty map) data.

[0157] In particular, if the moving body 10 is an aircraft such as a drone, it is a spatial three-dimensional map, and if the moving body 10 is a vehicle such as a rover, it is a planar two-dimensional map.

[0158] The size of each cell is arbitrary (for example, 10 cm×10 cm), but depends on the size of the moving object 10 (for example, 30 cm width), and is preferably smaller than the size of the moving object 10, for example.

[0159] Each cell is assigned a probability of existence of an obstacle when an obstacle is detected. A confidence level is set for the

[0160] (Target information) The target information is information used when executing the process of determining the direction of travel, and is information set by an administrator or the like at the start of exploration, and is information defined on a confidence map as shown in Figure 6.

[0161] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, if the target to be reached is a target position, the target information is composed of the cell position of the confidence map or information on the position coordinates, and if the target to be reached is a target direction, it is composed of information on the azimuth angle (fixed) of the target direction determined based on the position of the aircraft at the start of exploration.

[0162] Furthermore, the target information is set by the administrator or by the program when a new confidence map is registered, or when a new target position or target direction is registered within an unconfirmed area.

[0163] In particular, the target information is newly set based on the update status of the confidence map, etc., and it is determined that aiming for another target position will result in a higher reward if the area set within the unconfirmed area (hereinafter also referred to as the "designated area") meets certain conditions regarding criteria such as the search rate.

[0164] Specifically, the reward is calculated by a specific mobile body 10, such as a predetermined mobile body 10, and is also calculated by the entire swarm robot distributed exploration system S by performing a given calculation based on the survival rate of the mobile bodies 10 in the entire swarm robot distributed exploration system S, the exploration rate of unconfirmed areas (e.g., the proportion of explored areas (cells) in the confidence map), and the possibility of progressing further.

[0165] The possibility of progressing further is determined, for example, by whether there are few obstacles on the outer edge of the confidence map and whether the unconfirmed area to which the confidence map is assigned is an open area. For example, a reward is calculated based on the percentage of obstacles present on the outer edge of the confidence map, and the reward is high when the percentage of obstacles present on the outer edge of the confidence map is low.

[0166] Alternatively, the target information may be reset when there is a significant delay in exploring some areas of an already registered confidence map, or when an already registered confidence map is expanded because exploration within the confidence map has been completed but there are unconfirmed areas that have not yet been explored.

[0167] For example, when an already registered reliability map is expanded as target information, the point farthest from the current position of the own aircraft is set as the new target position.

[0168] Also, for example, if the exploration is delayed, the target information is set as the target position to a point where there is no movement log or any nearby point (for example, the point farthest from the current position of the vehicle), assuming that the movement log has been recorded in the confidence map of each mobile body 10.

[0169] [3.3] Belief map update process Next, an update process that is executed by control unit 100 of this embodiment and that updates the confidence factor map registered in the device itself will be described.

[0170] (Overview of the confidence map update process) When the data management unit 102 first drives in the unconfirmed area, it Then, a confidence map in which no confidence level is set to any cell is assigned, and data of the assigned confidence map is registered in the map data storage unit 146 as a confidence map.

[0171] Then, each time an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, the data management unit 102 executes an update process to register the presence of the obstacle (specifically, the degree of certainty) in the certainty map data registered in the map data storage unit 146 in association with the detected position (coordinates) on the certainty map, and update the certainty map.

[0172] In addition, in order to share the confidence map with other mobile bodies 10, the data management unit 102 works in conjunction with the communication control unit 101 and the communication unit 190 to transmit new confidence map data (i.e., confidence map data) to other mobile bodies 10 each time it generates a new confidence map.

[0173] On the other hand, when the data management unit 102 receives confidence factor map data transmitted from another mobile body 10, it updates the confidence factor map data registered in the map data storage unit 146 with the received confidence factor map data.

[0174] At this time, the data management unit 102 newly registers the certainty map of the received certainty map data by superimposing it on the certainty map of the certainty map data that has already been registered.

[0175] At this time, the data management unit 102 may discard the old confidence map data, or may label it as history information and register it as is in the map data storage unit 146.

[0176] (Updating the confidence map based on obstacle detection) As shown in FIG. 5, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105, in conjunction with the current position identification processing unit 104, identifies the position of the detected obstacle based on the current position of the vehicle itself.

[0177] For example, if the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is configured with a sensor that detects collisions, such as an IMU, provided in front of the vehicle, when the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 detects a collision with an obstacle, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 receives collision information from the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 indicating that a collision with an obstacle has occurred.

[0178] At this time, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 acquires the position of the vehicle on the confidence map at the time the collision information was received, based on the position information provided by the current position identification processing unit 104 and detected by the current position detection unit 160.

[0179] In addition, the current position determination processing unit 104 determines the position of the vehicle on the confidence map at the time when the collision information is received, while referring to the confidence map stored in the map data storage unit 146, based on the position information detected by the current position detection unit 160 at the time when the collision information is received.

[0180] Then, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 identifies the position of the obstacle on the certainty factor map based on the type, number, and placement positions of the sensors that make up the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 and the acquired position of the vehicle on the certainty factor map, and provides the identified position of the obstacle on the certainty factor map to the data management unit 102 as obstacle position information.

[0181] On the other hand, the data management unit 102 manages the degree of certainty determined by the obstacle position determination processing unit 105. When obstacle position information indicating the position of an obstacle on the map is received, the certainty map data is updated by adding a predetermined value to the corresponding cell and its surrounding cells based on the obstacle position information.

[0182] Specifically, based on the obstacle position information, the data management unit 102 adds a predetermined degree of certainty to the position (i.e., cell) of the detected obstacle on the certainty map, and also adds a value weighted (specifically, weighted based on a normal distribution) to the certainty to a cell formed around the position of the detected obstacle on the certainty map.

[0183] In particular, the data management unit 102 sets a maximum value for the cell (hereinafter referred to as the "reference cell") at the position of the obstacle on the certainty map (the current position of the aircraft at the time of collision) as a weighting based on a normal distribution, and sets a certainty (probability density) based on a normal distribution with a given variance for each cell (hereinafter referred to as the "cell to be weighted") centered on the reference cell.

[0184] For example, the data management unit 102 calculates the confidence for the two-dimensional normal distribution G(x, y) presented by the following (Equation 1) and (Equation 2) for the reference cell and the weighted addition target cell at the coordinate position (x, y) in the confidence map.

[0185]

number

[0186]

number

[0187] In the above equation, the position coordinates (x, y) on the confidence map indicate the position coordinates at the time when the obstacle for the player's aircraft was detected, and the position coordinates (x(pot), y(pot)) indicate the position coordinates on the confidence map.

[0188] In the above formula, the position coordinates (x(c), y(c)) indicate the position of the player's aircraft at the time when an obstacle was detected, and "σ" indicates the standard deviation based on the probability density of the cell to be added.

[0189] Then, the data management unit 102 adds the calculated confidence factor map to the current confidence factor map to calculate a new confidence factor map P(x, y) using the following (Equation 3).

[0190]

number

[0191] (Example of the belief map update process) For example, if the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is configured with a sensor that detects collisions, such as an IMU, when an obstacle is detected, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 identifies the position coordinates on the confidence map of a cell adjacent to the direction of travel of the current position of the aircraft as the position of the obstacle.

[0192] Furthermore, for example, if the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 is configured with a detection element such as a distance sensor or a camera formed in front of the aircraft to detect a predicted collision of the aircraft with an obstacle, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 acquires information on the distance and azimuth between the position of the obstacle and the aircraft's position, and also compares the current position of the aircraft at the time of detection with the acquired position of the obstacle. The position coordinates of the cell in which the obstacle exists on the confidence map are identified based on the distance and azimuth from the aircraft's position.

[0193] [3.4] Direction determination process [3.4.1] Basic principle Next, a process executed by the control unit 100 of this embodiment, that is, a process for determining the traveling direction of the moving body 10 at a given timing, will be described.

[0194] The direction of travel determination processing unit 107 executes a direction of travel determination process at a given timing to determine the direction of travel in which the aircraft should travel, based on the current position of the aircraft, the certainty factor map data generated by the certainty factor map generation process, and pre-registered target information.

[0195] In particular, when the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 detects a given timing, (A1) A process for determining a direction of travel (first process) for generating an obstacle existence direction probability distribution indicating the possibility of an obstacle existing around the own aircraft from a confidence map; (A2) a data conversion process (second process) for performing data conversion on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution and generating a traveling direction selection probability distribution indicating the possibility of selecting the direction as the traveling direction of the own aircraft from the current position; (A3) a determination process (third process) for determining the direction of travel of the player's aircraft based on the generated probability distribution of the direction of travel selection possibility; Execute.

[0196] Furthermore, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 executes the direction of travel determination processing at a given timing, for example, when the aircraft is moving in a predetermined direction of travel and the aircraft collides with an obstacle (hereinafter referred to as "collision timing"), when it is predicted that the aircraft will collide with an obstacle (hereinafter referred to as "predicted collision timing"), or at a preset timing (hereinafter referred to as "set timing").

[0197] For example, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 detects the timing of collision as the timing when the own aircraft collides with an obstacle and becomes unable to move for a certain period of time, or the timing when the own aircraft collides with an obstacle and becomes unable to move while maintaining the same traveling direction.

[0198] Further, for example, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 uses, as the collision prediction timing, the timing before a collision with an obstacle, when the presence of an obstacle is detected within a predetermined distance range in the traveling direction from the own aircraft.

[0199] Furthermore, for example, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 detects a preset time or date and time, a timing set by a system administrator, or a timing when a given external stimulus is received, such as when some kind of impact or shaking is detected.

[0200] [3.4.2] Generation process (first process) Next, a generation process (first process) for generating an obstacle-free direction probability distribution, which is part of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit 100 of this embodiment, will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0201] 7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining a generation process (first process) for generating an obstacle-free direction probability distribution, which is part of the traveling direction determination process executed by the control unit 100 of this embodiment.

[0202] (Basic principles of generation processing) As a generation process, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 generates an obstacle existence direction probability distribution that specifies the probability distribution (certainty) of the direction indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle based on the current position of the aircraft at a given time from the certainty map.

[0203] In particular, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 generates a histogram of the probability distribution of the obstacle existence direction, which is a function of the possible values ​​of the random variable (i.e., the angle (azimuth angle) centered on the current position of the aircraft) and the probability of each value occurring (the probability that an obstacle exists, which in this embodiment is the degree of certainty).

[0204] That is, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 divides the continuous values ​​(the above-mentioned azimuth angles) of the obstacle existence direction probability distribution into a plurality of specific sections (for example, predetermined ranges (bins) of divided directions, such as 8 or 16 sections) and generates a grouped data distribution (i.e., a distribution of confidence for each direction, which is a histogram).

[0205] Specifically, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 searches the confidence level of each cell (hereinafter referred to as the "search target cell") in the vicinity of the vehicle's position at a given time in the confidence level map, and detects a cell with a confidence level equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a specific cell in which an obstacle exists.

[0206] Then, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 identifies the position on the reliability map of the detected specific cell with the current position of the vehicle as the center.

[0207] Finally, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 generates a probability distribution of directions in which an obstacle exists, centered on the current position of the vehicle, as an obstacle existence direction probability distribution, based on the position on the certainty map of the identified specific cell, or generates a histogram based on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution. However, in this embodiment, the obstacle existence direction probability distribution may be used as is instead of a histogram.

[0208] In order to make the direction determination processing unit 107 feasible even with low computing power and to eliminate the influence of obstacles located far from the current position of the vehicle at a given timing, in addition to the condition indicating that the confidence level is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the direction determination processing unit 107 also uses a search range condition for searching for a specific cell (hereinafter referred to as a "specific cell search range condition").

[0209] Furthermore, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 performs a weighting process to apply a given weight when generating the obstacle existence direction probability distribution in order to compensate for the tolerance to errors in the coordinates on the certainty map of a specific cell.

[0210] (Detection of specific cells and identification of their locations) The direction of travel determination processing unit 107 first searches for a specific cell having a certain degree of certainty or more from among search target cells within a certain radius (active window) from the current position of the vehicle, based on the certainty map and the vehicle's current position (i.e., position coordinates) on the certainty map identified by the current position identification processing unit 104, as a specific cell search range condition.

[0211] For example, when a confidence map such as that shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 7 is managed, the heading direction determination processing unit 107 sets cells within a certain radius (active window) from the current position of the vehicle as search target cells.

[0212] Then, as shown in the upper diagram of Figure 7, when the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 detects a specific cell from among the search target cells within a certain radius, where the certainty factor indicating the presence of an obstacle is equal to or greater than a certain value, it identifies the position of the specific cell on the certainty factor map.

[0213] In particular, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 of this embodiment uses the value of the following (Equation 4) as a certain value (i.e., threshold value) TH of the confidence level used when detecting a specific cell, where "σ" represents the standard deviation.

[0214]

number

[0215] FIG. 7 shows an example in which a specific cell with a certainty factor equal to or greater than a threshold is detected within the "active window" set based on the vehicle's current position "P" on the certainty factor map assigned to an unconfirmed area registered (updated) in the map data storage unit 146.

[0216] On the other hand, when identifying the position of a specific cell on the certainty map, in order to easily generate a histogram of the obstacle existence direction probability distribution of the direction in which an obstacle exists centered on the current position of the vehicle, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 identifies the section to which the specific cell belongs within a plurality of specific sections (for example, a predetermined range of directions divided into 8 or 16 sections (i.e., a range corresponding to the data sections (bins) of the histogram)) of the azimuth angle centered on the current position of the vehicle, in accordance with the histogram, as shown in the lower diagram of Figure 7.

[0217] The lower diagram in FIG. 7 shows an example in which a specific cell belongs to the data section of index "3" (that is, in the direction of "3").

[0218] (Generation of histogram (probability distribution of obstacle existence direction)) The direction of travel determination processing unit 107 detects a specific cell and identifies the position of the specific cell (or the data section of the histogram to which the specific cell belongs), and then generates a histogram of the probability distribution of the direction (specifically, the azimuth angle) in which an obstacle exists (i.e., the probability distribution of the direction in which the obstacle exists) centered on the current position of the aircraft.

[0219] In particular, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 generates a histogram of the probability distribution of the obstacle existence direction by applying a normal distribution with a predetermined variance based on the direction (azimuth) of the position of the specific cell (i.e., by applying a weight with the spread of the normal distribution).

[0220] Furthermore, the direction determination processing unit 107 uses, as a histogram, a data distribution (i.e., a distribution of confidence for each direction) obtained by dividing and grouping continuous values ​​(the above-mentioned angles) of the probability distribution into a plurality of specific data intervals (for example, a range of azimuth angles (directions: bins) divided into 8 or 16 divisions).

[0221] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the data interval to which a specific cell belongs is identified, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 sets the maximum value to the corresponding data interval in the histogram, and generates a histogram of confidence factors with the data interval at the center and with each data interval (bin) given a normal distribution with a given variance, as shown in the following (Equation 5) to (Equation 11).

[0222]

number

[0223]

number

[0224]

number

[0225]

number

[0226]

number

[0227]

number

[0228]

number

[0229] In each of the above equations, "histogram(obs)" indicates the confidence level of each bin, "distance" indicates the distance from the aircraft's current position at a given timing, "σ" indicates the standard deviation based on the confidence level of each specific cell (e.g., 0.25: experimental value, which may vary dynamically based on the sensor requirements and operating environment), and "μ" indicates the average value of the entire population based on the confidence level of each specific cell.

[0230] FIG. 8 also shows an example of a data distribution of confidence in which the maximum value is set in the data interval of “bin:3” and weighted by a normal distribution with a given variance is assigned around that data interval.

[0231] [3.4.3] Data conversion process (second process) Next, with reference to Figures 9 to 11, we will explain the data conversion process (second process) of the travel direction determination process executed by the control unit 100 of this embodiment, which performs data conversion on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution and executes a given weighting process.

[0232] 9 to 11 are diagrams for explaining the data conversion process (second process) of the travel direction determination process executed by the control unit 100 of this embodiment, which performs data conversion on the obstacle existence direction probability distribution and executes a given weighting process.

[0233] (Basic principles of data conversion processing) As a data conversion process, the direction determination processing unit 107 converts the probability distribution of obstacle presence directions (specifically, a histogram) generated by the generation process into a histogram of probability distribution of directions that indicate selectable directions of travel when there are no obstacles around the current position of the aircraft.

[0234] Then, the direction determination processing unit 107 performs a generation process in which the converted probability distribution (hereinafter referred to as the "converted probability distribution") is weighted based on the direction of the target position or the target direction as the destination included in the target information, and generates a direction selection possibility probability distribution (similarly, specifically, a histogram) that indicates the possibility of the direction being selected as the direction of travel of the aircraft from its current position.

[0235] Specifically, in order to derive the probability distribution of the direction of travel selection possibility, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 converts the probability distribution (histogram) into a histogram of the converted probability distribution of the direction of travel that indicates the possibility of no obstacles being present, in contrast to the probability distribution of the direction of travel that indicates the possibility of the aircraft being able to travel.

[0236] In addition, when determining the direction of travel from the current position of the aircraft, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 weights the histogram of the probability distribution of the direction of travel selection possibility to increase the importance of the azimuth or direction in which the aircraft should travel from its current position toward the target position or the target direction, thereby optimizing the histogram of the probability distribution of the direction of travel selection possibility.

[0237] In addition, if the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 generates the obstacle presence direction probability distribution itself instead of a histogram in the generation process of the first process, it may perform data conversion and weighting on both the converted probability distribution and the direction selection possibility distribution while they remain as probability distributions.

[0238] (Conversion to probability distribution of direction selection possibilities) As shown in FIG. 9, the direction determination processing unit 107 normalizes the histogram of the obstacle presence direction probability distribution generated by the generation process, and converts the normalized probability distribution histogram into a data histogram of the probability distribution of directions that indicate selectability as a direction of travel when there is no obstacle centered on the current position of the aircraft (i.e., a probability distribution of selectability of direction of travel).

[0239] In particular, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 normalizes the histogram of the obstacle existence direction probability distribution so that the sum of each element (certainty level of each bin) PD(obs)[bin] becomes "1" as shown in (Equation 12).

[0240]

number

[0241] Then, the direction determination processing unit 107 uses (Equation 13) to subtract the normalized confidence level of each bin from "1" for each bin, thereby generating each element PD(open)[bin] of the histogram of the direction selection possibility probability distribution, as shown in Figure 9.

[0242]

number

[0243] (Weighting (optimization) for the transformed probability distribution of direction selection possibilities) The direction determination processing unit 107 performs weighting by converting the direction (bearing) of the target position from the current position of the aircraft or the target direction (target bearing) into data based on the same standard as the direction selection possibility probability distribution, and then combining (by multiplication or linear combination, etc.) the normalized data (i.e., the direction selection possibility probability distribution) with the target direction setting probability distribution.

[0244] In particular, the direction determination processing unit 107 converts the direction (bearing) of the target position as a destination from the current position of the aircraft or the target direction (target bearing) into a probability distribution (specifically, a histogram) indicating the probability of being selected as an "azimuth angle" centered on the current position of the aircraft, thereby converting it into data based on the same standards as the direction selection probability distribution.

[0245] Specifically, the direction determination processing unit 107 generates a histogram of a probability distribution (hereinafter referred to as "target direction setting probability distribution") based on the same standard as the direction selection possibility probability distribution by applying a normal distribution with a predetermined variance based on the direction of the target position as the destination centered on the current position of the aircraft or the azimuth angle of the target direction.

[0246] For example, when the travel direction determination processing unit 107 uses a target position as target information, as shown in FIG. 10, similar to the travel direction selection possibility probability distribution, the data interval (bin) to which the direction of the target position centered on the current position of the aircraft belongs is set as the maximum value, and a histogram of data distribution is generated in which weights with a normal distribution spread are assigned to each data interval (bin) as shown in the following (Equation 11) to (Equation 20) centered on the data interval.

[0247]

number

[0248]

number

[0249]

number

[0250]

number

[0251]

number

[0252]

number

[0253]

number

[0254] In each of the above equations, "histogram(target)" indicates the degree of likelihood of the direction of the target position for each bin, "distance" indicates the distance from the aircraft's current position to the target position at a given timing, "σ" indicates the standard deviation based on the sensing capability (which changes dynamically based on the sensor requirements and operating environment), and "μ" indicates the average value of the entire population based on the obstacle sensing results (however, it is fixed at the target direction).

[0255] The right diagram in FIG. 10 shows an example of data distribution when normalized (that is, formed as a normal distribution) with the data interval of "bin:4" at the center.

[0256] Furthermore, when the target direction is used as the target information, similarly to when the target position is used as the target information, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 sets the data section (bin) to which the direction of the target position centered on the current position of the aircraft belongs as the maximum value, and generates a histogram of data distribution in which weights having a normal distribution spread are assigned to each data section (bin) as shown in the following (Equation 11) to (Equation 20) with the data section as the center. However, in this case, for example, a predetermined constant value is set for "distance."

[0257] Then, the travel direction determination processing unit 107 normalizes the histogram of the probability distribution of the direction of the target position or the target direction, which has been converted into data based on the same standard as the travel direction selection possibility probability distribution, using the following (Equation 21), thereby generating each element TD[bin] of the histogram of the target direction setting probability distribution, as shown in the left diagram of Figure 10.

[0258]

number

[0259] Finally, as shown in FIG. 11, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 applies the weighting to the histogram of the traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution by multiplying or linearly combining the normalized target direction setting probability distribution histogram and the converted histogram of the traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution, thereby generating a histogram of the optimized traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution (hereinafter referred to as the "optimized traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution").

[0260] [3.4.4] Decision process (third process) Next, among the travel direction determination processes executed by the control unit 100 of this embodiment, a determination process (third process) for determining the travel direction in which the own aircraft should advance will be described.

[0261] The direction determination processing unit 107 executes a determination process for determining the direction of travel of the player's own aircraft based on the histogram of the optimized direction selection possibility probability distribution generated by the data conversion process (second process).

[0262] Specifically, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 determines whether the generated traveling direction selection possibility exists, for example. The direction of the data section (bin) showing the maximum value in the rate distribution (i.e., the optimal direction) is determined as the direction of travel.

[0263] The drive control unit 103 controls the drive mechanism system 150 based on the traveling direction determined as described above.

[0264] [4] Operation in this embodiment [4.1] Belief map update process Next, the operation of the reliability map update process executed by the moving body 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0265] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the reliability map update process executed by the moving body 10 of this embodiment.

[0266] In this operation, it is assumed that the mobile unit 10 is capable of successively communicating with a plurality of other mobile units 10, and when confidence map data transmitted from another mobile unit 10 is received, the confidence map data stored in the map data storage unit 146 is successively updated.

[0267] In addition, in this operation, it is assumed that the current position of the mobile phone is constantly detected by current position detection unit 160 based on a three-point positioning method using wireless communication such as UWB (Ultra Wide Band).

[0268] Furthermore, in this operation, it is assumed that the map data storage unit 146 has already registered target information in which the target position has been set.

[0269] First, when the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 detects that the vehicle has collided with an obstacle (step S101), the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 acquires current position information indicating the current position of the vehicle from the current position identification processing unit 104 (step S102).

[0270] At this time, similar to the obstacle position identification processing unit 105, the current position identification processing unit 104 detects that the aircraft has collided with an obstacle using the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, and in conjunction with the current position detection unit 160, identifies the current position of the aircraft on the certainty factor map at the time when the aircraft's collision with the obstacle was detected, and provides the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 with current position information indicating the current position of the aircraft.

[0271] Next, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 identifies the position coordinates of the obstacle on the certainty factor map based on the current position of the host vehicle included in the acquired current position information (step S103).

[0272] For example, the obstacle position identification processing unit 105 may identify the current position of the aircraft as the position of the obstacle, or may identify the position of the obstacle based on the current position of the aircraft, the position of the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, or the direction of travel of the aircraft.

[0273] Next, when the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 identifies the position of the obstacle on the certainty map, the data management unit 102 sets a weighting for the certainty for the corresponding cell based on the position (i.e., cell) of the identified obstacle on the certainty map (step S104).

[0274] Specifically, the data management unit 102 calculates the weights for the confidences of the corresponding weighting target cells centered on the position of the identified obstacle on the confidence map (i.e., the reference cell). Calculate the weighting (e.g., weighting based on a normal distribution).

[0275] Finally, the data management unit 102 updates the confidence map data by adding the confidence and weighted confidence set for the corresponding reference cell and weighted addition target cell to the corresponding cell of the confidence map registered in the map data storage unit 146 (step S105), and then terminates this operation.

[0276] [4.2] Direction determination process Next, the operation of the traveling direction determination process executed by the moving body 10 of this embodiment to determine the traveling direction of the moving body at a given timing will be described with reference to FIG.

[0277] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the traveling direction determination process executed by the moving body 10 of this embodiment to determine the traveling direction of the moving body at a given timing.

[0278] In this operation, it is assumed that the mobile unit 10 is capable of successively communicating with a plurality of other mobile units 10, and when confidence map data transmitted from another mobile unit 10 is received, the confidence map data stored in the map data storage unit 146 is successively updated.

[0279] In addition, in this operation, it is assumed that target information in which a target position has already been set has been registered in the map data storage unit 146, and the explanation will be given using histograms as each probability distribution.

[0280] First, when the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 detects a given timing, such as when the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 detects a new obstacle in the direction of travel of the aircraft (step S200), it identifies the current position of the aircraft on the confidence factor map and determines whether or not there is a specific cell with a confidence factor of a certain value or more within a predetermined range centered on the position of the aircraft on the confidence factor map (step S201).

[0281] At this time, if the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 determines that a specific cell with a certain degree of certainty or more exists within a predetermined range centered on the position of the own aircraft on the certainty map, it proceeds to processing of step S202, and if it determines that a specific cell with a certain degree of certainty or more does not exist within the predetermined range, it terminates this operation.

[0282] Next, if the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 determines that a specific cell exists, it refers to the certainty map of the certainty map data stored in the map data storage unit 146 and obtains the position coordinates on the certainty map of the obstacle to be detected (step S202).

[0283] Next, as a first process of the traveling direction determination process, the traveling direction determination processing unit 107 executes a generation process (first process of the traveling direction determination process) of generating an obstacle existence direction probability distribution indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle as a histogram, centered on the position coordinates of the obstacle to be detected on the certainty map (step S203).

[0284] Next, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 performs data conversion while normalizing the generated histogram of the probability distribution of the obstacle presence direction, and performs a process (part of the second process of the direction of travel determination processing) to convert it into a histogram of the probability distribution of the direction of travel selectability of directions that indicate the selectability as a direction of travel when there are no obstacles centered on the current position of the aircraft (hereinafter referred to as the "reference histogram") (step S204).

[0285] Next, the direction determination processing unit 107 determines the direction (bearing) of the target position from the current position of the aircraft based on the target position included in the target information stored in the map data storage unit 146, using the histogram of the target direction setting probability distribution, which is data based on the same criteria as the direction selection possibility probability distribution. Then, a process (part of the second process of the traveling direction determination process) is executed to generate a histogram (hereinafter referred to as a "corrected histogram") (step S205).

[0286] Next, the direction determination processing unit 107 executes a process (part of the second process of the direction determination process) to generate a histogram of the optimized direction selection possibility probability distribution (hereinafter referred to as the "optimized histogram") by integrating the histogram of the direction selection possibility probability distribution (reference histogram) and the histogram of the target direction setting probability distribution (corrected histogram) (step S206).

[0287] Finally, the direction of travel determination processing unit 107 executes a process (direction of travel determination process) to determine the direction of travel of the aircraft using the generated histogram of the optimized direction of travel selection possibility probability distribution (step S207), and terminates this operation.

[0288] The drive control unit 103 controls the driving mechanism system 150 based on the determined direction in which the aircraft should travel, thereby controlling the direction in which the aircraft should travel.

[0289] [5] Variation Next, a modified example of the group robot distributed exploration system S of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0290] FIG. 14 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of a modified example of the group robot distributed exploration system S of this embodiment.

[0291] (Variation 1) In the above embodiment, each moving body 10 has a configuration for executing both the confidence factor map generation process and the traveling direction determination process, but it may also have a configuration for executing only one of the processes.

[0292] In particular, the moving body 10 having a configuration for executing the confidence map generation process may randomly determine the direction of travel at a predetermined timing, for example, when it collides with an obstacle.

[0293] Furthermore, a moving body 10 having a configuration for executing a traveling direction determination process may determine the traveling direction determination process based on a confidence factor map transmitted from another moving body 10, for example.

[0294] (Variation 2) In the above embodiment, each moving body 10 executes each process in a distributed manner, and the direction of travel determination process is executed in each moving body 10. However, a control system 20 may be provided in a server system consisting of one or more server devices, or in one of the multiple moving bodies 10, and the direction of travel determination process for each moving body 10 may be executed by the control system 20.

[0295] That is, in this case, the swarm robot distributed exploration system S is composed of each moving body 10 and a control system 20 placed in any area of ​​the unconfirmed area or in another area that can communicate with the unconfirmed area, as shown in Figure 14. However, it is preferable that the control system 20 of this modified example is formed in one moving body 10 out of the multiple moving bodies 10.

[0296] In addition, the control system 20 is configured to work in conjunction with each moving body 10 and to perform processing similar to the various processing in the control unit 100 provided in the moving body 10 of the above embodiment, including processing for determining the direction of travel.

[0297] Furthermore, the control system 20 of this modified example receives the signal transmitted from each moving body 10 via the antenna AT. The system is configured to acquire current position information and target information of each moving body 10 and execute a process of determining the direction of travel of each moving body 10 based on the acquired information.

[0298] The control system 20 has a configuration in which, when the traveling direction of each moving body 10 is determined, information on the determined traveling direction is provided to the corresponding moving body 10.

[0299] Specifically, the control system 20: (A1) Obtain current location information indicating the current location of the moving object 10 in the unconfirmed area; (A2) Manage, as confidence map data, data of a confidence map, which is set in an unconfirmed area and is made up of a plurality of cells, and in which the likelihood of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as confidence, and also manage target information relating to a target position that is a target to be reached by the moving body 10 or a target direction that indicates the direction to the target; (A3) At a given timing, a direction of travel determination process is executed to determine a possible direction of travel from the current position of the specific moving body 10 without the presence of the obstacle, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle centered on the current position of the specific moving body 10 at that timing, which is determined from the confidence map, and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; (A4) providing information on the traveling direction determined by the traveling direction determination process to the corresponding moving body 10; It has the following structure.

[0300] Then, the control system 20 performs the following processing to determine the traveling direction: (A3-1) A first process of generating, from the confidence map, a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility of the existence of an obstacle centered on the current position of a specific moving body 10 at a given time, as an obstacle existence direction probability distribution; (A3-2) A second process performs data conversion on the generated obstacle existence direction probability distribution, weights the generated obstacle existence direction probability distribution based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, and generates a probability distribution based on the direction that indicates the possibility of being selected as the traveling direction of a specific moving body 10 from the current position at a given timing as a traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution; (A3-3) a third process of determining a direction of travel of the specific moving body 10 based on the generated direction of travel selectability probability distribution; The system has a configuration for executing the above.

[0301] In this modified example, basically, each moving object 10 that does not have a control system installed therein does not have the functions executed by the control system 20 installed therein.

[0302] (Variation 3) In the above embodiment, each mobile body 10 executes each process in a distributed manner and exchanges their respective confidence map data through mutual communication, but a control system 20 may be provided within a server system consisting of one or more server devices or within one of the multiple mobile bodies 10, and the confidence map data may be centrally managed by the control system 20.

[0303] That is, in this case, the swarm robot distributed exploration system S is composed of each moving body 10 and a control system 20, as shown in Figure 14, and the control system 20 is configured to work in conjunction with each moving body 10 and execute the confidence factor map update process. However, it is preferable that the control system 20 of this modified example is formed in one moving body 10 out of the multiple moving bodies 10.

[0304] The control system 20 also works in conjunction with each moving body 10 and performs the same processes as those performed by the control unit 100 provided in the moving body 10 of the above embodiment, including the confidence map update process. The device has a configuration for performing the above steps.

[0305] In particular, the control system 20 of this modified example is configured to acquire current position information of each moving body 10 and information indicating that it has collided with an obstacle (hereinafter referred to as "collision information") transmitted from each moving body 10, and update the confidence map based on the acquired information.

[0306] Specifically, the control system 20 of this modified example: (B1) Manage data of a certainty map, which is a grid-shaped map consisting of a plurality of cells set in an unconfirmed area and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty map data, (B2) Obtain current location information indicating the current location of the moving object 10 within the unconfirmed area; (B3) Obtaining detection information from the obstacle detection sensor unit 170 that an obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the moving body 10 has been detected, (B4) When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, an obstacle position identification process is executed to identify the position of the detected obstacle on the certainty factor map based on the current position of the moving object 10; (B5) providing information on the location of the identified obstacle on the confidence map to the relevant mobile unit; It has the following structure.

[0307] The control system 20 of this modified example is configured to execute an update process in which, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection sensor unit 170, a given certainty factor is reflected on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process, thereby updating the certainty factor map data.

[0308] The control system 20 is configured to broadcast the updated confidence map data to each mobile object 10 as confidence map data.

[0309] In this modified example, basically, each moving object 10 that does not have a control system installed therein does not have the functions executed by the control system 20 installed therein.

[0310] (Variation 4) In the above embodiment, a swarm robot distributed exploration system S having a plurality of moving bodies 10 has been described, but an unconfirmed area may also be explored by a single moving body 10.

[0311] (Variation 5) In the above embodiment, a grid map is used as the confidence map, but a topological map having a graph structure consisting of nodes and edges may be used instead of the grid map, in which case a confidence level is assigned to each node.

[0312] [6] Other The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, terms cited in the specification or drawings as broadly defined or synonymous terms can be replaced with broadly defined or synonymous terms in other descriptions in the specification or drawings.

[0313] The present invention includes configurations that are substantially the same as the configurations described in the embodiments (for example, configurations with the same functions, methods, and results, or configurations with the same purpose and effects). The present invention also includes configurations in which non-essential parts of the configurations described in the embodiments are replaced. The present invention also includes configurations that have the same effects as the configurations described in the embodiments or that can achieve the same purpose. The present invention also includes configurations in which publicly known technology is added to the configurations described in the embodiments. .

[0314] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail as above, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications can be made without substantially departing from the novel features and effects of the present invention. Therefore, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0315] S: Swarm Robot Distributed Exploration System 10: Mobile 20: Control System 100: Control unit 101: Communication control unit 102: Data Management Department 103: Drive control unit 104: Current location identification processing unit 105: Obstacle position identification processing unit 107: Direction determination processing unit 110: Timer 120 :Wheel 130: Imaging camera 140: Storage section 142: Main memory 144: Log data storage unit 146: Map data storage unit 150: Drive mechanism system 160: Current position detection unit 170: Obstacle detection sensor unit 180: Battery unit 190: Communication unit

Claims

1. A moving body that autonomously controls its movement while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a driving means for moving within the unconfirmed area; a position detection means for detecting a current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, which is set in the unconfirmed area and is made up of a plurality of cells, and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft itself or a target direction indicating the direction of the target; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process for determining a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the aircraft without the obstacle being present, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the obstacle being present around the current position of the aircraft at a given time determined from the certainty map and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; A moving object comprising:

2. 2. The moving body according to claim 1, The traveling direction determination means performs the traveling direction determination process as follows: a first process of generating, from the certainty factor map, a probability distribution of directions indicating the possibility that the obstacle exists, with the current position of the own aircraft at the given time as the center, as an obstacle existence direction probability distribution; a second process of generating a probability distribution of possible directions of travel that are based on a direction that indicates a possibility of being selected as the traveling direction of the aircraft from the current position at the given time, based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, while performing data conversion on the generated probability distribution of obstacle existence directions; a third process of determining a direction of travel from the current position of the own aircraft based on the generated direction of travel selectability probability distribution; A mobile body that performs the following.

3. 3. The moving body according to claim 2, The traveling direction determination means, as the second processing, The moving body corrects the data-converted obstacle existence direction probability distribution based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information, and generates the travel direction selection possibility probability distribution.

4. 4. The moving body according to claim 2 or 3, The traveling direction determining means A moving body that generates the obstacle presence direction probability distribution and the traveling direction selection possibility probability distribution as data distributions that are continuous values ​​of the probability distribution, and group the azimuth angle by dividing it into a plurality of specific intervals.

5. The moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, an obstacle detection means for detecting the obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the aircraft; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle; Further provided with The management means: When an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, the obstacle position identification process The mobile body then executes an update process for updating the confidence map data by reflecting the given confidence on the confidence map based on the position of the obstacle thus identified.

6. 6. The moving body according to claim 5, the certainty map data is a grid map data that is assigned to at least a part of an unconfirmed area and is divided into a grid, and indicates the probability of an obstacle existing in each cell on the map; The management means: A mobile body updates the confidence map data by adding a weighting for the confidence centered on the position of the detected obstacle on the confidence map to the corresponding cell.

7. The moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Further comprising a communication control means for communicating with other devices, The management means: obtaining the belief map data generated by the other device; A mobile body that manages the acquired confidence map data.

8. 6. The moving body according to claim 5, Further comprising a communication control means for communicating with other devices, The management means: obtaining the belief map data generated by the other device; A mobile body that manages the acquired confidence map data in an updatable manner.

9. 9. The moving body according to claim 8, the other device is a mobile body having a function of executing the update process of the confidence map data, The communication control means providing the other device with the belief map data updated by the update process; Mobile object.

10. A program for controlling a moving object that moves while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, current location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information indicating the current location of the mobile object within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft or a target direction indicating the direction of the target; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process that determines a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the aircraft without the obstacle being present, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the obstacle being present around the current position of the aircraft at a given time, which is determined from the certainty map, and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; and a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; A program that causes a computer to function as a

11. An unconfirmed area exploration system using a plurality of mobile objects that move autonomously while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, Each moving body, a position detection means for detecting a current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, which is set in the unconfirmed area and is made up of a plurality of cells, and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by the aircraft itself or a target direction indicating the direction of the target; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process for determining a direction of travel that can be traveled from the current position of the aircraft without the obstacle being present, based on a direction indicating the possibility of the obstacle being present around the current position of the aircraft at a given time determined from the certainty map and the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the aircraft based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; An unconfirmed area exploration system comprising:

12. A moving body that autonomously controls its movement while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, the certainty map being a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty; a position detection means for detecting a current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; an obstacle detection means for detecting the obstacle formed in the direction of travel of the aircraft; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle; Equipped with The management means: a mobile body that, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, executes an update process for updating certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on a certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

13. The moving body according to claim 12, the certainty map data is a grid map data that is assigned to at least a part of an unconfirmed area and is divided into a grid, and indicates the probability of an obstacle existing in each cell on the map; The management means: A mobile body updates the confidence map data by adding a weighting for the confidence centered on the position of the detected obstacle on the confidence map to the corresponding cell.

14. The moving body according to claim 12, Further comprising a communication control means for communicating with other devices, The management means: obtaining the belief map data generated by the other device; A mobile body that manages the acquired confidence map data in an updatable manner.

15. The moving body according to claim 14, the other device is a mobile body having a function of executing the update process of the confidence map data, The communication control means A mobile unit that provides the other device with the belief map data updated by the update process.

16. A program that autonomously controls movement while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a management means for managing, as confidence map data, data of a confidence map, the confidence map being a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the likelihood of the presence of the obstacle in each cell is set as confidence; current position information acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position of the aircraft within the unconfirmed area; detection information acquisition means for acquiring, from the obstacle detection means, detection information indicating that the obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the aircraft has been detected; an obstacle location identification means for executing an obstacle location identification process that, when the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, identifies the location of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the vehicle; and Make the computer function as The management means: a program for executing, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an update process for updating certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

17. A control system for controlling a plurality of moving objects that move while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a current location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information indicating the current location of each moving object within the unconfirmed area; a position detection means for detecting the current position of each moving object within the unconfirmed area; a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, which is a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area and in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty, and for managing target information relating to a target position to be reached by each moving body or a target direction indicating the direction to be reached; a direction of travel determination means for executing a direction of travel determination process for determining, at a given timing and for each of the moving bodies, a direction indicating the possibility of the existence of the obstacle centered on the current position of the moving body at that timing, as determined from the certainty factor map, and based on the direction of the target position or the target direction included in the target information; and a direction control means for controlling the direction of travel of the relevant moving object based on the direction of travel determined by the direction of travel determination process; A control system comprising:

18. 18. The control system of claim 17, A control system in which the current location information acquisition means, the management means, and the travel direction determination means are mounted on one moving body, and a first moving body representing the moving body on which each of these means is mounted controls the travel direction of a second moving body different from the first moving body.

19. A control system for controlling a plurality of moving objects that move while avoiding obstacles present in an unconfirmed area, a management means for managing, as certainty map data, data of a certainty map, the certainty map being a grid-like map made up of a plurality of cells set within the unconfirmed area, in which the probability of the existence of the obstacle in each cell is set as certainty; a current location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information indicating the current location of the moving object within the unconfirmed area; detection information acquiring means for acquiring, from the obstacle detecting means, detection information indicating that the obstacle formed in the traveling direction of the specific moving object has been detected; When the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an obstacle position identification unit is provided to identify the position of the detected obstacle on a certainty factor map based on the current position of the specific moving body. A specifying means for executing a specified process; providing means for providing information on the position of the identified obstacle on the confidence map to a corresponding mobile unit; Equipped with The management means: a control system characterized in that, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means, an update process is executed to update certainty factor map data by reflecting a given certainty factor on the certainty factor map based on the position of the obstacle identified by the obstacle position identification process.

20. 20. The control system of claim 19, A control system in which the current location information acquisition means, the management means, the detection information acquisition means, the identification means, and the provision means are mounted on one mobile object.

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