Construction machine and remote-control system

Abstract

A hydraulic shovel 1 comprises: a machine body 10 including a lower traveling body 2, an upper revolving body 4 revolvable on the lower traveling body 2, and a work device 5 attached to a front central section of the upper revolving body 4; and a plurality of machine-body-side antennas 60 attached to the upper revolving body 4. Communication is performed between the plurality of machine-body-side antennas 60 and radio-wave-satellite-side antennas 70 disposed outside the machine body 10. The plurality of machine-body-side antennas 60 include: front antennas 61 which are disposed more toward the front, in the front / rear direction of the machine body 10, than the revolving center 4a of the upper revolving body 4, at least one of the front antennas being provided to, in the left / right direction, the left and the right, so as to sandwich the work device 5; and at least one rear antenna 62 disposed more toward the rear, in the front / rear direction, than the turning center 4a.

Description

Construction machinery and remote control systems

[0001] The present invention relates to a construction machine and a remote control system.

[0002] Conventionally, in order to ensure the safety and efficiency of work at a work site, a technology for remotely controlling a construction machine by transmitting an operation signal corresponding to the situation at the work site to the construction machine has been known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a remote control system that aims to extend the communication distance and suppress interference by aligning the direction of emission of radio waves from an antenna device mounted on the construction machine with the direction of reception of radio waves in the remote control room according to the difference in elevation between the construction machine and the remote control room.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-204256

[0004] The construction machine described in Patent Document 1 includes a lower traveling body, an upper rotating body rotatably mounted on the lower traveling body, and a working device mounted in the front center of the upper rotating body, and the antenna main body is attached to the upper rotating body. However, when the antenna main body is attached to the upper rotating body in this manner, there is a possibility that the working device will cause radio wave blocking between the antenna main body and the antenna in the remote control room, and there is a need to establish stable communication.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of these problems, and its purpose is to provide a construction machine and a remote control system that can better ensure communication stability regardless of the attitude of the machine body or work implement.

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the construction machine of the present invention is a construction machine comprising a body including a lower running body, an upper rotating body that can rotate on the lower running body, and a working implement attached to the front center of the upper rotating body, and a plurality of body-side antennas attached to the upper rotating body, and which communicates between an external antenna arranged outside the body and the plurality of body-side antennas, and the plurality of body-side antennas include a front antenna that is provided forward of the center of rotation of the upper rotating body in the fore-and-aft direction of the body, at least one on each side of the body so as to sandwich the working implement in the left-and-right direction of the body, and at least one rear antenna that is provided rearward of the center of rotation in the fore-and-aft direction.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the remote control system of the present invention comprises the above construction machine and an external antenna arranged outside the machine body, and remotely controls the construction machine by communicating between the external antenna and the multiple machine body antennas.

[0008] According to the construction machine and remote control system of the present invention, communication stability can be ensured more effectively.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a side view showing a hydraulic excavator as a construction machine of an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a hydraulic excavator. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a hydraulic excavator. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a remote control system of an embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing blind spots of radio waves transmitted and received by multiple machine-mounted antennas. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing, as a comparative example, blind spots of radio waves transmitted and received by multiple machine-mounted antennas when the front antenna is positioned rearward of the center of rotation. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing, as a modified example, blind spots of radio waves transmitted and received by multiple machine-mounted antennas when the rear antenna is shifted left and right from the example of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an arrangement configuration when there are four machine-mounted antennas.

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the forward / backward, left / right, and up / down directions of the construction machine and its body are expressed with the driver as the main focus when the driver is on board the construction machine.

[0011] (Construction Machine: Hydraulic Excavator) Fig. 1 is a side view showing a hydraulic excavator as a construction machine of an embodiment, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the hydraulic excavator, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the hydraulic excavator. The hydraulic excavator 1 is a construction machine used for excavating earth and sand at a work site, for example. The hydraulic excavator 1 is configured so that it can be remotely operated by an operator from a remote control room (not shown) that is located away from the position where the hydraulic excavator 1 is operated, without the operator having to board the excavator.

[0012] As shown in the figure, the hydraulic excavator 1 comprises a machine body 10 including a lower traveling body 2, an upper rotating body 4, and a working device 5 attached to the front center of the upper rotating body 4. The lower traveling body 2 includes crawlers 3 driven by a hydraulic traveling motor (not shown) as a drive device for traveling the hydraulic excavator 1. The upper rotating body 4 is rotatably mounted on the lower traveling body 2 and rotates by being driven by a hydraulic swing motor (not shown). A cab 13 for an operator is provided at the front of the upper rotating body 4. Note that the cab 13 may be omitted. A fuel tank, a machinery room, a counterweight, etc. are provided at the rear of the upper rotating body 4. The machinery room houses an engine, a hydraulic pump driven by the engine (all not shown), etc. The hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic oil for operating the hydraulic traveling motor, the hydraulic swing motor, and each component of the working device 5.

[0013] The working device 5 is a device for performing work such as excavating earth and sand. The working device 5 is attached to the front center of the upper rotating body 4 and extends along a straight line L1 (see FIG. 2 ) that includes a rotation center 4a of the upper rotating body 4 with respect to the undercarriage 2 and extends in the fore-and-aft direction of the machine body 10. The working device 5 includes a boom 6 attached to the upper rotating body 4 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, an arm 7 attached to the tip of the boom 6 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, and a bucket 8 attached to the tip of the arm 7 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. The working device 5 also includes a boom cylinder 6a that drives the boom 6, an arm cylinder 7a that drives the arm 7, and a bucket cylinder 8a that drives the bucket 8.

[0014] 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a remote control system according to an embodiment. The remote control system 20 includes a machine-side system 30, a radio tower 40, and a remote control room-side system 50, and is configured as a system for remotely operating the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0015] (Aircraft-side System) The aircraft-side system 30 includes a plurality of imaging devices 31, a video signal processor 32, a plurality of sensors 33, a sensor signal processor 34, an aircraft controller 35, an operation signal processing unit 36, a wireless transceiver 37, and a plurality of aircraft-side antennas 60. Each component of the aircraft-side system 30 is mounted on the aircraft 10.

[0016] The multiple imaging devices 31 are devices that capture images to be viewed by an operator performing remote operation, and are attached to the machine body 10 so as to be able to capture images of the surrounding area including the work range and traveling range of the hydraulic excavator 1. The imaging devices 31 are attached, for example, in the driver's cab or the undercarriage 2. Each imaging device 31 outputs captured image data to the video signal processor 32. The video signal processor 32 converts the video data captured by each imaging device 31 into a communication signal.

[0017] The multiple sensors 33 are sensors that detect information relating to various devices, operations, etc. of the hydraulic excavator 1 that the operator should be aware of during remote operation, and are attached to the hydraulic excavator 1. The multiple sensors 33 output detected values ​​to a sensor signal processor 34. The sensor signal processor 34 converts the video data captured by each imaging device 31 into a communication signal.

[0018] The machine body controller 35 receives operation signals, which are remote operation instructions input by an operator in the remote control room system 50, via an operation signal processor 36. The machine body controller 35 drives and controls various devices of the machine body 10 in accordance with the input operation signals, thereby controlling the traveling operation of the lower traveling body 2, the rotating operation of the upper rotating body 4, and the operation of the work device 5. The operation signal processor 36 converts the remote operation instructions input by the operator as communication signals back into the original operation signals and outputs them to the machine body controller 35.

[0019] The wireless transceiver 37 receives communication signals of video data from the video signal processor 32 and communication signals of detected values ​​from the sensors 33 from the sensor signal processor 34, and transmits them to the radio tower 40 via the multiple aircraft-side antennas 60. The wireless transceiver 37 also receives communication signals of remote control instructions from the radio tower 40 via the multiple aircraft-side antennas 60, and outputs them to the operation signal processing unit 36.

[0020] The multiple machine-side antennas 60 (a first front antenna 611, a second front antenna 612, and a rear antenna 62, which will be described later) are attached to the upper rotating body 4 and are used to transmit and receive radio signals to and from multiple radio tower-side antennas 70 (external antennas) attached to the radio tower 40. The multiple machine-side antennas 60 transmit various communication signals output from the wireless transceiver 37 to the radio tower 40 and output various communication signals received from the radio tower 40 to the wireless transceiver 37. As shown in FIG. 2 , three of the multiple machine-side antennas 60 are attached to the upper rotating body 4. Each machine-side antenna 60 may be attached to the upper rotating body 4 by various methods, such as clamping to a handrail or the like with a clamping mechanism, using a fixing bracket, or by welding. However, each machine-side antenna 60 is located outside the operating range of the work device 5. Furthermore, each machine-side antenna 60 is preferably located outside the imaging range of each imaging device 31 so as not to be captured on the monitor 54 viewed by the remote operator. It is also preferable that each aircraft-side antenna 60 be provided at the same height.

[0021] (Radio Tower) The radio tower 40 is provided near the remote control room and includes a plurality of radio tower antennas 70. The plurality of radio tower antennas 70 transmit and receive radio signals to and from the plurality of aircraft-side antennas 60. The plurality of radio tower antennas 70 output various communication signals received from the plurality of aircraft-side antennas 60 to the remote control room-side system 50, and also transmit various signals output from the remote control room-side system 50 to the plurality of aircraft-side antennas 60. The radio tower 40 is provided with a plurality of radio tower antennas 70 (three in this embodiment) so that the number is the same as the number of aircraft-side antennas 60.

[0022] As described above, the remote control system 20 of this embodiment is configured such that the aircraft 10 and the radio tower 40 are provided with multiple antennas, thereby enabling communication using MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) as a multiple input, multiple output communication method. MIMO improves communication speed (throughput) by simultaneously transferring divided data. However, the number of aircraft-side antennas 60 may be greater than the number of radio tower-side antennas 70, or the number of radio tower-side antennas 70 may be greater than the number of aircraft-side antennas 60. Furthermore, multiple radio towers 40 each including multiple radio tower-side antennas 70 may be provided at locations separated from each other. Furthermore, the remote control system 20 is not limited to one that uses MIMO, and it is sufficient that the aircraft 10 is provided with at least three or more aircraft-side antennas 60 and at least one radio tower-side antenna 70.

[0023] (Remote control room side system) The remote control room side system 50 includes a wireless transceiver 51, a video signal processor 52, a sensor signal processor 53, a monitor 54, an operation signal processor 55, and an operation device 56. Each component of the remote control room side system 50 is provided in a remote control room (not shown).

[0024] The wireless transceiver 51 is connected by wire or wirelessly to a plurality of radio tower antennas 70 of the radio tower 40 so as to be able to communicate with them. The wireless transceiver 51 receives communication signals for the video data and communication signals for the detected values ​​of the sensors 33 via the plurality of radio tower antennas 70. The wireless transceiver 51 also receives an operation signal for remote control that has been input by an operating device 56 and converted into a communication signal by an operation signal processor 55, and transmits the signal via the plurality of radio tower antennas 70.

[0025] The video signal processor 52 converts the communication signal of the video data into the original video data and outputs it to the monitor 54. The sensor signal processor 53 converts the communication signal of the detection values ​​of the sensors 33 into the original detection values ​​and outputs them to the monitor 54. The monitor 54 is a display device located in a position visible to the operator in the remote control room, and displays the input video data and the detection values ​​of the sensors 33. The monitor 54 may be provided with separate monitors for displaying the video data and the detection values ​​of the sensors 33, or a single monitor 54 may be used to switch between displaying the video data and the detection values ​​or to display them on separate screens. The operation signal processor 55 converts the remote operation signal input by the controller 56 into a communication signal and outputs it to the wireless transceiver 37. The controller 56 is a remote operation terminal used by the operator, and includes a plurality of operation levers and the like for causing the hydraulic excavator 1 to perform various operations.

[0026] (Arrangement of Machine-side Antennas) In the hydraulic excavator 1 and remote control system 20 configured as described above, multiple machine-side antennas 60 are attached to the upper rotating body 4, and it is possible that radio waves may be blocked by the work implement 5, making transmission and reception impossible, a phenomenon known as shadowing. If a machine-side antenna 60 is unable to transmit or receive radio waves, a division process is performed so that data is transferred using only the remaining machine-side antennas 60, but in order to improve communication stability and communication speed, it is preferable to avoid radio wave blocking as much as possible. Therefore, the multiple machine-side antennas 60 are attached to the upper rotating body 4 in an arrangement configuration described below.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 2 , the multiple aircraft-side antennas 60 include two front antennas 61 and a rear antenna 62. The front antenna 61 is located forward of the rotation center 4a of the upper rotating body 4 in the fore-and-aft direction of the aircraft 10. The front antennas 61 are located on the left and right sides of the aircraft 10, sandwiching the rotation center 4a of the upper rotating body 4 and the working implement 5 in the left-right direction. That is, the front antennas 61 include a first front antenna 611 located to the left of the rotation center 4a and the working implement 5, and a second front antenna 612 located to the right of the rotation center 4a and the working implement 5. The rotation center 4a of the upper rotating body 4 and the center position of the working implement 5 in the left-right direction may be spaced apart. In this case, it is sufficient that the front antennas 61 are located on the left and right sides of the aircraft 10, sandwiching the working implement 5 in the left-right direction. The first front antenna 611 and the second front antenna 612 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction and at the same position in the front-rear direction.

[0028] On the other hand, the rear antenna 62 is provided rearward of the center of rotation 4a in the front-to-rear direction (rearward of a straight line L2 that extends in the left-right direction and passes through the center of rotation 4a in the front-to-rear direction). The rear antenna 62 is also arranged rearward of the rear end of the working device 5 so as to overlap with the working device 5 when viewed from the front-to-rear direction. More specifically, the rear antenna 62 is arranged alongside the working device 5 on the straight line L1 that extends in the front-to-rear direction and includes the center of rotation 4a. It is sufficient that the rear antenna 62 is arranged at least rearward of the rear end of the working device 5 so as to overlap with the working device 5 when viewed from the front-to-rear direction.

[0029] In addition, it is preferable that each aircraft-side antenna 60 be arranged at a predetermined interval to prevent radio wave interference with each other, and in this embodiment, they are arranged at equal intervals from each other along a concentric circle C (dotted circle in the figure) centered on the rotation center 4a.

[0030] Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing blind spots of radio waves transmitted and received by multiple aircraft-mounted antennas 60. In Fig. 5, the area surrounded by a dashed line indicates a blind spot θ1 of the first front antenna 611 relative to the work implement 5, the area surrounded by a two-dot chain line indicates a blind spot θ2 of the second front antenna 612 relative to the work implement 5, and the area surrounded by a solid line indicates a blind spot θ3 of the rear antenna 62 relative to the work implement 5. The area where any two of the blind spots θ1, θ2, and θ3 overlap, i.e., the area where radio waves cannot be transmitted or received by any two of the first front antenna 611, the second front antenna 612, and the rear antenna 62, is defined as a first area A1 (area marked with a dotted pattern). The second area A2 (hatched area) is the area where all of the blind spots θ1, θ2, and θ3 overlap, i.e., the area where radio waves cannot be transmitted or received by any of the first front antenna 611, the second front antenna 612, and the rear antenna 62. Note that in the drawings, the first area A1 and the second area A2 are depicted without including the portions that overlap with the airframe 10.

[0031] In contrast, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing, as a comparative example, regions that become blind spots for radio waves transmitted and received by the multiple aircraft-mounted antennas 60 when the front antenna 61 is located rearward of the rotation center 4a. As shown in the figure, when the first front antenna 611 and the second front antenna 612 are located rearward of the rotation center 4a, there is a possibility that radio waves transmitted and received by the first front antenna 611 and the second front antenna 612 will be blocked by structures, devices, and other parts on the upper rotating body 4 other than the work implement 5. Furthermore, although the blind spots θ1 and θ2 are more acute than in the case shown in Figure 5, the length of the second area A2 is extended.

[0032] The rear antenna 62 is not limited to being provided at the position shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example in which the rear antenna 62 is shifted left or right from the example shown in Fig. 5, resulting in a blind spot for radio waves transmitted and received by the multiple machine-mounted antennas 60. When the rear antenna 62 is shifted left or right relative to the working implement 5, the range in which the rear antenna 62 cannot transmit or receive radio waves becomes larger and biased to one side in the left or right direction (the left side in this case) compared to the case shown in Fig. 5. However, the second region A2, i.e., the range in which it is difficult for all machine-mounted antennas 60 to transmit or receive radio waves, can be kept small, as in Fig. 5.

[0033] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 , the front antennas 61 of the multiple aircraft-mounted antennas 60 in this embodiment are located forward of the rotation center 4 a. Therefore, structures, devices, and other components other than the work implement 5 are preferably not located forward of the front antenna 61 on the upper rotating body 4, thereby preventing these components from blocking radio waves transmitted and received by each aircraft-mounted antenna 60. Furthermore, by providing the front antennas 61 on both the left and right sides of the rotation center 4 a and the work implement 5, a range in which radio waves can be transmitted and received on both the left and right sides of the work implement 5 can be secured. Furthermore, this configuration prevents the second area A2 from becoming wider than in the case shown in FIG. 6 . Additionally, by providing the rear antenna 62 rearward of the rotation center 4 a, communication between at least the rear antenna 62 and the multiple radio tower-mounted antennas 70 can be secured even when a radio tower 40 is located behind the aircraft 10. Therefore, with the hydraulic excavator 1 (construction machine) and remote control system 20 of the embodiment, communication stability can be ensured more favorably regardless of the attitude of the machine body 10 or the work implement 5. As a result, remote control of the hydraulic excavator 1 can be performed stably.

[0034] Furthermore, by arranging the rear antenna 62 so as to overlap the working implement 5 when viewed from the front-to-rear direction, it is possible to prevent the first area A1 from becoming too large on one side in the left-to-right direction, as shown in Fig. 5. Furthermore, by limiting the number of machine-mounted antennas 60 to three, it is possible to prevent an increase in the number of parts. It is also possible to prevent radio wave interference and excessive data processing related to communication from occurring due to the provision of more machine-mounted antennas 60 than necessary.

[0035] Furthermore, since the multiple aircraft-side antennas 60 are arranged along the concentric circle C of the rotation center 4a, the distances between each aircraft-side antenna 60 and the multiple radio tower-side antennas 70 can be equalized regardless of the direction in which the upper rotating body 4 is facing. As a result, communication between the multiple aircraft-side antennas 60 and the radio tower-side antenna 70 can be made more stable.

[0036] Furthermore, the use of MIMO as a communication method enables high-speed communication, and suppresses the occurrence of so-called fading, which is a fluctuation in communication speed (throughput), even if the aircraft-side antennas 60 also rotate in accordance with the rotation of the upper rotating body 4. As described above, by configuring the aircraft-side antennas 60 so that radio wave blocking is minimized, the number of aircraft-side antennas 60 that can transmit and receive radio waves can be secured, and fluctuations in communication speed can be suppressed more effectively.

[0037] This concludes the description of the embodiment, but the aspects of the present invention are not limited to this embodiment. For example, in this embodiment, a hydraulic excavator 1 is used as an example of a construction machine, but the present invention may be applied to other construction machines as long as the construction machine has a lower traveling body, an upper rotating body, a work implement, and multiple machine-mounted antennas, and performs various tasks while communicating between an external antenna and the multiple machine-mounted antennas. Note that the information communicated between the external antenna and the multiple machine-mounted antennas is not limited to signals for remote control, and may be various types of information.

[0038] Furthermore, the number of aircraft-mounted antennas 60 is not limited to that shown in the embodiment. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an arrangement configuration in which there are four aircraft-mounted antennas 60. As shown in the figure, the aircraft-mounted antennas 60 may include two front antennas 61 and two rear antennas 62. The front antennas 61 include a first front antenna 611 and a second front antenna 612, as in the example shown in Fig. 5. Meanwhile, the rear antennas 62 include a first rear antenna 621 provided to the left of the straight line L1 including the turning center 4a, and a second rear antenna 622 provided to the right of the straight line L1.

[0039] In this way, in addition to the front antenna 61, by providing two rear antennas 62, one on each side of the line L1 in the left-right direction behind the center of rotation 4a in the fore-and-aft direction, it is possible to further widen the range in which radio waves can be transmitted and received by the two rear antennas 62. Even in this case, it is more preferable that the multiple machine-side antennas 60 be arranged along the concentric circle C of the center of rotation 4a. Furthermore, the two rear antennas 62 may be arranged in positions that overlap with the working implement 5 when viewed from the fore-and-aft direction, as long as they are provided one on each side of the line L1 in the left-and-right direction. Furthermore, it is preferable that four radio tower-side antennas 70 be provided, the same as the machine-side antennas 60, as shown in FIG. 8 .

[0040] As described above, the number and positions of the multiple aircraft-side antennas 60 may be adjusted as appropriate. In addition to the configurations exemplified above, for example, three or more front antennas 61 may be provided. However, as described above, the number and positions of the aircraft-side antennas 60 should be such that they can prevent radio wave interference with each other and are preferably set outside the imaging range of the imaging device 31. Furthermore, the front antenna 61 is preferably positioned as far forward as possible on the upper rotating body 4 and as far outward in the left-right direction as possible to minimize interference with obstacles on the upper rotating body 4. Furthermore, the rear antenna 62 is preferably positioned as far rearward as possible on the upper rotating body 4 to minimize interference with obstacles on the upper rotating body 4 and narrow the blind spot θ3. Furthermore, to achieve the above-described preferred positions, each aircraft-side antenna 60 may be attached to an arm extending from the upper rotating body 4.

[0041] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Hydraulic excavator (construction machinery) 2 Undercarriage 4 Upper rotating body 4a Rotation center 5 Work device 10 Machine body 20 Remote control system 30 Machine-side system 50 Remote control room-side system 60 Multiple machine-side antennas 61 Front antenna 611 First front antenna 612 Second front antenna 62 Rear antenna 621 First rear antenna 622 Second rear antenna 70 Multiple radio tower-side antennas (external antennas) A1 First area A2 Second area C Concentric circles L1, L2 Straight lines θ1, θ2, θ3 Blind spot

Claims

1. A construction machine comprising a machine body including a lower running body, an upper rotating body capable of rotating on the lower running body, and a working implement attached to the front center of the upper rotating body, and multiple machine body side antennas attached to the upper rotating body, and which communicates between an external antenna arranged outside the machine body and the multiple machine body side antennas, wherein the multiple machine body side antennas include: front antennas provided forward of the rotation center of the upper rotating body in the fore-and-aft direction of the machine body, at least one on each side so as to sandwich the working implement in the left-right direction of the machine body, and at least one rear antenna provided rearward of the rotation center in the fore-and-aft direction.

2. A construction machine as described in claim 1, wherein the multiple machine-side antennas are attached in three to the upper rotating body, the front antennas are provided on each side of the work implement in the left-right direction, and the rear antenna is positioned so as to overlap the work implement when viewed from the front-to-rear direction.

3. A construction machine as described in claim 1, wherein the plurality of machine-side antennas are arranged along a concentric circle about the center of rotation of the upper rotating body.

4. A construction machine as described in claim 1, wherein the multiple machine-side antennas are attached to the upper rotating body in four units, the front antennas are provided on each side of the work implement in the left-right direction, and the rear antennas are provided on each side of the work implement in the left-right direction, on both sides of a straight line passing through the center of rotation and extending in the fore-and-aft direction.

5. A remote control system comprising: a construction machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4; and an external antenna arranged outside the machine body, said remote control system controlling the construction machine by communicating between said external antenna and said multiple machine body antennas.