JP2022186180A - drive unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a drive unit that is able to transmit a current state or a traveling direction.SOLUTION: A drive unit freely connected to a carriage 3 capable of storing a cargo and capable of autonomously traveling, includes: an illumination unit provided in an annular shape so as to follow a shape of a drive wheel and capable of emitting light of a predetermined wavelength band; and a processor configured to acquire a detection result of detecting a state of the drive unit and to control a light emission pattern of the illumination unit, based on the detection result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to drive units.

Patent Document 1 discloses a loading section configured to be separable from a head portion having front wheels and a tail portion having rear wheels and connectable to the head portion or the tail portion in a direction intersecting the traveling direction of the vehicle. Techniques are disclosed. According to this technique, by replacing the loading section, the cargo loaded on the vehicle can be easily reloaded.

JP 2019-131039 A

By the way, in a vehicle such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1, in which a driving unit such as a leading portion and a trailing portion can be connected to a loading portion, the driving unit may be able to travel alone, and in addition, it is possible to move a distance close to a person. There is a need for a technology capable of recognizing the current state or traveling direction of the drive unit, but no consideration has been given.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a drive unit capable of transmitting the current state or direction of travel.

A drive unit according to the present disclosure is connectable to a carriage that can accommodate luggage, is a drive unit that can travel autonomously, is provided in an annular shape along the shape of a drive wheel, and has a predetermined wavelength band. a processor configured to acquire a detection result of detecting the state of the drive unit and control the light emission pattern of the illumination unit based on the detection result; Prepare.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to recognize the current state or traveling direction.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a delivery unit according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the drive unit according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the truck according to one embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an overview of processing executed by the drive unit according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, drive units, trucks, and delivery units according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited by the following embodiments. Also, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the following description.

[Schematic configuration of delivery unit]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a delivery unit according to one embodiment. The delivery unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a drive unit 2 and a carriage 3 .

In the following description, the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction will be used when describing the arrangement of each component of the delivery unit 1 . The front-rear direction is the longitudinal direction of the truck 3 . The lateral direction is the lateral direction of the truck 3 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the truck 3 . The vertical direction is a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the truck 3 and coincides with the height direction of the truck 3 . When the delivery unit 1 is placed horizontally, the front-rear direction and left-right direction are the horizontal directions, and the up-down direction is the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drive unit 2 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and the drive wheels 20 are driven by a drive force supplied from a drive mechanism such as a motor. Further, the drive unit 2 autonomously travels based on the detection results of various sensor groups, which will be described later. Furthermore, the drive unit 2 is freely connectable with the truck 3, connects with the truck 3, and pulls the truck 3. The drive unit 2 connects to the carriage 3 specified by the server according to instruction information, task information, travel route, etc. output from a server (not shown), and pulls the connected carriage 3 to a location specified by the server. move.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the carriage 3 includes a main body 30 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and a sorting mechanism 31 . The body portion 30 of the carriage 3 can be connected to the drive unit 2 , and the carriage 3 is pulled by the drive unit 2 to move. Further, the main body part 30 has a space D1 capable of accommodating the luggage 100, and a plurality of luggage 100 or a rack 41 or a chest accommodating the plurality of luggage 100 is accommodated in the space D1. be done. The sorting mechanism 31 also has a delivery port 311 having an openable and closable shutter 311a. The sorting mechanism 31 receives parcels 100 from a user or a small physical distribution mobility such as a Micro-Palette through a delivery port 311 . Furthermore, the sorting mechanism 31 conveys the packages 100 received at the delivery port 311 in three axial directions (front-back direction, left-right direction, and up-down direction) with respect to the ground surface on which the main body portion 30 is placed, and transports them into the space D1. or to a predetermined position within the rack 41 . It should be noted that there are a plurality of types of carts 3 for each function (for example, transportation function, mobile store function) and load capacity.

In the delivery unit 1 configured as described above, the driving unit 2 connects with the carriage 3 specified by the server (not shown), and pulls the connected carriage 3 to the specified location. After that, after the delivery unit 1 arrives at the designated place, when the drive unit 2 receives instruction information to tow another cart 3 from a server (not shown), the drive unit 2 disconnects from the cart 3 and the specified location is reached. move to a place.

[Functional configuration of drive unit]
Next, the functional configuration of the drive unit 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the drive unit 2. As shown in FIG.

The drive unit 2 shown in FIG. 2 includes a drive section 21, a sensor group 22, an illumination section 23, a battery 24, a connection section 25, a communication section 26, a storage section 27, a display section 28, and an ECU ( Electronic Control Unit) 29;

The drive unit 21 is configured using a motor, gears, and the like. Under the control of the ECU 29 , the driving section 21 supplies driving force to the driving wheels 20 (see FIG. 2 ) of the driving unit 2 based on the electric power supplied from the battery 24 .

The sensor group 22 includes a sensor for realizing automatic driving, an imaging device that captures images of the surroundings including the traveling direction of the drive unit 2, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor for detecting position information of the drive unit 2, and a battery 24. It is configured using a sensor that detects the remaining amount of the battery. Specifically, the sensor group 22 is configured using a 3D-LiDAR, a millimeter wave sensor, an infrared sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an angular velocity sensor, a GPS sensor, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, and the like. Further, the sensor group 22 includes a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor that generates image data by receiving an optical system for imaging the periphery of the drive unit 2 and an object image formed by the optical system. ) is configured using an imaging device having a sensor or the like. Furthermore, the sensor group 22 is configured using a tester and a temperature sensor that detect each of the remaining amount (SOC) of the battery 24, temperature, SOH (State of Health), voltage value, and current value. The sensor group 22 outputs various detection results to the ECU 29 .

The illumination section 23 is provided in an annular shape along the shape of the left and right drive wheels 20 in the drive unit 2 (see FIG. 2, for example). The illumination unit 23 emits light in a predetermined wavelength band under the control of the ECU 29 . Furthermore, under the control of the ECU 29, the illumination unit 23 can emit light in different wavelength bands for each predetermined area along an annular shape along the shape of the left and right drive wheels 20 in the drive unit 2. be. The illumination unit 23 is configured using an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light source. Under the control of the ECU 29, the illumination unit 23 emits light in a predetermined wavelength band, for example, white, red, blue, green, orange, etc., to light any one of lighting fixtures, direction indicators and hazard lamps. or one or more.

The battery 24 is configured using a rechargeable secondary battery such as a nickel-metal hydride battery or a lithium-ion battery. The battery 24 stores high-voltage DC power for driving the drive unit 21 . The battery 24 can be electrically connected to a charging device (not shown) through a charging port (not shown), and is charged with external power supplied from this charging device.

The connecting portion 25 is connected to the carriage 3 under the control of the ECU 29 . Specifically, the connection portion 25 is connected to the truck 3 by connecting to a connection portion provided on the truck 3 to be described later. The connecting portion 25 is configured using, for example, a uniaxial coupler or a biaxial coupler. Note that the connecting portion 25 may be configured by, for example, an electromagnet as long as it can be connected to the carriage 3 .

Under the control of the ECU 29, the communication unit 26 transmits various data and the like to the server through the network NW and receives various data from the server. For example, under the control of the ECU 29, the communication unit 26 acquires instruction information including towing information for towing the trolley 3 specified by the server, the stop position of the trolley 3, and the towing destination information of the trolley 3, and obtains the acquired instruction. Information is output to ECU29. The communication unit 26 is configured using a communication module or the like capable of transmitting and receiving various information.

The storage unit 27 stores various information regarding the drive unit 2 . The storage unit 27 stores CAN data of the drive unit 2 input from the ECU 29, various programs executed by the ECU 29, and the like. The storage unit 27 is configured using a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), Flash memory, HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like. The storage section 27 also has a program storage section 271 executed by the drive unit 2 and a drive unit information storage section 272 that stores drive unit information for identifying the drive unit 2 . Here, the drive unit information includes identification information (for example, a unit ID) for identifying the drive unit 2, the vehicle type of the drive unit 2, remaining battery capacity, towable load, and the like.

The display unit 28 displays images, videos and character information under the control of the ECU 29 . The display unit 28 is configured using a display such as liquid crystal or organic EL (Electro Luminescence).

The ECU 29 is configured using a memory and a processor having hardware such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The ECU 29 controls each section of the drive unit 2 . For example, the ECU 29 uses the detection results of the sensor group 22 and the like to control the drive unit 21 toward a designated location according to instruction information input from a server (not shown), thereby causing the drive unit 2 to travel autonomously. Further, the ECU 29 controls the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 according to the state of the drive unit 2 . Specifically, the ECU 29 controls the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 according to the state of the drive unit 2 detected by the sensor group 22 . For example, the ECU 29 causes the illuminating section 23 to emit light in different wavelength bands based on the detection results detected by the gyro sensors of the sensor group 22 . In one embodiment, the ECU 29 functions as a processor.

[Functional configuration of cart]
Next, the functional configuration of the carriage 3 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the truck 3. As shown in FIG.

The truck 3 shown in FIG. 3 includes a sorting mechanism 31, an acquisition unit 32, a connection unit 33, a communication unit 34, a sensor group 35, a battery 36, a storage unit 37, and an ECU 38.

The sorting mechanism 31 is movable in three axial directions with respect to the mounting surface on which the main body 30 is mounted. receive. Further, the sorting mechanism 31 transports the received packages 100 to a rack 41 or the like, which will be described later, accommodated in the space D<b>1 of the main body 30 .

The acquisition unit 32 acquires package information attached to the package 100 and outputs the acquired package information to the ECU 38 . Here, the parcel information is a one-dimensional code, a two-dimensional code (for example, QR code (registered trademark)), or an IC tag that stores information such as the sender, the address of the delivery destination, and the recipient. The acquisition unit 32 is configured using a reader capable of reading a one-dimensional code, a two-dimensional code, an IC tag, or the like, such as an imaging device or an IC tag reader.

The connection portion 33 can be connected to the connection portion 25 of the drive unit 2 and is connected to the connection portion 25 of the drive unit 2 under the control of the ECU 38 .

Under the control of the ECU 38, the communication unit 34 transmits various data such as package information and position information to the server through the network NW, and receives various data from the server. For example, under the control of the ECU 38 , the communication unit 34 acquires package information of the package 100 input from the server and outputs the acquired package information to the ECU 38 . The communication unit 34 is configured using a communication module or the like capable of transmitting and receiving various information.

The sensor group 35 includes various sensors for realizing traveling when being towed by the drive unit 2, an imaging device for imaging the surroundings including the traveling direction of the truck 3, a GPS sensor for detecting position information of the truck 3, and It is configured using a sensor that detects the remaining amount of the battery 36 . Specifically, the sensor group 35 is configured using a 3D-LiDAR, a millimeter wave sensor, an infrared sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an angular velocity sensor, a GPS sensor, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, and the like.

The battery 36 is configured using a rechargeable secondary battery such as a fuel cell and a nickel-metal hydride battery or a lithium-ion battery. A battery 36 outputs electric power for driving the carriage 3 . For example, the battery 36 generates electric power using hydrogen supplied from an FC tank (not shown).

The storage unit 37 stores various types of information regarding the truck 3 . The storage unit 37 stores CAN data of the truck 3 input from the ECU 38, various programs executed by the ECU 38, and the like. The storage unit 37 is configured using a DRAM, ROM, Flash memory, HDD, SSD, or the like. The storage unit 37 also has a program storage unit 371 executed by the truck 3 and a truck information storage unit 372 that stores truck information for identifying the truck 3 . Here, the trolley information includes identification information (for example, trolley ID) for identifying the trolley 3, the type of the trolley 3, the load capacity of the trolley 3, the shape of the trolley 3, and the purpose of use of the trolley 3 (for example, delivery or store). ) etc. are included.

The ECU 38 is configured using a memory and a processor having hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The ECU 38 controls each part that constitutes the truck 3 .

[Processing of drive unit]
Next, processing executed by the drive unit 2 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an overview of the processing executed by the drive unit 2. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ECU 29 acquires the state of the drive unit 2 (step S101). Specifically, the ECU 29 acquires various detection results including the state of the drive unit 2 detected by the sensor group 22 . For example, the ECU 29 acquires the detection result detected by the gyro sensor of the sensor group 22, the speed result of the drive unit 2 detected by the vehicle speed sensor, and the position information of the drive unit 2 detected by the GPS sensor. Furthermore, the ECU 29 acquires from the connecting portion 25 the state of the connecting portion 25 , for example, the presence or absence of the connecting state of the truck 3 .

Subsequently, the ECU 29 controls the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 according to the state of the drive unit 2 (step S102), and terminates this process. In this case, the ECU 29 controls the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 according to the state of the drive unit 2 detected by the sensor group 22 . For example, the ECU 29 causes the illuminating section 23 to emit light in different wavelength bands based on the detection results detected by the gyro sensors of the sensor group 22 . Specifically, the ECU 29 controls the light emission pattern based on the detection results of the gyro sensors of the sensor group 22 so that the upper half of the illumination section 23 is lit and the lower half is extinguished. Of course, the ECU 29 may control the light emission pattern so that the upper half of the lighting section 23 emits red light and the lower half emits blue light, based on the detection result detected by the gyro sensor of the sensor group 22. good. Although the ECU 29 divides the light emitting area of the illumination unit 23 into upper and lower parts, the light emitting area can be changed as appropriate without being limited to this.

Furthermore, the ECU 29 may control the light in the wavelength band emitted by the lighting section 23 based on the detection result detected by the speed sensor of the sensor group 22 . For example, the ECU 29 may control the wavelength band of the light emitted by the illumination unit 23 so that the color changes from blue to red as the speed detected by the speed sensor increases. Accordingly, a user or the like around the drive unit 2 can recognize the movement state of the drive unit 2 .

Further, the ECU 29 may control the light emission pattern of the lighting section 23 according to the mode of the drive unit 2 . For example, when the drive unit 2 is pulling the truck 3 , the ECU 29 may make the driver recognize that the truck 3 is being pulled by causing the lighting section 23 to emit light in red. Further, when only the drive unit 2 is autonomously traveling, the ECU 29 may cause the illumination section 23 to emit light in blue to recognize that the vehicle is moving to the destination. This allows a user or the like around the drive unit 2 to recognize the mode state of the drive unit 2 .

Further, the ECU 29 may control the light emission pattern so that the lighting section 23 is used as a street light when the drive unit 2 is stopped. In this case, the ECU 29 may control the light emitted by the illumination unit 23 to be white light or light in a warm wavelength band (for example, orange). This allows the drive unit 2 to function as a street light.

Further, the ECU 29 may control to change the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 when the drive unit 2 is activated or terminated. For example, the ECU 29 controls the light emission pattern so that the illumination section 23 blinks blue at regular time intervals when the drive unit 2 is activated, and the illumination section 23 blinks red at regular time intervals when the drive unit 2 is terminated. You may make it control a light emission pattern so that it may carry out.

Further, the ECU 29 may control the light emission pattern of the lighting section 23 and the light of the wavelength band to be emitted based on the position information detected by the GPS sensor of the sensor group 22 . As a result, a user or the like around the drive unit 2 can guess the current position based on the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 and the color of the emitted light.

Further, the ECU 29 may control the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 and the light of the wavelength band to be emitted based on the current time. As a result, a user or the like around the drive unit 2 can guess the current position based on the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 and the color of the emitted light.

According to the embodiment described above, since the ECU 29 acquires the detection result of detecting the state of the drive unit 2 and controls the light emission pattern of the illumination section 23 based on this detection result, the drive unit 2 current state or direction of travel.

(Other embodiments)
Further, in one embodiment, the above-described "unit" can be read as "circuit" or the like. For example, the controller can be read as a control circuit.

Further, the program to be executed by the drive unit according to one embodiment is file data in an installable format or an executable format, and It is provided by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB medium or flash memory.

Further, the program to be executed by the driving unit according to one embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet, and provided by being downloaded via the network.

In addition, in the description of the flowcharts in this specification, expressions such as "first", "after", and "following" are used to clearly indicate the anteroposterior relationship of the processing between steps. The order of processing required to do so is not uniquely determined by those representations. That is, the order of processing in the flow charts described herein may be changed within a consistent range.

Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. The broader aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

1 delivery unit 2 drive unit 3 truck 20 drive wheel 21 drive unit 22 sensor group 23 illumination unit 24 battery 25 connection unit 26 communication unit 27 storage unit 28 display unit 29 ECU
271 program storage unit 272 drive unit information storage unit NW network

Claims (1)

A drive unit that can be freely connected to a carriage that can accommodate luggage and can travel autonomously,
an illumination unit provided in an annular shape along the shape of the driving wheel and capable of emitting light in a predetermined wavelength band;
a processor configured to acquire a detection result of detecting the state of the drive unit, and to control the light emission pattern of the illumination unit based on the detection result;
comprising
drive unit.

Images