JP4165847B2 - Autonomous vehicles that get on and off the elevator - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
The present invention also relates to the autonomous vehicle to getting on and off the elevator.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An autonomous vehicle that gets on and off an elevator is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-177882 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-7597. In these conventional autonomous vehicles, a vehicle that moves sequentially to a plurality of preset floors and performs a required operation such as luggage transportation on each floor is fixedly set.
[0003]
In addition, when an autonomous vehicle is to be boarded in an elevator, the elevator arrives at the floor where the autonomous vehicle is located, and based on a signal that the elevator door is opened, boarding permission from the elevator controller via hall transmission / reception means on the floor By transmitting the command and receiving the boarding permission command by the transmission / reception means of the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle travels in the elevator car and gets on.
[0004]
Similarly, when an autonomous vehicle is to be dismounted from an elevator, the elevator arrives at a designated floor and is installed in the hall transmission / reception means of the floor or the elevator car based on a signal that the elevator door is opened. By transmitting the getting-off permission command via the in-car transmission / reception means and receiving the getting-off permission command by the transmission / reception means of the autonomous traveling vehicle, the autonomous traveling vehicle travels outside the elevator car and gets off the vehicle. .
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, depending on the floor on which the autonomous vehicle moves, there may be cases where the required work cannot be performed, for example, due to tenant moving or interior construction, or depending on the day. In such a case, in the conventional autonomous vehicle, since the moving floor is fixedly set, it becomes impossible to drive, and a situation in which a required work cannot be performed on all floors is caused. .
[0007]
Therefore, purpose of the present invention was made in view of such a point, to provide an autonomous vehicle which has the flexibility can be easily addressed when there is floor requires no floor or work that can not be required of the work is there.
[0009]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
Autonomous vehicle of the invention described in claim 1 to achieve the above Symbol purpose is to boarding the elevator, in the preset order moveable autonomous vehicles to a plurality of floors, the start of driving the autonomous vehicle a timer setting portion for setting, has a plurality of switches corresponding plurality of floors each being the preset, arbitrarily selected floors to be elevating the switch corresponding to the floor to be Nacala passenger of the plurality of switches Preset means configured to do so is provided.
[0010]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the timer setting unit for setting the operation start of the autonomous vehicle and the preset means for arbitrarily selecting the floor to be moved up and down are set, the operation start is set by the timer setting unit. By selecting and setting the floor to be moved up and down by the switch operation of the pull set means, you can easily select the floor to get on and off, and there are floors that can not be operated due to tenant moving or interior work etc. Even if there is an unnecessary floor, it is possible to easily cope with it.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the invention, the autonomous vehicle of claim 1, said switch, characterized in that it is a toggle switch.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous vehicle of the first aspect, the switch is a panel switch .
[0013]
In the second aspect of the invention, the corresponding floor is selected by the toggle switch, and in the third aspect of the invention, the corresponding floor is selected by the panel switch. Therefore, the selection operation can be performed easily and accurately. Become. That is, the preset means can be configured by using switch means other than the above-described toggle switch and panel switch, for example, a dip switch, etc. In particular, if a toggle switch or panel switch is used, the switch on the corresponding floor is large. In addition, since it can be arranged so that it can be easily identified, the switch operation by the operator is facilitated, and the occurrence of erroneous selection can be prevented in advance.
[0014]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous vehicle according to any one of the first to third aspects, the vehicle includes a front sensor that detects a front obstacle and measures a distance to the obstacle. It is characterized by stopping oppositely in front.
[0015]
According to the invention of claim 4, the elevator sensor can confirm the closed state of the elevator door and transmit a boarding completion signal to the elevator controller, and can confirm the open state of the elevator door and shift to the unloading operation. it can.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an autonomous vehicle for passenger to an elevator according to the present invention, autonomous vehicle will be described by FIGS. 1 through 10 as an example the case of a cleaning robot.
[0023]
1 and 2 are a front view and a rear view of the cleaning robot, respectively. The cleaning robot 1 has left and right drive wheels 2a and 2b and front and rear universal casters 3, and is driven on the floor surface by rotational drive of the drive wheels 2a and 2b. A front sensor 5 for detecting an obstacle and measuring a distance to the obstacle is disposed, and a hall transmitter / receiver installed in an elevator hall, which will be described later, and a car installed in the elevator car are arranged on the upper part. A robot transceiver 6 that transmits and receives signals to and from the elevator controller via a transceiver, a traveling indicator lamp 7 that lights during traveling, an external operation panel 8, and an operation handle 9 for manual movement are provided. Yes. Although not shown, a magnetic sensor is provided in the lower front portion, and a magnetic tape or magnetic mark stretched on the floor surface can be detected.
[0024]
The external operation panel 8 is provided with a timer setting unit 11 for setting the operation start time of the cleaning robot 1 and the like, and a switch operation unit 12 as a preset means. The cleaning robot 1 is moved to the switch operation unit 12. Toggle switches 13-1 to 13-7 respectively corresponding to a plurality of possible preset floors (here, from the first floor to the seventh floor for convenience of explanation) are provided, and these toggle switches are operated by an operator. , Movement to the corresponding floor is selected.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a main part of the cleaning robot 1. The cleaning robot 1 is provided with a control unit 15 having a CPU and a timer for controlling the overall operation, and the front sensor 5, the robot transceiver 6, the travel indicator lamp 7 and the timer setting unit 11 are connected to the control unit 15. In addition, left and right motors 17a and 17b for rotating and driving the left and right drive wheels 2a and 2b are connected via left and right drivers 16a and 16b. In addition, toggle switches 13-1 to 13-7 corresponding to each floor of the switch operation unit 12 are connected to the control unit 15 via the decoder 18.
[0026]
In addition to the above, the cleaning robot 1 includes an automatic cleaning function or the like having an orientation sensor, a cleaning brush for cleaning the floor surface, and the like. Details thereof are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-260905, Since it is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-206258, etc., the description thereof is omitted here.
[0027]
Next, the operation of the cleaning robot 1 and the operation of getting on and off the elevator will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10.
[0028]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the cleaning robot 1. First, at the storage location of the cleaning robot 1, the operator sets the operation start time (timer) by operating the timer setting unit 11 and operates the switch operation unit 12 to turn on the toggle switch corresponding to the desired cleaning floor. The cleaning floor is selected and set (step S1). Thereafter, when the cleaning robot 1 detects that the operation start time is up (step S2), the cleaning robot 1 moves to the elevator cleaning execution floor (step S3) and performs cleaning (step S4).
[0029]
The operations in steps S3 and S4 are sequentially performed on the cleaning floor set by the switch operation unit 12. After detecting that the cleaning of the final cleaning floor has been completed in step S5, the operation is moved to the storage place and operated. Is stopped (step S6).
[0030]
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the elevator operation when moving to the elevator cleaning floor in step S3, and FIGS. 6 to 10 are state diagrams showing the elevator operation. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, an in-car transceiver 23 is provided in the elevator car 22 connected to the elevator controller 21, and a hall transceiver is installed in the elevator hall on each floor where the cleaning robot 1 can move. 24, and optically communicates between the in-car transceiver 23 and the hall transceiver 24 and the robot transceiver 6 of the cleaning robot 1, and signals between the control unit 15 of the cleaning robot 1 and the elevator controller 21. Give and receive.
[0031]
First, when boarding an elevator, the cleaning robot 1 detects a magnetic tape or the like provided on the floor and is guided by the magnetic tape or the like to travel to the hall door of the elevator on the floor where the cleaning robot 1 is located. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, it stops at a predetermined position in front of the hall door within the transmission / reception area of the hall transceiver 24 on the floor (step S11). For this stop, a magnetic marker indicating a floor may be provided at a predetermined position, or it may be detected by detecting that the guiding magnetic tape has been cut off.
[0032]
Next, in the stop state shown in FIG. 6, an elevator hall call signal is transmitted from the robot transceiver 6 of the cleaning robot 1 to the elevator controller 21 via the hall transceiver 24 on the floor (step S12).
[0033]
Thereafter, the elevator arrives at the floor where the cleaning robot 1 is located, and the elevator arrives, which is transmitted from the elevator controller 15 via the hall transceiver 24 on the floor based on the opening signal of the elevator door, that is, the hall door and the elevator car door. The signal is received by the robot transmitter / receiver 6 (step S13), the open state of the elevator door is confirmed based on the output of the front sensor 5 (step S14), and if confirmed by the front sensor 5, the operation proceeds as shown in FIG. The vehicle travels and starts to enter the elevator car 22 (step S15).
[0034]
After that, based on the output of the front sensor 5, it is detected that the distance to the wall 22a in the elevator car 22 ahead in the traveling direction has reached a predetermined distance, and the traveling is stopped, and as shown in FIG. Next, the cleaning robot 1 is stopped at a predetermined position in the elevator car 22 (step S16).
[0035]
Next, the cleaning robot 1 transmits a boarding confirmation signal from the robot transmitter / receiver 6 to the elevator controller 21 via the in-car transmitter / receiver 23 to cause the elevator door to close. Thereafter, the cleaning robot 1 spins 180 degrees in the elevator car 22 as shown in FIG. 9 and confirms the closed state of the elevator door (in this case, the car door) based on the output of the front sensor 5. When the closed state can be confirmed, a boarding completion signal is transmitted from the robot transceiver 6 to the elevator controller 21 via the in-car transceiver 23 (step S17), and the next move from the floor set by the panel switch unit 12 is performed. An elevator destination floor instruction signal to the floor to be transmitted is transmitted (step S18).
[0036]
With the above operation, the elevator moves to the floor designated by the elevator destination floor instruction signal transmitted from the cleaning robot 1.
[0037]
Thereafter, when the cleaning robot 1 gets off the elevator at the destination floor, the elevator first arrives at the destination floor and is transmitted from the elevator controller 15 via the in-car transceiver 23 based on the opening signal of the elevator door. The elevator destination floor arrival signal is received by the robot transmitter / receiver 6 (step S19), and the open state of the elevator door is confirmed by the front sensor 5 (step S20). When this open state is confirmed, the vehicle travels forward from the elevator car 22. Is started (step S21).
[0038]
Thereafter, with the cleaning robot 1 getting off from the elevator car 22, a magnetic marker indicating the number of floors installed at a predetermined place on the floor of the elevator hall is read by the magnetic sensor to confirm that the desired floor has been reached. As shown in FIG. 6, a getting-off completion signal is transmitted from the robot transceiver 6 to the elevator controller 21 via the hall transceiver 24 on the floor (step S22), and the getting-off operation is terminated.
[0039]
After getting off, the cleaning robot 1 performs work in accordance with a previously input procedure. Position confirmation means such as a magnetic marker is installed on the floor at the end of the work. After confirming the position, the cleaning robot 1 travels to the front of the elevator door of the elevator hall using the autonomous traveling device. Stops when a marker indicating is detected. Alternatively, traveling from the end point of the cleaning work to the elevator hall can be guided by installing a magnetic tape on the floor as in the case of disclosing the cleaning work. Then, signals are sent to and received from the elevator, and if the predetermined number of floors have been cleaned, the robot goes to the floor where the cleaning robot 1 is stored and returns to the storage place. And go to the cleaning.
[0040]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, when the cleaning robot 1 is stopped at a predetermined position in front of the elevator door in the elevator hall or at a predetermined position in the elevator car 22, a stop mark such as a magnetic marker is attached to the floor surface at the stop position and cleaned. It can also be detected by the robot 1 and stopped. Further, the communication between the in-car transceiver 23 and the hall transceiver 24 on each floor and the robot transceiver 6 is not limited to optical communication, but can be performed using radio waves or ultrasonic waves. Furthermore, the preset means is not limited to the toggle switch, but can be configured using a panel switch, or can be configured using other switch means such as a dip switch.
[0041]
As for how to provide the switches, the floor of the building is divided into a plurality of groups, and each divided group is divided into a switch indicating each floor in the group. It is arranged in two rows with the switch row shown. In this way, m × n floors can be designated by m switches indicating groups and n switches indicating each floor, and the designation operation and confirmation of designated floors are facilitated. Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied not only to cleaning robots but also to autonomous vehicles such as patrol monitoring robots.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
According to the autonomous vehicle of the present invention described above, the floor to be boarded / exited can be arbitrarily selected from a plurality of floors set in advance so as to be sequentially movable. Even if there is a floor where work cannot be done or there is a floor where work is not required, it can be easily dealt with and flexibility can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a cleaning robot showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is also a rear view.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the main part of the cleaning robot.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the cleaning robot.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an elevator boarding / alighting operation when moving to an elevator cleaning execution floor in FIG. 4;
6 is a diagram showing a stop state at a predetermined position in front of the elevator door of the cleaning robot in the elevator getting on and off operation shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a view similarly showing a state during riding in an elevator car.
FIG. 8 is a view similarly showing a stop state at a predetermined position in the elevator car.
FIG. 9 is a view similarly showing a state in which a 180-degree spin turn is made in an elevator car.
FIG. 10 is a view similarly showing a state in which the passenger gets off from the elevator car.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning robot 2a Drive wheel 2b Drive wheel 3 Swivel caster 5 Front sensor 6 Robot transmitter / receiver 7 Travel indicator 8 External operation panel 9 Operation handle 11 Timer setting part 12 Switch operation part (preset means)
13-1 to 13-7 Toggle switch 15 Control unit 16a Driver 16b Driver 17a Motor 17b Motor 18 Decoder 21 Elevator controller 22 Elevator car 23 In-car transceiver 24 Hall transceiver

Claims (4)

In an autonomous vehicle that can get on and off the elevator and move sequentially to multiple preset floors,
A timer setting unit for setting the start of operation of the autonomous vehicle;
Preset means having a plurality of switches respectively corresponding to the plurality of preset floors, and configured to arbitrarily select a floor to be boarded / exited by a switch corresponding to the floor to be boarded / exited from among the plurality of switches An autonomous traveling vehicle comprising: The autonomous traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the switch is a toggle switch . The autonomous traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the switch is a panel switch . A front sensor for detecting a front obstacle and measuring a distance to the obstacle;
The autonomous traveling vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the vehicle stops in front of the elevator door in the elevator car.

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