VEHICLE TRAVEL SYSTEM AND VEHICLE TRAVEL CONTROL METHOD

• US 20160224026A1
• Filed: 12/12/2013
• Published: 08/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: SUGAWARA, Kazuhiro, TANAKA, Katsuaki, HAMADA, Tomoyuki
• Granted Patent: US 10,048,692 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2004 Control mechanisms, e.g. control levers control levers per se G05G
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/205 Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles E02F3/8866 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2054 Fleet management
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/26 Indicating devices E02F5/145 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0011 associated with a remote control arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0027 involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0044 by providing the operator with a computer generated representation of the environment of the vehicle, e.g. virtual reality, maps maps used for automatic navigation G05D1/0274; flight directors G01C23/005
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287

Abstract

Disclosed are a vehicle travel system and vehicle travel control method for guiding a haulage vehicle to a loading point without interference with obstacles. The vehicle travel system is provided with a direction input device (102), travel route calculating unit (1507) and vehicle control unit (205). Through the direction input device, an operator of a loading machine (10) inputs the direction of a body of a haulage vehicle (20-1) at a loading point (LP-L or LP-R). The travel route calculating unit calculates a travel route on which the haulage vehicle (20-1) is to be stopped in the inputted direction at the loading point (LP-L or LP-R). The vehicle control unit performs vehicle control to allow the haulage vehicle (20-1) to travel along and stop on the travel route.

Claims

1. A vehicle travel system for guiding a haulage vehicle which hauls a payload by unmanned operation from a loading machine that performs loading work of the payload, to a loading point for the payload, said vehicle travel system comprising:

a loading point setting device that sets the loading point,

a direction input device through which an operator of the loading machine inputs, at will and independently from the loading point setting device, a direction of a body of the haulage vehicle at the loading point,

a travel route calculation unit that calculates a travel route to stop the haulage vehicle in the inputted direction at the loading point, and

a vehicle control unit that performs vehicle control to allow the haulage vehicle to travel along and stop on the travel route.

2. The vehicle travel system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a display device that displays a setting screen including a haulage vehicle image, said haulage vehicle image indicating the direction of the body of the haulage vehicle at the loading point, and

a screen display control unit that performs display control of the setting screen,

wherein the direction input device receives an input of an angle of turning movement to change the direction of the haulage vehicle image, and

wherein the screen display control unit makes, in the setting screen, the haulage vehicle image turn and move in accordance with the angle of turning movement about a two-dimensional loading point that indicates the loading point.

3. The vehicle travel system according to claim 2, wherein:

the screen display control unit displays the travel route in superimposition on the setting screen.

4. The vehicle travel system according to claim 3, further comprising:

a warning unit that, with reference to positional information on an obstacle located around the loading point or the travel, produces a warning if an interference with the obstacle is expected when the haulage vehicle travels along the travel route displayed in superimposition on the setting screen or if an interference with the obstacle is expected when the haulage vehicle stops at the loading point and along the direction of the haulage vehicle image displayed in superimposition on the setting screen.

5. The vehicle travel system according to claim 3, further comprising:

a monitoring image synthesizing unit that changes a view point of a camera image, which has been obtained by shooting a periphery of the loading machine, to an upper view point to synthesize a monitoring image,

wherein the screen display control unit generates a wide area image including a queuing position for the haulage vehicle and the loading point, generates a composite image with the monitoring image superimposed on a partial area, which corresponds to a shooting range of the monitoring image, in the wide area image, and displays the travel route in superimposition on the composite image.

6. The vehicle travel system according to claim 1, wherein:

the loading machine includes a front working device for performing the loading work and control levers for operating the front working device, and the direction input device is configured including a ring member that is provided on one of the control levers and is turnable about a direction of an axis of the one of the control levers.

7. A vehicle travel control method for guiding a haulage vehicle, which hauls a payload by unmanned operation from a loading machine that performs loading work of the payload, to a loading point for the payload, said vehicle travel control method comprising:

a step of receiving, from an operator of the loading machine, a setting operation for the loading point,

a step of receiving an input operation of a desired direction of a body of the haulage vehicle at the loading point by an input operation that is independent from the setting operation for the loading point,

a step of calculating a travel route for making the haulage vehicle stop in the inputted direction at the loading point, and

a step of performing vehicle control to allow the haulage vehicle to travel along and stop on the travel route.