Mobile apparatus and mobile apparatus system

• US 8,082,063 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Issued: 12/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Sekiya, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel, Shardul
• Application Number:
  US12/323,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20090143931A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,119 Days
• Field of Search: 700/90, 700/245, 700/248, 700/250, 700/253, 700/255, 701/301, 701/302
• US Class Current: 700/255
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0251 extracting 3D information from a plurality of images taken from different locations, e.g. stereo vision stereoscopic image analysis H04N13/00; depth recovery from images G06T7/593
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/027 comprising intertial navigation means, e.g. azimuth detector inertial navigation G01C21/16; inertial navigation combined with non-inertial navigation instruments G01C21/165
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0289 with means for avoiding collisions between vehicles vehicle fittings for automatically controlling speed including means for detecting potential obstacles B60K31/0008; avoiding obstacles by action on the steering system B62D; radar, sonar, lidar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93

Abstract

Mobile apparatuses capable of moving or acting autonomously, without contacting each other, in an environment where movements of the mobile apparatuses are not managed by a server, are provided. In a robot functioning as a first mobile apparatus, it is recognized that an object corresponds to a second mobile apparatus, and based on this recognition, a target trajectory is searched for and determined. Further, the first mobile apparatus causes another robot functioning as the second mobile apparatus to recognize a part or a whole of the target trajectory. In the second mobile apparatus, the part or the whole of the target trajectory of the first mobile apparatus is recognized, and based on this recognition, a target trajectory that the second mobile apparatus should follow is searched for and determined. This allows the mobile apparatuses to move along their respective target trajectories to avoid contact with each other.

Claims

1. A mobile apparatus system made up of a first mobile apparatus and a second mobile apparatus each comprising a control device and having an operation controlled by the control device to autonomously move along a target trajectory representing changes in a target position defined in a two-dimensional model space,

the control device including a first processing unit, a second processing unit, and a third processing unit, wherein

in the i-th mobile apparatus (i=1, 2),

the first processing unit recognizes the i-th mobile apparatus and a trajectory representing changes in position of the i-th mobile apparatus as a first spatial element and a first trajectory representing changes in a first position, respectively, in the model space, recognizes an object and a trajectory representing changes in position of the object as a second spatial element and a second trajectory representing changes in a second position, respectively, and recognizes the second spatial element continuously or intermittently expanded in accordance with the second trajectory as an expanded second spatial element,

the second processing unit determines whether a safety condition is satisfied based on a recognition result by the first processing unit, the safety condition specifying that a possibility of contact between the first spatial element and the second spatial element is low, and

on a condition that the second processing unit determines that the safety condition is not satisfied, the third processing unit searches for the target trajectory based on the recognition result by the first processing unit, the target trajectory allowing the first spatial element to avoid contact with the expanded second spatial element,

in the first mobile apparatus, the control device causes the second mobile apparatus to recognize a part or a whole of the target trajectory searched for and determined by the third processing unit, and

in the second mobile apparatus, the control device recognizes the part or the whole of the target trajectory of the first mobile apparatus, and based on this recognition result, the first processing unit recognizes the trajectory of the first mobile apparatus as the second trajectory, with the first mobile apparatus regarded as the object.

2. The mobile apparatus system according to claim 1, wherein in the first mobile apparatus,

the second processing unit determines whether an additional safety condition is satisfied, the additional safety condition specifying that the object does not correspond to the second mobile apparatus, and

in the case where the second processing unit determines that the additional safety condition is satisfied, the third processing unit searches for a first target trajectory as the target trajectory, whereas in a case where the second processing unit determines that the additional safety condition is not satisfied, the third processing unit searches for a second target trajectory different from the first target trajectory as the target trajectory.

3. The mobile apparatus system according to claim 2, wherein in the first mobile apparatus, the third processing unit searches for the second target trajectory such that the first spatial element following the second target trajectory has a velocity of 0 or lower than a velocity of the first spatial element following the first target trajectory.

4. The mobile apparatus system according to claim 2, wherein in the first mobile apparatus, the third processing unit searches for the second target trajectory such that the second target trajectory is on an opposite side of the expanded second spatial element from the first target trajectory in an element passing region.

5. The mobile apparatus system according to claim 2, wherein in the first mobile apparatus, in the case where the second processing unit determines that the additional safety condition is not satisfied, the control device causes the second mobile apparatus to recognize a part or a whole of the target trajectory searched for and determined by the third processing unit.

6. The mobile apparatus system according to claim 1, wherein

in the first mobile apparatus, the control device transmits a trajectory signal representing a part or a whole of the target trajectory to the second mobile apparatus, and

in the second mobile apparatus, the control device receives the trajectory signal to recognize the part or the whole of the target trajectory.

7. The mobile apparatus system according to claim 1, wherein

in the first mobile apparatus, the control device controls the operation of the first mobile apparatus to express a part or a whole of the target trajectory, and

in the second mobile apparatus, the control device recognizes the operation of the first mobile apparatus to recognize the part or the whole of the target trajectory expressed by the operation.

8. A first mobile apparatus comprising a control device and having an operation controlled by the control device to autonomously move along a target trajectory representing changes in a target position defined in a two-dimensional model space,

the control device including a first processing unit, a second processing unit, and a third processing unit, wherein

the first processing unit recognizes a region through which the first mobile apparatus is capable of passing as an element passing region in the model space, recognizes the first mobile apparatus and a trajectory representing changes in position of the first mobile apparatus as a first spatial element and a first trajectory representing changes in a first position, respectively, in the model space, recognizes an object and a trajectory representing changes in position of the object as a second spatial element and a second trajectory representing changes in a second position, respectively, and recognizes the second spatial element continuously or intermittently expanded in accordance with the second trajectory as an expanded second spatial element,

the second processing unit determines whether a safety condition is satisfied based on a recognition result by the first processing unit, the safety condition specifying that a possibility of contact between the first spatial element and the second spatial element is low,

on a condition that the second processing unit determines that the safety condition is not satisfied, the third processing unit searches for the target trajectory based on the recognition result by the first processing unit, the target trajectory allowing the first spatial element to avoid contact with the expanded second spatial element, and

the control device causes a second mobile apparatus different from the first mobile apparatus to recognize a part or a whole of the target trajectory searched for and determined by the third processing unit.

9. A second mobile apparatus comprising a control device and having an operation controlled by the control device to autonomously move along a target trajectory representing changes in a target position defined in a two-dimensional model space,

the control device including a first processing unit, a second processing unit, and a third processing unit, wherein

the first processing unit recognizes a region through which the second mobile apparatus is capable of passing as an element passing region in the model space, recognizes the second mobile apparatus and a trajectory representing changes in position of the second mobile apparatus as a first spatial element and a first trajectory representing changes in a first position, respectively, in the model space, recognizes an object and a trajectory representing changes in position of the object as a second spatial element and a second trajectory representing changes in a second position, respectively, and recognizes the second spatial element continuously or intermittently expanded in accordance with the second trajectory as an expanded second spatial element,

the second processing unit determines whether a safety condition is satisfied based on a recognition result by the first processing unit, the safety condition specifying that a possibility of contact between the first spatial element and the second spatial element is low,

on a condition that the second processing unit determines that the safety condition is not satisfied, the third processing unit searches for the target trajectory based on the recognition result by the first processing unit, the target trajectory allowing the first spatial element to avoid contact with the expanded second spatial element, and

the control device recognizes a part or a whole of a target trajectory of a first mobile apparatus different from the second mobile apparatus, and based on this recognition result, the first processing unit recognizes the trajectory of the first mobile apparatus as the second trajectory, with the first mobile apparatus regarded as the object.