Autonomous travel vehicle

• US 9,898,009 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2015
• Issued: 02/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Original Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Inventors: Shitamoto, Hideo
• Primary Examiner(s): Antonucci, Anne M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stroud, James E
• Application Number:
  US15/119,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20170060137A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,110 Days
• Field of Search: 701 26
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0016 characterised by the operator's input device input arrangements for computing systems in general G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0221 involving a learning process
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0223 involving speed control of the vehicle vehicle fittings for automatically controlling, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

An autonomous travel vehicle includes a platform, a traveler, a storage, an arrival position predictor, a corrected speed calculator, and a reproduction travel command calculator. The traveler controls the platform to travel in accordance with a travel control command. The storage stores travel route data, which stores subgoal points, arrival times, and traveling speeds in association with each other. In the reproduction travel mode, the arrival position predictor predicts a predicted arrival position. In the reproduction travel mode, the corrected speed calculator calculates a corrected traveling speed based on a predicted traveling distance and a required traveling distance. The reproduction travel command calculator calculates a reproduction travel control command based on the corrected traveling speed, as the travel control command.

Claims

1. An autonomous travel vehicle comprising:

a platform;

a traveler including wheels that allow the platform to travel in accordance with a travel control command;

a storage that stores travel route data including a plurality of subgoal points set on a travel route, arrival times at which the platform reaches each of the plurality of subgoal points, and traveling speeds of the platform respectively at the plurality of subgoal points in association with each other;

an arrival position predictor that predicts a predicted arrival position based on a current position of the platform, a current traveling speed associated with a current subgoal point in the travel route data, a current arrival time, and a next arrival time associated with an arrival target subgoal point in the travel route data, when a reproduction travel mode is executed to cause the platform to autonomously travel along the travel route based on the travel route data;

the predicted arrival position being a position at which the platform is predicted to reach at the next arrival time during execution of the reproduction travel mode;

the current subgoal point corresponding to the current position of the platform;

the arrival target subgoal point corresponding to a target point to be reached by the platform;

a corrected speed calculator that calculates a corrected traveling speed, which is a corrected speed of the current traveling speed, based on a predicted traveling distance and a required traveling distance, when the reproduction travel mode is executed, the predicted traveling distance being a distance between the current position and the predicted arrival position, the required traveling distance being a distance that is necessary for the platform to reach the arrival target subgoal point; and

a reproduction travel command calculator that calculates a reproduction travel control command based on the corrected traveling speed as the travel control command, when the reproduction travel mode is executed.

2. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the required traveling distance is a distance between the current position of the platform and the arrival target subgoal point.

3. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an elapsed autonomous travel time counter that counts an elapsed autonomous travel time from a start of the reproduction travel mode;

wherein

the required traveling distance is a distance between the current subgoal point associated with an arrival time corresponding to the elapsed autonomous travel time and the arrival target subgoal point.

4. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

the wheels of the traveler include a pair of main wheels facing each other on left and right sides in a travel direction of the platform, the main wheels being capable of rotating independently of each other;

each of a first traveling speed and a second traveling speed includes a parallel speed component that determines a center speed of the platform and a turning speed component that determines turning of the platform, the first traveling speed and the second traveling speed being speeds of the pair of main wheels; and

the corrected speed calculator calculates a corrected parallel speed component that is a corrected speed of the parallel speed component and a corrected turning speed component that is a corrected speed of the turning speed component, as the corrected traveling speed.

5. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the corrected speed calculator further calculates the corrected parallel speed component including a travel route correction speed component that is a correction speed required to join the travel route based on a travel route error indicating a deviation between the travel route and the platform.

6. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the travel route error is a distance between the current position and a virtual travel route connecting the current subgoal point and the arrival target subgoal point.

7. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 5, wherein

the arrival position predictor further predicts a straight arrival prediction point that is reached by traveling straight from the current position;

and

the travel route error is a distance between the straight arrival prediction point and a virtual travel route expressed by a straight line that connects the current subgoal point and the arrival target subgoal point.

8. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the corrected parallel speed component is divided into a first parallel speed component and a second parallel speed component at a predetermined ratio, and the travel route correction speed component is calculated by using the second parallel speed component.

9. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 8, wherein

a first travel route correction speed component that is the travel route correction speed component for the first traveling speed is calculated as a product of the second parallel speed component and a first constant determined by a function that monotonically increases in a range from 0 to 1 along with an increase of the travel route error;

and

a second travel route correction speed component that is the travel route correction speed component for the second traveling speed is calculated as a product of the second parallel speed component and a second constant determined by a difference between 1 and the first constant.

10. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the travel route data further includes direction angles indicating directions of the platform respectively at the plurality of subgoal points, in association with the plurality of subgoal points.

11. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 10, wherein

the arrival position predictor further predicts a predicted direction angle indicating a direction at the predicted arrival position;

and

the corrected speed calculator calculates the corrected turning speed component based on a target direction angle change and a predicted direction angle change, the target direction angle change being a change of an angle that is necessary to turn to an arrival target direction angle associated with the arrival target subgoal point, the predicted direction angle change being a difference between the predicted direction angle and a current direction angle indicating a direction of the platform at the current position.

12. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 4, wherein

the travel route data further includes travel curvature radii when the platform respectively passes the subgoal points, in association with respective ones of the subgoal points;

and

the turning speed component is calculated based on the traveling speed corresponding to the parallel speed component and a travel curvature radius.

13. The autonomous travel vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

an elapsed teaching time counter that counts an elapsed teaching time when a manual operation teaching mode is executed to teach the travel route data via an operation of an operator, the elapsed teaching time being a time from start of the manual operation teaching mode; and

a taught data generator that generates the travel route data storing taught subgoal points on the travel route through the operation of the operator and elapsed teaching times when the taught subgoal points are obtained, in association with each other, when the manual operation teaching mode is executed.