CONTROL APPARATUS FOR AUTONOMOUS OPERATING VEHICLE

• US 20120083962A1
• Filed: 09/22/2011
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Yamamura, Makoto, Masubuchi, Yoshinori, SATO, Kazuhisa
• Granted Patent: US 8,712,623 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/25
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0261 using magnetic plots
• 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 1/0272 comprising means for registering the travel distance, e.g. revolutions of wheels measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, e.g. using odometers G01C22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

In an apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover and operating machine, it is configured to have a geomagnetic sensor responsive to magnets embedded in the area, detect angular velocity generated about z-axis in center of gravity of the vehicle, detect a wheel speed of the driven wheel, store map information including magnet embedded positions, detect a primary reference direction, detect a vehicle position relative to the magnet, and detect a vehicle position in the area, calculate a traveling direction and traveled distance of the vehicle, and control the operation performed through the operating machine in the area in accordance with a preset operation program based on the detected primary reference direction, the detected position of the vehicle in the area, the calculated traveling direction and the calculated traveled distance.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover and an operating machine, the vehicle autonomously traveling in a travel-scheduled area to perform operation using the operating machine by driving the prime mover, comprising:

a geomagnetic sensor having x-axis, y-axis and z-axis outputs, mounted on the vehicle and responsive to a magnet embedded in the travel-scheduled area;

an angular velocity sensor adapted to detect angular velocity generated about z-axis in center of gravity of the vehicle;

a wheel speed sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of a wheel speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle;

a map information storage adapted to define the travel-scheduled area and store map information including an embedded position of the magnet indicated with an x-y coordinate position;

a primary reference direction and position detector adapted to detect a primary reference direction based on the output of the geomagnetic sensor, detect a position of the vehicle relative to the magnet based on the output of the geomagnetic sensor and detect a position of the vehicle in the travel-scheduled area based on the detected position and the map information;

a direction and distance calculator adapted to calculate a traveling direction based on the output of the angular velocity sensor and a traveled distance based on the output of the wheel speed sensor; and

an operation controller adapted to control the operation performed through the operating machine in the travel-scheduled area in accordance with a preset operation program based on the detected primary reference direction, the detected position of the vehicle in the travel-scheduled area, the calculated traveling direction and the calculated traveled distance.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the primary reference direction and position detector compares the z-axis output of the geomagnetic sensor with a threshold value and detects one of the primary reference direction and the position of the vehicle relative to the magnet in accordance with a result of the comparing.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the primary reference direction and position detector detects the position of the vehicle relative to the magnet based on the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis outputs of the geomagnetic sensor when the z-axis output of the geomagnetic sensor exceeds a threshold value.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direction and distance calculator corrects the calculated traveling direction based on the primary reference direction detected by the primary reference direction and position detector.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation controller controls the prime mover to make straight travel in a direction of the primary reference direction detected by the primary reference direction and position detector when the operation is performed.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the primary reference direction and position detector includes a magnetic field variation detector adapted to detect variation in magnetic field in the travel-scheduled area and corrects a command value outputted for the straight travel based on the magnetic field variation.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the operation controller controls the prime mover to turn the vehicle when the magnet has not been searched during the straight travel.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the operation controller controls the prime mover to turn the vehicle when the magnet has not been searched during the straight travel.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prime mover comprises an electric motor, a charge station is provided in the travel-scheduled area to charge the motor, and the charge station is defined as a reference position in the map information.

10. An apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover and an operating machine, the vehicle autonomously traveling in a travel-scheduled area to perform operation using the operating machine by driving the prime mover, comprising:

geomagnetic sensor means having x-axis, y-axis and z-axis outputs, mounted on the vehicle and responsive to a magnet embedded in the travel-scheduled area;

angular velocity sensor means for detecting angular velocity generated about z-axis in center of gravity of the vehicle;

wheel speed sensor means for producing an output indicative of a wheel speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle;

map information storage means for defining the travel-scheduled area and storing map information including an embedded position of the magnet indicated with an x-y coordinate position;

primary reference direction and position detecting means for detecting a primary reference direction based on the output of the geomagnetic sensor means, detecting a position of the vehicle relative to the magnet based on the output of the geomagnetic sensor means and detecting a position of the vehicle in the travel-scheduled area based on the detected position and the map information;

direction and distance calculating means for calculating a traveling direction based on the output of the angular velocity sensor means and a traveled distance based on the output of the wheel speed sensor means; and

operation controlling means for controlling the operation performed through the operating machine in the travel-scheduled area in accordance with a preset operation program based on the detected primary reference direction, the detected position of the vehicle in the travel-scheduled area, the calculated traveling direction and the calculated traveled distance.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the primary reference direction and position detecting means compares the z-axis output of the geomagnetic sensor means with a threshold value and detects one of the primary reference direction and the position of the vehicle relative to the magnet in accordance with a result of the comparing.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the primary reference direction and position detecting means detects the position of the vehicle relative to the magnet based on the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis outputs of the geomagnetic sensor means when the z-axis output of the geomagnetic sensor means exceeds a threshold value.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the direction and distance calculating means corrects the calculated traveling direction based on the primary reference direction detected by the primary reference direction and position detecting means.

14. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the operation controller controls the prime mover to make straight travel in a direction of the primary reference direction detected by the primary reference direction and position detecting means when the operation is performed.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the primary reference direction and position detecting means includes a magnetic field variation detecting means for detecting variation in magnetic field in the travel-scheduled area and correcting a command value outputted for the straight travel based on the magnetic field variation.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the operation controlling means controls the prime mover to turn the vehicle when the magnet has not been searched during the straight travel.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the operation controlling means controls the prime mover to turn the vehicle when the magnet has not been searched during the straight travel.

18. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the prime mover comprises an electric motor, a charge station is provided in the travel-scheduled area to charge the motor, and the charge station is defined as a reference position in the map information.

19. A method for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover and an operating machine, the vehicle autonomously traveling in a travel-scheduled area to perform operation using the operating machine by driving the prime mover, and further having a geomagnetic sensor having x-axis, y-axis and z-axis outputs, mounted on the vehicle and responsive to a magnet embedded in the travel-scheduled area, comprising the steps of:

obtaining a sensor output indicative of angular velocity generated about z-axis in center of gravity of the vehicle;

obtaining a sensor output indicative of a wheel speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle;

defining the travel-scheduled area and storing map information including an embedded position of the magnet indicated with an x-y coordinate position;

detecting a primary reference direction based on the output of the geomagnetic sensor, detecting a position of the vehicle relative to the magnet based on the output of the geomagnetic sensor and detecting a position of the vehicle in the travel-scheduled area based on the detected position and the map information;

calculating a traveling direction based on the sensor output indicative of the angular velocity and a traveled distance based on the sensor output indicative of the wheel speed; and

controlling the operation performed through the operating machine in the travel-scheduled area in accordance with a preset operation program based on the detected primary reference direction, the detected position of the vehicle in the travel-scheduled area, the calculated traveling direction and the calculated traveled distance.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the step of detecting compares the z-axis output of the geomagnetic sensor with a threshold value and detects one of the primary reference direction and the position of the vehicle relative to the magnet in accordance with a result of the comparing.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the step of detecting detects the position of the vehicle relative to the magnet based on the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis outputs of the geomagnetic sensor when the z-axis output of the geomagnetic sensor exceeds a threshold value.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the step of calculating corrects the calculated traveling direction based on the detected primary reference direction.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein the step of controlling controls the prime mover to make straight travel in a direction of the detected primary reference direction when the operation is performed.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the step of detecting includes the step of detecting variation in magnetic field in the travel-scheduled area and corrects a command value outputted for the straight travel based on the magnetic field variation.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the step of controlling controls the prime mover to turn the vehicle when the magnet has not been searched during the straight travel.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of controlling controls the prime mover to turn the vehicle when the magnet has not been searched during the straight travel.

27. The method according to claim 19, wherein the prime mover comprises an electric motor, a charge station is provided in the travel-scheduled area to charge the motor, and the charge station is defined as a reference position in the map information.