JPH10312218A - Obstacle avoiding pattern generation method for unmanned vehicle body, and unmanned vehicle body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an unmanned vehicle body improved in compatibility with the man by traveling the unmanned vehicle body toward an examinee, measuring a proximity tolerance limit distance and setting an obstacle avoiding pattern for avoiding contact with the man at the place for away from the proximity tolerance limit distance. SOLUTION: This unmanned vehicle body 2 travels from the place being away from the examinee by ten meters to the examinee at prescribed speed. When the examinee 1 does not desire that the unmanned vehicle body 2 approach him more than that, it is reported to an observer 3. The proximity tolerance limit distance between the examinee 1 and the unmanned vehicle body at that time is measured. Then, the obstacle avoiding pattern for avoiding contact with the examinee 1 at the farther place than the proximity tolerance limit distance is set. Thus, the unmanned vehicle body 2 can be made improved in the compatibility with the man since anxiety and dangerous feeling are not given to peripheral men even if the unmanned vehicle body 2 travels at the place where it coexists with the men.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for creating an obstacle avoidance pattern for an unmanned vehicle and an unmanned vehicle having an obstacle avoidance pattern.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an unmanned vehicle, for example, an unmanned guided vehicle traveling along a route taught and stored in advance, has a detector, and detects an obstacle ahead of the course by the detector. In order to avoid contact with the obstacle according to a preset obstacle avoidance pattern, an avoidance operation such as a stop or a course change is performed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-300803). In order to prioritize the efficiency of transport work, this automated guided vehicle continues to run immediately before an obstacle, sets an obstacle avoidance pattern that stops immediately before an obstacle or changes the course as much as necessary. It had been.

[0003]

However, the prior art has the following problems. Generally, there is a virtual space called personal space around humans,
When others enter the personal space, anxiety,
Emotions such as fear occur. Humans also have a personal space for unmanned vehicles, and when the unmanned vehicles approach beyond their limits, they feel discomfort and fear. This limit distance is called a proximity allowable limit distance. The conventional unmanned vehicle approaches the human beyond the permissible limit distance, and thus has a problem that it causes emotion such as discomfort and fear to the human. In recent years, unmanned vehicles have been used for transporting meals in places such as hospitals where unspecified people enter and leave. The body was an unpleasant being, especially for the sick, old, and young, a terrible and low affinity. Therefore, the present invention has an obstacle avoidance pattern that does not enter the human personal space,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an unmanned vehicle having high affinity for humans, especially sick, elderly, and infants.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention measures an approachable limit distance by driving an unmanned vehicle toward a subject, and measures a human being at a distance greater than the approachable limit distance. An obstacle avoidance pattern that avoids contact with the vehicle is set.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for measuring an allowable proximity distance limit of an unmanned vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a subject, 2 is an unmanned vehicle, and 3 is an observer. The unmanned traveling body 2 travels at a constant speed toward the subject 1 from a point 10 meters away from the subject 1. When the subject 1 does not want to approach the unmanned vehicle 2 any more, the subject 1 reports to the observer 3. The observer measures the distance between the subject 1 and the unmanned vehicle 2 at this time. This distance is the allowable proximity limit distance of the unmanned vehicle 2 to the subject 1. This measurement is repeated while changing the speed of the unmanned vehicle 2. Prior to the measurement of the proximity allowable limit distance, an instruction is given to the subject 1 as follows. "From now on, unmanned vehicles will run from you 10 meters away at a variety of speeds towards you. You no longer want, or feel uneasy or dislike, unmanned vehicles. Raise your hand and report when you reach the distance you think you will feel. Even if you raise your hand, the unmanned vehicle will continue running and stop just before you. If it does not stop, emergency stop Press the button or avoid to the left or right. "In measuring the allowable proximity limit distance, the subjective index of the autonomic nervous system that can be measured objectively, for example, the subject's heart rate Alternatively, the distance between the subject 1 and the unmanned vehicle 2 at the time when the change appears may be measured by measuring the skin electrical reflection or the like. Needless to say, in order to generalize the proximity allowable limit distance, it is better to repeat the measurement and obtain a large amount of data while changing the age, sex, and the like of the subject 1. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the traveling speed of the unmanned vehicle 2 and the allowable permissible limit distance obtained in this manner. The horizontal axis indicates the traveling speed of the unmanned vehicle 2, and the vertical axis indicates the permissible allowable limit. Distance. This graph is
This indicates that the proximity allowable limit distance increases in proportion to the traveling speed of the unmanned vehicle 2.

Next, a description will be given of the configuration of an unmanned vehicle provided with an obstacle avoidance pattern in consideration of the allowable allowable distance of the unmanned vehicle obtained as described above. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of an unmanned vehicle having an obstacle avoidance pattern according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a detector such as an infrared sensor, which detects an obstacle in front of the course and measures a distance to the obstacle. 12
Is an arithmetic unit, compares the distance obtained by the detector 11 with the proximity allowable limit distance measured in advance and stored in the storage unit 13 to determine whether or not the avoidance operation is necessary, and determines the result. Output as a signal. A control unit 14 receives a signal and outputs a command for an avoidance operation such as a stop or a course change to the drive unit 15. In this way, when the unmanned vehicle detects an obstacle in front of the course, it stops or changes the course farther than the proximity allowable limit distance and avoids the obstacle, so if the obstacle is a human, The unmanned vehicle does not enter the personal space of the human. Therefore,
The unmanned traveling body is mixed with humans, even when traveling,
There is little discomfort to the surrounding people.

[0007]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) It is possible to objectively measure the unacceptable limit distance of the unmanned vehicle to the human and easily set an obstacle avoidance pattern of the unmanned vehicle that does not affect the personal space of the human. (2) Since an unmanned traveling body does not cause anxiety or fear to the surrounding people even when traveling in a place where the unmanned traveling body is mixed with a human, the affinity of the unmanned traveling body to the human is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of measuring an approach allowable limit distance of an unmanned vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a relationship between an allowable permissible limit distance and a traveling speed of an unmanned vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of an unmanned vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Subject 2: Unmanned vehicle 3: Observer 4: Running direction 11: Detector 12: Operation unit 13: Storage unit 14: Control unit 15: Drive unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for creating an obstacle avoidance pattern for an unmanned traveling object traveling along a route taught in advance, the detector including a detector for detecting the presence of a person in the traveling direction. Run toward, measuring the distance between the unmanned running body and the subject where the subject begins to feel anxiety, while the unmanned running body is running, when detecting the presence of a human in its traveling direction, A method of creating an obstacle avoidance pattern for an unmanned vehicle, wherein the avoidance operation is set to be performed at a distance greater than the distance. 2. The distance between the unmanned vehicle and the subject at which the subject begins to feel anxiety, the distance between the unmanned vehicle and the subject when the physiological index of the autonomic nervous system of the subject changes. The method for creating an obstacle avoidance pattern for an unmanned vehicle according to claim 1, wherein 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the physiological index of the autonomic nervous system is a heart rate. 4. An unmanned vehicle having a detector for detecting the presence of a person in the traveling direction and an obstacle avoidance pattern for avoiding contact with the person, and traveling along a route taught in advance. An unmanned vehicle having an obstacle avoidance pattern that performs an avoiding operation at a distance farther than a distance measured by a person beforehand to cause anxiety with respect to the unmanned vehicle. 5. The distance between the unmanned vehicle and the subject at which the subject begins to feel anxiety, the distance between the unmanned vehicle and the subject when the physiological index of the subject's autonomic nervous system changes. The unmanned running body according to claim 4, wherein the distance is set to: 6. The unmanned vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the physiological index of the autonomic nervous system is a heart rate.