JP2004029029A - Light source position tracking device and tracking method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light source position tracking device and a tracking method capable of appropriately tracking the movement of any light source regardless of its installation location.
SOLUTION: An irradiation surface 2 to be irradiated with light L, up / down / left / right motors for tilting the irradiation surface, and are arranged in a ring shape at equal intervals on the irradiation surface and formed in a spherical shape, and the spherical surface is formed. And at least four light / dark detection light-receiving sensors 5a to 5d that detect light and dark and output a detection signal along with the axis C provided upright on the irradiation surface. A dark portion generating member 6 that generates a dark portion that becomes a shadow with respect to a bright portion to be irradiated with light on an irradiation surface when the optical axis does not coincide with the optical axis of the light source. A main sensor for outputting a reference signal for comparison in response to irradiation, and a control unit for driving and controlling the tilting means by comparing each detection signal from each of the light-receiving sensors for light / dark detection with a reference signal for comparison from the main sensor. Equipped.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a light source position tracking device and a tracking method capable of appropriately tracking the movement of any light source regardless of the installation location and also of any light source.

Conventionally, as a system that tracks a light source, for example, the sun, those disclosed in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, for example, are known. In Patent Literature 1, the solar light receiving unit is caused to track the sun, and the solar light receiving unit is rotated in east-west and north-south elevation directions by driving means. The operation of the driving means is controlled by the control means based on the time information and date information from the clock means. The clock means receives the standard radio signal. In Patent Document 2, a solar cell is tracked by the sun, a driving unit for changing the direction of the solar cell, a driving control unit for controlling the driving unit, an output detecting unit for detecting an output of the solar cell, and a driving control. A clock means for outputting date and time information to the means.
JP 2002-202817 A JP-A-2002-261316

In any of these patent documents, in order to identify the position of the sun, since the tracking system is configured using means for providing date and time information such as clock means and clock means, the installation location of the system is determined. If you change it, you have to change the settings, and it was not easy to track the sun anywhere on the earth. Further, when the operation is to track an arbitrary light source instead of the sun specified by the date and time, it cannot be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has a light source position tracking device and a tracking method capable of appropriately tracking the movement of any light source regardless of the installation location. The aim is to provide a method.

A light source position tracking device according to the present invention includes: an irradiation surface irradiated with light from a light source; tilting means for tilting the irradiation surface around two axes orthogonal to each other on the irradiation surface; And at least four light / dark detection light receiving sensors that are arranged in an annular shape at equal intervals on the upper side, are formed in a spherical shape, can receive light along the spherical surface, detect light / dark, and output a detection signal. The light receiving surface sensor is provided with its axis centered upright on the irradiation surface, and the base in the longitudinal direction along the axis is arranged inside the light / dark detection light receiving sensor so as to be surrounded by the light / dark detection light receiving sensor. When the longitudinal end along the heart is separated from the light / dark detection light-receiving sensor and the axis does not coincide with the optical axis of the light source, a shadow is formed on the illuminated surface with respect to a bright portion to which light is irradiated. Dark area generation that generates dark areas A light-receiving element provided at the tip of the dark area generating member, receiving a light from a light source and outputting a reference signal for comparison, and comparing each detection signal from each of the light-receiving sensors for light / dark detection with each other. A control unit for driving and controlling the tilting means in comparison with a reference signal for comparison from the light receiving sensor.

In addition, the dark portion generating member is disposed at a position on the tip side thereof separated from the light and dark detection light receiving sensor and is orthogonal to the axis of the dark portion generating member, and the dark portion generating member and the light and dark detection light receiving sensor surrounding the dark portion generating member are arranged. And a light-blocking member for preventing light from intruding into the gap.

を Further, a limiter is provided which detects that the tilting means has reached the limit of the movable range and stops the control of the tilting means by the control unit.

(6) The control unit is characterized in that the tilting means for tilting the irradiation surface about two axes is tilt-controlled with a time interval individually for each axis.

Further, the light source position tracking method according to the present invention uses the light source position tracking device according to claim 1 to control the driving of the tilting means for tilting the irradiation surface, by the control unit, by the light / dark detection light receiving sensor and the light / dark detection light sensor. It is characterized in that it is executed based only on the detection signal output by the light receiving sensor for comparison and the reference signal for comparison.

In the light source position tracking device and tracking method according to the present invention, since the time element is not used, it is possible to appropriately track the movement of any light source regardless of the installation location.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the light source position tracking device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The light source position tracking device 1 according to the present embodiment basically includes, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, an irradiation surface 2 on which light L from a light source is irradiated, and the irradiation surface 2 on the irradiation surface 2. An upper and lower motor 3 and a left and right motor 4 as tilting means for tilting around two axes X and Y orthogonal to each other, and are arranged on the irradiation surface 2 in a ring shape at equal intervals and formed in a spherical shape. Upper, lower, right, and left sensors 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d as at least four light / dark detection light-receiving sensors 5 capable of receiving light along the spherical surface, detecting light / dark, and outputting a detection signal. , The axis C is provided upright on the irradiation surface 2, and a longitudinal base end 6 a along the axis C is disposed inside the light / dark detection light sensor 5 so as to be surrounded by the light / dark detection light sensor 5. And the length along the axis C When the leading end 6b is separated from the light / dark detection light-receiving sensor 5 and the axis C does not coincide with the optical axis of the light source, the light L becomes a shadow on the irradiation surface 2 with respect to the light portion A on which the light L is irradiated. A dark portion generation member 6 that generates the dark portion B, a main sensor 7 that is provided at the distal end 6b of the dark portion generation member 6, and that receives a light L from a light source and outputs a reference signal for comparison, The control unit 8 is configured to compare each detection signal from each of the light / dark detection light receiving sensors 5 with a comparison reference signal from the main sensor 7 to drive and control the motors 3 and 4. Hereinafter, a case where the sun is used as a light source and its movement is tracked will be described as an example.

照射 As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the irradiation surface 2 is formed flat on one surface of a rectangular plate 9. The irradiation surface 2 is installed toward the sun so that sunlight L is irradiated on the irradiation surface 2. At least four upper sensors 5a, lower sensors 5b, right sensors 5c, and left sensors 5d are provided on the irradiation surface 2 as light / dark detection light receiving sensors 5. These light receiving sensors 5 are formed in a spherical shape and can receive light from almost all directions along the spherical surface. As such light receiving sensors 5, for example, "KSPD1840C (trade name) manufactured by Kyoto Semiconductor" )) Or KSPD1640M (trade name). Specifically, the light receiving sensor 5 outputs a voltage value or a current value according to the intensity of the detected light as a light / dark detection signal.

(4) At least four light / dark detection light-receiving sensors 5 are provided to specify two axes X and Y orthogonal to each other on the irradiation surface 2 in order to specify the irradiation surface in the space. That is, two sensors 5c and 5d are arranged on one axis X orthogonal to each other, and two sensors 5a and 5b are arranged on the other axis Y, so that a total of four sensors are provided. However, it goes without saying that four or more may be provided. Therefore, in consideration of the arrangement of four or more light-and-dark detection light-receiving sensors, the light-receiving sensors 5 are annularly arranged on the irradiation surface 2 at equal intervals, and two axes X and Y are specified by four of them. .

(2) Although not shown, the irradiation surface 2 is provided with two motors as a tilting means for tilting the irradiation surface 2, a vertical motor 3 for tilting vertically and a left and right motor 4 for tilting left and right. The motors 3 and 4 individually tilt the irradiation surface 2 around the two axes X and Y specified by the arrangement of the light / dark detection light-receiving sensor 5, that is, around the vertical and horizontal axes.

{Circle around (2)} On the irradiation surface 2, a dark part generating member 6 is provided. In the present embodiment, it is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape. The dark part generating member 6 is attached so that the axis C of the cylindrical body 10 stands upright with respect to the irradiation surface 2. More specifically, the dark part generation member 6 is erected on the irradiation surface 2 so that the axis C passes through the intersection of the two axes X and Y that specify the irradiation surface 2. The dark portion generation member 6 is formed with a considerable length along the axis C, and its base end 6a, which is particularly joined to the irradiation surface 2, is provided inside the light / dark detection light-receiving sensor 5 arranged in an annular shape. Surrounded by the light / dark detection light receiving sensors 5, they are arranged at the center positions of the annularly arranged light receiving sensors 5a to 5d. As a result, the dark portion generation member 6 maintains the same positional relationship on the irradiation surface 2 with any of the light / dark detection light receiving sensors 5.

(4) Since the dark portion generating member 6 has a considerable length, the distal end 6b opposite to the base end 6a is far away from the irradiation surface 2 and is therefore far away from the light / dark detection light receiving sensor 5. Accordingly, when the axis C is not coincident with the optical axis of the sun, that is, when the irradiation surface 2 is not orthogonal to the optical axis of the sun, the dark portion generation member 6 forms a shadow on the irradiation surface 2, That is, a dark portion B, which is a shadow portion, is generated for a bright portion A on which light is irradiated on the irradiation surface 2.

遮光 A light shielding member 11 is attached to the dark part generation member 6 at an appropriate position on the front end 6 b side of the irradiation surface 2, which is separated from the light / dark detection light sensor 5. In the illustrated example, the light shielding member 11 is joined to the tip 6 b of the dark portion generation member 6. However, it may be provided in the middle of the length direction of the dark part generation member 6. The light / dark detection light-receiving sensor 5 is to detect a dark part B created by the dark part generating member 6 and a light part A to which the light L is irradiated. The light / dark state around the body 10 and outside the mounting position of the light receiving sensor 5 should be detected. Since the light receiving sensor 5 can receive light from all directions along the spherical surface, the light receiving sensor 5 is required. It is conceivable that light entering between the light receiving sensor 5 and the dark part generating member 6 inside the light receiving element 5 may also be received, which may reduce the detection accuracy. In the present embodiment, in order to increase the detection accuracy of the light receiving sensor 5, a light shielding member is provided for the purpose of blocking light entering between the above-described dark portion generating member 6 and the light / dark detection light receiving sensor 5 surrounding the dark portion generating member 6. 11 are provided.

The light-shielding member 11 is orthogonal to the axis C of the dark-section generating member 6, that is, the light-shielding member 11 intercepts light impinging on the dark-section generating member 6 equally to all the light-receiving sensors 5 a to 5 d on the irradiation surface 2. They are provided in a parallel arrangement. The light shielding member 11 is formed in a disk shape along the annular arrangement of the light receiving sensors 5 a to 5 d, and the center thereof is provided so as to coincide with the axis C of the dark portion generation member 6.

A main sensor 7 is provided at the tip 6a of the dark portion generation member 6 as a light receiving sensor for comparison. The main sensor 7 is the same as the light / dark detection light receiving sensor 5. The comparison light-receiving sensor 7 receives the light L by irradiating the irradiation surface 2 in the direction of the sun, and thereby a comparison reference signal used for comparison with a detection signal output from the light-dark detection light-receiving sensor 5. Is output. By comparing the correlation between the reference signal for comparison and the detection signal, specifically, the magnitude relationship, whether each light-receiving sensor 5 for light / dark detection is located in the dark area B or in the light area A is determined. Can be determined.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 8 includes a comparison operation unit 12, a PIC operation unit 13 connected to the comparison operation unit 12 and receiving an output from the comparison operation unit 12, and a motor connected to the PIC operation unit 13 and receiving an output thereof. A motor speed adjustment control unit 15 is connected to the motor driver 14 and receives an output from the driver 14. The motor speed adjustment control unit 15 operates with a power supply voltage supplied from a power supply unit 16. The comparison operation unit 12 receives the comparison reference signal from the main sensor 7 and the detection signals from the upper, lower, left, and right sensors 5a to 5d, and compares each detection signal with the comparison reference signal. To determine whether the upper, lower, left, and right sensors 5a to 5d are located in the bright part A or the dark part B, and output the determination result to the PIC operation unit 13. I do. For example, when the comparison reference signal and the detection signal are compared with a voltage value, a difference between the voltage values is output as a determination result.

The PIC calculation unit 13 performs proportional-integral control on the determination result, and outputs a control value to the motor driver 14. The motor driver 14 outputs a motor control value to the motor speed adjustment control unit 15. Then, the motor speed adjustment control unit 15 executes a speed control correction process on the motor control value, and outputs a drive control signal to each of the upper and lower motors 3 and the left and right motors 4. That is, the control unit 8 performs a process of comparing each detection signal from the light / dark detection light receiving sensor 5 and the main sensor 7 with the comparison reference signal, and controls the driving of each of the motors 3 and 4 according to the comparison result. It has become.

The control unit 8 includes a limiter that detects that each of the motors 3 and 4 has reached the movable range limit and stops the control of the motors 3 and 4 by the control unit 8. The limiters are installed at the upper and lower limit positions of the upper and lower motors 3 and the left and right limit positions of the left and right motors 4 and are connected to the PIC calculation unit 13 to detect that the motors 3 and 4 have reached the respective limit positions. It comprises upper / lower / left / right limit switches 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d for outputting signals. When the detection signals are input from the limit switches 17a to 17d, the PIC calculation unit 13 stops the control of the motor driver 14 and, specifically, controls the motors 3 and 4 to retreat to the set retreat positions as described later. Execute. For this evacuation control, the PIC operation unit 13 incorporates an evacuation timer 19 for rotating the motors 3 and 4 for a predetermined time during evacuation. Thereby, control of the motors 3 and 4 can be performed safely and smoothly.

{Circle around (2)} The PIC calculating unit 13 is connected to a night sensor 18 for detecting the night when the sun sets. The night sensor 18 is provided at an appropriate place other than the irradiation surface 2, and outputs a detection signal to the PIC operation unit 13 by detecting a dark state. When the detection signal is input, the PIC calculation unit 13 stops the calculation processing for the input from the comparison calculation unit 12 and returns to the initial state set inside, for example, to turn the irradiation surface 2 toward the sunrise direction. The control signal to be output is output to the motor driver 14, thereby returning the irradiation surface 2 to the initial state. This makes it possible to reliably and smoothly perform new tracking from the sunrise the next day after tracking the sun until sunset.

Further, the PIC calculation unit 13 controls the driving of each of the motors 3 and 4 for tilting the irradiation surface 2 around the two axes X and Y one by one at a time interval so that the irradiation surface 2 is controlled. A control shift timer 20 is incorporated for performing tilt control with a time interval for each axis individually. If the tilt control is performed at once about the two axes X and Y, hunting may occur in the control of the motors 3 and 4. However, the tilt control of the irradiation surface 2 can be stably performed by controlling each axis in this way. Can be performed.

The operation of the solar tracking device 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. When the power of the power supply unit 16 is turned on, the control unit 8 is activated and the control operation is started (started). In the illustrated example, first, the left and right horizontal movements are controlled. First, the control shift timer 20 starts counting for each axis (S1), and thereafter, it is first determined whether the right limit switch 17c and the left limit switch 17d are ON (limit position). (S2, S3) Then, it is determined whether the right sensor 5c is ON (bright) or OFF (dark) (S4). This determination is performed in the comparison operation unit 12. If it is ON, it is next determined whether the left sensor 5d is ON (bright) or OFF (dark) (S5). When it is ON, both the left and right sensors 5c and 5d are present in the bright portion A receiving the light L, so that it is not necessary to control the tilting of the left and right motors 4, and the motors 4 are stopped. Is performed (S7).

On the other hand, if it is OFF in (S4), it is next determined whether the left sensor 5d is ON (bright) or OFF (dark) (S6). When the left sensor 5d is ON, since the dark area B by the dark area generating member 6 is applied to the right sensor 5c, the left / right motor 4 is rotated left (S9), and the irradiation surface 2 is moved to the left in the left / right direction. It is tilted so that the right sensor 5c is located at the bright portion A. Thus, both the left and right sensors 5c and 5d can be positioned in the bright portion A in the left-right direction.

Further, in (S5), when the left sensor 5d is OFF, since the dark portion B by the dark portion generation member 6 is applied to the left sensor 5d, the left and right motors 4 are rotated right (S8), and the irradiation surface is irradiated. 2 is tilted to the right in the left-right direction so that the left sensor 5d is located in the bright part A.

{Circle around (5)} In (S6), when the left sensor 5d is OFF, since both the left and right are present in the dark portion B, the control of the left and right motors 4 is stopped in this case (S7).

Regarding the limiter, when the right limit switch 17c or the left limit switch 17d is ON, the time required for returning the irradiation surface 2 to the retreat position, for example, the neutral position of the left and right motors 4, is counted by the retreat timer 19. Then, the left and right motors 4 are rotated clockwise or counterclockwise until the count is up, and when the count is up, the motors 4 are stopped (S7).

The control of the vertical movement in the vertical direction is also executed in the same manner as the control of the horizontal movement in the left and right directions, with the control contents of reading “right” as “up” and “left” as “down” (S22 to S31). Thus, the irradiation surface 2 is tilted by the up / down motor 3 so that the upper and lower sensors 5a and 5b are located in the bright portion A. In particular, the control of the vertical operation is started after the control shift timer 20 counts up, that is, with a time interval from the horizontal operation control (S1).

As described above, the sun tracking device 1 according to the present embodiment and the sun tracking method executed by the sun tracking device 1 are not the tracking control using the provided date and time information as in the related art. In response to the movement of the light source, the light-receiving sensor 5 for detecting light and darkness on the irradiation surface 2, the dark portion generating member 6 for generating the dark portion B by coincidence with the optical axis of the axis C, and the main sensor 7 for outputting the reference signal for comparison And a combination of a control unit 8 that drives and controls the motors 3 and 4 based only on the comparison reference signal and the detection signal, so that the tracking is executed based on the light L actually radiated on the irradiation surface 2. Thus, anywhere on the earth, regardless of where it is installed, and also with any light source, it can be properly followed for its movement.

6 to 8 show modifications of the above embodiment. In this modification, the dark portion generating member 6 is replaced with the cylindrical body 10 and the plate members 21 are joined in a cross at right angles to each other to form a cross in a flat cross section. In the dark portion generation member 6, four corner portions 22 are formed around the joint portion of the plate member 21, and four light / dark detection light receiving sensors 5 (5a to 5d) are provided in each of the corner portions 22. Can be As in the above-described embodiment, the sensors 5 are arranged annularly on the irradiation surface 2 at equal intervals. The two axes X and Y that specify the irradiation surface 2 in the space are at 45 ° to each plate 21. Other configurations are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, and even in such a modified example, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a light source position tracking device according to the present invention. It is a side view of the light source position tracking device of FIG. It is a top view of the light source position tracking device of FIG. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit applied to the light source position tracking device in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow of the light source position tracking device in FIG. 1. It is a schematic perspective view showing Example 2 of a light source position tracking device concerning the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side view of the light source position tracking device of FIG. 6. It is a top view of the light source position tracking device of FIG.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light source position tracking device 2 Irradiation surface 3 Vertical motor 4 Left and right motor 5 Light / dark detection light sensor 5a Upper sensor 5b Lower sensor 5c Left sensor 5d Right sensor 6 Dark part generating member 6a Base end of dark part generating member 6b Tip of dark part generating member 7 Main sensor 8 Control unit 11 Light blocking member 13 PIC calculation unit 17a Upper limit switch 17b Lower limit switch 17c Left limit switch 17d Right limit switch 20 Timer for control shift A Light part B Dark part L Light X, Y Crosses each other on the irradiation surface 2 axes

Claims (5)

An irradiation surface on which light from the light source is irradiated, tilting means for tilting the irradiation surface around each of two axes orthogonal to each other on the irradiation surface, and a ring at equal intervals on the irradiation surface Arranged and formed in a spherical shape, capable of receiving light along the spherical surface, detecting light and darkness and outputting a detection signal, at least four light and dark detection light receiving sensors, and having its axis centered on the irradiation surface. It is provided upright, the base in the length direction along the axis is disposed inside the light / dark detection light-receiving sensor and surrounded by the light / dark detection light-receiving sensor, and the longitudinal end along the axis is the light / dark. When separated from the light receiving sensor for detection, when the axis does not coincide with the optical axis of the light source, on the irradiation surface, a dark portion generating member that generates a dark portion that becomes a shadow with respect to the bright portion irradiated with light, Provided at the tip of the dark portion generation member A comparison light-receiving sensor for receiving a light irradiation from a light source and outputting a comparison reference signal, and comparing each detection signal from each of the light / dark detection light-receiving sensors with a comparison reference signal from the comparison light-receiving sensor. A light source position tracking device, comprising: a controller configured to drive and control the tilting means. The dark portion generating member is disposed at a position on the tip side of the light receiving sensor separated from the light and dark detection light receiving sensor, at a position orthogonal to the axis of the dark portion generating member, and the dark portion generating member and the light and dark detecting light receiving sensor surrounding the dark portion generating member. The light source position tracking device according to claim 1, further comprising a light-blocking member that prevents light from entering the space. The light source position tracking device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a limiter that detects that the tilting unit has reached a movable range limit and stops control of the tilting unit by the control unit. 4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the tilting unit that tilts the irradiation surface around two axes at a time interval individually for each axis. 5. Light source position tracking device. The drive control of the tilting means for tilting the irradiation surface using the light source position tracking device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the drive signal of the light / dark detection light sensor and the comparison light reception sensor to output a detection signal and a comparison signal. A light source position tracking method using a light source position tracking device, wherein the method is performed based on only a reference signal.

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