JP2014002514A - Mobile body control device - Google Patents

Abstract

In a moving body control device, a movement that reduces the risk that a pedestrian loses balance and falls by starting an operation in which the moving body avoids the pedestrian in a state in which the pedestrian easily changes direction. A body control device is provided.
SOLUTION: Based on the walking state of left and right legs 22L, 22R of a pedestrian 21 acquired by a walking state acquisition unit 1400, a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking of a pedestrian around the mobile body 1 is obtained. 1 calculation unit 1312, second calculation unit 1313 that calculates the pedestrian's direction change ease from the relative positional relationship, and avoidance of determining that the moving body avoids the pedestrian based on the direction change ease A start determination unit 1315, an avoidance route generation unit 1316 that generates an avoidance route in which the moving body avoids a pedestrian, and a movement control unit 133 that performs movement control of the moving body according to the avoidance route.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving body control apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a moving body control device for controlling the avoidance operation of a moving body in order to avoid a collision with a person.

  Conventionally, a predicted path and passage time of an obstacle is calculated based on the position, traveling direction, or moving speed of an obstacle such as a person, and avoidance control is performed so that the moving object does not collide with the passage time of the obstacle. Is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-187343 A

  However, even if the moving body can avoid obstacles such as a person and reduce the risk of collision by the conventional technique, the behavior of the person after the avoiding operation of the moving body is not considered.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and the pedestrian loses balance and falls by starting an operation in which the moving body avoids the pedestrian while the pedestrian easily changes direction. The purpose is to reduce the risk of dripping.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile body control device that controls a mobile body,
A walking state acquisition unit that acquires a walking state of left and right legs of a pedestrian around the moving body;
A first calculation unit for obtaining a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking of the pedestrian based on the walking state of the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit;
Based on the relative positional relationship calculated by the first calculation unit, a second calculation unit that calculates the ease of change of direction of the pedestrian in the left and right directions;
An avoidance start determination unit that determines a control for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian based on the degree of ease of direction change calculated by the second calculation unit;
When avoidance control is determined by the avoidance start determination unit, an avoidance route generation unit that generates an avoidance route for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian, and
There is provided a moving body control device including a movement control unit that performs movement control of the moving body according to the avoidance path generated by the avoidance path generation unit.

  According to this configuration, the moving body control device can control the operation so as to avoid the pedestrian in a state in which the pedestrian easily changes direction in accordance with the movement of the leg of the pedestrian. As a result, when the pedestrian reacts to the avoidance operation of the moving body, it is possible to realize a moving body control device that can reduce the risk of losing walking balance and falling as a result.

  The present invention can be realized not only as such a moving body control device, but also as a movement control method using steps included in the characteristic means included in the moving body control device. It can be realized as a program to be executed by a computer, or can be realized by any combination of a system, a method, and a computer program. Needless to say, such a program can be distributed via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) and a transmission medium such as the Internet.

  Furthermore, the present invention is realized as a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI) that realizes part or all of the functions of such a mobile control device, or as a mobile control device system including such a mobile control device. I can do it.

  In the moving body control device, the moving body control device reduces the risk of the pedestrian losing balance and falling down by starting the operation of the moving body avoiding the pedestrian in a state in which the pedestrian easily changes direction. Can provide.

It is the schematic of the robot carrying the moving body control apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram of the robot carrying the moving body control apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram of the moving body control apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram in case the mobile body control apparatus in 1st Embodiment is set | placed on the server. It is the figure which looked at the pedestrian from the robot. It is the figure which looked at the scene where a robot and a pedestrian pass face-to-face. It is a figure which shows an example of the relationship between time, the distance of a robot and both legs of a pedestrian, and the speed of both legs of a pedestrian. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a pedestrian's leg carrying and the direction change ease. It is a figure explaining the outline | summary of the experiment for verifying the relationship between a pedestrian's leg carrying and the direction change ease. It is a figure which shows an example of the experimental result of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the experimental result of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between leg carrying and the direction change ease in case a pedestrian's leg carrying is uneven. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which the mobile body control apparatus in 1st Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which the mobile body control apparatus in 1st Embodiment performs. It is a figure which shows an example of the relationship between the distance to an obstruction, and the necessity degree of avoidance. It is a figure which shows an example of the conditions of the avoidance necessity degree in the avoidance start determination, and the direction change ease. In a prior art, it is a top view for demonstrating each avoidance operation | movement in the scene where a robot and a pedestrian pass face-to-face. In 1st Embodiment, it is a top view for demonstrating each avoidance operation | movement in the scene where a robot and a pedestrian pass face-to-face. The figure which shows an example of the table which memorize | stored the relationship between the speed of the leg shown to the graph of 181 and 182 of FIG.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described before detailed description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving body control device that controls a moving body,
A walking state acquisition unit that acquires a walking state of left and right legs of a pedestrian around the moving body;
A first calculation unit for obtaining a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking of the pedestrian based on the walking state of the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit;
Based on the relative positional relationship calculated by the first calculation unit, a second calculation unit that calculates the ease of change of direction of the pedestrian in the left and right directions;
An avoidance start determination unit that determines a control for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian based on the degree of ease of direction change calculated by the second calculation unit;
When avoidance control is determined by the avoidance start determination unit, an avoidance route generation unit that generates an avoidance route for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian, and
There is provided a moving body control device including a movement control unit that performs movement control of the moving body according to the avoidance path generated by the avoidance path generation unit.

  According to this configuration, the moving body control device can control the operation so as to avoid the pedestrian in a state in which the pedestrian easily changes direction in accordance with the movement of the leg of the pedestrian. As a result, when the pedestrian reacts to the avoidance operation of the moving body, it is possible to realize a moving body control device that can reduce the risk of losing walking balance and falling as a result.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first calculation unit obtains a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking based on a periodicity of movement of the left and right legs of the pedestrian. A moving body control device according to an aspect is provided.

  According to the second aspect, by using the periodicity of the walking history of the pedestrian, it is possible to change the degree of ease of direction change with respect to the pedestrian having various steps and walking speeds by the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs of the same scale. Can be calculated.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first calculation unit is configured to walk based on a change in distance from the moving body to the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit of the moving body. The moving body control device according to the first aspect is provided for obtaining a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs at the time.

  According to the third aspect, the relative positional relationship of the legs can be obtained with only one sensor provided on the moving body without providing a fixed sensor outside the moving body.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first calculation unit is configured to calculate the left and right of the pedestrian on the basis of the respective speeds of the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit of the mobile body. The moving body control device according to the first aspect for obtaining a relative positional relationship between legs is provided.

  According to the fourth aspect, the relative positional relationship of the legs can be obtained with only one sensor provided on the moving body without providing a fixed sensor outside the moving body.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the second calculation unit starts from the first time at which one leg of the pedestrian contacts the ground in a cycle of movement of the left and right legs of the pedestrian. At the time until the second time at which the other leg that advances after the time is closest to the one leg that is in contact with the ground and the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs becomes the smallest is the side of the one leg. The moving body control device according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, which calculates the degree of change of direction so that the degree of change of direction to the maximum is maximized.

  According to the fifth aspect, when the weight of the pedestrian is on the other leg during the time when the weight of the pedestrian is on the next leg, The degree of ease of direction change is maximized, and it is possible to encourage the direction change to that side.

According to the 6th aspect of this invention, it has the 3rd calculation part which calculates the avoidance degree from which the said mobile body avoids the said pedestrian based on the information from the said walking state acquisition part,
The avoidance start determination unit is configured to control the moving body to avoid the pedestrian based on the degree of avoidance calculated by the third calculation unit and the degree of ease of turning calculated by the second calculation unit. The moving body control device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is provided.

  According to the sixth aspect, even if the pedestrian has a high degree of change of direction, if the degree of avoidance is low, the pedestrian is not prompted to change direction, and conversely, the pedestrian has a low degree of easy change of direction. However, if the necessity of avoidance is high, it is possible to prompt the pedestrian to change direction.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the avoidance start determining unit determines avoidance control when the degree of ease of turning is equal to or greater than a threshold value set to be smaller as the degree of avoidance increases. The moving body control apparatus as described in any one aspect of -6 is provided.

  According to the seventh aspect, even if the pedestrian has a high degree of change of direction, if the degree of avoidance is low, the pedestrian will not be prompted to change direction. However, if the necessity of avoidance is high, it is possible to prompt the pedestrian to change direction.

  According to the 8th aspect of this invention, the said avoidance path | route production | generation part produces | generates the avoidance path | route which avoids in the direction where the said pedestrian's direction change ease is large among the left-right directions. A moving body control device according to one aspect is provided.

  According to the eighth aspect, even when the pedestrian and the moving object are facing each other, even if it is not possible to determine whether the avoidance route is generated on the left or right in terms of angle, the direction change ease is used. Thus, an avoidance route can be generated.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the second calculation unit calculates a degree of left-right asymmetry of the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs of the pedestrian, and has a slow leg or a small step length. The moving body control device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the degree of ease of changing direction to a leg on the side is calculated to be smaller than the degree of ease of changing direction to a leg different from the leg.

  According to the ninth aspect, even if the left or right leg is a relatively inconvenient pedestrian, the direction change easiness for appropriately increasing the direction change ease on the side that is easily avoided by the pedestrian is obtained. Can do.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the walking state acquisition unit of the moving body has a sensor that detects a distance from the obstacle and an obstacle detected by the sensor based on detection information of the sensor. A moving body control device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, including a pedestrian determination unit that determines whether or not a pedestrian is present.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the moving body control device according to the tenth aspect, wherein the sensor is a distance measuring sensor.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. Note that each of the embodiments described below shows a preferred specific example of the present invention. Numerical values, shapes, constituent elements, arrangement positions and connection forms of constituent elements, steps, order of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are examples. Therefore, these are not intended to limit the present invention.
The invention is limited only by the claims. Therefore, among the constituent elements in the following embodiments, constituent elements that are not described in the independent claims indicating the highest concept of the present invention are not necessarily required to achieve the object of the present invention, but are more preferable. It will be described as constituting a form.

(First embodiment)
As an example of a suitable moving body that implements the first embodiment of the present invention, a robot that transports articles such as medicines or meals in a facility where a weak person on walking such as a hospital or a nursing facility is assumed. Robots and pedestrians move independently in the facility. There is a risk that pedestrians and robots that collide with the robot collide with each other because there are separate passages connected to the right and left sides of the passage of such facilities and there are entrances and exits of the room. Therefore, it is desirable for the robot to move in the center of the passage as much as possible. When there is a pedestrian facing the robot, the robot performs an avoidance operation after approaching the pedestrian to an appropriate distance. However, the behavior of the pedestrian after the avoidance operation of the robot is not taken into account when the robot simply performs the avoidance operation according to the position, traveling direction, or movement speed of the pedestrian. For this reason, a pedestrian who has responded to the avoidance operation of the robot may lose balance and may sway or fall.

  In 1st Embodiment, it aims at reducing the risk that a pedestrian will lose balance and fall by starting the operation | movement which a robot avoids a pedestrian in the state in which a pedestrian is easy to change direction. To do.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a robot equipped with a mobile control device in the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a robot which is an example of a moving body, 11 is a cylindrical body (main body) of the robot 1, and 12 is arranged at the upper part of the front of the body 11 to detect obstacles around the robot 1. It is a sensor. Reference numeral 13 denotes a control unit that functions as an example of a moving body control device and is arranged in the body 11 and controls the robot 1. Reference numeral 14 is a lower part of the body 11 and a pair of left and right drives under the control of the control unit 13. These are left and right motors that independently drive forward and reverse rotation of the wheels 15. The sensor 12 detects obstacles around the robot 1. The output result information of the sensor 12 is output to the pedestrian determination unit 1311 of the control unit 13.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the robot 1. The control unit 13 includes a pedestrian avoidance unit 131 that generates a pedestrian avoidance route from the input of the sensor 12, a route DB (database) 132 that stores a movement route of the robot 1, and a movement that performs movement control of the robot 1. And a control unit 133.

  In FIG. 3, the structure of the pedestrian avoidance part 131 in 1st Embodiment is shown. The pedestrian avoidance unit 131 includes a pedestrian determination unit 1311, a leg travel calculation unit 1312 that functions as an example of a first calculation unit, a direction change ease calculation unit 1313 that functions as an example of a second calculation unit, and a need for avoidance. The degree calculation unit 1314, the avoidance start determination unit 1315, and the avoidance route generation unit 1316 are configured.

  The pedestrian determination unit 1311 determines whether the obstacle detected by the sensor 12 is a pedestrian based on the detection information of the sensor 12. Specifically, the pedestrian determination unit 1311 periodically alternates the distance to two obstacles close to each other in the angular direction with respect to the obstacle detected by the sensor 12, as shown in FIG. In the case, these two obstacles are determined as one pedestrian 21. Furthermore, the pedestrian determination unit 1311 walks the left and right legs 21L and 21R (see FIG. 5) of the pedestrian 21 around the robot 1 when the obstacle detected by the sensor 12 is the pedestrian 21 (legs). To carry information). The pedestrian determination unit 1311 outputs the determination result information on whether or not the user is a pedestrian 21 and the walking state information to the leg carry calculation unit 1312 and the avoidance necessity level calculation unit 1314. Therefore, the sensor 12 and the pedestrian determination unit 1311 function as an example of the walking state acquisition unit 1400. Information acquired by the walking state acquisition unit is output to the leg travel calculation unit 1312 of the control unit 13.

  The leg travel calculation unit 1312 calculates the leg travel of the pedestrian 21 based on the information input from the pedestrian determination unit 1311. Specifically, the leg carrying calculation unit 1312 is based on the walking state of the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21 acquired by the sensor 12, and the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs 21L and 21R when the pedestrian 21 walks. Is calculated. Here, the walking state of the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21 refers to the periodicity of the movement of the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21, and from the robot 1 to the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21. It means a change in distance or the speed (speed) of each of the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21. As an example, the leg travel calculation unit 1312 stores the relationship between the leg travel and the speed shown in the graphs 181 and 182 in FIG. 8 in the built-in storage unit in a table format. Then, based on the information input from the pedestrian determination unit 1311 (speeds of both legs 21L and 21R), the leg carrying calculation unit 1312 and the history information of the speeds of both legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21 and FIG. By performing pattern matching with a table (see FIG. 17) that stores the relationship between the leg travel and the speed shown in the graphs 181 and 182 of FIG. The leg travel calculation unit 1312 outputs the calculation result information to the direction change ease calculation unit 1313. Note that the graph 181 in FIG. 8 is a graph in which “one cycle of walking” of the graph 172 in FIG. 7 is cut out as it is, which means that the time movement corresponding to the graph 181 is 182. .

  The direction change ease calculation unit 1313 calculates the degree of ease of direction change (direction change ease) in the left and right directions of the pedestrian based on the information input from the leg travel calculation unit 1312. Specifically, the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 calculates the ease of change of direction of the pedestrian 21 in the left and right directions based on the relative positional relationship calculated by the leg travel calculation unit 1312. The direction change ease calculation unit 1313 outputs the calculation result information to the avoidance start determination unit 1315.

  The avoidance necessity level calculation unit 1314 is based on information input from the pedestrian determination unit 1311 (distance to the obstacle detected by the sensor 12), for example, referring to the graph shown in FIG. 13 stored in the built-in storage unit. Then, the degree of avoidance for avoiding the pedestrian is calculated according to the distance to the obstacle detected by the sensor 12. The avoidance necessity degree calculation unit 1314 stores, for example, the graph of FIG. 13 showing an example of the relationship between the distance to the obstacle and the avoidance degree of necessity in the built-in storage unit. The avoidance necessity degree calculation unit 1314 refers to the avoidance degree calculation, and calculates an avoidance degree that represents the degree of necessity of avoiding the obstacle according to the distance to the obstacle detected by the sensor 12. The avoidance necessity degree calculation unit 1314 outputs the calculation result information to the avoidance start determination unit 1315.

  The avoidance start determination unit 1315 is configured so that the robot 1 avoids the pedestrian 21 based on the direction change ease calculated by the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 and the avoidance necessity calculated by the avoidance necessity calculation unit 1314. Make control decisions. Specifically, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 calculates the direction change ease when the obstacle is a pedestrian based on information input from the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 and the avoidance necessity calculation unit 1314. Whether avoidance control is to be started is determined based on the degree of change of direction calculated by the unit 1313 and the degree of avoidance calculated by the avoidance necessity calculation unit 1314. The avoidance start determination unit 1315 stores, for example, a graph illustrated in FIG. 14 that illustrates an example of the conditions of the avoidance necessity degree and the direction change ease in the avoidance start determination in the built-in storage unit. The avoidance start determination unit 1315 refers to this graph, and if the degree of avoidance and the degree of ease of turning are greater than or equal to the thick diagonal line (the region R1 on the right side of the thick diagonal line and indicated by the diagonal line), the avoidance control is performed. Determine the start of. The avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines not to start the avoidance control if it is less than the thick diagonal line (the region R2 on the left side of the thick diagonal line). The avoidance start determination unit 1315 outputs the avoidance start determination information to the avoidance route generation unit 1316.

  The avoidance route generation unit 1316 generates an avoidance route for the robot 1 to avoid the pedestrian 21 when the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines avoidance control based on the avoidance start determination information from the avoidance start determination unit 1315. Specifically, the avoidance path generation unit 1316 calculates the change direction ease calculation unit 1313 by the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determining the avoidance control start based on the information regarding the avoidance start determination input from the avoidance start determination unit 1315. The avoidance route that avoids the pedestrian in the same direction as the direction in which the degree of direction change is large is generated. Information on the direction with a high degree of direction change calculated by the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 is input from the avoidance start determination unit 1315 to the avoidance route generation unit 1316. The avoidance route generation unit 1316 outputs information related to the avoidance route to the movement control unit 133.

  When the avoidance route generation unit 1316 generates an avoidance route based on the information stored in the route DB 132 and the information related to the avoidance route generated by the avoidance route generation unit 1316, the movement control unit 133 follows the avoidance route. Alternatively, when the avoidance route is not generated, the movement control of the robot 1 is performed according to the route when there is no obstacle stored in the route DB 132.

  The route DB (database) 132 stores the movement route of the robot 1. Specifically, the route DB 132 stores at least a route when there is no obstacle as an example of the travel route.

  The left and right motors 14 are driven to rotate forward and backward based on control information from the movement control unit 133 to drive the pair of left and right drive wheels 15 to control the movement of the robot 1.

  The control unit 13 as an example of the mobile control device may have all the components mounted on the robot 1, or some or all of the components mounted on a server or the like different from the robot 1, The robot 1 may be controlled remotely from the server. For example, in FIG. 4, a server 16 is provided separately from the robot 1, and the mobile body communication unit 17 connected to the movement control unit 133 is provided in the robot 1. In this case, the server 16 is also provided with a server communication unit 18 that can communicate with the mobile communication unit 17. By comprising in this way, the pedestrian avoidance part 131 is mounted in the server side, information is exchanged by communication between the mobile communication part 17 and the server communication part 18 as needed, and a pedestrian avoidance is carried out. The information of the unit 131 may be used by the movement control unit 133.

  As the sensor 12, for example, a laser range finder functioning as an example of a distance measuring sensor can be used. The sensor 12 uses a predetermined angle of view on the left and right of the horizontal plane in the vicinity of the floor surface 20F in the traveling direction of the robot 1 moving on the floor surface 20F (see FIG. 5) as a detection range. The sensor 12 detects an obstacle by measuring the distance from the robot 1 to the obstacle within the detection range. The presence / absence of an obstacle is, for example, stored in advance in the built-in storage unit of the sensor 12 in the state of the passage 20 when there is no obstacle, and information detected every moment by the sensor 12 and stored in the built-in storage unit of the sensor 12. This can be done by comparing the obtained information with pattern matching or the like. The detection result information at the sensor 12 is output to the pedestrian determination unit 1311 of the control unit 13. The sensor 12 is not limited to the laser range finder as long as the distance to the obstacle part can be measured, and may be another measuring means (unit) or sensor such as an infrared distance measuring sensor. In addition, when the pedestrian 21 is moving on the floor 20F along the horizontal plane, an obstacle such as the horizontal plane of the left and right hands of the pedestrian 21 or the left and right shoulders is the pedestrian 21. In such a case, it is only necessary to measure a region where the difference between the left and right movements of the body of the pedestrian 21 during walking is known. Here, the pedestrian 21 refers to a person traveling on the floor surface 20F while alternately taking out both legs 22L and 22R. The output information output from the sensor 12 to the pedestrian determination unit 1311 includes information on the speed of both the legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21.

  FIG. 5 shows a view of the pedestrian 21 viewed from the robot 1 when the robot 1 is moving at a constant speed, for example, so as to approach the pedestrian 21 while facing the pedestrian 21 in the passage 20. . FIG. 5 is a view of the detection range virtually viewed from the robot 1 and does not show the detection state of the sensor 12. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the pedestrian 21 and the robot 1 as seen from above in the same scene as FIG. 5 and 6, the sensor 12 performs distance measurement at a height H in the vicinity of the floor surface 20F, and from the robot 1 to each of the right leg 21R and the left leg 21L of the pedestrian 21 closest to the robot 1. The distances DR and DL are respectively measured. As an example, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the distances DR and DL are the shortest distances from the sensor 12 among the thick solid line portions of the right leg 22R and the shortest among the thick broken line portions of the left leg 22L. Distance. The height H is 20 cm as an example in order to see the entire foot.

  A graph 171 (upper graph) in FIG. 7 schematically shows the distances DR and DL measured by the sensor 12 in time series. In the graph 171 in FIG. 7, the horizontal axis is time, and the vertical axis is the distance from the robot 1 to the legs 22R and 22L of the pedestrian 21, and shows the change in the distance from the robot 1 to the pedestrian 21. . The thick solid line is a curve representing a change in the distance (DR) from the robot 1 to the right leg 22R of the pedestrian 21. A thick broken line is a curve representing a change in the distance (DL) from the robot 1 to the left leg 22L of the pedestrian 21. As shown in FIG. 7, the distances DR and DL become smaller while being alternately switched. While the leg 22R or 22L of the pedestrian 21 is in contact with the floor 20F, the grounded leg does not move forward, but since the robot 1 is moving toward the pedestrian 21 during that time, the robot 1 And the distance between the pedestrian 21 and the pedestrian 21 is reduced. One cycle of changes in the distances DR and DL is one cycle of walking of the pedestrian 21.

  172 (lower graph) in FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the speed of the legs 22R and 22L of the pedestrian 21 calculated by subtracting the speed of the robot 1 from the change in the distance in the graph 171 in FIG. In the graph 172 of FIG. 7, the horizontal axis is time, and the vertical axis is the speed of the legs 22R and 22L of the pedestrian 21. Information on the relationship between leg travel and speed shown in the graphs 181 and 182 in FIG. 8 is stored in the built-in storage unit of the leg travel calculation unit 1312.

  One cycle of walking in the graph 172 in FIG. 7 is shown in a graph 181 in FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph 181 in FIG. 8 is the leg travel time, and the vertical axis is the speed of the legs 22R and 22L. An explanatory diagram of leg travel corresponding to the graph 181 in FIG. 8 is shown in a graph 182 in FIG. Here, “leg transport” refers to the phase of the mutual positional relationship between the left and right legs 22L, 22R of the pedestrian 21. In the graph of 182 in FIG. 8, the moment when the right leg 22R lands in time order from the left (for example, 0 degree), the moment when the left leg 22L rises (60 degrees), and the left leg 22L becomes the right leg 22R. The moment when the left leg 22L lands (180 degrees), the moment when the right leg 22R rises (240 degrees), the moment when the right leg 22R lines with the left leg 22L (300 degrees), the right This represents the moment (360 degrees) when the leg 22R lands. The right end (360 degrees) is the same as the left end (0 degrees), and a total of two steps, one step of the left leg 22L and one step of the right leg 22R, is taken as one cycle of leg movement. Walking is performed by repeatedly carrying the left and right legs 22L, 22R.

  The principle value of the ratio of the load applied to the left and right legs 22L and 22R corresponding to the leg travel of the graph 182 in FIG. 8 is schematically shown in the graph 183 in FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph at 183 in FIG. 8 is the leg carrying time, and the vertical axis is the load ratio of the legs 22R and 22L.

  The graph 184 in FIG. 8 schematically shows the degree of ease of direction change in the left-right direction corresponding to the leg travel of the graph 183 in FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph at 184 in FIG. 8 is the time for carrying the leg, and the vertical axis is the degree of change of direction. Information on the relationship between the leg travel and the direction change ease shown in the graph 184 in FIG. 8 is stored in advance in the built-in storage unit of the direction change ease calculation unit 1313. The degree of change of direction is a degree representing the ease of changing the direction of the pedestrian 21 in the left and right directions. The degree of change of direction is defined as 0 being minimum and 1 being maximum. When the degree of ease of changing the direction is 0, it indicates that the state is the most unsuitable for changing the direction among the legged states. A direction change ease of 1 indicates that the state is most suitable for changing the direction of the legged state. Such a direction change ease is used for the avoidance start determination unit 1315 to determine whether or not the robot 1 performs the avoidance operation.

  In the graph of 184 in FIG. 8, an experiment was conducted to verify a state in which the degree of ease of direction change is maximized. An outline of the experiment is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 9, an image of the robot 1 is displayed on the screen 30 a of the display 30 so that the robot 1 in the screen 30 a faces the subject 32. The subject 32 walks toward the display 30 on which the image 31 of the robot 1 is displayed along the center line 33 passing through the center of the screen 30a. The distance from the screen 30a to the subject 32 at the departure position is 8 m, 1 m from the center line 33 to the right avoidance line 34R, and 1 m from the center line 33 to the left avoidance line 34L.

  While the subject 32 is walking, the display 30 displays an image 31 of the robot 1 that performs an avoidance operation on the subject 32 by changing the direction and timing so that the subject 32 cannot predict. In this experiment, the left and right two directions were examined, and the timings t1 to t6 obtained by equally dividing one cycle of the walking of the subject 32 into six were examined. The timing t1 is in the range of 0 to 60 degrees in the graph 182 in FIG. Timing t2 is in the range of 60 degrees to 120 degrees in the graph 182 of FIG. Timing t3 is in the range of 120 degrees to 180 degrees in the graph 182 in FIG. Timing t4 is in the range of 180 degrees to 240 degrees in the graph 182 of FIG. Timing t5 is in the range of 240 degrees to 300 degrees in the graph 182 in FIG. Timing t6 is in the range of 300 degrees to 360 degrees in the graph 182 in FIG.

  The subject 32 looks at the avoiding robot 1 on the screen 30a of the display 30 and changes the direction so as to avoid the robot 1, and avoids the left and right avoidance lines 34L and 34R.

  The motion of the subject 32 is photographed by the camera 35 fixed on the display 30 and the image 31 of the robot 1 is changed to the avoidance motion, and then the subject 32 completely sets the left and right avoidance lines 34L and 34R. The time until it was exceeded (time required for avoidance) was measured.

  An example of the experimental results is shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. 10A and 10B, the horizontal axes of the upper graph and the lower graph are timings t1 to t6 corresponding to leg travel. The vertical axis of each upper graph is the time required for avoidance. Further, the vertical axis of each lower graph represents the degree of change of direction, and the degree of change of direction shown in the graph 184 in FIG. 8 is shown in correspondence with the timings t1 to t6 on the horizontal axis. FIG. 10A shows a case where the subject 32 avoids the right direction, and FIG. 10B shows a case where the subject 32 avoids the left direction.

  It can be said that the leg travel timing with the shortest avoidance time is the maximum degree of ease of turning. From this experiment, the degree of ease of changing the direction to the right indicates that the left leg 21L is next to the right leg 21R after the landing of the right leg 21R (0 degree in the graph of 182 in FIG. 8). It can be said that it becomes the maximum from timings t1 to t2 up to (120 degrees in the graph of 182 in FIG. 8). Similarly, the degree of ease of changing the direction to the left is such that the right leg 21R that advances next after the landing of the left leg 21L (180 degrees in the graph of 182 in FIG. 8) is aligned with the left leg 21L (182 in FIG. 8). It can be said that it becomes the maximum from timing t4 to t5 until 300 degrees).

  For example, FIG. 11 shows an example in which the left and right legs are unevenly distributed, for example, when one leg is broken and it is inconvenient. In FIG. 11, the left leg is an inconvenient example. The abscissa of the 1111 graph in FIG. 11 is the leg travel time, and the ordinate is the speed of the legs 22R and 22L. A graph 1112 in FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of leg travel corresponding to the graph 1111 in FIG. 11. A graph 1113 in FIG. 11 schematically shows a principle value of a ratio of loads applied to the left and right legs 22L and 22R corresponding to the leg travel of the graph 1112 in FIG. The abscissa of the graph 1113 in FIG. 11 is the leg carrying time, and the ordinate is the load ratio of the legs 22R and 22L. A graph 1114 in FIG. 11 schematically illustrates the degree of ease of direction change in the left and right directions corresponding to the leg travel of the graph 1113 in FIG. 11. The abscissa of the graph 1114 in FIG. 11 is the leg travel time, and the ordinate is the degree of change of direction. Here, T1 is a time required for carrying the leg of the non-free left leg 21L, and T2 is a time required for carrying the leg of the healthy left leg 21R.

  As shown in the graph 1111 in FIG. 11, the speed of the left leg 21L is slow, and as shown in the graph 1113, the time it takes the left leg 21L to take weight is short. In this case, the degree of ease of changing the direction is such that the maximum speeds of the right leg 21R and the left leg 21L are VR and VL, respectively. The maximum value of the ease is set to 1, and the maximum value of the degree of ease of turning to the right is calculated by the direction changing ease calculator 1313 as the ratio VL / VR of the maximum speeds of the left and right legs 21L and 21R. With respect to this ratio VL / VR, the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21 is also referred to as a left-right asymmetry degree. Therefore, here, the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 calculates the left / right asymmetry VL / VR of the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21, and the slow speed leg or step length. The degree of ease of changing direction to a leg on the smaller side is calculated to be smaller than the degree of ease of changing direction to a leg different from that leg.

  The robot movement control operation of the control unit 13, which is an example of the mobile control apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above, will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 12A and 12B. The control unit 13 is activated before the start of the movement of the robot 1, ends the movement when the robot 1 reaches a predetermined destination, or is input to an end switch (not shown) of the operator's robot 1. The robot movement control operation is ended by inputting the movement end.

(Step S101)
The sensor 12 detects obstacles around the robot 1. Detection result information from the sensor 12 is output to the pedestrian determination unit 1311. At this time, the output information from the sensor 12 includes information on the speeds of the legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21.

(Step S102)
Next, when the sensor 12 detects an obstacle based on the detection result information from the sensor 12, the pedestrian determination unit 1311 proceeds to (Step S103). If the sensor 12 does not detect an obstacle based on the detection result information from the sensor 12, the pedestrian determination unit 1311 proceeds to (Step S111).

(Step S103)
The pedestrian determination unit 1311 determines whether the obstacle detected by the sensor 12 is the pedestrian 21 based on the detection information of the sensor 12. As shown in FIG. 7, when the distance to two obstacles that are close to each other in the angular direction is alternately and periodically close, these two obstacles are determined as one pedestrian 21.

(Step S104)
Next, when the pedestrian determination unit 1311 determines that the obstacle detected by the sensor 12 is the pedestrian 21 based on the detection information of the sensor 12, the control flow is (step S105) and (step S107). ) And proceed. (Step S105) and (Step S107) may be executed simultaneously or may be executed before and after time. When the pedestrian determination unit 1311 determines that the pedestrian is not a pedestrian, the process proceeds to (Step S108).

(Step S105)
The leg travel calculation unit 1312 is input from the pedestrian determination unit 1311 and based on information included in the detection information of the sensor 12 (information on the speed of both legs), the speed of both legs 21L and 21R of the pedestrian 21. Pattern matching between the history information and the table (see FIG. 17) that stores the relationship between the leg speed and the leg movement stored in the built-in storage unit and shown in the graphs 181 and 182 of FIG. Calculates the leg travel when detecting pedestrians.

(Step S106)
Next, the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 is based on the information input from the leg travel calculation unit 1312 and stores the leg travel and the direction change ease stored in the internal storage unit and shown in the graph 184 of FIG. By referring to the table storing the relationship, the degree of ease of changing the direction in the left and right directions corresponding to the leg travel calculated by the leg travel calculation unit 1312 is calculated.

(Step S107)
Based on the distance to the obstacle input from the pedestrian determination unit 1311 and detected by the sensor 12, the avoidance necessity degree calculation unit 1314 refers to, for example, a graph illustrated in FIG. According to the distance to the obstacle detected by the sensor 12, an avoidance degree indicating the high necessity of avoiding the obstacle is calculated. In the avoidance necessity degree calculation unit 1314, when the obstacle is the pedestrian 21, the distance to the obstacle is an average value of the distances to both the legs 21L and 21R.

  The degree of avoidance is defined as 0 being minimum and 1 being maximum. If the degree of avoidance is 0, it indicates that there is no need to avoid; if the degree of avoidance is 1, it indicates that it is necessary to avoid immediately, and whether or not the robot 1 performs an avoidance operation. Is used by the avoidance start determination unit 1315.

(Step S108)
When the obstacle is the pedestrian 21, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 is based on the direction change ease calculated by the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 and the avoidance necessity calculated by the avoidance necessity calculation unit 1314. To determine whether to start avoidance control. For example, the avoidance start determining unit 1315 refers to the graph shown in FIG. 14 stored in the built-in storage unit, and the degree of avoidance and the degree of ease of turning are greater than or equal to the thick diagonal line (on the right side of the thick diagonal line). If it is a region R1) indicated by diagonal lines, the start of avoidance control is determined. The avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines not to start the avoidance control if it is less than the thick diagonal line (the region R2 on the left side of the thick diagonal line). However, if the degree of avoidance is 0, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines that avoidance control is not started regardless of the degree of ease of direction change. As an example, the boundary between the shaded portion (region R1) and the other portion (region R2) is set so that the direction change ease decreases monotonously with the degree of necessity for avoidance. As an example, if the avoidance necessity level is 0, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 does not determine the avoidance control start regardless of the numerical value of the direction change ease. As an example, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines that the degree of urgency is small if the degree of avoidance is less than 0.4, and does not determine avoidance control start if the degree of ease of direction change is less than 1. The avoidance control start is determined only when is 1. As an example, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines that the degree of urgency is high if the degree of avoidance is 0.8 or more, and determines the start of avoidance control even if the degree of direction change is zero.

  When the obstacle is not a pedestrian, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 avoids the avoidance when the avoidance necessity calculated by the avoidance necessity calculation unit 1314 exceeds a predetermined threshold as an obstacle such as a wall or an article. Make a decision to start control. In other words, the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines the start of avoidance control when the distance to the obstacle is closer than the predetermined distance.

(Step S109)
Next, when the avoidance start determination unit 1315 determines the start of avoidance control, the process proceeds to (Step S110). If the avoidance start determination unit 1315 does not determine the start of avoidance control, the process proceeds to (Step S111).

(Step S110)
Based on the avoidance start determination information from the avoidance start determination unit 1315, the avoidance path generation unit 1316 has a large direction change ease calculated by the direction change ease calculation unit 1313 by the avoidance control determination by the avoidance start determination unit 1315. An avoidance route that avoids the pedestrian 21 in the same direction as the direction is generated. Here, the same direction means that the relative direction left and right for the pedestrian 21 and the relative direction left and right for the robot 1 are the same, and the absolute direction or coordinates are not the same. The reason why the robot 1 generates the avoidance path in the same direction is that the direction in which the pedestrian 21 facing the robot 1 avoids the robot 1 is easy to change direction. As an example, when the robot 1 moves in the right direction when viewed from the robot 1, the pedestrian 21 generates an avoidance path for avoiding in the right direction when viewed from the pedestrian 21 by the avoidance path generation unit 1316.

(Step S111)
When the avoidance route generation unit 1316 generates an avoidance route based on the information stored in the route DB 132 and the information related to the avoidance route generated by the avoidance route generation unit 1316, the movement control unit 133 generates the avoidance route. Or if the avoidance route is not generated, the movement control of the robot 1 is performed according to the route when there is no obstacle stored in the route DB 132.

(Step S112)
Next, when there is an end of movement due to the robot 1 reaching a predetermined destination or an input of an end of movement of the operator's robot 1 input to an end switch (not shown), This completes the robot movement control operation. Otherwise, the robot movement control operation by the control unit 13 proceeds to (Step S101).

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the robot 1 starts an operation of avoiding the pedestrian 21 in a state in which the pedestrian 21 easily changes direction, the pedestrian 21 loses balance and falls. It is possible to provide the control unit 13 that reduces the risk of accidents. For example, in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 15, when the pedestrian 21 steps on the right leg 21R and places the center of gravity on the right leg 21R, the robot 1 starts moving in the right direction for avoidance. In order to avoid this, the pedestrian 21 tries to move in the right direction, and there is a risk of losing balance and falling. On the other hand, according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, before the pedestrian 21 steps on the right leg 21R, the robot 1 starts moving in the right direction to avoid the pedestrian. 21 can easily move to the right to avoid the robot 1 and reduce the risk that the pedestrian 21 loses balance and falls.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the first embodiment and modifications, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the first embodiment and modifications. The following cases are also included in the present invention.

  Specifically, a part or all of each control device is a computer system including a microprocessor, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk unit, a display unit, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. A computer program is stored in the RAM or hard disk unit. Each unit achieves its function by the microprocessor operating according to the computer program. Here, the computer program is configured by combining a plurality of instruction codes indicating instructions for the computer in order to achieve a predetermined function.

For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. In addition, the software which implement | achieves a part or all of the element which comprises the control apparatus in the said embodiment or modification is the following programs. In other words, this program is
Based on the detection information of the sensor, a pedestrian determination unit that determines whether the obstacle detected by the sensor is a pedestrian,
A first calculation unit for obtaining a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking of the pedestrian based on the walking state of the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit;
Based on the relative positional relationship calculated by the first calculation unit, a second calculation unit that calculates the ease of change of direction of the pedestrian in the left and right directions;
An avoidance start determination unit that determines a control for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian based on the degree of ease of direction change calculated by the second calculation unit;
When avoidance control is determined by the avoidance start determination unit, an avoidance route generation unit that generates an avoidance route for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian, and
A movement control unit that performs movement control of the moving body according to the avoidance path generated by the avoidance path generation unit;
This is a robot control program for functioning as

  The program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, and a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory) is read out. May be executed.

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  In addition, it can be made to show the effect which each has by combining arbitrary embodiment or modification of the said various embodiment or modification suitably.

  The moving body control device according to the present invention reduces the risk that the pedestrian loses balance and falls when the moving body starts an operation of avoiding the pedestrian in a state in which the pedestrian easily changes direction. It has a function and is useful as a mobile control device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot 11 Body 12 Sensor 13 Control part 14 Motor 15 Drive wheel 20 Passage 21 Pedestrian 22R, 22L Pedestrian's right leg, left leg 32 Subject 131 Pedestrian avoidance part 132 Path | route DB
133 Movement control unit 1311 Pedestrian determination unit 1312 Leg carry calculation unit 1313 Direction change ease calculation unit 1314 Avoidance necessity calculation unit 1315 Avoidance start determination unit 1316 Avoidance route generation unit 16 Server 17 Mobile communication unit 18 Server communication unit 171 Time Graph 172 of the relationship between the distance to the left and right legs of the pedestrian and the graph 182 181 corresponding to one cycle of the walking cycle among the graphs 181 172 of the relationship between the time of the pedestrian and the speed of the left and right legs of the pedestrian Graph of leg travel 183 Graph of load ratio of right and left legs corresponding to graph of 181 Graph of ease of direction change to left and right direction corresponding to graph of 184 181 1111 Walking cycle when leg transport is uneven left and right 1 cycle Leg's left and right leg speed graph 1112 1111 graph corresponding to the leg transport graph 1113 1111 graph Graph of the load ratio of the left and right legs corresponding to 1114 1111 of the degree of ease of changing the direction to the left and right corresponding to the graph of 1111

Claims (11)

A moving body control device that controls a moving body,
A walking state acquisition unit that acquires a walking state of left and right legs of a pedestrian around the moving body;
A first calculation unit for obtaining a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking of the pedestrian based on the walking state of the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit;
Based on the relative positional relationship calculated by the first calculation unit, a second calculation unit that calculates the ease of change of direction of the pedestrian in the left and right directions;
An avoidance start determination unit that determines a control for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian based on the degree of ease of direction change calculated by the second calculation unit;
When avoidance control is determined by the avoidance start determination unit, an avoidance route generation unit that generates an avoidance route for the moving body to avoid the pedestrian, and
A moving body control apparatus comprising: a movement control unit that performs movement control of the moving body according to the avoidance path generated by the avoidance path generation unit.   The mobile body control device according to claim 1, wherein the first calculation unit obtains a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking based on a periodicity of movement of the left and right legs of the pedestrian.   The first calculation unit is configured to determine a relative positional relationship between the left and right legs during walking based on a change in a distance from the moving body to the left and right legs of the pedestrian acquired by the walking state acquisition unit of the moving body. The moving body control device according to claim 1, wherein:   The said 1st calculation part calculates | requires the relative positional relationship of the said right and left leg at the time of a walk based on each speed of the said leg of the said pedestrian acquired with the said walking state acquisition part of the said mobile body. The moving body control apparatus according to 1.   In the cycle of movement of the left and right legs of the pedestrian, the second calculation unit is configured such that the other leg that progresses after the first time from the first time when the one leg of the pedestrian contacts the ground, The degree of ease of turning toward the one leg is maximized at a time between the time when the leg is closest to the grounded one and the time until the second time when the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs becomes the smallest. The mobile control device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the degree of ease of direction change is calculated as described above. Based on information from the walking state acquisition unit, the mobile body has a third calculation unit that calculates the degree of avoidance that avoids the pedestrian,
The avoidance start determination unit is configured to control the moving body to avoid the pedestrian based on the degree of avoidance calculated by the third calculation unit and the degree of ease of turning calculated by the second calculation unit. The moving body control device according to claim 1, wherein the determination is performed.   The said avoidance start determination part performs the determination of avoidance control, when the said direction change ease is more than the threshold value set so small that the said avoidance necessity becomes large, The avoidance control is determined as described in any one of Claims 1-6. Mobile control device.   The said avoidance path | route production | generation part is a moving body control apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-7 which produces | generates the avoidance path | route which avoids in the direction where the said pedestrian's direction change ease is large among the left-right directions.   The second calculation unit calculates a left-right asymmetry degree of the relative positional relationship between the left and right legs of the pedestrian, and determines the degree of ease of direction change to a leg with a slower speed or a leg with a smaller step length. The mobile body control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the mobile body control device is calculated to be smaller than a degree of ease of direction change to a leg different from the leg.   The walking state acquisition unit of the mobile body determines whether the obstacle detected by the sensor is a pedestrian based on a sensor that detects a distance from the obstacle and detection information of the sensor. The moving body control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit.   The mobile body control device according to claim 10, wherein the sensor is a distance measuring sensor.

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