JPH07244527A - Working machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a working machine capable of shortening working time and reducing working load without working the same place twice or more. CONSTITUTION:A vacuum cleaner 1 to be a working machine is provided with an acceleration sensor 2 and an angular velocity sensor 3. A cleaned position display device 5 for displaying the moving area of the cleaner 1 on a two-dimensional display screen is fixed to the front side of the cleaner 1. A positional azimuth calculating means finds out the moving position of the cleaner 1 based upon a detection signal from the sensor 2 and finds out the moving direction of the cleaner 1 based upon a detection signal from the sensor 3. The device 5 displays a cleaned position on the two-dimensional display screen based upon the fond data and an operator checks the cleaned position while observing the display screen and advances cleaning while evading once cleaned positions. Consequently working time can be shortened and working load can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a working machine mainly used for business.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows a mode of cleaning a floor or the like using a conventional electric vacuum cleaner as an example of a working machine. In general, an electric vacuum cleaner for cleaning the floor surface of an office or factory uses a hand-pushed vacuum cleaner with wheels 10 as shown in FIG. 5, and the structure is such that the operator decides the cleaning state of the floor surface to perform cleaning. Has become.

[0003]

By the way, when using a conventional vacuum cleaner, for example, when cleaning a floor surface, the operator is confused about whether it is a cleaned area or an uncleaned area, and the same. It often happens that the place is cleaned more than once,
There was a problem such as wasting cleaning time and labor.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a working machine capable of shortening the working time and the working load without working the same place twice or more. To do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is,
The working machine of the present invention is a moving distance detecting means for detecting a moving distance of the working machine, a moving direction detecting means for detecting a moving direction of the working machine, a detecting distance by the moving distance detecting means and a detecting direction by the moving direction detecting means. Position and orientation calculation means for obtaining the position and orientation of the working machine based on the information of the working machine, and a completed location for displaying the moving area of the working machine on the two-dimensional display screen based on the calculation data of the position and orientation of the working machine calculated by the position and orientation calculation means And a display device of the above.

[0006]

When the working machine moves while working, the position / orientation calculating means calculates the position / orientation based on the information of the detection distance by the moving distance detecting means of the working machine and the detection direction by the moving direction detecting means, and the position of the completed work area is calculated. Based on the calculated data, the display device displays the moving area of the work machine on the two-dimensional display screen as the completed work area. While watching this display screen, the operator avoids the already-worked place to proceed with the work and prevents the same place from working more than once. As a result, it is possible to prevent the working machine from being moved for a short time and to prevent the labor from being wasted.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Like the conventional example, the electric vacuum cleaner as the working machine of the present embodiment is a vacuum cleaner mainly used for business. FIG. 1 shows a mode in which the floor surface is cleaned using an electric vacuum cleaner as a working machine according to the present embodiment. The electric vacuum cleaner 1 is provided with an acceleration sensor 2 functioning as a moving distance detecting means for detecting a moving distance of the cleaner and an angular velocity sensor 3 functioning as a moving direction detecting means for detecting a moving direction of the cleaner.

On the front side of the vacuum cleaner 1, there is provided a display device 5 of the cleaned part as a display device of the worked part for displaying the moving area of the vacuum cleaner on the two-dimensional display screen 8. The device 5 is provided with range switching means,
By operating this range switching means, the range (horizontal and vertical size of the screen) of the display screen 8 is switched according to the vertical and horizontal sizes of the floor surface to be cleaned.

Further, the vacuum cleaner is provided with a cursor for selecting the start position of the display on the screen 8 for displaying the movement of the vacuum cleaner in correspondence with the start position of the floor surface of the vacuum cleaner. The start position of the display on the screen can be freely selected.
A handle 11 of the cleaner is provided with a drive switch 7 for driving a cleaning means for cleaning the mop 9 and the like by rotating the mop 9 and the like with a motor or the like.

As the moving distance detecting means, for example,
A sensor using a piezoelectric element or a well-known capacitance type acceleration sensor 2 is used. A well-known angular velocity sensor 3 such as a gyro is used as the moving direction detecting means.

In order to obtain the moving amount of the cleaner 1, it is necessary to obtain the moving position and the moving direction of the cleaner, but the speed is obtained by integrating the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 2 as the moving distance detecting means. , The distance is obtained by integrating again. Further, since the angle is obtained by integrating the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity sensor 3 as the moving direction detecting means, the position and orientation of the cleaner can be detected from the moving distance and the moving angle. In addition, 10 in FIG. 1 has shown the wheel.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an electric vacuum cleaner as a working machine according to the present embodiment. It shows a position / orientation calculating means 4, a vacuum cleaner on / off judging means 6 and a cleaned portion. And a display device 5. The position / orientation calculation means 4 integrates the acceleration detection signal of the acceleration sensor 2 twice to obtain the moving position (moving distance) of the cleaner, and integrates the angular velocity detection signal of the angular velocity sensor 3 to calculate the moving angle to calculate the moving angle of the cleaner. The moving direction is obtained, and signals of the moving position and direction are sent to the on / off judging means 6 of the vacuum cleaner.

The on / off judging means 6 of the vacuum cleaner judges the operating state of the vacuum cleaner and drives the cleaning means.
Whether it is ON or OFF, the ON / OFF signal is sent to the position / azimuth calculation means 4. The position / orientation calculating means 4 always calculates the position / orientation of the cleaner based on the detection signals of the acceleration sensor 2 and the angular velocity sensor 3, regardless of whether the drive switch 7 is on or off. On the other hand, the on / off judging means 6 of the vacuum cleaner sends a signal indicating the position and direction and an on signal to the display device 5 of the cleaned portion when the switch 7 is on, and sends an off signal when the switch 7 is off. Send to.

Only when the display device 5 of the cleaned portion receives the ON signal from the ON / OFF judging means 6 of the cleaner, the position / azimuth calculating means 4 judges the ON / OFF state of the cleaner from the position / azimuth calculating means 4. The moving locus of the cleaner 1 is displayed as a cleaned moving area on the two-dimensional display screen 8 by the signal of the position and orientation, and the signal from the on / off judging means 6 of the cleaner is an off signal. When, the movement locus is not displayed on the screen 8.

Next, the display operation of the cleaned portion of the electric vacuum cleaner of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First,
The start position of the display on the display screen 8 shown in FIG. 4 is moved to the start position on the floor surface of the vacuum cleaner 1 by operating the cursor to determine the traveling direction of the vacuum cleaner 1 immediately before driving the vacuum cleaner 1 by operating a button or the like. The direction is, for example, the X axis, and the direction perpendicular to the X axis is the Y axis.

For example, when cleaning the floor surface to be cleaned along the wall surface from the front side on the left side, the start position of the display on the display screen 8 of FIG. 4 is displayed corresponding to the start position of the cleaner 1. When the cleaner 1 is moved along the wall surface in the X-axis direction to the point A on the left end side of 8 by the cursor operation, the moved area of the cleaner 1 is displayed on the screen 8. That is, when moving from the point A to the point B, the moving area is sequentially displayed on the screen 8. When you curve to the right at point B and move in the Y-axis direction, the moving area is displayed on screen 8 in sequence, and C
When the point is reached, the movement trajectory of the cleaner 1 is displayed on the screen 8 as the movement area of the cleaned portion of the diagonal lines A, B, and C.

When cleaning the wall surface from the front side on the right side, the start position of the cleaner 1 is set to the right end side point D of the screen 8, and the cleaner 1 is moved along the wall surface in the X-axis direction. Then, the moving area is displayed on the screen 8 and the cleaner 1 is moved to X
When moving to the E point in the axial direction, the moving locus from the D point to the E point is displayed on the screen 8, and when moving to the left side at the E point and moving to the F point in the Y axis direction, the moving locus of the cleaner 1 becomes , Screen 8 as a moving path of D, E, and F that has been cleaned, which is indicated by diagonal lines.
Is displayed in. After that, the movement locus is displayed on the display screen every time the movement is made in the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction.

According to this embodiment, the moving distance of the electric vacuum cleaner is obtained based on the detection signal of the acceleration sensor 2, the moving direction is obtained based on the detection signal of the angular velocity sensor 3, and the moving direction is calculated based on the calculated data of the position and orientation. Since the display device 5 of the cleaned part for displaying the area on the two-dimensional display screen 8 is provided, it is possible for the operator to waste the time and trouble by cleaning the same part twice or more as in the conventional case. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the operator avoids the cleaned portion and does not clean the same portion more than once, so that the working time can be greatly shortened and the work load can be reduced. .

When a rotary encoder is used to detect the movement amount of the electric vacuum cleaner, the movement distance between the inner wheel and the outer wheel is different due to the difference in the inner wheel of the axle, etc. However, since the acceleration sensor 2 is used in the present embodiment, the detection accuracy is high because the acceleration detection signal is integrated twice to obtain the movement distance regardless of the difference in the movement distance between the inner wheel and the outer wheel. , Measurement error can be eliminated.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the vertical and horizontal sizes of the display screen adapted to the vertical and horizontal sizes of the floor surface to be cleaned can be easily switched by the range switching means. Can also be accommodated.

Furthermore, since the start position of the display on the screen 8 is freely selected by the cursor,
The display can be started from any position on the display screen.

Furthermore, when the drive switch is off, the movement trajectory of the cleaner is not displayed on the screen, but the position and orientation of the cleaner is always calculated by the position and orientation calculation means 4, and when the switch is turned on, the Cleaning starts from the position and orientation when the power is turned on, and the movement trajectory of the vacuum cleaner is displayed on the screen, so that the trajectory of the cleaned portion can be reliably obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can take various modes. For example, in the above embodiment, the display device 5 that displays the cleaned portion on the two-dimensional display screen 8 based on the calculated data of the moving position and the bearing of the vacuum cleaner.
Although the electric vacuum cleaner is installed in the electric vacuum cleaner, the present invention can be applied to work machines such as a cultivator and a lawn mower. In particular, a working machine such as an electric vacuum cleaner, a cultivator, and a lawn mower is robotized, and the working machine is provided with a driving unit for driving wheels by a motor or the like, a steering unit, etc., and the position of the embodiment as shown in FIG. The work machine is provided with a configuration such as an azimuth calculation means, and the work machine itself obtains the display area of the worked area and the unworked area on the screen by pattern recognition, etc., and the work machine itself avoids the display area of the worked area. The unworked area can be automatically worked.

Further, in the above embodiment, the starting point of display on the display screen is selected by the cursor, but it may be selected by the operation button or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the cursor is used as the selection means of the display start point on the display screen, but the selection means such as the cursor and the operation button as the selection means of the display start point may be omitted. it can. In this case, the starting point for cleaning is on both wall surfaces of the floor, and the left and right sides of the display screen corresponding to this floor are the starting start points. A start position determining means for determining either the left or right floor surface is provided.

When cleaning the floor surface using this electric vacuum cleaner, as shown in FIG.
For example, when the operator starts cleaning the vacuum cleaner in the X-axis direction from the left end side of the floor, with the Y-axis being the direction perpendicular to the X-axis,
Since the vacuum cleaner itself does not know whether the cleaning start position is on the left side or the right side, the moving area of the vacuum cleaner is not displayed on the screen, but the moving distance and moving direction are calculated. When the vehicle bends to the right at the point B, the start position determination means determines that it has moved along the left side wall surface, and as shown in FIG. 4, the movement trajectory from the point A to the point B with the point B as the display start origin. Are displayed all at once on the screen 8. Then, each time the robot moves from the point B in the Y-axis direction, the movement locus is displayed on the screen, and the cleaned locations are sequentially displayed on the screen.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the range switching means is used to freely switch the display screen according to the vertical and horizontal sizes of the floor surface, but the range switching means may be omitted. In this case, assuming a maximum vertical and horizontal size of the floor surface in advance, a display screen for covering the size is provided. In this method, the range switching means is unnecessary, and the cost is reduced accordingly.

When the cleaner starts cleaning from the right side wall of the floor in the X-axis direction, since the cleaner itself does not know whether the cleaning start position is on the left side or the right side, the moving area of the cleaner is displayed on the screen. However, when the vehicle curves to the left at point E, the start position determination means determines that cleaning has started from the right side,
The movement locus from the point D to the point E is displayed on the screen at once, and the locus is displayed on the screen each time the movement is made. According to this method, parts such as a cursor and operation buttons are unnecessary, so that the cost is reduced accordingly.

Further, although the acceleration sensor 2 is used as the moving distance detecting means of the cleaner and the angular velocity sensor 3 is used as the moving direction detecting means of the cleaner, if the moving distance or the moving angle can be detected, the acceleration sensor is used. And angular velocity sensor.

[0030]

According to the present invention, the position and azimuth of the working machine are obtained based on the detection signals of the moving distance detecting means and the moving direction detecting means, and the moving area is displayed on the two-dimensional display screen based on the calculated data of the position and azimuth. Since the display device for the already-worked portion is provided, as in the conventional case, for example, while the operator wastes time and labor by working the same portion twice or more, the present invention Since the person does not work on the already worked area and never works on the same area more than once,
The working time can be greatly shortened and the work load can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a mode of cleaning a floor surface using an electric vacuum cleaner as a work machine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an electric vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a driving mode of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a two-dimensional display screen of the cleaned portion display device of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a mode of cleaning a floor surface using a conventional electric vacuum cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum cleaner 2 Acceleration sensor 3 Angular velocity sensor 4 Position / azimuth calculation means 5 Display device of cleaned location 6 Vacuum cleaner on / off determination means 8 Two-dimensional display screen

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display area // A47L 9/28 A

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A moving distance detecting means for detecting a moving distance of a working machine, a moving direction detecting means for detecting a moving direction of the working machine, a moving distance detecting means for detecting a moving distance of the working machine, and a moving direction detecting means for detecting a moving direction of the working machine. A position / azimuth calculation unit that obtains the position / azimuth of the work implement based on the information, and a position of the completed work that displays the moving region of the work implement on the two-dimensional display screen based on the calculation data of the position / azimuth of the work implement obtained by the position / azimuth calculation unit. A working machine equipped with a display device.