JP2019106941A - Mower - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a mower capable of automatically traveling and accurately distinguishing a ground surface which has been mowed and grasses before being mowed.SOLUTION: A mower comprises: a travel machine body 1 for performing mowing travel; a travel control part for controlling the travel machine body; a distance sensor 10 for scanning a distance between the travel machine body 1 and an object positioned in a machine body lateral direction over both of left and right directions of the machine body; a decode control part for generating ground height data over both of left and right sides of the machine body on the basis of the distance detected by scanning of the distance sensor 10 and scanning angle; an object detection part for generating a ground surface reference line identified as a line of a ground surface which has been mowed, and a grass reference line identified as a line of grasses before being mowed, by an approximate line based on the ground height data; a target distance calculation part for calculating a target distance on the basis of the distance between the grass reference line and the travel machine body; and a travel instruction part for outputting an instruction signal so that the distance between the grass reference line and the travel machine body matches the target distance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a mowing machine provided with a traveling machine body that performs mowing traveling, a traveling control unit that controls the traveling machine body, and a distance sensor.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a traveling machine body performing mowing travel ("the vehicle body 3" in the document), a detection device ("the object detection unit 11" in the document) that detects an object present in the range of the work area, A distance calculation unit ("the distance calculation unit 14" in the document) for calculating the separation distance from the reference line (reference "SL" in the document) calculated based on the detected object to the traveling vehicle body; An automatic mowing machine is disclosed that is provided with a traveling control unit (reference numeral "16" in the literature) that performs traveling control so that the distance to the point falls within a preset range. In the automatic mowing machine of Patent Document 1, a reference line is generated with two or more fruit trees in an orchard as targets.

JP, 2016-189172, A

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the trunk of the fruit tree stands up from the ground and the fruit tree and the ground can be easily distinguished, the distance calculation unit is configured to measure the reference line with the fruit tree as a target and the traveling aircraft. The separation distance can be calculated. However, for example, there may be no trunk or the like rising from the ground on a slope or the like, and there is a possibility that the reference line can not be generated because the target can not be set.

  In view of the above-described situation, an object of the present invention is a mowing machine capable of automatically traveling by accurately discriminating the grass before harvesting and the ground after harvesting even when there is no target in the mowing target area To provide.

The mower of the present invention is
A traveling vehicle that carries out mowing traveling,
A traveling control unit that controls the traveling aircraft body;
A distance sensor for scanning the distance between the traveling body and an object located in the left and right direction of the body across both the left and right sides of the body;
A decoding control unit that generates ground height data for both the left and right of the vehicle based on the distance and scanning angle detected by the scanning of the distance sensor;
An object detection unit that generates a ground reference line identified as a ground line after cutting and a grass reference line identified as a grass line before cutting according to the approximation line based on the ground height data;
A target distance calculation unit that calculates a target distance based on the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling airframe;
A travel instruction unit that outputs an instruction signal such that the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling body matches the target distance;
Are provided.

  For example, even if it is a mowing target area | region which has no remarkable targets, such as a tree | wood, the grass which becomes the object of mowing exists. According to the present invention, the distance sensor identifies the ground after harvesting and the grass before harvesting by manipulating the lateral direction of the traveling vehicle, and the grass reference line based on the identification of the grass and the traveling vehicle are set in advance. The traveling vehicle is controlled to maintain the determined distance. From this, the mowing machine can perform mowing traveling automatically along the boundary between the ground after cutting and the grass before cutting. As a result, even if there is no target in the mowing target area, a mowing machine capable of automatically traveling by accurately discriminating the grass before mowing and the ground after mowing is realized.

In this configuration,
A traveling mode determination unit that determines a traveling mode of the traveling aircraft body;
The travel mode has a manual control mode and an automatic control mode,
When the traveling mode is the manual control mode, the traveling control unit controls the traveling machine based on an operation signal of manual control,
When the traveling mode is the automatic control mode, preferably, the traveling control unit controls the traveling machine body based on an instruction signal of the traveling instruction unit.

  It is desirable that the mowing machine can be operated remotely according to the conditions of the mowing target area and the conditions of the traveling aircraft. With this configuration, it is possible to switch the signal input by the traveling control unit to the operation signal in the manual control mode and the instruction signal in the automatic control mode from the determination of the traveling mode by the traveling mode determination unit Become.

In this configuration,
It is preferable that the distance sensor is configured to scan by rotating around a longitudinal axis of the machine.

  In this configuration, since the scanning angle of the distance sensor rotates about the longitudinal axis in the front-rear direction, the distance sensor can scan the ground in the vicinity of the lower part of the traveling body among the ground after cutting. As a result, the distance sensor can scan the ground after harvesting and the grass before harvesting precisely.

  It is preferable that the distance sensor be provided at either the front or the rear of the traveling body.

  With this configuration, the distance sensor can scan the ground directly below the distance sensor, as compared to a configuration in which the distance sensor is provided at the front-rear center of the traveling vehicle. As a result, the distance sensor can scan the ground after harvesting and the grass before harvesting precisely.

In this configuration,
It is preferable that the distance sensor be provided at both the front and the rear of the traveling body.

  With this configuration, the distance sensor provided at the front of the traveling machine can scan the ground and grass before mowing and the mowing is performed using the distance sensor provided at the rear of the traveling machine. You can scan the ground and grass behind. As a result, the mower can accurately follow the boundary between the ground after harvesting and the grass before harvesting.

In this configuration,
The object detection unit generates the ground reference line by calculating an approximate line from data in the range in the left-right direction of the aircraft which is preset from the vertical direction of the distance sensor among the ground height data. Preferably, it is configured.

  With this configuration, since the ground reference line is generated based on the approximate line, the ground after cutting and the grass before cutting can be efficiently discriminated from the ground height data.

In this configuration,
The object detection unit calculates grass by calculating an approximation line from data of a location where data having a height greater than or equal to a predetermined value from the ground reference line in the ground height data continues over a predetermined range or more. Preferably, it is configured to generate candidate lines.

  In the present configuration, the ground height data generated as the grass candidate line is limited to data of a portion where the data is continuous over a predetermined range or more. For this reason, the data which is not continuous over a certain range is excluded from the data of the grass candidate line, and the risk of erroneously detecting the grass is reduced. Further, since the grass candidate line is generated based on the approximate line, the ground after cutting and the grass before mowing can be efficiently discriminated from the ground height data.

In this configuration,
A plurality of grass candidate lines are generated,
The traveling body is provided with an inertial sensor that detects an inclination angle of the traveling body.
Among the grass candidate lines, the object detection unit predetermines an inclination angle of the grass candidate line with respect to the ground reference line and a calculated inclination angle calculated from the inclination angle detected by the inertial sensor. Preferably, one of the candidate grass lines within a reference range is configured to be identified as the grass reference line.

  Generally, grass often grows upward along a specific direction (e.g. vertical direction) even on slopes. With this configuration, the specific direction can be calculated based on the inclination angle of the inertial sensor. For this reason, the discrimination | determination precision of grass improves by specifying the grass candidate line which follows the said specific direction among several grass candidate lines as a grass reference line.

In this configuration,
It is preferable that the grass reference line is limited within a height range preset from the ground reference line.

  Since the upper part of the grass is often shaken by the wind, this configuration can prevent erroneous detection of the grass due to disturbance such as wind.

In this configuration,
As the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling vehicle, a plurality of values calculated over the present and a plurality of times in the past are stored,
Preferably, the target distance is calculated based on a moving average value of the plurality of values.

  Even when the distance between the grass and the traveling airframe is kept within a certain range during mowing, the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling airframe changes significantly by detection of stones or piles on the ground The case is also conceivable. In the case of this configuration, since the target distance is a moving average value, even if the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling airframe changes sharply and sharply, the change in the target distance is determined by the grass reference line and the traveling airframe Is smaller than the change in the distance d, and the instruction signal in the travel instruction unit is stabilized.

It is a side view showing composition of a mowing machine. It is a top view of a turning state. It is a top view of a rectilinear state. It is a block diagram showing a control unit. It is a front view showing mowing travel of a mowing machine. It is a graph which shows the two-dimensional coordinate positional information based on the scan of a distance sensor. It is a float chart which shows detection processing of uncut grass. It is an explanatory view showing judgment of the ground after mowing. It is explanatory drawing which shows calculation of the relative angle of an inclined surface and uncut grass. It is explanatory drawing which shows the production | generation of a grass candidate line and a grass reference line. It is an explanatory view showing calculation of a target distance. It is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of generation of a grass candidate line. It is a top view which shows another embodiment of the scan of a distance sensor.

[Basic configuration of mowing machine]
An embodiment of a mowing machine according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the mowing machine exemplified in the present embodiment includes a traveling body 1, a first wheel 2A, a second wheel 2B, and a mowing apparatus 3. The first wheels 2 </ b> A are provided on the one end side in the longitudinal direction of the traveling body 1 in a left-right pair. The second wheels 2 </ b> B are provided on the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the traveling airframe 1 in a left-right pair. The mowing device 3 is provided between the first wheel 2A and the second wheel 2B in the lower part of the traveling body 1.

  An antenna 8 capable of communicating with the transmitter 7 (see FIG. 4) is provided upright on the upper part of the traveling body 1. The transmitter 7 is configured such that the operator can operate the mowing machine while carrying it. The transmitter 7 may be, for example, an operation by a proportional type controller operated by a worker at hand or an operation by a portable terminal device having a touch panel type display screen.

  Although not shown, the traveling body 1 is provided with a transmission mechanism that transmits the power of the engine E to the first wheel 2A and the second wheel 2B and also transmits the power to the mowing device 3. The power transmission mechanism is configured to be able to interrupt power transmission to the first wheel 2A, the second wheel 2B, and the mowing device 3. The power of the engine E is transmitted to the first wheel 2A, the second wheel 2B, and the mowing apparatus 3, so that mowing work can be performed while the vehicle is traveling. A first steering motor 9A is provided on the first wheel 2A, and the first wheel 2A is configured to swing around a longitudinal axis center by the driving force of the first steering motor 9A so as to be steerable. In addition, the second steering motor 9B is provided on the second wheel 2B, and the second wheel 2B is configured to swing around the longitudinal axis center by the driving force of the second steering motor 9B so that steering operation is possible. There is. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the first wheel 2A and the second wheel 2B can be changed in direction to a straight forward posture, a rightward swinging posture, and a leftward swinging posture, respectively.

  A distance sensor 10 is provided on the front upper or rear upper portion of the traveling vehicle 1. The distance sensor 10 is, for example, an LRF (Laser Range Finder), and transmits, for example, a signal propagating in the air, such as a laser beam or an ultrasonic wave, as a detection signal. When the detection signal is irradiated to the detection target, the detection signal is reflected on the surface of the detection target. Then, the distance sensor 10 acquires a detection signal reflected by the surface of the detection target as a reflection signal. That is, the distance sensor 10 transmits a detection signal toward the detection range of the distance sensor 10, and acquires a reflection signal with respect to the detection signal. The distance sensor 10 is configured to calculate the distance between the distance sensor 10 and the detection target based on the time from the transmission of the detection signal to the acquisition of the reflection signal. The process in which the distance sensor 10 transmits a detection signal and acquires a reflection signal is hereinafter referred to as “scanning”. The distance sensor 10 may be provided at either the front or the rear of the traveling body 1 or may be provided at both the front or the rear of the traveling body 1.

  The inclination angle detection unit 11 is provided in the traveling body 1 and the inclination angle detection unit 11 is, for example, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), which is an example of an inertial sensor, and detects an inclination of the traveling body 1 to detect a detection inclination angle Im. Output

[About control configuration]
As shown in FIG. 4, a control unit U for enabling the automatic travel of the mower is provided in the mower, for example, in a state of being incorporated in a microcomputer. The control unit U is provided with a decode control unit 12, a travel mode determination unit 13, an object detection unit 14, a target distance calculation unit 15, and a travel instruction unit 16. The decode control unit 12 determines the horizontal distance between the distance sensor 10 in the lateral direction of the vehicle and the vertical direction of the distance sensor 10 based on the distance calculated by the scanning of the distance sensor 10 and the scanning angle at the time of calculation. The vertical distance is calculated as coordinate position information. The control unit U is configured to be switchable between an automatic control mode and a manual control mode, and the determination of the traveling mode determination unit 13 determines which of the automatic control mode and the manual control mode.

  The object detection unit 14 will be described later in detail, but on the basis of coordinate position information, a ground reference line LG representing the ground after cutting by an approximate straight line (approximate line) and a grass reference representing the grass line before cutting off by an approximate straight line Generate a line LK. The object detection unit 14 is provided with a storage unit 14a, and the storage unit 14a is, for example, a random access memory (RAM), and temporally stores coordinate position information calculated by the decode control unit 12. Generation of the ground reference line LG and the grass reference line LK is performed by using coordinate position information stored in the storage unit 14a.

  The target distance calculation unit 15 calculates the distance between the grass reference line LK and the distance sensor 10. Further, the target distance calculation unit 15 calculates a target distance LM for appropriately mowing traveling while the portion where the distance sensor 10 is positioned in the traveling machine body 1 is separated from the grass reference line LK. Then, the travel instruction unit 16 outputs a control signal so as to hold the separation distance between the grass reference line LK and the distance sensor 10 at the target distance LM.

  The traveling body 1 is provided with a communication unit 17 capable of receiving an operation signal wirelessly transmitted from the transmitter 7 via the antenna 8. Information received by the communication unit 17 is input to the control unit U. In the manual control mode, mowing travel or the like is performed based on an artificial operation of the transmitter 7. For this reason, in the state of the manual control mode, the travel instruction unit 16 is invalidated, but the object detection unit 14 and the target distance calculation unit 15 may be invalidated in conjunction with the travel instruction unit 16 .

  The output target of the travel instruction unit 16 is the travel control unit C, and the travel control unit C includes the travel control motor 18, the forward / backward advancing motor 19, the first steering motor 9A, and the second steering motor 9B. It is equipped. The travel control motor 18 operates an accelerator 20 that adjusts the amount of fuel supplied to the engine E, and a brake 21 that brakes the first wheel 2A and the second wheel 2B. The forward / reverse motor 19 switches the forward / reverse switching mechanism 22. Although not shown, the forward / reverse switching mechanism 22 is provided in a transmission that transmits the power of the engine E to the first wheel 2A and the second wheel 2B, and switches the power of the engine E between forward and reverse directions. Gear mechanism. The first steering motor 9A steers the first wheel 2A, and the second steering motor 9B steers the second wheel 2B. Each of the traveling control motor 18 and the forward and reverse motor 19 may be an electric motor or an electromagnetic switch.

  When the traveling mode is the automatic control mode, the traveling control unit C performs control based on an instruction signal of the traveling instruction unit 16. When the traveling mode is the manual control mode, an operation signal based on a manual operation of the transmitter 7 is input to the traveling control unit C via the communication unit 17 and the traveling mode determination unit 13, and the traveling control unit C receives the operation signal Control based on

  The state of the mowing machine can be transmitted from the communication unit 17 to a device outside the machine, and it is also possible to display the current position or state of the mowing machine, for example, on the display screen of the portable terminal device. The state of the mowing machine may be, for example, the vehicle speed of mowing travel, the remaining amount of fuel, or may indicate a malfunction of various devices mounted on the mowing machine.

[Detection processing of uncut grass]
As shown in FIG. 5, when the mowing machine performs mowing work with automatic traveling, the distance sensor 10 rotates around the longitudinal axis of the traveling body 1 as the axial center, and spans both the left and right sides of the body Do a scan. That is, the distance between the ground and the uncut grass (area indicated by GN in FIG. 5) with respect to the distance sensor 10 is obtained by scanning of the distance sensor 10. In the present embodiment, the scan by the distance sensor 10 is performed in the scan angle range of 270 degrees over the scan angle Ss and the scan angle Sf by the counterclockwise rotation shown in FIG. The scan angle Sf is inclined 45 degrees to the left and right with respect to the upper side of the airframe, respectively. The inclination angles of the scanning angle Ss and the scanning angle Sf can be changed as appropriate, and may not be the same inclination angle.

  By the scanning of the distance sensor 10, distance information based on the reflection signal is acquired for each scanning angle of the distance sensor 10. The decoding control unit 12 converts this scanning angle and distance information into a horizontal distance with respect to the distance sensor 10 in the lateral direction of the machine and a vertical distance with respect to the distance sensor 10 in the vertical direction with respect to the distance sensor 10 Do. Thereby, the distance information acquired by the temporal scanning of the distance sensor 10 is sequentially converted into two-dimensional coordinate position information, and the set of the coordinate position information is stored in the storage unit 14a provided in the object detection unit 14 Be done.

  A set of two-dimensional coordinate position information is represented as a waveform as shown in FIG. 6, which is a digital waveform plotted based on the set of coordinate position information. The center of the coordinates is the rotation axis center of the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10. A waveform along the horizontal direction below the coordinates is a ground line G1 indicating the ground after cutting, and a waveform along the vertical direction on the right of the coordinates is an uncut grass line G2 indicating uncut grass. Thereby, the ground height data to ground line G1 of uncut grass line G2 is obtained.

  In addition, although uncut grass line G2 is located in the state which left | separated from the side part of the airframe in FIG. 6, this is an illustration. For example, when the distance sensor 10 is located at the front end of the traveling vehicle 1, it is conceivable that the unharvested grass line G2 is located so as to overlap the vehicle because uncut grass exists in front of the vehicle. Also, for example, when the distance sensor 10 is located at the rear end of the traveling vehicle 1, it is conceivable that the uncut grass line G2 is located in contact with the lateral side of the vehicle.

  Next, an example of a specific procedure for detecting uncut grass will be described based on FIG. In this procedure, an example of a scan of one cycle from the scan angle Ss to the start of the scan through the ground scan to the completion of the scan at the scan angle Sf is shown, and the scan from the scan angle Ss to the scan angle Sf is It will be repeated.

  The scan by the distance sensor 10 is started from the scan angle Ss (step # 1). The scanning is continued while the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10 is rotated (step # 2), and the distance information acquired by the scanning is linked with the scanning angle at the time the scanning is performed. It is sequentially converted into coordinate position information of a dimension (step # 3). The process of step # 2 and the process of step # 3 continue until the scan angle of the distance sensor 10 reaches the scan angle Sf.

  If the scanning angle of distance sensor 10 reaches scanning angle Sg2 (see FIG. 8) at the timing of determining the ground after cutting, and ground reference line LG is not generated (step # 4: Yes) And the ground reference line LG identified as the ground line after cutting is generated by the object detection unit 14 (step # 5). As shown in FIG. 8, ground reference line LG is generated as an approximate straight line based on coordinate information corresponding between scan angle Sg1 of distance sensor 10 and scan angle Sg2 of distance sensor 10. Coordinate position information within a range of distances d1 and d2 in the vertical direction from the ground reference line LG is determined as coordinate position information (ground data) of the ground.

  The scanning angle Sg1 and the scanning angle Sg2 are symmetrically inclined with respect to the scanning angle Sb in which the distance sensor 10 is directed vertically downward (vertically downward) to the traveling airframe 1. In the present embodiment, the scanning angle Sg1 and the scanning angle Sg2 are configured to be inclined by 10 degrees to the left and right with respect to the scanning angle Sb, but this inclination angle can be changed appropriately. It may be a tilt angle across the width. Further, the scanning angle Sg1 and the scanning angle Sg2 may not be symmetrical with respect to the scanning angle Sb.

  The distances d1 and d2 in the vertical direction from the ground reference line LG are set, for example, to 10 centimeters, respectively, but this value can be changed as appropriate. Further, the distances d1 and d2 may not be the same value.

  When the generation of the ground reference line LG is completed, the object detection unit 14 calculates the calculated inclination angle θ2 of the uncut grass with respect to the ground after cutting (step # 6). The inclination angle θ1 of the ground after cutting is calculated based on the detected inclination angle Im output by the inclination angle detection unit 11. The inclination angle θ1 may be an instantaneous measurement value of the detected inclination angle Im, or may be an average value of a plurality of detected inclination angles Im periodically output. As shown in FIG. 9, it is generally known that uncut grass grows upward along the vertical direction even on slopes, and the calculated inclination angle θ2 of uncut grass with respect to the ground after cutting is , It is calculated by the following equation.

  Calculated inclination angle θ2 = 90 ° -θ1

  The scanning of the distance sensor 10 continues, and the object detection unit 14 determines whether the coordinate position information based on the scanning of the distance sensor 10 is grass coordinate position information (grass data) (step # 7). In the present embodiment, coordinate position information within the range of the distances d1 and d2 in the vertical direction from the ground reference line LG is determined as ground data. Therefore, the object detection unit 14 determines coordinate position information deviated from the ranges of the distances d1 and d2 as grass data. That is, the object detection unit 14 determines coordinate position information having a height equal to or more than a predetermined value from the ground reference line LG as grass data.

  In order to prevent erroneous detection, it is determined by the object detection unit 14 whether or not grass data is continuously detected over a preset number of pieces (step # 8). If the grass data is continuously detected over the preset number (Step # 8: Yes), the object detection unit 14 generates a grass candidate line Lc based on the grass data (Step # 9). ). That is, the grass data generated as the grass candidate line Lc is limited to grass data of a portion where the corresponding data continues over a predetermined range or more. The continuously detected number for determining whether or not to generate the grass candidate line Lc can be appropriately changed according to the weather, the season, and the type of uncut grass. The object detection unit 14 generates a plurality of grass candidate lines Lc until the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10 reaches the scanning angle Sf. In FIG. 10, the grass candidate line Lc is from the grass candidate line Lc (1) closest to the ground reference line LG side to the grass candidate line Lc (4) farthest from the ground reference line LG side A state in which four grass candidate lines Lc are generated is shown. The number of object detection units 14 for generating the grass candidate line Lc can be changed as appropriate.

  When the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10 reaches the scanning angle Sg2 (step # 10: Yes), the scanning of the distance sensor 10 is completed. Thereafter, the object detection unit 14 repeats the process of step # 10 and the process of step # 11. That is, the inclination angle (hereinafter referred to as “relative angle θ”) of each of the grass candidate lines Lc with respect to the ground reference line LG is calculated (step # 11). Then, the object detection unit 14 compares the relative angle θ with the calculated inclination angle θ2 (step # 12). If the relative angle θ is within a reference range preset from the calculated inclination angle θ2 (step # 12: coincidence determination), the object detection unit 14 determines the corresponding grass candidate line Lc as the grass reference line LK. (Step # 13). In FIG. 11, a grass reference line LK based on the grass candidate line Lc (2) is shown. In this case, it is determined by the object detection unit 14 that the relative angle θ of the grass candidate line Lc (2) with respect to the ground reference line LG falls within the range set in advance from the calculated inclination angle θ2. Lc is determined by the grass reference line LK. Thereby, the grass reference line LK is specified by the object detection unit 14.

  At this time, the object detection unit 14 selects one of the plurality of grass candidate lines Lc, the grass candidate line Lc which is first determined that the relative angle θ falls within the range set in advance from the calculated inclination angle θ2, It may be configured to be determined by the grass reference line LK. Further, the object detection unit 14 calculates the relative angle θ of all the grass candidate lines Lc with respect to the ground reference line LG, and the grass candidate line Lc having the relative angle θ most approximate to the calculated inclination angle θ2 is the grass reference line LK. It may be configured to be determined.

  After the determination of the grass reference line LK, the target distance calculation unit 15 calculates an intersection point S between the ground reference line LG and the grass reference line LK. Then, the separation distance between the intersection point S and the distance sensor 10 is calculated, and among the separation distances between the intersection point S and the traveling body 1, a target distance LM suitable for mowing the traveling body 1 is calculated (step # 14). The target distance LM suitable for mowing the traveling body 1 can be determined based on the inclination angle of the ground and the type and height of uncut grass, the mounting position of the distance sensor 10 in the traveling body 1, the forward direction of the traveling body 1, etc. .

  As such, each time the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10 makes one rotation, the processes of steps # 1 to # 14 are periodically performed. Further, the target distance LM is configured to calculate the target distance LM based on the moving average value of a plurality of past target distances periodically calculated over a plurality of past times in order to suppress the variation of each time. May be

[Another embodiment]
The present invention is not limited to the configuration exemplified in the above-described embodiment, and hereinafter, another representative embodiment of the present invention will be illustrated.

[1] In the embodiment described above, the object detection unit 14 is configured to generate a plurality of grass candidate lines Lc until the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10 reaches the scanning angle Sf, but the embodiment described above It is not limited to. For example, if the ground height of the grass data with respect to the ground reference line LG is higher than a preset height, the object detection unit 14 is configured not to generate the grass candidate line Lc based on the grass data. Also good. Since the upper end portion of the uncut grass is easily shaken by wind or the like, this configuration can prevent erroneous detection of grass due to disturbance such as wind.

[2] In the embodiment described above, the object detection unit 14 is configured to generate the grass candidate line Lc based on the grass data, but is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when the grass data is continuously detected over a preset number of objects, the object detection unit 14 generates the grass reference line LK for the grass data. A plurality of candidate data Kc may be stored. That is, the candidate data Kc is a set of two-dimensional coordinate position information, and a plurality of candidate data Kc of the grass reference line LK are stored until the scanning angle of the distance sensor 10 reaches the scanning angle Sf. In addition, the continuously detected number which determines the decision | availability of storage of candidate data Kc can be suitably changed according to the weather, the season, and the kind of uncut grass. The grass candidate line Lc which is an approximate straight line may be generated based on a combination of a plurality of candidate data Kc.

  For example, in FIG. 12, candidate data Kc (1) to Kc (6) are stored. The grass candidate line Lc (1) is generated based on the combination of the candidate data Kc (1) and the candidate data Kc (2). The grass candidate line Lc (2) is generated based on the combination of the candidate data Kc (2) and the candidate data Kc (3). The grass candidate lines Lc (3) to Lc (5) are also generated in the same pattern as the grass candidate line Lc (1) and the grass candidate line Lc (2). Then, the relative angle θ with respect to the ground reference line LG is calculated in each of the candidate grass lines Lc, and if the relative angle θ is within the range preset from the calculated inclination angle θ2, the relevant grass candidate line Lc is used as the grass reference line LK. It may be determined as The combination of candidate data Kc can be appropriately changed in the generation of the grass candidate line Lc. For example, if the relative angle θ is not within the range preset from the calculated inclination angle θ2, the combination of a plurality of candidate data Kc may be redone, and the grass candidate line Lc may be generated based on the new combination. .

[3] In the embodiment described above, the distance sensor 10 is provided on the front upper portion or the rear upper portion of the traveling body 1, but is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the distance sensor 10 is provided at two places of a distance sensor 10 a provided in the front upper part of the traveling machine body 1 and a distance sensor 10 b provided in the rear upper part of the traveling machine body 1. May be configured. GN in FIG. 13 is uncut grass. Further, the distance sensor 10 a and the distance sensor 10 b may be provided at the lateral end of the traveling machine body 1. The ground before the mowing travel is performed and the uncut grass GN are scanned by the distance sensor 10 a provided at the front of the traveling airframe 1. Further, the ground after the mowing travel and the uncut grass GN are scanned by the distance sensor 10 b provided at the rear of the traveling body 1. With this configuration, it is possible to independently calculate different target distances LM before and after the traveling machine body 1, so that the instruction signal output by the traveling instruction unit 16 can be made more suitable. Further, when, for example, a stone or a pile is detected by the distance sensor 10 a during mowing travel in FIG. 13, measures such as stopping the rotation of the mowing device 3 can be taken.

[4] In the embodiment described above, the target distance LM is calculated by the procedure from step # 1 to step # 14 shown in FIG. 7, but it is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, after a scan ranging from 270 degrees from scan angle Ss to scan angle Sf is performed (steps # 1 to # 3), generation of ground reference line LG (step # 5) and calculation of calculated inclination angle θ2 (steps) After step # 6) is performed, the generation of the grass candidate line Lc based on the detection of grass data (steps # 7 to # 9) and the process of calculating the relative angle θ (step # 11) are used to calculate the target distance LM. The configuration may be such that the processing up to (step # 14) is performed. This configuration is also applicable to, for example, the case where the scan angle rotates in the reverse direction from the scan angle Sf toward the scan angle Ss.

[5] In the embodiment described above, the ground reference line LG, the grass candidate line Lc, and the grass reference line LK are respectively approximate straight lines, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the ground reference line LG, the grass candidate line Lc, and the grass reference line LK may be approximate curves.

[6] In the above embodiment, the mowing machine travels automatically while mowing, but it may be, for example, a mowing machine that assists steering operation of mowing travel by manual operation. Besides the mower, it may be a mower or mower.

  The present invention is applicable to a mowing machine that mowing the mowing target area.

1: traveling vehicle 10: distance sensor 12: decode control unit 13: traveling mode determination unit 14: object detection unit 15: target distance calculation unit 16: traveling instruction unit C: traveling control unit Im: detection inclination angle LG: ground reference line Lc: Grass candidate line LK: Grass reference line LM: Target distance θ: Relative angle (tilt angle)
θ2: Calculated inclination angle

Claims (10)

A traveling vehicle that carries out mowing traveling,
A traveling control unit that controls the traveling aircraft body;
A distance sensor for scanning the distance between the traveling body and an object located in the left and right direction of the body across both the left and right sides of the body;
A decoding control unit that generates ground height data for both the left and right of the vehicle based on the distance and scanning angle detected by the scanning of the distance sensor;
An object detection unit that generates a ground reference line identified as a ground line after cutting and a grass reference line identified as a grass line before cutting according to the approximation line based on the ground height data;
A target distance calculation unit that calculates a target distance based on the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling airframe;
A travel instruction unit that outputs an instruction signal such that the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling body matches the target distance;
A mower equipped with A traveling mode determination unit that determines a traveling mode of the traveling aircraft body;
The travel mode has a manual control mode and an automatic control mode,
When the traveling mode is the manual control mode, the traveling control unit controls the traveling machine based on an operation signal of manual control,
The mowing machine according to claim 1, wherein when the traveling mode is the automatic control mode, the traveling control unit controls the traveling machine body based on an instruction signal of the traveling instruction unit.   The mowing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the distance sensor is configured to scan by rotating around a longitudinal axis of the machine body.   The mowing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the distance sensor is provided at one of a front part and a rear part of the traveling body.   The mowing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the distance sensor is provided at both the front and the rear of the traveling body.   The object detection unit generates the ground reference line by calculating an approximate line from data in the range in the left-right direction of the aircraft which is preset from the vertical direction of the distance sensor among the ground height data. A mower according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mower is configured as follows.   The object detection unit calculates grass by calculating an approximation line from data of a location where data having a height greater than or equal to a predetermined value from the ground reference line in the ground height data continues over a predetermined range or more. 7. A mowing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, which is configured to generate candidate lines. A plurality of grass candidate lines are generated,
The traveling body is provided with an inertial sensor that detects an inclination angle of the traveling body.
Among the grass candidate lines, the object detection unit predetermines an inclination angle of the grass candidate line with respect to the ground reference line and a calculated inclination angle calculated from the inclination angle detected by the inertial sensor. 8. A mowing machine according to claim 7, wherein the grass candidate line which is within the reference range is configured to be identified as the grass reference line.   The mowing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the grass reference line is limited within a height range preset from the ground reference line. As the distance between the grass reference line and the traveling vehicle, a plurality of values calculated over the present and a plurality of times in the past are stored,
The mowing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the target distance is calculated based on a moving average value of the plurality of values.

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