JPH0511762B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a position detection device for a moving body that detects the position of the moving body by scanning a light beam emitted from the moving body in a rotating direction; More specifically, the present invention relates to an improvement in a position detection device for a moving object that has a simplified structure by making a laser beam reciprocate within the shaft of a rotary encoder.

(Prior Art) Various position detection devices for moving objects, such as automatic guided vehicles in factories, tunnel excavators, etc., have been proposed.

JP-A No. 59-67476 “Position detection device for moving objects”
includes three light reflecting means that are installed at at least three locations apart from the moving body and reflect light in the direction of incident light; a light generating means that is provided on the moving body and generates the light beam; and the moving body a light beam scanning means provided in the light beam scanning means for scanning the light beam in the rotational direction;
a light receiving means provided on the movable body for receiving reflected light from the light reflecting means; and an aperture for detecting an aperture angle between the three light reflecting means as seen from the movable body based on a light reception output of the light receiving means. Angle detection means;
A device comprising calculation means for calculating the position of the movable body based on the position information of the three light reflecting means set in advance and the opening angle detected by the opening angle detection means. is disclosed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When carrying out the invention, since the horizontal rotation angle of the light beam is measured, it is possible to measure the horizontal rotation angle of the light beam without using a gear or the like.
It is preferable to connect the rotating shaft and the angle detection means directly.
For this reason, conventionally, the light generating means, the light receiving means, etc. had to be provided on the opposite side of the rotary table of the light beam scanning means from the angle detecting means. Therefore, the first floor part includes the drive motor of the rotary table of the optical scanning means, the angle detection means, etc., and the second floor part includes the rotary table and the optical system mounted thereon.
The problem is that the structure is complicated and the device becomes large because it has a three-story structure with a third floor section and a third floor section containing the light generating means, light receiving means, optical system, etc.

In addition, a moving object equipped with such a device swings around a horizontal axis (pitching, rolling).
It is possible that In this case, there was a possibility that the light beam would not be able to reliably catch the light reflecting means.

An object of the present invention is to provide a moving body that simplifies the mechanism and makes it possible to reduce the size and weight by reciprocating a laser beam within the shaft of the rotary encoder by devising the arrangement of an optical system, a rotary encoder, a drive motor, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide a position detection device.

Furthermore, another object is to provide a position detecting device for a moving body in which the simplification described above makes it easy to employ a horizontal stabilization mechanism.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a first configuration of a position detecting device for a moving body according to the present invention will be described below in conjunction with an embodiment.

That is, the device according to the present invention projects light from a moving object onto the indicator light reflecting means CC, which is installed at a known position and reflects incident light in the direction of the incident light, detects the returned light, and returns the light to the moving object. A position detection device for a moving body that detects the position of a moving body, comprising: an angle detection means 5 that detects a rotation angle of a hollow shaft rotating body 6 rotatably mounted on the moving body; a light generating means 1 for inputting a light beam from one side of the hollow shaft 6;
2, 3, 4, and the light beams from the light generating means 1, 2, 3, 4 are reflected by the reflecting means 7 for projecting and receiving light provided on the other side of the hollow shaft, a light beam scanning device for scanning by rotation; and a light receiving device disposed on the one side of the hollow shaft for receiving return light reflected by the indicator light reflecting device and further reflected by the light projecting/receiving reflecting device 7. means 12, 13, 14; and based on the angle detected by the signal from the angle detection means 5 when the light receiving means 12, 13, 14 receives the light and the position information of the index light reflection means CC. It is comprised of calculation means 30 for calculating the position and orientation of the moving body.

In order to achieve the above object, the second configuration of the moving object position detection device according to the present invention includes an index light reflecting means CC installed at a known position and reflecting incident light in the direction of the incident light. A position detection device for a movable body that detects the position of the movable body by projecting light from the movable body and detecting the returned light, comprising horizontal stabilizing means 17 for horizontally mounting a casing on the movable body; Angle detection means 5 for detecting the rotation angle of the hollow shaft rotating body mounted on the body via the casing.
and a light generating means 1, 2, 3, 4 for inputting a light beam into the hollow shaft 6 from one side of the hollow shaft, and a light beam from the light generating means 1, 2, 3, 4 entering the hollow shaft a light beam scanning means arranged on the one side of the hollow shaft 6 and scanning by the rotation of the hollow shaft reflected by a reflection means 7 for projecting and receiving light provided on the other side of the shaft; light receiving means 12, 13, 14 for receiving the return light reflected by the light reflecting means CC and further reflected by the reflecting means 7 for projecting and receiving the light; and the angle detection when the light receiving means 12, 13, 14 receives the light. It is comprised of calculation means 30 for calculating the position and orientation of the moving object based on the angle detected by the signal from the means 5 and the position information of the index light reflection means.

The horizontal stabilizing means may be configured such that the center of gravity of the portion of the universal joint 17 supported by the universal joint is located below the universal joint.

(Examples) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with regard to examples with reference to the drawings and the like.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a position detecting device for a moving object according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing the device of the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the CPU.

The laser diode 1 is a diode that directly converts current into light, and the output light of the laser diode 1 is dimmed by controlling the excitation current by an automatic light amount adjustment circuit 2. A beam emitted from a laser diode 1 is collimated by a lens 3 and directed upward by a beam splitter 4.

The beam directed upward by the beam splitter 4 passes through a shaft 6 of a rotary encoder 5 and is directed horizontally by a right angle prism 7 mounted on the top of the shaft 6. Further, the light is expanded vertically by a cylindrical lens 8 and emitted.

Corner Cube CC does not depend on the direction of light incidence.
It is a prism that reflects light in that direction. The corner cube CC is located on a horizontal plane that is almost the same as the rotating plane of the output beam, and the predetermined position information is provided by the CPU 3.
4 is input. The beam reflected by the corner cube CC is transferred to the cylindrical lens 8 and the right angle prism 7.
After that, the shaft 6 of the rotary encoder 5 is
and enters the beam splitter 4. The incident beam then passes through a beam splitter 4, passes through a filter 12, is focused by a convex lens 13, is converted into an electrical signal by a photodiode 14, and is further amplified by an amplifier 15. amplifier 15
The output is input to the interrupt controller 32 as a light reception signal a.

The rotary encoder 5 is for detecting a rotation angle, and is attached via a universal joint 17 to a main body case 16 attached to a moving body. universal joint 17
is a table 6a provided above the shaft 6.
It serves to horizontally stabilize the laser projector mounted on the That is, horizontal stabilization of the table 6a can be assisted by the gyro inertia due to the rotation of the table 6a and the center of gravity of the portion supported by the universal joint being located below the universal joint.

The universal joint 17 is attached to the upper plate of the case 16, as shown in detail in FIG.
A cylindrical member 19 is rotatably provided on these L-shaped members 18 and 18 and has a through hole in the center.
Then, the L-shaped members 18, 18 are attached to this cylindrical member 19.
The L-shaped members 20 are rotatably provided in a direction perpendicular to the L-shaped members 20, 20. Each L-shaped member 1
8 and 20 and the cylindrical member 19 are connected by a screw 22 implanted in the cylindrical member 19 via a bearing 21. The shaft 6 of the rotary encoder 5 is loosely fitted into the through hole of the cylindrical member 19 . Second
L-shaped members 20 arranged on the bottom left and right in the figure,
20 has a board 23 fixed to it with screws, and a motor 25 is attached to this board 23 by a shaft 24. On the other hand, a rotary encoder 5 is attached to the substrate 23, and a shaft 6 is rotatably provided with bearings 26, 26. A pulley 27 is fixed to the shaft 6, and a belt 29 is hung between it and a pulley 28 provided on the output shaft of the motor 25.

The computer unit 30 has a counter 31,
Interrupt controller 32, interface 33, CPU
34, ROM 35, RAM 36, interface 37, etc.

The angle signal b from the rotary encoder 5 is a signal that increases in proportion to the rotation of the shaft 6,
It is counted by a counter 31. The reference signal c is a zero signal issued every time the shaft 6 rotates once, and resets the counter 31 via the interrupt controller 32.

The position information of the corner cube CC is set by the keyboard 42 of the input/output device 41 and is taken into the CPU 34 via the interface 33. The CPU 34 calculates the position and orientation of the moving object from the three position information of the corner cube CC and the three angle signals of the corner cube CC, and outputs it from the interface 37.

Next, the operation of the CPU 34 will be explained according to the flowchart of the program stored in the ROM 35 (FIG. 3).

CUP34 is initialized and then
1. Three corner cubes from keyboard 42
Coordinates of CC1 to CC3 are input as position data 102. This position data is output 103 from the CPU 34 and displayed on the display 43.

The data displayed on the display 43 is checked (104), and if it is normal (105), it is stored in the RAM (106).

The three corner cube CC angle signals (θ1, θ2, θ3) from the counter 31 are input 107 to the CPU 34.

These angle signals are checked 108 internally by the CPU 34.

If it is determined to be normal, 109, the CPU 34 will
Three corner cubes entered in step 102
Using the positions of CC1 to CC3 and the three angular positions input in step 107, the position and orientation are calculated 110 and output 111. The output of the CPU 34 is displayed on a display 43.

Below, import the angle data as many times as necessary,
The operations 107 to 111 described above are repeated, and when the predetermined work etc. are completed, all operations are completed 112.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiments, but can be widely applied to devices that rotate a laser beam and measure the rotation angle thereof. Furthermore, in this example,
Although the explanation has been given using an example where there are three corner cube CCs, the same applies to cases where there are one, two, or four or more corner cube CCs.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in detail above, according to the present invention,
By using a mechanism in which the laser beam reciprocates within the shaft of the rotary encoder, the optical system, rotary encoder, drive motor, etc. can be made compact, making it possible to reduce the size and weight of the device.

Further, by using this hollow shaft, these mechanisms can be placed at the bottom, so there is an effect that a simple horizontal stabilizing mechanism such as a universal joint can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a position detecting device for a moving object according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing the device of the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the CPU. 1...Laser diode, 2...Automatic light amount adjustment circuit, 3...Lens, 4...Beam splitter,
5...Rotary encoder, 6...Shaft, 7
... Prism, 8 ... Cylindrical lens, CC ... Corner cube, 12 ... Filter, 13 ... Convex lens, 14 ... Photodiode, 15 ... Amplifier,
16... Main body case, 17... Universal joint, 18, 20... L-shaped member, 19... Cylindrical member, 21... Bearing, 22... Screw, 23... Board, 24... Shaft, 25... ...Motor, 26...
...Bearing, 27...Pulley, 28...Pulley, 29
...Belt, 30...Computer unit, 3
1...Counter, 32...Interrupt controller, 33...
Interface, 34...CPU, 35...
ROM, 36...RAM, 37...Interface, 41...I/O device, 42...Key, 43
……display.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Light is projected from a moving body onto an index light reflecting means installed at a known position and reflects incident light in the direction of the incident light, and the returned light is detected to determine the position of the moving body. A position detecting device for a moving body that detects a rotation angle of a hollow shaft rotating body that is rotatably mounted on the moving body, and an angle detection means that detects a rotation angle of a hollow shaft rotating body that is rotatably mounted on the moving body; a light generating means for inputting a light beam from one side of the hollow shaft; and a light beam from the light generating means is reflected by a reflecting means for projecting and receiving light provided on the other side of the hollow shaft to rotate the hollow shaft. a light beam scanning means for scanning, and a light receiving means disposed on the one side of the hollow shaft for receiving return light reflected by the indicator light reflecting means and further reflected by the light projecting/receiving reflecting means; , calculation means for calculating the position and orientation of the moving body based on the angle detected by the signal from the angle detection means when the light receiving means receives light and the position information of the index light reflection means; The constructed moving body position detection means. 2. A moving object that projects light from a moving object onto an indicator light reflecting means that is installed at a known position and reflects incident light in the direction of the incident light, and detects the returned light to detect the position of the moving object. The position detection device includes: horizontal stabilization means for horizontally mounting a housing on the movable body; and angle detection means for detecting a rotation angle of a hollow shaft rotating body mounted on the movable body via the housing. a light generating means for inputting a light beam into the hollow shaft from one side of the hollow shaft; and a reflecting means for transmitting and receiving light, provided on the other side of the hollow shaft, for transmitting the light beam from the light generating means. a light beam scanning means for scanning by rotating the hollow shaft; and a light beam scanning means disposed on the one side of the hollow shaft, the light beam being reflected by the indicator light reflecting means and further reflected by the light emitting/receiving reflecting means. a light receiving means for receiving the returned light; and a position of the moving body based on the angle detected by the signal from the angle detecting means indicating that the light receiving means has received the light and the position information of the index light reflecting means. and a calculation means for calculating a direction. 3. The moving body according to claim 2, wherein the horizontal stabilizing means is a universal joint, and the center of gravity of the portion supported by the universal joint is located below the universal joint. Position detection device.