Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha

Murata Machinery, Ltd.

Toshiki Moriguchi

Yuji Suzuki

Tsuyoshi Nakano

Takafumi Suzuki

Hideo Shitamoto

Kikuo Hori

Takuya Okada

Takeshi Murakami

Takahiko Murayama

Motohiko Kuzuya

Ken Nishimura

An autonomous mobile body includes a laser range sensor and an electronic control device. The electronic control device includes a storage unit that stores a size Dof the autonomous mobile body, a width identification unit that identifies a spatial size Din a width direction of a passage which is a region where the autonomous mobile body can move, a calculation unit that calculates a size Dof an interfering obstacle in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to a moving target direction on a road surface based on obstacle information, an action selection unit that selects a stopping action or a retreat action based on the spatial size D, the size Dof the autonomous mobile body, and the size Dof the interfering obstacle, and a mobile control unit that controls the autonomous mobile body to stop when the stopping action is selected and control the autonomous mobile body to retreat when the retreat action is selected.

Autonomous mobile body

An autonomous mobile body is configured to flexibly avoid obstacles. The mobile body has a movement mechanism configured to translate in a horizontal plane and rotate around a vertical axis, and the distance to an obstacle is derived for each directional angle using an obstacle sensor. A translational potential of the mobile body and a rotational potential of the mobile body for avoiding interference with the obstacle are generated, based on the distance from the autonomous mobile body to the obstacle at each directional angle. An amount of control relating to a translational direction and a translational velocity of the mobile body and an amount of control relating to a rotational direction and an angular velocity of the mobile body are generated based on the generated potentials, and the movement mechanism is driven.

Autonomous mobile body and control method of same

An autonomous mobile body is configured to smoothly avoid obstacles. The mobile body has a movement mechanism configured to translate in a horizontal plane and rotate around a vertical axis, and the distance to an obstacle is derived for each directional angle using an obstacle sensor. Using a model having two arcs, one at each end in a major axis direction, connected by line segments that lie in the major axis direction and containing the autonomous mobile body, the movement mechanism is driven with a combination of translation and rotation, without interference between the obstacle and the model.

A robot capable of traveling while constantly directing a predetermined part of a main body to a detection target. In the robot, a main body is jointed to a traveling unit so that relative rotation is possible between the main body and the traveling unit. Based on position information of a detection target detected by a position detection sensor, a control device controls, while the traveling unit is traveling, a body drive motor so that a front surface of the main body constantly faces the detection target and rotates the main body relative to the traveling unit. Accordingly, a CCD camera, a microphone, a speaker, display or the like provided on the front surface of the main body constantly face the detection target. Thus, the robot can reliably communicate with the detection target even during traveling, through mutual transmission of information between the robot and the detection target.

Robot

An autonomous moving apparatus includes a vehicle provided with a drive unit; a cover that is attached to the vehicle such that the cover either entirely or partially covers side, upper, and lower surfaces of the vehicle, and the cover is arranged to be displaced with respect to the vehicle; a detection unit arranged to output detection signals in accordance with relative displacement generated between at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the vehicle and the cover facing at least one of the upper and lower surfaces; and a control unit arranged to control the drive unit in accordance with the detection signals output from the detection unit.

Autonomous moving apparatus

When dot-sequential data indicating a temporal variation in position, speed, or acceleration is stored in a memory in an automated guided vehicle as it is, the capacity of the memory is insufficient and thus needs to be increased. A pattern is mounted in a stacker crane; the pattern is drawn by dot-sequential data indicating a temporal variation in acceleration (FIG.C), and corresponds to an instruction value provided to an actuator installed in the stacker crane. In this case, a curve function corresponding to an approximate expression for the dot-sequential data is derived in a form of a Fourier series having a finite number of terms and using time as an independent variable and the position, speed, or acceleration as a dependent variable. Data identifying the Fourier series, having a finite number of terms, is stored in a memorymounted in the stacker crane

Method for mounting pattern in actual machine

It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving body system which can determine a moved position of a moving body such as a guided vehicle or a stacker crane wherever it is on a moving path, which can stop the moving body anywhere, and which can quickly move the moving body to a stopped position. The present invention provides a moving body system including a guided vehiclemoving along running railsconstituting a moving path and a detected memberlaid along the running rails. The detected memberincludes a large number of mark members, . . . in a direction in which the guided vehiclemoves. The guided vehicleincludes a first detecting sensorand a second detecting sensorwhich detect the mark members, . . . of the detected member

Moving body system and moving body

It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving body system which can determine the moving position of a vehicle, stacker crane, or other moving body wherever on a moving path having a branching portion or a joining portion the moving body is, the system being able to precisely stop the moving body at any position and enabling the moving body to move fast to a stop position. A moving body system includes a vehiclemoving along running railsconstituting a moving path having a joining portion and a detected memberlaid along the running rails. The detected memberincludes a large number of mark members, . . . in a direction in which the vehiclemoves. The vehicleincludes a first detecting sensorand a second detecting sensorwhich detect the mark members of the detected member

Moving body system

An overhead running vehicleuses an absolute position sensor or an encoder to detect its own position. The overhead running vehiclethen reports its own position and state to a system controllervia a communication line also used as an electricity feeding line. Further, the overhead running vehicleintercepts reports from other overhead running vehiclesto avoid collisions or deadlocks. The system controllerand each overhead running vehiclecan determine the positions and state of other overhead running vehicles. This enables the system to be efficiently operated.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Toshiki Moriguchi