Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Automatic route guidance vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-30
2001-05-01
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Automatic route guidance vehicle
C701S023000, C701S024000, C701S026000, C701S205000, C701S302000, C180S168000, C414S279000, C318S587000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226573
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an apparatus to generate a course branching from a scheduled course of a moving body.
BACKGROUND ART
FIG. 8
shows a drawing disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-257529.
As shown in this figure, an unmanned dump truck
20
, which is a moving body, is guided along a scheduled course
50
with a known dead reckoning method.
Should the dump truck
20
then move to a prescribed standby point, this standby point is designated the starting point; an operator of a loader
60
at a loading point PL on a working face uses a radio controller to remotely operate and cause the dump truck
20
to approach the loading point PL of the loader
60
. On the basis of the position and direction data of the loading point PL which was actually arrived at through such remote operation, this dump truck
20
generates a branch course CL, SL and sends the position data of this branch course to other dump trucks.
In this case, the transmission and reception of the branch course position data is effected among a plurality of dump trucks moving through a large work site.
As a result, each dump truck can be guided with the dead reckoning method on the branch course.
The conventional method for generating branch courses is generally effected with the following procedures.
Specifically,
(a) A straight circuit course
51
which is roughly parallel to a working face is established in advance.
(b) A dump truck
20
is guided from a prescribed standby point to a loading point PL through radio controlled guidance; its position coordinates and azimuth are calculated and stored.
(c) The crossing point PC of an extension line
54
′ in the direction of the azimuth at the loading point PL with the circuit course
51
is calculated.
(d) The crossing angle &phgr; of the extension line
54
′ and the circuit course (straight line)
51
at the crossing point PC is found. This crossing angle &phgr; is limited to 45°≦&phgr;≦135°. When this crossing angle &phgr; falls outside this range, the branch course is not generated.
(e) The turning radius r in accord with the crossing angle &phgr; is determined.
(f) The point PS at which the arc CL with radius r inscribed in the two straight lines
51
and
54
′ is tangent to the circuit course
51
is found and designated as the stopping point. Thereby a branch course comprising the arc CL and the straight line LS is generated.
When a branch course is generated in this way, a dump truck
20
, which moved from a scheduled course
50
on a circuit course
51
as shown by the arrow, stops at the stopping point PS and is guided by dead reckoning to back up to a loading point PL along a branch course comprising an arc CL and a straight line SL.
However such a method for generating a branch course presupposes that, as shown in (a) above, the working face is in a straight line and has a certain length and accordingly the circuit course
51
also is parallel to this working face and is a straight line of a certain length.
In effect, the generation of a branch course is limited by the form of the working face and the form of the scheduled course.
Also, as shown in (d) above, the crossing angle &phgr; of the straight circuit course
51
and the extension line
54
′ is limited to 45°≦&phgr;≦135°. Therefore a branch course cannot even be generated if these line segments do not cross to begin with.
In effect, the generation of a branch course is limited by the azimuth of the dump truck
20
at the loading point PL.
Also, as shown in (f) above, it is presupposed that the stopping point PS can be established on the circuit course
51
. A branch course cannot be generated when the stopping point PS cannot be established on the circuit course
51
.
In effect, the generation of a branch course is limited by the azimuth and coordinate position of the loading point PL.
Before now, as noted above, the generation of a branch course was limited by the form of the working face, the form of the scheduled course, and the azimuth and coordinate position of the loading point PL and it could not be certain that a branch course would be generated.
With the foregoing facts in view, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a course generator of moving body which can for certain generate a branch course, regardless of the form of a working face, the form of a scheduled course, and the azimuth and coordinate position of a loading point PL.
As discussed above, the transmission and reception of the branch course position data is effected among a plurality of dump trucks which are moving through a large work site.
However, when an arrangement is made in such a manner, the dump truck which generated the branch course must transmit a large amount of data individually to many other dump trucks. For this reason, the working efficiency of the dump truck is decreased by the amount of time necessary for transmission processing.
Also, in the case where communication is performed randomly among dump trucks, the frequency bands of the dump trucks' transmitter/receivers must be separated in order to avoid cross talk of the communications. This increases costs of communications devices and the complexity of the operations.
Also, since transmission and reception are effected in a large work site, the communications power must be at certain level or higher on the assumption that the dump trucks are far apart. This causes difficulties legally and in terms of costs.
With the foregoing facts in view, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a course generator of moving body which can resolve the difficulties discussed above, such as poor working efficiency resulting in the case where communication is performed randomly among moving bodies.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
As discussed above, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a course generator of a moving body which can for certain generate a branch course, regardless of the form of a working face, the form of a scheduled course, and the azimuth and coordinate position of a loading point PL.
In order to achieve the first object, the principal first invention of the present invention provides a course generator of a moving body to generate a branch course branching from a branch point on a scheduled course along which the moving body is guided, and reaching an end point, characterized in that the course generator comprises:
generating means for generating a branch course according to a cubic curve, in such a manner that:
in a case where a tangent to the scheduled course at the branch point of the scheduled course is parallel to a line segment which coincides with a traveling direction of the moving body at the end point of the branch course,
one extreme of the cubic curve coincides with the branch point, while a tangent of the cubic curve at that extreme coincides with a tangent of the scheduled course at that branch point, and
another extreme of the cubic curve coincides with the end point of the branch course, while a tangent to the cubic curve at that extreme coincides with a line segment coincident with the traveling direction of the moving body at the end point.
Also, as discussed above, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a course generator of a moving body which can resolve the difficulties discussed above, such as poor working efficiency resulting in the case where communication is performed randomly among moving bodies.
In order to achieve the second object, the principal invention of the second invention of the present invention provides a course generator of a moving body wherein a plurality of moving bodies are provided with transmitter/receivers and a ground monitor station is provided with a transmitter/receiver; and the ground monitor station transmits, to a plurality of moving bodies, position data relating to a scheduled course on which the plurality of moving bodies are guided and a branch course branching from the scheduled course, while the plurality of moving bodies are guided along the
Kaneko Kiyoshi
Okawa Yukio
Sudo Tsuguo
Beaulieu Yonel
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Diller Ramik & Wight
Komatsu Ltd.
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