Autonomous moving device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10156847-B2
Application number	US-201415328783-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2014
Priority date	Jul 25, 2014
Publication date	Dec 18, 2018
Grant date	Dec 18, 2018

Abstract

An autonomous moving device includes a database that stores information on which objects are necessary to avoid and which are not necessary to avoid. When the autonomous object travels, an object detection unit detects an object on the road by using a sensor; a collation unit collates the detected object on a road surface with an object stored in the database; a determination input unit receives an input of an operator regarding whether or not to avoid the object where there is no data which is the same as or similar to the object in the database as a result of collation which is performed by the collation unit; and an operation generation unit commands the next operation of the moving object, based on the result of collation which is performed by the collation unit and the determination unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An autonomous moving device comprising:
a communication interface that is communicatively coupled to a database management system via a wireless network, wherein the database management system includes a database that stores information on which avoiding an object is needful and information on which avoiding the object is needless;
a sensor that detects an object on a road surface in a periphery of a moving object; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the communication interface and the sensor, wherein the processor:
detects, using the sensor, a detected object on the road surface,
transmits, using the communication interface, an image of the detected object to the database management system,
receives, from the database management system, a command, wherein the command indicates whether object avoidance is required, and
controls the autonomous moving device according to the command;

wherein in response to receiving the image of the object, the database management system:
determines whether a classification group for the object is known based on the information stored in the database,
on a condition that the classification group of the object is known, transmits the command to the autonomous moving device based on the classification group, and
on a condition that the classification group of the object is unknown, receives an input from a user of the database management system that indicates whether avoiding the object is needed, stores the input in the database as the classification group for the object, and transmits the input as the command to the autonomous moving device.

2. The autonomous moving device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the database is configured with a avoidance need class that stores information on which avoiding the object on the road surface is needful and an avoidance needlessness class that stores information on which avoiding the object on the road surface is needless, and an amount of characteristics which are able to be used for comparing characteristics of the object is defined in the information on each object, and
wherein each of the avoidance need class and the avoidance needlessness class has a data group that is configured by representative data which is information on an object that is representative of the data group, and sub-data which is information on an object similar to characteristics of the representative data and is associated with the representative data, as an element.

3. The autonomous moving device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the sensor detects the object on the road surface and is compared with each representative data of the database, and extracts a plurality of pieces of the representative data similar to the object on the road surface,
wherein the sensor further detects the object on the road surface with the sub-data that is associated with each representative data that is extracted, and extracts the data group with a high rate of the data similar to the object on the road surface as a candidate data group,
determines avoidance need and needlessness classes which involve the candidate data group, in a case where the amount of characteristics of the representative data or the sub-data in the candidate data group which is extracted is within a predetermined difference between the amount of characteristics of the representative data or the sub-data and the amount of characteristics of the object on the road surface,
transmits, using the communication interface, information on the candidate data group to the database management system, in a case where the amount of characteristics of the representative data or the sub-data in the candidate data group which is extracted is also not within the predetermined difference between the amount of characteristics of the representative data or the sub-data and the amount of characteristics of the object on the road surface, and
wherein the information on the candidate data group and the object on the road surface is displayed for an operator, and receives, from the database management system, the command, the avoidance need and needlessness determination with respect to the object on the road surface from the operator.

4. The autonomous moving device according to claim 3 ,
wherein the candidate data group and the object on the road surface is displayed on a monitor, when receiving information on the candidate data group from the sensors,
wherein the database management system receives absence or presence of a same data group type as the object on the road surface in the candidate data group which is displayed on the monitor, from the operator,
wherein, in a case where there is the same data group type as the object on the road surface, the database management system adds information on the object on the road surface to the data group, and determines whether avoiding the object on the road surface is needful or needless, based on information of avoidance need and needlessness classes that involve the data group, and
wherein, in a case where there is not the same data group type as the object on the road surface, the database management system receives avoidance determination of the object on the road surface from the operator, adds the information on the object on the road surface to the database as representative data, based on results of the avoidance determination, and determines avoidance need and needlessness, based on the determination results.

5. The autonomous moving device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sensor and the processor are included in the moving object, and
wherein the database management system includes the database and a server which can communicate with the moving object.

Assignees

• Hitachi Ltd

Inventors

• IIMURA Taiki
• Yamamoto Kenjiro

Classifications

• G06F18/217

  Validation; Performance evaluation; Active pattern learning techniques · CPC title

• G06V20/58 Primary

  Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads · CPC title

• G06K9/6262

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06K9/00664

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06K9/00805

  Physics · mapped topic