Control apparatus for autonomous operating vehicle

An apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover, an operating machine, and a magnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of magnetic field generated at an electric wire laid along a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle being driven by the prime mover to autonomously travel in the travel-scheduled area defined by the border detected based on the output of the magnetic sensor, while performing operation using the operating machine, comprising:

• geomagnetism output producing means for producing an output indicative of geomagnetism acting in the travel-scheduled area;
• angular velocity output producing means for producing an output indicative of angular velocity generated about a vertical axis in center of gravity of the vehicle;
• wheel speed output producing means for producing an output indicative of a speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle;
• traveling direction and distance calculating means for calculating a traveling direction based on the output of the angular velocity output producing means and a traveled distance based on the output of the wheel speed output producing means;
• travel trajectory generating means for driving the prime mover based on the calculated traveling direction so that the vehicle is traveled around from a predetermined start point along the border of the travel-scheduled area in accordance with the output of the magnetic sensor and during the vehicle's round travel, and for sequentially recording the calculated traveling directions and the calculated traveled distances on a bitmap, defining the travel-scheduled area and comprising a plurality of divided bits, to generate a travel trajectory with respect to the border of the travel-scheduled area;
• map information transforming means for transforming the generated travel trajectory to map information composed of the bitmap;
• and
• travel and operation controlling means for determining a position of the vehicle using the bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and for controlling the vehicle to, as traveling straight, perform the operation using the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from the output of the geomagnetic sensor as a reference.

A method for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover, an operating machine, and a magnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of magnetic field generated at an electric wire laid along a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle being driven by the prime mover to autonomously travel in the travel-scheduled area defined by the border detected based on the output of the magnetic sensor, while performing operation using the operating machine, comprising the steps of:

• obtaining a sensor output indicative of geomagnetism acting in the travel-scheduled area;
• obtaining a sensor output indicative of angular velocity generated about a vertical axis in center of gravity of the vehicle;
• obtaining a sensor output indicative of a speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle;
• calculating a traveling direction based on the sensor output indicative of the angular velocity and a traveled distance based on the sensor output of indicative of the wheel speed;
• driving the prime mover based on the calculated traveling direction so that the vehicle is traveled around from a predetermined start point along the border of the travel-scheduled area in accordance with the output of the magnetic sensor and during the vehicle's round travel, and sequentially recording the calculated traveling directions and the calculated traveled distances on a bitmap, defining the travel-scheduled area and comprising a plurality of divided bits, to generate a travel trajectory with respect to the border of the travel-scheduled area;
• transforming the generated travel trajectory to map information composed of the bitmap;
• and
• determining a position of the vehicle using the bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and controlling the vehicle to, as traveling straight, perform the operation using the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from the sensor output of the geomagnetism as a reference.