Moving amount estimating apparatus, autonomous mobile body, and moving amount estimating method

An autonomous mobile body comprising:

• a travelling unit that includes a wheel and is capable of travelling according to rotation of the wheel;
• a position data detector that obtains a plurality of position data to form a projection object image obtained by projecting an object around the mobile body onto a predetermined coordinate;
• and
• a processor configured or programmed to include:
• a first estimator that calculates, when a first projection object image formed by a plurality of first position data obtained one of before and after the mobile body moves matches with a moving projection object image formed by a plurality of moving position data obtained by a parallel movement and/or a rotational movement of a plurality of second position data obtained the other of before and after the movement on the predetermined coordinate, a moving amount of the parallel movement and/or a moving amount of the rotational movement of the plurality of second position data as a moving amount in which the mobile body moves;
• a second estimator that compensates for a wheel moving amount to be calculated based on a rotating amount of the wheel based on a comparison between a second reference moving amount calculated based on the rotating amount of the wheel for a predetermined period during which the mobile body is moving and a first reference moving amount that is a calculated value of the moving amount in the first estimator when the mobile body moves during the predetermined period so as to estimate the compensated wheel moving amount as the moving amount of the mobile body;
• a compensation coefficient calculator that calculates a compensation coefficient as a result of comparing the second reference moving amount with the first reference moving amount based on the first reference moving amount and the second reference moving amount;
• a position estimator that estimates a current position based on a moving amount to be estimated in a moving amount estimating apparatus;
• and
• a travelling controller that controls the travelling unit so that the travelling unit travels from the current position to a predetermined target position;
• wherein
• the second estimator compensates for the wheel moving amount using the compensation coefficient, and calculates a compensation wheel diameter based on a reference wheel diameter as a predetermined diameter of the wheel and the compensation coefficient so as to calculate the moving amount of the mobile body based on the compensation wheel diameter and the rotating amount of the wheel.

A moving amount estimating method for estimating a moving amount of a mobile body moving according to rotation of a wheel, the method comprising:

• obtaining a plurality of position data to form a projection object image obtained by projecting an object present around the mobile body onto a predetermined coordinate before and after the mobile body moves during a predetermined period;
• moving a plurality of second position data obtained one of before and after the movement parallelly and/or rotationally on the predetermined coordinate so as to calculate a plurality of moving position data;
• calculating, when the plurality of moving position data is obtained such that a first projection object image to be formed by a plurality of first position data obtained the other of before and after the movement matches with a moving projection object image to be formed by the plurality of moving position data, a first reference moving amount based on a moving amount of the parallel movement and/or a moving amount of the rotational movement of the plurality of second position data;
• calculating a second reference moving amount based on the rotating amount of the wheel during the predetermined period;
• compensating a wheel moving amount to be calculated based on the rotating amount of the wheel based on a comparison between the second reference moving amount and the first reference moving amount;
• estimating the compensated wheel moving amount as the moving amount of the mobile body;
• calculating a compensation coefficient as a result of comparing the second reference moving amount with the first reference moving amount based on the first reference moving amount and the second reference moving amount;
• compensating for the wheel moving amount using the compensation coefficient;
• calculating a compensation wheel diameter based on a reference wheel diameter as a predetermined diameter of the wheel and the compensation coefficient;
• and
• calculating the moving amount of the mobile body based on the compensation wheel diameter and the rotating amount of the wheel.