2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Trial manufacturing research on an autonomous snowplow and snow melter with the intercommunication function of Personal Handy-phone System
| Project/Area Number |
12650241
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
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| Research Institution | Kitami Institute of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
SUZUKI Soichiro Kitami Institute of Technology, Mechanical System Engineering, Associate Professor, 工学部, 助教授 (30250541)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
OZAKI Yoshiharu Kitami Institute of Technology, Mechanical System Engineering, Professor, 工学部, 教授 (00322884)
HANIU Hiroyuki Kitami Institute of Technology, Mechanical System Engineering, Professor, 工学部, 教授 (70172955)
TSUNEMOTO Hideyuki Kitami Institute of Technology, Mechanical System Engineering, Professor, 工学部, 教授 (40003214)
KUMAGAMI Hiroshi Kitami Institute of Technology, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Associate Professor, 工学部, 助教授 (40205167)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2001
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| Keywords | Snow-removing robot / Snow-melting robot / Personal Handy-phone System / Autonomous locomotion / Vision sensor / Automatic monitoring system |
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| Research Abstract |
With dramatic increase in the households with elderly people in Japan, accidents by elderly people while removing snow in cold regions have been increasing recently. The operation of a multifunctional snowplow, which has many control levers, is difficult for elderly people because of the skill and power required to control the levers. In this study, therefore, the performances of a newly developed autonomous snowplow and a snow melter, that can be handled easily and are safe, were evaluated. This study presents experimental results on the operation of an autonomous test model equipped with a vision sensor for recognition of landmarks and a snow melter that can carry out high-speed and efficient snow melting work by utilizing foam of the exhaust gas.
In the experiments, the locomotion of the autonomous snowplow was correctly able to move along the target path by using a vision sensor and landmarks even if the course was slippery and uneven. In addition, the safety of the work was improved because the automatic monitoring system was able to forecast the danger of the work. The snowmelt speed by utilizing the foam of the exhaust gas becomes, 10 times farther than the case in which there is no foam. In future research, efforts will be made to shorten the time for image processing by the vision sensor will be shorten by optimizing the design of landmarks and by combining control techniques.
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Research Products
(4 results)
