JP2018130065A - Divot repair system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a divot repair system that enables a divot repair machine to move during business hours of a golf course, and shortens a movement distance for the detection of a divot and for its repair with sand in the divot repair machine.SOLUTION: A divot repair system includes a user position transmission device for transmitting position information on a user of a golf course, a divot repair machine that moves so as to follow the user, and an unmanned flying body flying on the upper side between the user and the divot repair machine in the golf course based on the position information on the user and the divot repair machine, which includes a camera photographing the lower side, and a transmission part for transmitting an image taken with the camera. A discharge control part of the divot repair machine acquires the image taken with the camera, acquires a divot occurrence position from the acquired image, and controls a discharge mechanism of the divot repair machine so as to discharge sand in the divot occurrence position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a divot repair system including a divot repair machine and an unmanned air vehicle.

  When a user moves while playing on a lawn of a golf course, a divot that is a depression may be formed by shaving the lawn when swinging a golf club. Originally, the user should repair the divot every time the divot occurs, but depending on the user, it may not be repaired, which may hinder subsequent user play. For example, a ball hit by a subsequent user may enter a divot made by a previous user, which hinders subsequent users from playing and deteriorates the impression of the golf course.

  In this regard, outside the golf course opening hours, golf course workers perform divot repair work, but because the golf course is vast, it is difficult to find a divot, which is a heavy burden on the worker. ing. Here, the repair of the divot is to bury the divot in the sand.

  Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 describe a divot restoration machine including a camera, a hopper, a divot detection device, and a control device. The hopper is formed with a plurality of discharge ports capable of discharging the contained sand. The camera captures the lawn surface area, and the divot detection device corrects the captured image of the lawn surface area to generate a planar image, and determines the position of the divot where the lawn is missing due to the density change of the planar image. To detect. The control device identifies the hopper discharge port closest to the divot position when the divot repair machine advances forward, and from the discharge port toward the divot when the specified discharge port reaches the divot position. The sand is discharged.

  The divot restoration machine described in Patent Document 1 travels automatically, by remote operation, or driven by a driver. The divot restoration machine described in Patent Document 2 is connected to a lawn mower and is driven by the lawn mower.

JP 2014-42481A JP 2014-42490 A

  According to the configuration described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, there is a possibility that the position of the divot can be detected by the divot detection device provided in the divot repair machine. However, since it is necessary to move the divot repair machine to many areas where divots may occur, the travel distance of the divot repair machine becomes longer. For this reason, the energy required for the movement of the divot repair machine is great. Moreover, it is necessary to move the time for moving the divot restoration machine outside the business hours of the golf course so that the divot restoration machine does not disturb the user's play.

  It is an object of the present invention to enable a divot restoration system to move a divot restoration machine within the business hours of a golf course, and to shorten the movement distance for finding a divot and burying sand in the divot restoration machine. That is.

  The divot restoration system according to the present invention includes a user position transmitter that is carried by a golf course user and transmits the user's position information, and receives the user's position information, and follows the user. A divot repair machine that moves so as to contain a storage and discharge unit that can store sand and discharge the sand from a discharge port, and a discharge mechanism that discharges the sand by switching the discharge port from a closed state to an open state And a discharge control unit that controls the discharge mechanism, a divot repair machine that includes a device position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the divot repair machine, and the position information of the user and the divot repair machine, In the golf course, a camera that flies over the upper side between the user and the divot repair machine and photographs the lower side, and a transmission unit that transmits an image captured by the camera An unmanned air vehicle including: the discharge control unit acquires the image captured by the camera, acquires a divot generation position from the acquired image, and discharges the sand to the divot generation position The discharge mechanism is controlled so that

  According to the divot restoration system according to the present invention, it is possible to move the divot restoration machine within the business hours of the golf course, and it is possible to shorten the movement distance for finding the divot and filling the sand in the divot restoration machine. .

It is a figure showing a divot restoration system of an embodiment concerning the present invention, and is a figure showing a state where a divot restoration machine and an unmanned air vehicle follow after a player who is a user of a golf course. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship seen from the sky with a player, a divot repair machine, and an unmanned air vehicle in the hall | hole as one competition area of a golf course. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the divot repair system of embodiment. It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the component of the divot repair machine which comprises the divot repair system of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of an unmanned air vehicle and a divot repair machine at the time of discovering a divot by an unmanned air vehicle. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the unmanned air vehicle and the divot restoration machine when sand is discharged to the divot position by the divot restoration machine. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of a marker and a divot when a player puts the marker which is a report position transmission apparatus, and declares a divot position. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the divot repair system of another example of embodiment which concerns on this invention. In another example of an embodiment, it is a figure showing the positional relation between a report operation device and a divot when a second divot report operation device reports a divot position.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The shapes, positional relationships, and the like described below are examples for explanation, and can be appropriately changed according to the specifications of the divot restoration system. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same elements in all drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a divot repair system 10 according to an embodiment, and illustrates a state in which a divot repair machine 20 and an unmanned air vehicle 50 follow a player 12 who is a user of a golf course. The divot repair system 10 includes a position transmitter 13 carried by the player 12, a divot repair machine 20, an unmanned air vehicle 50, a reporting operation device 70 (FIG. 3), and a marker 80 (FIG. 3). The position transmission device 13 corresponds to a user position transmission device. The reporting operation device 70 corresponds to a first divot reporting operation device, and the marker 80 corresponds to a reporting position transmission device. Hereinafter, the divot repair machine 20 is referred to as a repair machine 20.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the position transmission device 13 carried by the player 12 transmits the first position information, which is the position information of the player 12, to the repair machine 20. The repair machine 20 acquires second position information that is position information of the repair machine 20, and transmits the second position information to the unmanned air vehicle 50 together with the first position information. The unmanned air vehicle 50 flies over the upper side between the player 12 and the repair machine 20 on the golf course based on the first position information and the second position information.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship of the player 12, the repairing machine 20, and the unmanned flying object 50 in the hole 90 as one competition area of the golf course as viewed from above. As indicated by a broken line arrow α in FIG. 2, when the player 12 moves from the tee ground 91, the repair machine 20 follows the player 12 along the movement path when viewed from above. Moving. At this time, the unmanned air vehicle 50 flies on the upper side so as to be positioned between the player 12 and the repair machine 20 on a straight line connecting the player 12 and the repair machine 20. In FIG. 2, the player 12, the repair machine 20, and the unmanned air vehicle 50 are each indicated by a circle.

  The unmanned aerial vehicle 50 images the lower side with the camera 51 and transmits the captured image to the repair machine 20. The repair machine 20 includes a hopper 25 that is a storage and discharge unit that can store sand and discharge sand from the discharge port 27a, a discharge mechanism 28 that switches the discharge port 27a from a closed state to an open state, and discharges sand. And a discharge control unit 34 (FIG. 3) for controlling the mechanism 28. The discharge control unit 34 acquires the divot generation position from the captured image acquired from the unmanned air vehicle 50 and controls the discharge mechanism 28 so as to discharge the sand to the divot generation position. Thereby, it becomes possible to move the restoration machine 20 within the business hours of the golf course, and the movement distance for finding the divot and filling the sand in the restoration machine 20 can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, each configuration of the divot repair system 10 will be specifically described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the divot repair system 10. The position transmitter 13 includes a GPS receiver 14 that is a user position acquisition unit and a position transmitter 15 in the case. The GPS receiver 14 outputs first position information representing the current position of the position transmitter 13 to the position transmitter 15 based on GPS data received by a GPS antenna (not shown). The position transmitter 15 transmits the first position information to the repair machine 20 through the antenna 16.

  The reporting operation device 70 is a device integrated with the position transmission device 13. The reporting operation device 70 is operated in order for the player 12 to report the occurrence of a divot when the player 12 has generated a divot due to a mistake or the like when swinging the golf club. For this purpose, the reporting operation device 70 includes an operation unit 71 such as a switch or a button arranged in the case, and a transmission unit 72 arranged in the case. When the operation unit 71 is operated, the transmission unit 72 transmits a signal indicating that the operation has been performed to the divot repair machine 20 via an antenna (not shown). At this time, one case and one antenna may be provided as one shared by the reporting operation device 70 and the position transmission device 13. At this time, a signal indicating that the operation unit 71 of the reporting operation device 70 is operated may be transmitted through the antenna.

  The marker 80 is a separate device from the reporting operation device 70. As shown in FIG. 7 described later, the marker 80 includes a cylindrical or rectangular parallelepiped case 81, an antenna (not shown) and a position transmitter 82 (FIG. 3) arranged inside the case 81. The position transmitter 82 transmits information on the position of the marker 80 as the position where the marker 80 is placed. As a result, after the player 12 operates the reporting operation device 70 as will be described later, when the repairing machine 20 described later receives information on the position where the marker 80 is placed, a divot is placed near the position. The repair machine 20 can recognize that there is. Based on the information, the restoration machine 20 moves to the divot position without using a captured image of the camera 51 described later, and discharges sand to the divot position. Thereby, the divot can be efficiently buried in sand.

  The restoration machine 20 moves so as to automatically follow the movement path of the player 12 based on the first position information that is the position information of the player 12 transmitted by the position transmission device 13. Further, the movement of the restoration machine 20 is controlled so as not to approach within a predetermined distance set in advance from the player 12. For this purpose, the repair machine 20 includes a vehicle body 21, four wheels 22, a traveling drive unit 23 (FIG. 4), a hopper 25 that is a storage / discharge unit, and a discharge mechanism 28. Further, the repair machine 20 includes a position receiving unit 30, a GPS receiving unit 31, a position transmitting unit 32, a control device 33, and a collecting unit 35.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of components of the repair machine 20. The four wheels 22 are separately supported on the left and right sides of the front side and the rear side of the vehicle body 21. Traveling drive unit 23 includes four motors 24 connected to each of four wheels 22, and a power transmission unit (not shown) between motor 24 and wheels 22. The driving of the motor 24 is controlled by a control device 33 described later. Since the four motors 24 are controlled independently, straight running and turning are possible. For example, when the four wheels 22 are rotated at the same speed in one direction, it is possible to travel straight ahead or to the rear side. Further, turning can be performed by changing the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels 22 on each of the front side and the rear side.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the hopper 25 includes a hopper body 26 and a duct 27. The hopper body 26 is a container that opens on the upper side and decreases in area toward the lower end, and accommodates sand for divot repair. Since the upper side of the hopper 25 is open, sand can be replenished from the upper side. The duct 27 is connected to the lower end of the hopper body 26 so as to extend in the vertical direction. The lower end of the duct 27 is a discharge port located at the lower end portion of the vehicle body 21 and can discharge sand accommodated in the hopper body 26. The discharge mechanism 28 is attached to the vehicle body 21 so as to block the lower side of the discharge port 27 a of the duct 27. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the discharge mechanism 28 includes two doors 29 guided by rails (not shown) that can be opened and closed by opening both sides in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 21, and the two doors 29. A moving mechanism (not shown) that moves in a direction away from the front-rear direction or a direction of approaching. For example, the moving mechanism converts the rotational force of a door motor (not shown) into a linearly moving force by a rack and pinion gear mechanism, and moves the door 29 in the front-rear direction while being guided by a rail. Accordingly, the door 27a is driven to switch the discharge port 27a from the closed state to the open state, and the sand in the hopper 25 is discharged downward.

  Furthermore, the position receiving unit 30 receives first position information indicating the current position of the player 12 transmitted from the position transmitting device 13 on the player 12 side, and the first position information is transmitted to the control device 33 and the position transmitting unit 32. Output to. The control device 33 controls the movement of the repair machine 20 based on the first position information.

  The GPS receiving unit 31 corresponds to a device position information acquisition unit. The GPS receiving unit 31 acquires second position information indicating the current position of the repair machine 20 based on GPS data received by a GPS antenna (not shown), and the second position information is transmitted to the control device 33. Output to the position transmitter 32. The position transmitter 32 transmits the first position information and the second position information to the unmanned air vehicle 50 via the antenna 36.

  The control device 33 determines the movement route and the movement destination of the repair machine 20 from the map information stored in advance in the storage unit, the first position information, and the second position information. The movement path of the repair machine 20 is along the movement path of the player 12. Then, on the movement path of the player, a position away from the first position, which is the position of the player 12, to the rear side by a predetermined distance L1 (FIG. 2) becomes the target movement position. The control device 33 controls the drive of each motor 24 so that the repair machine 20 is moved to the target movement position along the movement path. FIG. 4 shows a case where the motor 24 is connected to each of the four wheels 22 for driving, but the motor is connected to only the two wheels 22 on the front side or the rear side only, and the remaining wheels are connected vertically. It can also be a caster wheel that freely turns around a direction axis. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which attaches a crawler to the right-and-left both sides of a restoration machine, and rotates a restoration machine by rotating each crawler with a motor.

  In addition, the control device 33 includes a discharge control unit 34. The discharge control unit 34 acquires data of a captured image received from an unmanned air vehicle 50 described later, and acquires a divot occurrence position from the data. The control device 33 controls the discharge mechanism 28 so as to discharge a predetermined amount of sand at the divot generation position. This will be described later.

  The recovery unit 35 is a robot arm attached to the front end of the repair machine 20 and is controlled by the control device to hold the marker 80 at the position where the marker 80 is placed for self-reporting by the divot. ,to recover. 1 and 4, the collection unit is not shown. For example, the collection unit 35 includes an arm that is inclined with respect to the front-rear direction and extends upward, and a gripping unit that is attached to the tip of the arm. The arm is attached to the front end portion of the vehicle body 21 so as to be able to rotate in the front-rear direction, and the arm is rotated back and forth by an arm drive motor attached to the vehicle body 21. The control device 33 controls the operation of the gripping unit so as to grip the marker 80 at the position of the marker 80 placed on the ground, while rotating the arm driving motor so as to tilt the arm downward.

  A landing part capable of landing the unmanned air vehicle 50 on the upper part of the repair machine 20 can also be provided. In this case, the unmanned aerial vehicle 50 is automatically landed on the landing part by the end of the automatic flight described later, and the repair machine 20 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 50 are moved by the remote control device carried by the player 12 or the golf course operator. It is good also as a structure which returns to arbitrary storage positions by remote operation.

  The unmanned aerial vehicle 50 is a rotary wing-type remotely operated aircraft called a flying drone. The unmanned aerial vehicle 50 is a quad copter having four arm portions 52 extending radially from a central main body portion 50a, and a rotary wing 53 attached to the upper side of each arm portion 52. Each rotor 53 is independently rotated by a rotor motor. The unmanned air vehicle 50 is not limited to a configuration having four rotor blades, and may be a helicopter having two rotor blades or a multicopter having six or more rotor blades. The unmanned air vehicle 50 may be a small airplane or a small airship as long as remote control is possible.

  The unmanned air vehicle 50 can be made to fly to a desired position by a remote control device (not shown) carried by the player 12, and the flight can be ended. In addition, by instructing automatic flight with the remote control device, the unmanned air vehicle 50 is automatically caused to fly above the player 12 and the repair machine 20, and images taken by the camera 51 are continuously or It is possible to transmit to the repair machine 20 at a predetermined time interval.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the unmanned air vehicle 50 includes a position reception unit 54, a GPS reception unit 55, a transmission unit 56, a camera 51, a sensor 57, and a control device 58. The position receiver 54 receives the first position information of the player 12 transmitted from the position transmitter 32 of the repairing machine 20 and the second position information of the repairing machine 20 via the antenna 59 and outputs them to the control device 58. To do.

  The GPS receiver 55 acquires position information of the third position representing the current position of the unmanned air vehicle 50 based on GPS data received by a GPS antenna (not shown), and outputs the position information to the control device 58. The transmitting unit 56 transmits the position information of the third position and the captured image of the camera 51 to the repair machine 20.

  The camera 51 is an auto-focus type, is attached to the lower side of the main body 50a of the unmanned air vehicle 50, takes images of the ground directly below or at predetermined time intervals, and takes the taken images. Is output to the control device 58 together with the position information of the photographed image. The sensor 57 includes a posture control sensor for posture control, and outputs a detection signal to the control device 58.

  The control device 58 causes the unmanned aerial vehicle 50 to fly by controlling the motor for rotor blades according to the operation of the remote control device or according to a control program stored in advance. At this time, the control device 58 stabilizes the attitude of the unmanned air vehicle 50 based on the detection signal of the attitude control sensor.

  In addition, when the unmanned air vehicle 50 is instructed by the remote control device and the unmanned air vehicle 50 receives a signal indicating the instruction, the unmanned air vehicle 50 is connected to the player 12, the repair machine 20, and the control device 58. The rotor motor is controlled so as to automatically fly on the upper side. At this time, the control device 58 determines the target movement position of the unmanned air vehicle 50 from the map information stored in advance in the storage unit and the first, second, and third position information. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the control device 58 has a target that is an upper side between the player 12 and the repairing machine 20 on a straight line connecting the player 12 and the repairing machine 20 when viewed from above. Control is performed so that the unmanned air vehicle 50 flies and moves to the moving position. For example, the control device 58 controls the unmanned aerial vehicle 50 to fly at positions spaced apart from the player 12 and the repair machine 20 at equal intervals when viewed from above.

  In addition, the control device 58 transmits the captured image of the camera 51 and the position information of the captured position to the repair machine 20 via the transmission unit 56 and the antenna 59.

  The repair machine 20 receives the image taken by the unmanned air vehicle 50 and the position where the image was taken. The discharge control unit 34 of the restoration machine 20 acquires the image and the shooting position. The discharge control unit 34 acquires the divot occurrence position from the acquired image. At this time, the discharge control unit 34 specifies the divot occurrence position from the captured image of the camera 51 using, for example, binarization processing. In the binarization, for example, a threshold value is determined from a histogram of a grayscale image, and the intensity value of each pixel is compared with the threshold value. If the threshold value is greater than the threshold value, the white intensity is 0. As a result, the lawn area is all white and the divot area is all black, so that the divot occurrence position where the divot of a certain area or more has occurred is specified. This finds a divot.

  The discharge control unit 34 of the repair machine 20 controls the discharge mechanism 28 (FIG. 4) so that a predetermined amount of sand is discharged to the ground at the divot generation position, and the door 29 of the discharge mechanism 28 is set in the open state and the closed state. Switch. Thereby, a predetermined amount of sand is discharged from the discharge port 27a (FIG. 1) to the ground, and the divot at that position is buried as a restoration.

  Note that the configuration for specifying the divot occurrence position is not limited to the case where the binarization process is used as described above. For example, the control device 33 of the repair machine 20 compares the color of the lawn image stored in advance with the photographed image, and whether the lawn has a defect larger than a predetermined area due to the difference in color. It may be determined whether or not. If the lawn has a defect larger than a predetermined area, the defect occurrence position can be specified as the divot occurrence position.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the unmanned air vehicle 50 and the repair machine 20 when the divot 100 is discovered by the unmanned air vehicle 50. As shown in FIG. 5, the discharge control unit 34 of the repair machine 20 acquires the divot occurrence position from the image taken when the unmanned aerial vehicle 50 is positioned right above the divot 100.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the unmanned air vehicle 50 and the repairing machine 20 when sand is discharged to the divot position by the repairing machine 20. In the state shown in FIG. 6, the repair machine 20 is moved directly above the divot generation position P and controlled by the discharge control unit 34 so that the door of the discharge mechanism 28 is opened, and the sand 101 is placed at the divot generation position. Discharged. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the unmanned aerial vehicle 50 precedes the repairing machine 20 on the player 12 side (the left side of FIGS. 5 and 6) regardless of the detection of the divot occurrence position or the state of sand filling. Is going on.

  As described above, the occurrence position of the divot is acquired from a captured image of the unmanned air vehicle 50 flying over the sky. Thus, as in the configuration described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, compared to the case where the camera is attached to the restoration machine and the divot is found from the image captured by the camera, for the discovery of the occurrence position of the divot, It can suppress that the play of the player 12 is prevented.

  In addition, the repairing machine 20 follows the player 12 away by a predetermined distance or more. Thereby, even if the repair machine 20 moves, the collision with the player 12 is suppressed, and the repair machine 20 can be moved within the business hours of the golf course. For this reason, it is not necessary for the worker to find a divot and perform a sand filling operation other than the business hours, so that it is possible to reduce the cost of the golf course operating company. Further, it is not necessary for the repairing machine 20 to move outside the movement path of the player 12 in order to find a divot in the repairing machine 20 and to bury the sand. Thereby, the movement distance for the discovery of the divot in the restoration machine 20 and its sand filling can be shortened. This also makes it possible to reduce costs by reducing energy costs at golf course operating companies. Moreover, since the divot can be prevented from being buried in the sand and the divot can be eliminated in a short time from the occurrence, the impression of the player 12 on the golf course can be improved.

  Further, since the repair machine 20 does not have a camera, the repair machine 20 can be downsized. For this reason, since the weight reduction of the repairing machine 20 can be achieved, it can suppress that the lawn is damaged by the repairing machine 20. Further, since the repair machine 20 does not have a camera, it is easy to realize automatic operation of the repair machine 20.

  Next, a method using the reporting operation device 70 (FIG. 3) and the marker 80 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the marker 80 and the divot 100 when the player 12 puts the marker 80 and declares the divot position. When the player 12 generates a divot due to a golf club swing error or the like, the player 12 may want the repair machine 20 to self-report the occurrence and repair it. In this case, the player 12 operates the operation unit 71 of the reporting operation device 70, and then the grass is positioned at a predetermined distance L2 on the front side in the traveling direction (left side in FIG. 7) with respect to the marker 80. Put it on the ground.

  At that time, the discharge controller 34 of the repair machine 20 acquires the position information of the marker 80 from the position transmitter 82 (FIG. 3) of the marker 80 by receiving the repair machine 20 after the reporting operation device 70 is operated. To do. The discharge control unit 34 does not use the divot generation position acquired based on the photographed image of the unmanned air vehicle 50, and moves away from the marker 80 by a predetermined distance L2 (FIG. 7) in the movement path of the player 12. The discharging mechanism 28 is controlled so that the sand is discharged to the position by a predetermined amount. Thereby, the divot occurrence position declared by the player 12 using the marker 80 can be automatically buried in the sand.

  At this time, after the player 12 operates the operation unit 71 of the reporting operation device 70, the marker 80 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 7 is placed on the ground such as lawn at a position adjacent to the front side in the traveling direction with respect to the divot occurrence position. It may be. In that case, the discharge control unit 34 does not use the divot generation position acquired based on the captured image of the unmanned air vehicle 50, and is located at a position adjacent to the rear side with respect to the marker 80 in the movement path of the player 12. The discharging mechanism 28 is controlled so that the sand is discharged in a fixed amount. It is determined in advance whether the discharge control unit 34 discharges sand at a position away from the marker 80 by a predetermined distance or at a position adjacent to the marker 80 and stores it in the storage unit of the control device 33. Keep it. The player 12 can declare the divot occurrence position by placing the marker 80 at a position having a predetermined relationship with the divot occurrence position according to the determined content.

  After the repairing machine 20 discharges the sand to the divot generation position determined by the marker 80, the control device 33 may control the traveling drive unit 23 to slightly move the repairing machine 20 backward from the sand discharging position. And the control apparatus 33 may control the collection | recovery part 35 so that the collection | recovery part 35 (FIG. 3) may hold | grip and collect the marker 80. FIG. At this time, the collection unit 35 can also grab the marker 80 and place it in the marker storage unit arranged on the repairing machine 20.

  Note that the recovery unit 20 may omit the collection unit. In this case, after the repairing machine 20 discharges the sand to the divot generation position determined by the marker 80, the player 12 himself picks up and collects the marker 80. At this time, as the player 12 approaches the repair machine 20, the repair machine 20 automatically moves backward so as to maintain the distance from the player 12 at a predetermined distance or more. Thereby, the recovery operation of the recovery device 20 does not prevent the recovery operation of the marker 80 of the player 12.

  In the above description, the reporting operation device 70 and the position transmission device 13 are integrated. However, the reporting operation device may be a separate device from the position transmission device 13. At this time, the reporting operation device and the marker can be integrated. In the above-described divot repair system, the reporting operation device 70 and the marker 80 may be omitted, and the divot generation from the player 12 may not be provided.

  In the above description, the position information of the position of the player 12 and the position of the repairing machine 20 is transmitted from the repairing machine 20 to the unmanned air vehicle 50. On the other hand, the position information of the player 12 may be transmitted from the position transmission device 13 to the unmanned air vehicle 50, and the position information of the repair machine 20 may be transmitted from the repair machine 20 to the unmanned air vehicle 50.

  Further, the control device 33 of the repair machine 20 is based on the acquired position information of the player 12 and the repair machine 20 so that the unmanned air vehicle 50 flies above the player 12 and the repair machine 20. 50 target movement positions may be determined. Then, the control device 33 may control the automatic flight of the unmanned air vehicle 50 so as to fly and move to the determined target movement position.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a divot repair system 10a according to another example of the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the reporting operation device 70a and the divot 100 when reporting the divot position by the reporting operation device 70a that is the second divot reporting operation device.

  In the case of another example shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the reporting operation device 70 a is a separate device from the position transmission device 13, unlike the configurations of FIGS. 1 to 7. In the configurations of FIGS. 8 and 9, no marker is used. The reporting operation device 70 a is operated so that the player 12 reports the occurrence of the divot 100.

  Specifically, the reporting operation device 70 a includes an operation unit 73 and a position transmission unit 74 that transmits position information of the reporting operation device 70 a when the operation unit 73 is operated to the repair machine 20.

  When the player 12 generates the divot 100 (FIG. 9), the player 12 may wish to self-report the occurrence and have the repair machine 20 repair it. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the player 12 grasps the reporting operation device 70a and positions it immediately above the divot generation position, and operates the operation unit 73 of the reporting operation device 70a in this state.

  The discharge control unit 34 of the repairing machine 20 acquires the position information at the time of operation of the operation unit 73 of the reporting operation device 70 a from the position transmission unit 74 by reception of the repairing machine 20. And the discharge control part 34 does not use the divot generation position acquired based on the image | photographed image of the unmanned air vehicle 50, but only a predetermined amount on the ground of the position at the time of operation of the reporting operation apparatus 70a in the movement path | route of the player 12. The discharging mechanism 28 (FIG. 4) is controlled to discharge the sand. Thereby, the divot generation position which the player 12 reported using the reporting operation apparatus 70a can be filled with sand. Further, in this case, unlike the case of the configuration of FIGS. 1 to 7, there is no need to collect a device such as a marker placed on the ground by the repairing machine 20. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in FIGS. 1 to 7. In the configuration of FIG. 8, the reporting operation device 70 a can be an apparatus integrated with the position transmission device 13.

  10, 10a Divot repair system, 12 players, 13 position transmitter, 14 GPS receiver, 15 position transmitter, 16 antenna, 20 divot repair machine (repair machine), 21 body, 22 wheels, 23 travel drive, 24 motor , 25 hopper, 26 hopper body, 27 duct, 27a discharge port, 28 discharge mechanism, 29 door, 30 position receiver, 31 GPS receiver, 32 position transmitter, 33 control device, 34 discharge controller, 35 recovery unit, 36 antenna, 50 unmanned air vehicle, 50a main body, 51 camera, 52 arm, 53 rotor, 54 position receiver, 55 GPS receiver, 56 transmitter, 57 sensor, 58 controller, 59 antenna, 70, 70a Report operation device, 71 operation unit, 72 transmission unit, 73 operation unit, 74 position transmission unit 80 markers, 81 cases, 82 position transmitter unit, 90 holes, 91 tee, 100 divots, 101 sand.

Claims (4)

A user location transmitter that is carried by a golf course user and transmits the location information of the user;
A divot repair machine that receives position information of the user and moves so as to follow the user, a storage / discharge unit that stores sand and discharges the sand from a discharge port; and A divot repair machine including a discharge mechanism that switches the outlet from a closed state to an open state to discharge the sand, a discharge control unit that controls the discharge mechanism, and a device position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the divot repair machine When,
Based on the position information of the user and the divot repair machine, in the golf course, the camera that flies above the user and the divot repair machine and photographs the lower side, and the camera An unmanned air vehicle including a transmitter that transmits a captured image,
The discharge control unit acquires the image taken by the camera, acquires a divot generation position from the acquired image, and controls the discharge mechanism to discharge the sand to the divot generation position. , Divot repair system. The divot repair system according to claim 1,
A first divot reporting operation device that is integrated with or separate from the user position transmitting device, and is operated by the user to report the occurrence of a divot;
A reporting position transmission device that is integrated with or separate from the first divot reporting operation device, and includes a reporting position transmission device that transmits information on the position of the reporting position transmission device as a position where the reporting position transmission device is placed;
The discharge control unit acquires position information of the reporting position transmission device after the first divot reporting operation device is operated, and uses the divot occurrence position acquired based on the image without using the divot generation position. A divot repair system for controlling the discharging mechanism so as to discharge the sand to a position adjacent to the rear side of the reporting position transmission device or a position separated by a predetermined distance in the movement path of the person. The divot repair system according to claim 2,
The divot repair machine includes a recovery unit that recovers the reporting position transmission device after the sand is discharged by the discharge mechanism. The divot repair system according to claim 1,
A device integrated with or separate from the user position transmission device, comprising a second divot reporting operation device operated by the user to report the occurrence of a divot;
The second divot reporting operation device transmits position information of the second divot reporting operation device at the time of operation,
The discharge control unit acquires position information at the time of operation of the second divot reporting operation device, and operates the second divot reporting operation device without using the divot occurrence position acquired based on the image. A divot repair system for controlling the discharging mechanism so as to discharge the sand to the ground at the position.

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